Journalist – Historian – Speaker
If we’re going to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 in all its variants, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we’ll need to impose vaccine mandates. But the details matter. I argue we should use existing systems that already mandate other vaccines, rather than trying to create new ones. In a few weeks I’ll be required to …
It’s faded from the news during this intense election cycle, but Orac makes an argument that one of Donald Trump’s most consistent positions over the years is that he’s a proponent of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Antivax groups know it though, and they’re excited about having one of their movement appointing the head of the CDC. Orac …
I will be writing more fully on this elsewhere, but here’s a storify of Dr. Jill Stein’s tweets about autism and vaccines. I was initially very pleased, but have been convinced that “I’m not aware” is still trying to walk the lines between anti-science conspiracy mongers and the rest of the electorate. Worse, Stein allegedly …
Last week it came out that Chili’s was planning a charitable giveaway, today, to a group that supports the link between autism and vaccines. I wrote an op-ed about this and had it ready to roll out with CNN Opinion (pending some global news story cropping up) when Chili’s announced that they were changing their …
I am perpetually fascinated by the way that “medieval” is code for barbaric, backwards, savage, and the like. The phrase “get medieval” seems to have originated (or at least moved into widespread use) as a result of Pulp Fiction, in which Ving Rhames’ character, after being freed by Bruce Willis’ character, tells his rapist that …
“”It is amazing what celebrity can do if you do it with 100 percent good intention and heart.” – Jenny McCarthy on Oprah. In 1956, the Polio Vaccine was new and controversial. Then the March of Dimes decided to make the vaccine a major part of its campaign and leveraged its celebrity connections to the …
EDIT: This is one of the most popular posts on the history of the blog. I assume many of you coming here are looking for confirmation that Vaccines are terrible. You won’t find them here. I am, however, fascinated by the way that anti-Vax language comes from both the right and the left and the …
I am not going to write thirty posts on vaccines this month. But I do think it’s worth visiting some of the breadth of the vaccine problem both nationally and internationally as we head towards Jenny McCarthy’s first day on The View. Oregon has become one focal point for the left-wing anti-vax movement, as opposed …
Jenny McCarthy month will last no more than a few days, I hope. She starts on “The View” on the 9th. I’ve written about her for The Atlantic and CNN. Monks with the Black Death One of the things that interests me about the anti-vax movement is how it has both right-wing and left-wing elements, …