It was a quiet Saturday morning, and as a pediatrician who had a busy week, that meant it was the perfect time to cozy up with a large mug of coffee at my kitchen table and make my way through the many lab results that had come into the electronic health record inbox since the … Read moreHealthy Activities Save Kids’ Lives. Why Are They So Hard to Find?
The results in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary have made it clear that the GOP presidential primary probably will be a coronation for former President Donald Trump. Trump beat his closest rival Nikki Haley by double digits in New Hampshire on Tuesday, despite the state being favorable to her. But while the … Read moreTo Understand Trump’s Appeal, Look to the History of Alabama Politics
The debate over what speech should be permitted on university campuses has reached a fever pitch after calamitous congressional hearings on antisemitism, in which the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT refused to unequivocally state that calling for genocide of Jews would be impermissible at their schools. The ensuing uproar prompted Penn’s president M. Elizabeth … Read moreWhat Today’s University Presidents Can Learn From the First Modern Expulsion Over Hate Speech on Campus
The answer to surging antisemitism on campus is not to curtail free speech. Anguish over mounting anti-Jewish sentiment, and the seemingly ad hoc scramble of American universities to define their duties toward targeted students, is understandable. But in a pluralistic society predicated on the right to speak, antisemitism cannot be eliminated by banning or punishing … Read moreThe Dangers of Curtailing Free Speech on Campus
Around the world, civilians are under siege, victims of wars they never sought and cannot flee. From Israel and Gaza to Yemen and the Congo, and from Somalia to Ukraine and beyond, innocent men and women have been bombed, raped, displaced, and starved with routine barbarity. These cases spotlight how, in the heat of war, … Read moreThe National Remorse That Follows Wartime Actions Against Civilians
Climate change, it turns out, is not the first time humanity has re‑made the Earth. Or resorted to a Hail Mary to save it. Fifty years ago, in a crowning achievement of American environmental legislation, the country passed a law on the short list of our very best ideas. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of … Read moreHow the Endangered Species Act Saved America
North America’s fastest train currently sits in a Philadelphia storage yard. Once slated to enter service in 2021, the next generation Acela Express will not carry passengers for at least another year. That’s according to an October report by Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), which found that the train’s hydraulic systems leak, its couplers … Read moreWhy America Still Doesn’t Have Fast Trains
Lovers of single life, it’s time to set yourselves free. Unshackle yourselves from those old, regressive stories that claim that single life is sad and lonely. Rise above those repressive notions that everyone wants a romantic partner and if you think you don’t, you’ll get over it, and if you don’t get over it, you … Read moreAn Ode to the Single Life
Hospitals are such important places in our lives. It’s where we are born, where we go for help when we’re not well, and where we turn to when cancer, a heart attack, or major injury leaves us hanging by a thread. It’s also where our loved ones spend their time anxiously waiting for us to … Read moreHospitals Should Be Redesigned to Improve Care
Over the past several decades, there have been many supporting studies of the health-promoting effects of an optimistic personality. Much research has been done on the connection between a high level of optimism and good health, described well in clinical psychologists Burel R. Goodin and Hailey W. Bulls’ 2014 research paper, appropriately titled, “Optimism and … Read moreWhat Pigs and Squirrels Can Teach Us About Managing Pain