Health and Disease

Berthe Morisot, “Woman at Her Toilette” (1875–80).

GLP-1s and the Limits of Knowing Better GLP-1s and the Limits of Knowing Better

I agreed with every political argument against weight-loss drugs. I took them anyway.

May 23, 2026 / Grace Ginsburg

Passengers watch as unseen health personnel assists patients onto a boat from the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. Evacuations were taking place because of a deadly outbreak of hantavirus.

The Hantavirus Is Also a Climate Warning The Hantavirus Is Also a Climate Warning

Higher temperatures, like this coming summer’s, bring more infectious diseases.

May 14, 2026 / Mark Hertsgaard

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. answers a question on the Hantavirus during an event with President Donald Trump on maternal healthcare in the Oval Office of the White House on May 11, 2026.

The Hantavirus Isn’t the Biggest Threat We’re Facing The Hantavirus Isn’t the Biggest Threat We’re Facing

The government’s destruction of our pandemic preparedness is.

May 13, 2026 / Gregg Gonsalves

Jayanta Bhattacharya, director of the US National Institutes of Health, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas, on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

The Rise of the Vichy Scientists The Rise of the Vichy Scientists

Too many scientists are willing to collaborate with Trumpism in the mistaken assumption that obedience will save their own necks.

May 1, 2026 / Gregg Gonsalves

Donald Trump attends UFC 327 at Kaseya Center on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida

We Need to Prepare for the Mammoth Task of De-Trumpification We Need to Prepare for the Mammoth Task of De-Trumpification

The damage he and his cronies have wrought could take decades to repair, particularly when it comes to science and public health.

Apr 20, 2026 / Gregg Gonsalves

Cholera infected patients receive treatment in the cholera isolation centre at the refugee camps of western Sudan, in Tawila city in Darfur.

At 3 Years of War, North Darfur Is an Open Graveyard At 3 Years of War, North Darfur Is an Open Graveyard

As Rapid Support Forces cut off the flow of resources to western Sudan, hunger, cholera, and violence abound.

Apr 15, 2026 / StudentNation / Jaanu Ramesh

A state ambulance leaves the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

The Deadly Labyrinth of Nigerian Healthcare The Deadly Labyrinth of Nigerian Healthcare

My mother miraculously survived a series of health scares—but she barely survived our country’s hospitals.

Apr 11, 2026 / Gazelle Mba

HIV educators in South Africa in 2002.

Public Health Needs to Get Off the Laptop and Into the Streets Public Health Needs to Get Off the Laptop and Into the Streets

Too often, we reduce our outreach to distant communication. We have to embed ourselves in communities to make a real difference.

Apr 9, 2026 / Gregg Gonsalves

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US secretary of Health and Human Services, left, and Brooke Rollins, US agriculture secretary, stand during an event at the Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2026.

Is Your Diet a Little Bit Fascist? Is Your Diet a Little Bit Fascist?

The right is summoning its armies via their stomachs. When we dismiss food politics, we risk missing what’s being stirred when a group coheres itself around the table.

Mar 19, 2026 / Amber Husain

The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets

The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets The Pork Oligarchs of Iowa Have Local Politicians in Their Pockets

Jeff and Deb Hansen spend hundreds of thousands to keep the state friendly to their business.

Mar 12, 2026 / Column / Chuck Collins

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