Science

US: 250 Years Later – Part 42: Drugs (Prescription)

by

In 1776, prescription medicine as Americans know it today did not exist. Remedies were mixed by hand from herbs, minerals, tinctures, and compounds that lived somewhere between healing and hazard. Two hundred and fifty years later, pharmaceuticals shape daily life through astonishing medical breakthroughs, billion-dollar industries, and complex healthcare systems. This letter follows America’s changing relationship with prescription medicine and asks what people are truly seeking whenever they reach for relief.

Read the letter →

US: 250 Years Later – Part 37: Disease

by

In 1776, disease was not an interruption to life. It was woven directly into life itself. Epidemics moved through families, military camps, and entire communities with terrifying familiarity. Two hundred and fifty years later, medicine has transformed survival through vaccines, antibiotics, public health systems, and astonishing technology, yet disease continues changing form. This letter follows America’s long battle with illness and asks what sickness reveals not only about biology… but about society itself.

Read the letter →

US: 250 Years Later – Part 4: Air Pollution

by

In 1776, Americans mostly breathed air shaped by forests, fireplaces, rivers, and weather. Two hundred and fifty years later, we live beneath skies transformed by industry, automobiles, technology, and global environmental change. This letter follows America’s journey from wood smoke to wildfire haze, asking what price we are willing to pay for progress.

Read the letter →