Christie Wilcox— I love writing a science blog. I write a lot of things—I’ve written peer-reviewed journal articles and a dissertation; I’ve written for major newspapers, science magazines, and chic, quirky outlets; I’ve even written a popular science book about venoms. But of all the writing I do, I have
Abraham Nussbaum— Physicians are used to asking questions—Where does it hurt? How long has it been bothering you? Did you mean to stick that up there?—but when a patient is seeking a new physician, she needs to ask her own questions. The healthcare industry encourages patients to ask questions—Where did
John Makeham— Forty years ago, intellectual historian Joseph Levenson famously commented: “What the West has probably done to China is to change the latter’s language—what China has done to the West is to enlarge the latter’s vocabulary.” Levenson was referring to a process that began in the decades immediately before
Ian Talbot— South Asia is of immense significance to the wider world. It is home to a quarter of the global population and a third of the Islamic community. It is a major market and focus for overseas investment within which the rising economic power of India will become increasingly
Christopher Bollas— Most of us go through the simple realities of each day not giving things much thought. From the routine—like what we make for breakfast—to the unexpected, like road construction blocking our way to work, one event seems to follow another in that unpredictable pattern that just happens to
Janet Polasky— The interconnections of today’s global society are inescapable. So why should we imagine that the founding fathers dreamed of freedom in isolation? The Atlantic World had never been as tightly interconnected as at the end of the eighteenth century. Two centuries before the Arab Spring, without electronic social
Joshua Reid— This last March, the National Marine Fisheries Service invited public input on a recently released draft environmental impact statement that evaluates the Makah Nation’s request to resume hunting gray whales off the coast of Washington State. Most of the feedback on the government website that is collecting this
Jessica Barnes and Michael Dove— An August 2012 edition of The New Yorker magazine adopted an unseasonal topic for its front cover: Santa Claus. In the illustration, Santa is slumped on the ground against a striped pole, cheeks flushed, under the yellow orb of a bright sun. In place of
Cynthia M. Duncan— What does it take for a poor child in a poor place to get ahead? The right attitude? Mentors? Good teachers and schools? Good luck? All of the above? Joanne Martin and Gwen Boggs both grew up in large, very poor, traditional mountain families, Joanne on a
Benjamin N. Lawrance— March 9 marks the 174th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision U.S. v Amistad, one of the most celebrated U.S. “freedom suits.” Since the case’s conclusion in 1841, the charismatic leadership of Cinqué (Sengbe Pieh) and the rhetorical prowess of former President John Quincy Adams and others