My second substack is about my first substack
My third will be about something else
I have written one solitary Substack post, about a study of school mask mandates. I offered a gentle critique of why positioning masks as anti-capitalist might alienate policy-makers and physicians.
The post caught the attention of an editor at the Boston Globe, who asked Natalia Linos, one of the authors of the study, and me to discuss the issue via video chat. It was a great discussion—engaging, respectful, and educational. (It was also a useful interruption of my cabin fever, as I was, ironically, stuck at home with COVID at the time.)
There have been innumerable calls for “debate” during the pandemic, but most of them ring hollow. Pundits are far more comfortable speaking to disciples on Twitter or to friendly media outlets. As a result, you often end up with absurdities like an “academic freedom” conference comprised of billionaires and like-minded pontificos that was originally closed to journalists.
Besides, debate only gets you so far. Debate implies a zero sum outcome, where one side must convince the other, where winners and losers will be declared. Call me simple or sentimental, but I think discussion accomplishes more than debate.
I want to thank the Globe for turning over space to these types of conversations. I don’t know if it’s good for engagement metrics, but it is healthy for the world of ideas.
You can read the discussion over on the Boston Globe website. It should be out in print this weekend.
Other interesting articles:
“Immunity debt was worth it” by my pediatrician friend Mike Rose in Slate.
“Paying back debt is painful, especially when it’s children who are being made to suffer. But we can’t fight back if we deny the problem by smearing anyone who acknowledges immunity debt as anti-vax or anti-mask.”
“Are fewer cases of diabetes mellitus diagnosed in the months after SARS-CoV-2 infection?” out in preprint.
“The spike of new DM cases immediately surrounding SARS-CoV-2 infections could represent individuals who were newly interacting with the healthcare system, having their hemoglobin A1C or glucose value tested, and receiving a diagnosis of DM”
“Trends in Cases, Hospitalization and Mortality Related to the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 Sub-Variants in South Africa” in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
“Overall, admission incidence risk and in-hospital mortality, which had increased progressively in South Africa’s first three waves, decreased in the fourth Omicron BA.1/BA.2 wave and declined even further in the fifth Omicron BA.4/BA.5 wave. Mortality risk was lower in those with natural infection and vaccination, declining further as the number of vaccine doses increased.”