Pinned
The Island Where People Go to Cheat Death
In a pop-up city off the coast of Honduras, longevity startups are trying to fast-track anti-aging drugs. Is this the future of medical research?
newrepublic.com
I went to a pop-up city on an island off the coast of Honduras, which bills itself as a hub for fast-tracking longevity drugs. I wrote about what I found there for @newrepublic.com: newrepublic.com/article/2011...
Starting this month, I'm a contributing writer at The Microdose! I'll be working on 5 Questions; my first asks Lucas Richert about Ritalin-assisted therapy. themicrodose.substack.com/p/ritalin-as...
Ritalin-assisted therapy: 5 Questions for historian of pharmacy Lucas Richert
Richert discusses the drugs that have made their way onto the therapist’s couch.
themicrodose.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Starting this month, I'm a contributing writer at The Microdose! I'll be working on 5 Questions; my first asks Lucas Richert about Ritalin-assisted therapy. themicrodose.substack.com/p/ritalin-as...
For @us.theguardian.com I wrote about "paradoxical insomnia"—the strange experience of being asleep but not *knowing* you're asleep
Thanks to @theguardian.com for this spotlight on "paradoxical insomnia".
One of the many fascinating oddities of sleep, when people look like they slept, but do not feel like they slept.
#sleep #insomnia
🧠🧪💤
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
One of the many fascinating oddities of sleep, when people look like they slept, but do not feel like they slept.
#sleep #insomnia
🧠🧪💤
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
You were asleep but swear you weren’t: what is paradoxical insomnia?
We don’t always know when we’re asleep or awake. This can affect how rested we feel
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:43 PM
For @us.theguardian.com I wrote about "paradoxical insomnia"—the strange experience of being asleep but not *knowing* you're asleep
For NatGeo I wrote about a neuroscientist trying to understand religious belief through the study of miracles www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
Why are humans religious? Scientists are studying miracles to find out.
Miracles by definition defy science. But a new research effort attempts to understand what our experiences with them do to the brain.
www.nationalgeographic.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:43 PM
For NatGeo I wrote about a neuroscientist trying to understand religious belief through the study of miracles www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
I went to a pop-up city on an island off the coast of Honduras, which bills itself as a hub for fast-tracking longevity drugs. I wrote about what I found there for @newrepublic.com: newrepublic.com/article/2011...
The Island Where People Go to Cheat Death
In a pop-up city off the coast of Honduras, longevity startups are trying to fast-track anti-aging drugs. Is this the future of medical research?
newrepublic.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I went to a pop-up city on an island off the coast of Honduras, which bills itself as a hub for fast-tracking longevity drugs. I wrote about what I found there for @newrepublic.com: newrepublic.com/article/2011...
Our food may soon look very different if synthetic dyes are eliminated. For @newyorker.com I wrote about the hunt for stable natural colorants:
www.newyorker.com/science/elem...
www.newyorker.com/science/elem...
What We Eat May Never Look the Same
R.F.K., Jr., and the MAHA movement are at war with synthetic food dyes. Scientists are racing to reinvent the culinary color wheel.
www.newyorker.com
August 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Our food may soon look very different if synthetic dyes are eliminated. For @newyorker.com I wrote about the hunt for stable natural colorants:
www.newyorker.com/science/elem...
www.newyorker.com/science/elem...
Reposted by Shayla Love
How much is the psychedelic experience influenced by what we see, hear and read? We made a way to measure it: The Psychedelic Media Exposure Questionnaire - developed by Audrey Evers, Chris Kelly, @shaylalove.bsky.social , @tehseennoorani.bsky.social, validated on >600 respondents. Link below:
The Psychedelic Media Exposure Questionnaire: The development and validation of a new scale assessing psychedelic-related media exposure
Rationale: A reliable and valid instrument is needed to measure exposure to psychedelic-related media to examine the impact of media and expectations on outcomes in psychedelic clinical trials. Object...
www.medrxiv.org
July 9, 2025 at 8:29 PM
How much is the psychedelic experience influenced by what we see, hear and read? We made a way to measure it: The Psychedelic Media Exposure Questionnaire - developed by Audrey Evers, Chris Kelly, @shaylalove.bsky.social , @tehseennoorani.bsky.social, validated on >600 respondents. Link below:
Reposted by Shayla Love
Earlier this year, I went from Iowa to central Sardinia to write about the efforts to make American cities more like “blue zones,” the now-controversial longevity hot spots. In the @newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
The Longevity Hot Spots That Weren’t
Our culture has become obsessed with “blue zones,” where people purportedly live longer. But does the underlying research stand up to scrutiny?
newrepublic.com
December 2, 2024 at 7:17 PM
Earlier this year, I went from Iowa to central Sardinia to write about the efforts to make American cities more like “blue zones,” the now-controversial longevity hot spots. In the @newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
Last December, I went to the French Alps to write about a medical mystery: In a small village, more than a dozen people were diagnosed with ALS, 10x higher than expected. This is the result of a decade-long investigation to try to understand why.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
An ‘Impossible’ Disease Outbreak in the Alps
In one tiny town, more than a dozen people were diagnosed with the rare neurodegenerative disease ALS. Why?
www.theatlantic.com
March 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Last December, I went to the French Alps to write about a medical mystery: In a small village, more than a dozen people were diagnosed with ALS, 10x higher than expected. This is the result of a decade-long investigation to try to understand why.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Insects are small, they don’t scream or bleed red, and many are considered pests; we tend to kill or mutilate them without pause. For @newyorker.com I wrote about the investigations into whether insects feel pain. www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...
