The South’s economic reliance on military bases has left a toxic legacy throughout the region. Originally published in Creative Loafing and The Weekly Planet. ON A SUMMER DAY THREE YEARS AGO, Elijah Robinson was digging in the yard of his brand-new patio home in Columbia, S.C., when an unexpected sensation washed over him. Even though he was covered in […]
Forbidden Science
What can studies of pornography, prostitution, and seedy truck stops contribute to society? Originally published in Discover. YORGHOS APOSTOLOPOULOS WAS AT HIS OFFICE at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta last October when his red voice-mail light started glowing. When he picked up the phone, he heard a somber voice. “We need to speak,” said […]
Not Just a Bladder Infection
For years, physicians thought women suffering from interstitial cystitis were hysterical. Now there’s professional recognition—and hope. Originally published in Self. ON MARCH 7, 2002, PAUL MCLEAN returned to his Arlington, Virginia, home from his office at the U.S. Department of Defense and found his wife had committed suicide by shooting herself. “Diane decided she’d had enough,” says […]
Secondhand Diplomacy
After closed-door meetings with cigarette makers, the Bush administration is seeking to derail a global tobacco treaty. Originally published in Mother Jones. IT WAS GETTING TOWARD MIDNIGHT when the phone rang in Thomas Novotny’s hotel room in Geneva. It was a May evening in 2001, and Novotny, then the assistant surgeon general, was leading the U.S. delegation […]
Colleen’s Choice
When her fight against cancer became unbearable, Colleen Rice chose death as her only option. Now the U.S. government is challenging the Oregon law that helped her end the agony. Originally published in AARP The Magazine. THE NIGHT BEFORE COLLEEN RICE SWALLOWED THE MEDICATION that ended her life, she wanted to give her grandchildren one final, uncomplicated […]
The Scientist Who Hated Abortion
Endocrinologist Joel Brind says research has shown him the truth about abortion, and that’s why he set out on a crusade that now reaches into the heart of the nation’s most powerful cancer agency. But what if he’s wrong? Originally published in Discover. IN A LARGE, FORMAL PHILADELPHIA COURTROOM six years ago, endocrinologist Joel Brind swore on […]
Unhappy Meals
School lunches are loaded with fat—and the beef and dairy industries are making sure it stays that way. Originally published in Mother Jones. EVERY WEEKDAY AT LUNCH, courtesy of the federal government, more than 27 million schoolchildren sit down to the nation’s largest mass feeding. If we took a giant snapshot of their trays on a typical […]
Surgical Strike
Originally published in Mother Jones. BARBARA HARRIS WAS EAGER TO BECOME a foster mother when she received a call from a social worker in 1990, asking her to take in an eight-month-old girl born to a woman addicted to crack cocaine. Harris, a waitress at a pancake house, agreed. Over the next two years, she […]
‘I Had An Abortion When I Was Six Months Pregnant’
Confronted with desperately ill unborn twins and great risks to her own health, a young woman steps into a political minefield. By Gina Gonzales as told to Barry Yeoman. Originally published in Glamour. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD CARE PASSIONATELY about the abortion issue or that I would find myself defending one of the most controversial medical procedures […]
Drugs Online
Viagra, Prozac, diet pills, even party drugs—all can be had with just a click of your computer mouse. And there’s little anyone can do to stop the growing Internet drug trade. Originally published in Ladies’ Home Journal. THREE YEARS AGO, MARY ELLEN MELLOR received a phone call from her husband, who was at a hospital. “I’m in […]
