Why Being Laid Off Can Hurt So Much
If an occupation becomes part of your identity, losing work can feel like a personal failing, even if it's clearly not your fault.
Who Were the Ladies of Llangollen?
Top hat connoisseurs, friends of princesses and poets, tchotchke models, dog lovers, cottage keepers...lesbians?
The Marvelous Experiments of Amateur Plant Breeders
Over 100 years ago, a horticulturalist introduced hybrid plants to California gardeners. Up sprouted a movement of amateur experiments in plant biology.
Anthony S. Fauci on Pandemic Preparedness
Before he led the effort to contain COVID-19, the nation's top infectious disease expert published several papers about pandemic preparedness. Here are two.
How People in the Depression Managed to Laugh
American popular culture flourished in the 1930s, despite the Great Depression. One thing that helped: artists being included in the New Deal.
Viral Mutation for the Perplexed
We all know viruses mutate. But how does that happen, and what does it mean for how we can treat diseases caused by viruses?
How America Brought the 1957 Influenza Pandemic to a Halt
Microbiologist Maurice Hilleman saw it coming, so the country made 40 million doses of the vaccine within months.
Teaching Pandemics Syllabus
Readings on the history of quarantine, contagious disease, viruses, infections, and epidemics offer important context for the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
There’s a Mascot for That? Cute COVID-19 Education
How to get people to stay healthy during a quarantine? Some countries have taken to a new communications strategy, and it's super cute.
Dogs and Cancer
Because we share many of the same cell types with our pets, they develop some of the same cancers. Comparative oncologists study these parallels.