Do Insects Feel Pain?
Insects make up about forty per cent of living species, and we tend to kill them without pause. New research explores the possibility that they are sentient.
www.newyorker.com
January 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Insects are small, they don’t scream or bleed red, and many are considered pests; we tend to kill or mutilate them without pause. For @newyorker.com I wrote about the investigations into whether insects feel pain. www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...
Reposted by Shayla Love
On today's edition of '100 Years of 100 Things', @shaylalove.bsky.social connected the rise of RFK jr. to the wellness trends in American history. www.wnyc.org/story/100-ye...
100 Years of 100 Things: American Wellness | The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC
As our centennial series continues, Shayla Love, a staff writer at The Atlantic, reviews the history of American interests in 'wellness.'
www.wnyc.org
December 23, 2024 at 8:57 PM
On today's edition of '100 Years of 100 Things', @shaylalove.bsky.social connected the rise of RFK jr. to the wellness trends in American history. www.wnyc.org/story/100-ye...
Reposted by Shayla Love
Nothing could be more delightful than reading @shaylalove.bsky.social on 19th century wellness influencers, and their spiritual successor, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
America Can’t Break Its Wellness Habit
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fits into a long history of Americans who have waged battle against conventional medicine.
www.theatlantic.com
December 11, 2024 at 8:56 PM
Nothing could be more delightful than reading @shaylalove.bsky.social on 19th century wellness influencers, and their spiritual successor, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Our Goop-ified health world may seem fundamentally modern, but there is a direct line between today’s wellness industry and the mid-1800s/ early 20th century. I wrote how the history of wellness is the best way to understand RFK Jr.'s appeal:
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
RFK Jr. Is Seducing America With Wellness
The best way to defuse Kennedy’s power is not by litigating his beliefs, but by understanding why the promise of being well has such lasting appeal.
www.theatlantic.com
December 10, 2024 at 6:13 PM
Our Goop-ified health world may seem fundamentally modern, but there is a direct line between today’s wellness industry and the mid-1800s/ early 20th century. I wrote how the history of wellness is the best way to understand RFK Jr.'s appeal:
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Earlier this year, I went from Iowa to central Sardinia to write about the efforts to make American cities more like “blue zones,” the now-controversial longevity hot spots. In the @newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
The Longevity Hot Spots That Weren’t
Our culture has become obsessed with “blue zones,” where people purportedly live longer. But does the underlying research stand up to scrutiny?
newrepublic.com
December 2, 2024 at 7:17 PM
Earlier this year, I went from Iowa to central Sardinia to write about the efforts to make American cities more like “blue zones,” the now-controversial longevity hot spots. In the @newrepublic.com:
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
newrepublic.com/article/1883...
Reposted by Shayla Love
If you, too, enjoy "is this grift?" stories that move from immortality desires to research errors to the Aspen Ideas Festival to our ambivalent relationship to modernity, you must MUST read this @shaylalove.bsky.social piece on the Blue Zones scandal. It's got it all. newrepublic.com/article/1883...
The Longevity Hot Spots That Weren’t
Our culture has become obsessed with “blue zones,” where people purportedly live longer. But does the underlying research stand up to scrutiny?
newrepublic.com
November 27, 2024 at 6:24 PM
If you, too, enjoy "is this grift?" stories that move from immortality desires to research errors to the Aspen Ideas Festival to our ambivalent relationship to modernity, you must MUST read this @shaylalove.bsky.social piece on the Blue Zones scandal. It's got it all. newrepublic.com/article/1883...
Reposted by Shayla Love
I talked to @shaylalove.bsky.social about the paradox of non-psychedelic trips
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Tripping on Nothing
New, non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelics are blurring the boundaries of the drug trip.
www.theatlantic.com
October 21, 2024 at 5:54 PM
I talked to @shaylalove.bsky.social about the paradox of non-psychedelic trips
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
Modern psychedelic users and advocates, as a group, have no consistent political slant.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
The Horseshoe Theory of Psychedelics
Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign has cemented the right’s romance with hallucinogenic drugs.
www.theatlantic.com
November 13, 2024 at 2:57 PM
Modern psychedelic users and advocates, as a group, have no consistent political slant.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...
I wrote about the growing overlap between psychedelic and longevity communities.
As Bryan Johnson told me: “Psychedelics and longevity seem like long-lost best friends.”
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
As Bryan Johnson told me: “Psychedelics and longevity seem like long-lost best friends.”
