Trying, desperately, to put a little English on our present circumstances (or at least a little ironic smirk), I recently said to my girlfriend, “May you live in interesting times.” To which she said, “Yeah, well, I wish they were a little less interesting.”

It’s true, when all of the news, everything new to the timeline, everything more to know, to think about, is bad, sad and terrible, maybe less of everything is the best thing? There is a strong case for that, for doing as the ostrich does and putting one’s head in the sand. Worse still are those who put a foot in it, who say and do things in a time of crisis that they may come to regret, or at least come to get mocked by a bunch of comedians. And due to the way this whole thing is rigged anyway, “Imagine”-singing, milk-bathing, car-crashing celebrities, we’re looking at you.

Not that every figure in the public eye is doing it wrong. No, some are using that exposure to do some actual good. From Manchester United striker Mr Marcus Rashford promising to feed needy schoolkids to Rihanna putting $4.2m towards food banks, supplies for frontline medical workers and research for a vaccine.

For those who are remaining engaged and looking for reasons to hope, reasons, even, to smile, we have a few recommendations.

Free raves

If you are looking for a good time on Instagram, look no further than D-Nice’s Club Quarantine, a full-on daylight dance party with better tunes, and far better hygiene, than any you’ve ever experienced around other humans in locales such as Ibiza, Vegas or Berlin (OK, maybe not Berlin). His impromptu sets, which have gone on, in one session for close to nine hours, came out of an urge to share stories, share music and jam with friends and family. A few days into its run, though, the celebrity appearances of the show became at least as important as the great old-school rap (oh there is Mr Colin Kaepernick, hi Ms Oprah Winfrey) – making it the place to see and be seen online in the time of coronavirus.

Fundraising

Faithful readers of the sports and pop-culture website The Ringer will know of Mr Shea Serrano, who writes about basketball and Fast & Furious instalments as if the world hangs in the balance (which obviously it does). He has also written books about the TV shows Scrubs and The Office. Recently, no less than Mr Barack Obama gave Mr Serrano a big up for the way he has mobilised his very engaged social media following to get real money to real people in need during the crisis. And, really, it is astonishing to watch, amid all the cynicism and catastrophising online, Mr Serrano getting his fans help with rent, bills and so on.

Fast-fashion remedy

“If you’re making clothing,” governor of New York Mr Andrew Cuomo said a couple of weeks ago, during another one of our dire press briefings here, “Figure out if you can make masks. I’ll fund it.” The designer Mr Christian Siriano, watching at home in Danbury, Connecticut, took to the challenge and got to work. In the first week, his team of couture needleworkers turned out more than 2,500 masks, which they delivered to Manhattan’s newly opened, quickly improvised hospital at the Javits Center, early last week.

The gig economy

The utterly tireless Questlove (who is probably hurting the worst these days, out of work on his 19 or so jobs that he normally has – not least of which being bandleader of The Roots, the house band for Mr Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show) is also spinning tunes for all, mostly of an evening, and mostly with a mind to get us up to groove. And, true to form, I have made plans with friends to meet them at one of Questlove’s parties, with promises to dance until we drop, only to no-show. Quarantine, just like life!

Light relief

We know now that the world is suddenly and definitely, irrevocably different. Even the way we watch TV and consume media is different, as are the expectations (for information and entertainment) we place on our shows, our timelines. What hasn’t changed is how incredible Mr Trevor Noah and his team at The Daily Show are at hitting their marks. Even when recording remotely, at home, on Zoom, and in the crisis epicentre of New York, Mr Noah is still giving us the goods, still making us laugh, still keeping us informed. A very bright light in a dark time.