Olga Khazan
Being Black in America Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
In Baltimore and other segregated cities, the life-expectancy gap between African Americans and whites is as much as 20 years. One young woman’s struggle shows why.
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Nir Elias / Reuters Your Pillows Might Be Killing Your Neck
After waking up with a searing pain that radiates down to my shoulders, I hunt for the culprit.
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Pete Ark / Getty How a Measles Quarantine Can Lead to Eviction
Without paid sick leave, workers who are quarantined for health reasons face job loss and worse.
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Billion Photos / Shutterstock / The Atlantic Americans Are Going Bankrupt From Getting Sick
Doctors’ bills play a role in 60 percent of personal-bankruptcy filings.
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Mitchell Haaseth / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank ... The Truth About People Who Have No Personality
They actually just keep their opinions to themselves.
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Yuri Gripas/ Reuters Kicking the Tires on Medicare for All
Single-payer health-care plans seem foreign to many voters. House Democrats are aiming to change that.
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AnnaTamila / Shutterstock, Katie Martin / The Atlantic Why So Many Americans Are Turning to Buddhism
The ancient Eastern religion is helping Westerners with very modern mental-health problems.
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP The Biggest Consequence of Trump’s New Abortion Rule Won’t Be for Abortion
New restrictions on the Title X program may affect poor women’s access to other kinds of health care.
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP The 7 Most Revealing Moments From a Major Drug-Pricing Hearing
Even pharma executives recognize that drugs cost Americans too much.
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Andy Lyons / Getty A Poor Childhood Could Hurt Your Memory in Old Age
People raised in low-income families have worse cognitive functioning after age 50, suggesting that mental decline is a process that starts in childhood.
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Philippe Laurenson / Reuters I Smelled Like a Man for a Day
There’s a reason men’s body washes and deodorants all seem to have that same, specific scent.
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Jianan Yu / Reuters Americans Are Dying Even Younger
Drug overdoses and suicides are causing American life expectancy to drop.
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Maxim Shemetov / Reuters Why So Many People Hate Winter
Science suggests that there are two types of people who tolerate the cold well. Sadly, I’m neither.
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Associated Press The Charity Walkathon Is Dead
Long live the charity walkathon.
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MA8 / Mukesh Kumar / Shutterstock / The ... America’s Health-Care System Is Making the Opioid Crisis Worse
Arcane rules and outdated beliefs about addiction are keeping many people from getting treatment.
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Joshua Roberts / Reuters How Sheryl Sandberg Lost Her Feminist Street Cred
The latest news about Facebook is a wake-up call that “leaning in” doesn’t mean doing right.
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China Daily / Reuters Your Mother’s Romantic Past Affects Your Own Dating Adventures
A new study suggests that people whose mothers had several serious romantic partners tend to follow the same trajectory.
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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Did Obamacare Repeal Hurt the Republicans?
How the GOP repeal effort did—and did not—come back to bite those who championed it
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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters The Problem With Being Perfect
A trait that’s often seen as good can actually be destructive. Here’s how to combat it.
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Nguyen Huy Kham / Reuters Just Months of American Life Change the Microbiome
Immigrants’ gut bacteria “westernize” soon after they move to the U.S., which might influence obesity in immigrants and Americans alike.
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Toby Melville / Reuters Why Women’s Shoes Are So Painful
One sufferer seeks relief for her bleeding feet.
