On Sunday I ran 26.2 miles through the streets of New York City. I giggled deliriously as I crossed the finish line. And then I held my medal aloft and beamed for the cameras. But long-distance running isn’t all glamour and glory. There’s a price to be paid, and I’m not talking about the entrance fee. […]
Cassandra
21 – 25 October What happens to sperm and egg donors in the era of cut-rate genetic testing? Cassie discovers that anonymous donations come with a cost. A growing class of viral clips — generally misinterpreted as cute or funny — actually shows animals in anger, pain, or sexual arousal, says guest poster Whitney Robles. […]
Joy Morgan* isn’t a mother, but she may have kids. When Morgan was 27, she decided to donate her eggs. The first time she did it for money. “I was about to go back to school, and I had been drowning in a bit of credit card debt,” she says. Eight thousand dollars is a lot […]
For every story that makes it to print, there are scads that die in the reporting trenches. This is one of those stories. In 2001, I moved to Bolivia to become a Peace Corps volunteer and fell deeply in love with the country. In 2010, I returned. I wanted to visit friends and family, but, […]
Last weekend I heard a story I won’t soon forget. Bob Freer, who runs an animal rescue shelter in the Everglades, appeared on a rerun of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and he began to talk about Florida’s python problem. Of course, I knew Florida had a python problem. But there’s knowing, and then there’s […]
When I was about four years old, a squirrel found its way into our house. My dad and his brother pursued it while my mom and I cowered in the bathtub with the shower curtain drawn. Eventually one of the men killed it with a hammer. I don’t remember seeing the corpse, but I have […]
22 – 26 July The “since-you-live-in-Mexico-you’ll-probably-be-dead-tomorrow attitude” is the most frustrating thing about being a Mexican expat, says Erik. The smoky volcanoes? Not so much. Ann and Abstruse Goose showed us the grave harm that befalls physicists who try too hard to describe reality. Jessa explored the intriguing new science of awe, and how you […]
Last night I read Robin Marantz Henig’s beautiful story about Peggy Battin, a bioethicist and advocate for patients who wish to end their lives, and her husband, Brooke Hopkins. A bike accident in 2008 left Brooke paralyzed from the shoulders down and in need of almost constant care. Some days Brooke wants to live; other […]