It’s ironic that the town that inspired Grover’s Corners, America’s shorthand for small-town decency, set about casting out its own. Some people became the missionaries of compliance, then guardians of virtue, then something far worse…true believers in the righteousness of exclusion.
Washington’s doctors truly wanted to save him. They were trained, experienced, and sure that doing something was better than doing nothing. Now, more than 200 years later, we know that good intentions, common practice, and logical theories are not enough.
Anyone can pontificate in peer-reviewed venues. To show how it is done is another matter. Salatin’s farm is an inspiration that would make even Jefferson blush. He and his farm are national treasures, and this book can be added to his legacy.
Generations of politicians and bureaucrats scorned the scientific evidence on marijuana to score “tough on crime” points. More than ten million Americans were arrested for marijuana to help prop up Washington’s campaign to demonize weed and anyone who touched it.
Science—and society—benefit when people can ask questions without fearing character assassination. Real inquiry demands curiosity and courage. We need a much higher willingness to tolerate ambiguity, withstand criticism, and focus on the idea, not the person.
Valentin has shown what a culture does to its young when it translates every sorrow into a diagnosis and every duty into a trauma. The rest is transmission: the slow work of teaching the next child that she is not a brand.
The Commodified Self and the Designed Collapse of Generation Z Continue Reading
Bill Gates has long been one of the most admired people in the world, especially since he stepped down from his role running Microsoft to devote himself and much of his fortune to philanthropy. That reputation has been tarnished recently.
How Bill Gates’ Billions Shape US Medical Research Continue Reading
The lesson wasn’t “trust your gut.” It was that the distance between a fringe academic exercise and a thing that happens to half a million people is shorter than it is comfortable to admit.
This work exemplifies dual-use (civilian + military) research of concern: the very same tools developed for pandemic preparedness and biodefense can be readily applied to engineer viruses with enhanced pathogenicity, transmissibility, or immune evasion.
From Baric’s Blueprint to SV40 and Back Again Continue Reading
We are to believe, according to some public health voices and media, that the Ebola outbreak in Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a threat to us all. It is a story full of obvious flaws.
Ebola in DRC: The Reality and the Media Hype Continue Reading
There is a whole lot of seemingly coordinated panic right now around AI. I’ve written extensively about the legitimate, existential dangers we do need to address in technology. But my spidey sense tells me this current fever pitch isn’t that.
The biosecurity State, which is too content to hover over an unhealthy population, thrives on abstraction and fear of the bodies that populate it. Berry’s counter is concrete and affectionate. Love a place…even when everything conspires to make it unlovable.
What Lessons Can We Learn from Wendell Berry? Continue Reading
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