The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have ushered in a new era of uncertainty around the globe. Misinformation occupies every corner of the internet, and increasingly humans have come to distrust one other and expert sources of information. It is safe to say that the pandemic was a major collective trauma, and that we are only now beginning to understand its deep ramifications for individuals and societies alike. This special issue of Lingue Culture Mediazioni - LCM presents a series of articles that explore a variety of these ramifications and their pandemic-era antecedents using diverse data, research methodologies, and underlying theoretical frameworks.