The great COVID baby bust (The Root)
by Ishena Robinson
A huge drop in baby-making since the start of the pandemic has demographers and economists shaken. But the decline in fertility has complicated causes that go beyond COVID-19 and won’t disappear when this crisis ends.

Dr. Seuss and racism (Slate)
by Rebecca Onion
Dr. Seuss drew some jaw-droppingly racist illustrations. And he made some books clearly designed to challenge prejudice. What do we know about his intentions, impact, and ability to learn from critique?

The lost treasure of the American plains (Yale 360)
by Verlyn Klinkenborg
When white people showed up on the prairies of Iowa, they found an astonishingly rich ecosystem. In a couple of generations, farming practices wiped out much of the soil and the life it held. With knowledge of what happened, can things be turned around?

What we see when we die (The Conversation)
by Carine Mardorossian
Dying people often have vivid dreams and waking visions of loved ones. Doctors have traditionally been taught to dismiss these experiences as troublesome delusions, but they may offer something important to the dying and those they leave behind.

The quest for an artificial heart (The New Yorker)
by Joshua Rothman
For more than a century, doctors have been working to fix malfunctioning human hearts. Why hasn’t anyone come up with a permanent mechanical replacement for the most important pump in our lives?

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