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
‘Long-lost best friends’: the longevity movement finds psychedelics
The mental-health benefits of psychedelics are a draw for a growing community of people committed to reversing ageing
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2023 at 2:35 PM
I wrote about the growing overlap between psychedelic and longevity communities.
As Bryan Johnson told me: “Psychedelics and longevity seem like long-lost best friends.”
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
As Bryan Johnson told me: “Psychedelics and longevity seem like long-lost best friends.”
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
Reposted by Shayla Love
I love this story by @shaylalove.bsky.social so much!!!! www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a4...
After a Breakup, I Needed a Game I Could Master
Suddenly unsure of both my luck and skill, I did the logical thing: learn to play the hardest card game of all time.
www.esquire.com
December 7, 2023 at 3:19 AM
I love this story by @shaylalove.bsky.social so much!!!! www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a4...
The sensation we call dizziness is a sort of general alarm system for the body—but just as a fire alarm can’t tell you where a fire is burning (or whether someone walked through the emergency exit by mistake), it doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s wrong.
www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...
www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...
Why Dizziness Is Still a Mystery
Balance disorders like vertigo can be devastating for patients—but they’re often invisible to the doctors who treat them.
www.newyorker.com
October 10, 2023 at 9:41 PM
The sensation we call dizziness is a sort of general alarm system for the body—but just as a fire alarm can’t tell you where a fire is burning (or whether someone walked through the emergency exit by mistake), it doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s wrong.
www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...
www.newyorker.com/culture/anna...
Reposted by Shayla Love
Them: "Oh so you're an academic, what are some of your sayings?"
Me:
Me:
favorite quotes from this piece:
“Holes require a host...Doughnut holes require a doughnut."—Chaz Firestone
Absences (shadows, holes, silence) are "like the fruit flies of metaphysics."— Roy Sorensen
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-actually-hear-silence/
“Holes require a host...Doughnut holes require a doughnut."—Chaz Firestone
Absences (shadows, holes, silence) are "like the fruit flies of metaphysics."— Roy Sorensen
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-actually-hear-silence/
Do We Actually ‘Hear’ Silence?
An experiment tests whether our ears hear silent intervals in the same way they hear music or noise
www.scientificamerican.com
October 1, 2023 at 5:33 AM
Them: "Oh so you're an academic, what are some of your sayings?"
Me:
Me:
For Scientific American, I went to the Chelsea Physic Garden in London—a botanical haven filled with poisonous and medicinal plants 🌱🌿🪴
open.spotify.com/episode/0iIt...
open.spotify.com/episode/0iIt...
September 28, 2023 at 1:42 AM
For Scientific American, I went to the Chelsea Physic Garden in London—a botanical haven filled with poisonous and medicinal plants 🌱🌿🪴
open.spotify.com/episode/0iIt...
open.spotify.com/episode/0iIt...
Neurologist Harold Wolff on "migraine personality" and fashion choices:
"Among the men polished shoes, pressed trousers and neatly arranged neckwear and hair were conspicuous. The women sometimes sacrificed a degree of attractiveness for austerity or severe neatness."
psyche.co/ideas/can-a-...
"Among the men polished shoes, pressed trousers and neatly arranged neckwear and hair were conspicuous. The women sometimes sacrificed a degree of attractiveness for austerity or severe neatness."
psyche.co/ideas/can-a-...
August 25, 2023 at 12:22 PM
Neurologist Harold Wolff on "migraine personality" and fashion choices:
"Among the men polished shoes, pressed trousers and neatly arranged neckwear and hair were conspicuous. The women sometimes sacrificed a degree of attractiveness for austerity or severe neatness."
psyche.co/ideas/can-a-...
"Among the men polished shoes, pressed trousers and neatly arranged neckwear and hair were conspicuous. The women sometimes sacrificed a degree of attractiveness for austerity or severe neatness."
psyche.co/ideas/can-a-...
favorite quotes from this piece:
“Holes require a host...Doughnut holes require a doughnut."—Chaz Firestone
Absences (shadows, holes, silence) are "like the fruit flies of metaphysics."— Roy Sorensen
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-actually-hear-silence/
“Holes require a host...Doughnut holes require a doughnut."—Chaz Firestone
Absences (shadows, holes, silence) are "like the fruit flies of metaphysics."— Roy Sorensen
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-actually-hear-silence/
Do We Actually ‘Hear’ Silence?
An experiment tests whether our ears hear silent intervals in the same way they hear music or noise
www.scientificamerican.com
July 11, 2023 at 3:23 PM
favorite quotes from this piece:
“Holes require a host...Doughnut holes require a doughnut."—Chaz Firestone
Absences (shadows, holes, silence) are "like the fruit flies of metaphysics."— Roy Sorensen
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-actually-hear-silence/
“Holes require a host...Doughnut holes require a doughnut."—Chaz Firestone
Absences (shadows, holes, silence) are "like the fruit flies of metaphysics."— Roy Sorensen
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-actually-hear-silence/