What Having a Fake Disease Taught Me About Health Care
Medical schools are training students in a form of care that the system can’t—or won’t—provide.
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Illustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Source: Shutterstock; Getty. Stop Worrying About Free Beer and Doughnuts. We’re in the Middle of a Pandemic.
For too long, we’ve believed the myth that incentives backfire. But there’s nothing wrong with bribing people to get vaccinated.
Adam Maida / The Atlantic The Worst Patients in the World
Americans are hypochondriacs, yet we skip our checkups. We demand drugs we don’t need, and fail to take the ones we do. No wonder the U.S. leads the world in health spending.
Gosia Herba How to Almost Learn Italian
Language apps like Duolingo are addictive—but not particularly effective.
Tiago Galo The War on Stupid People
American society increasingly mistakes intelligence for human worth.
Edmon de Haro How Junk Food Can End Obesity
Demonizing processed food may be dooming many to obesity and disease. Could embracing the drive-thru make us all healthier?
Dan Saelinger The Perfected Self
B. F. Skinner’s notorious theory of behavior modification was denounced by critics 50 years ago as a fascist, manipulative vehicle for government control. But Skinner’s ideas are making an unlikely comeback today, powered by smartphone apps that are transforming us into thinner, richer, all-around-better versions of ourselves. The only thing we have to give up? Free will.
Frederik Broden
