Dave Davies

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America to earn her medical degree. Her sister Emily followed in her footsteps. Janice Nimura tells the story of the “complicated, prickly” trailblazers.

Katherine Standefer was uninsured and working as a hiking guide when diagnosed with a genetic heart condition. She chronicles her experience with an implanted heart device in Lightning Flowers.

“Republicans have been trying to drive a stake into the heart of Obamacare pretty much since it was passed — both through legislation and litigation,” New York Times reporter Sarah Kliff says.

Dr. Christine Montross says people with serious mental illnesses in the U.S. are far more likely to be incarcerated than to be treated in a psychiatric hospital. Her new book is Waiting for an Echo.

Dr. Danielle Ofri says medical errors are more common than most people realize: “If we don’t talk about the emotions that keep doctors and nurses from speaking up, we’ll never solve this problem.”

Time reporter W.J. Hennigan embedded with workers responsible for caring for the bodies of some 20,000 New Yorkers who have died from COVID-19. “It’s a haunting thing,” he says.

Time magazine reporter W.J. Hennigan embedded with workers responsible for caring for the bodies of some 20,000 New Yorkers who have died from COVID-19. “It’s a haunting thing,” he says.

New York Times health reporter Donald McNeil points to China as one extreme way to stop a pandemic in its tracks. “We’re reluctant to follow China, but they did it,” he says. At least for now.

New Yorker writer Michael Specter covered Fauci’s early work in the AIDS epidemic. “He’s always taken an open-minded approach to the problems,” Specter says of the infectious-disease expert.

New York Times investigative reporter Sarah Kliff talks about the costs and challenges of switching to a universal healthcare system — and what it might mean to eliminate private insurance entirely.