“…Nevertheless, this themed issue joins several others -most media studies and cultural studies journals have over the last several years run special issues attempting the slippery task of interpreting, coming to terms with, and conjuring a 'response' to COVID that would be adequate to the moment (see, for example, Athique, 2020;Casey et al, 2022;Davis et al, 2022;Erni and Striphas, 2021;Frosh and Georgiou, 2022;Gruzd et al, 2021;Hesse and Thompson, 2022;Hight, 2021;Leszczynski and Zook, 2020;Levina, 2022;Newell, 2021;Russell and Powers, 2020). Collectively, these studies have produced a compelling account of the tumult of the past several years, as well as providing fascinating 'symptomatic' accounts of the unsettled temporality of the pandemic itself.…”