Let Me Down Easy

Last week I went to the Arena Stage to see Anna Deavere Smith's one woman play, Let Me Down Easy. This is s great show. It deals with Health care in this country, but it also deals a lot with death

Here is Smith discussing the show with Bill Moyers.

‘Ah-Choo!’

Fresh Air has an interesting interview with Jennifer Ackerman about her new book, Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold. Audio of the interview at the link below.

‘Ah-Choo!’ Takes On Mysteries Of The Common Cold

Obama's Speech

I think Obama could have done a lot more last year to see that Health Care reform passed, and he is now lucky that he has Nancy Pelosi save the day for him. That being said, I think the speech he gave today to the Democratic Caucus was probably his best speech ever.

Here is the speech in three parts.

Can psychiatry be a science?

A good article this week in The New Yorker by Louis Menand about psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.

Head Case

If Colleges Worked Like Health Care

An interesting article from the New York Times. The article has a link to a video "If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care" which is also amusing.

If Colleges Worked Like Health Care

Health Care Cost from the New Yorker

Here is an article from the New Yorker about health care cost. The author draws an analogy between Health Care today and American agriculture around 1900 to make the argument that Health Care may become more efficient and cheaper on it's own, even though the current legislation before Congress does not do very much to control the cost of health care. I would like to believe that this is true, but I am not sure that it is.