Field Notes

Exposure Archives On the histories infection writes into us Field Notes is where I take one idea from the episode—something that feels like a hinge point—and follow it to see what it reveals. If you want the full story, you can read or listen to the episode here. In the Margins There’s a moment in this episode that won’t let go of me. Not the courtroom, not the verdict. It’s the nurse in Louisiana, at home, half-asleep, the familiar weight of someone she’d trusted for a decad

Blind Spots On viruses, visibility, and the signals we miss Field Notes is where I take one idea from the episode—something that feels like a hinge point—and follow it to see what it reveals. If you want the full story, you can read or listen to the episode here. In the Margins Somewhere in almost every Ebola outbreak, there’s a moment when the virus is already there, but the tools built to recognize it are still looking for something else. In Yambuku in 1976, clinicians thou

Walking the Line On risk, reassurance, and the lines that divide us Field Notes is where I take one idea from the episode—something that feels like a hinge point—and follow it to see what it reveals. If you want the full story, you can read or listen to the episode here. In the Margins Somewhere during an outbreak investigation, a contact tracer has to decide whether someone “counts” as an exposure. Two passengers sat beside the same infected person on a flight. One was there

In Memoriam On uncertainty, memory, and the stories outbreaks inherit Field Notes is where I take one idea from the episode—something that feels like a hinge point—and follow it to see what it reveals. If you want the full story, you can read or listen to the episode here. In the Margins One of the hardest things about modern outbreak communication is that people no longer hear scientific language in isolation. They hear it through memory. “Airborne” is no longer just a techn

Issue #3 It Passes Between Us On transmission, transformation, and the language before pathogens Welcome to Field Notes. Each week, I take one idea from the episode and follow it where it leads. For Outbreak After Dark, that idea isn’t just biological—it’s how we make sense of what we don’t fully understand. If you want the full story, you can read or listen to the episode here. In the Margins There’s a line in the episode about garlic—how it shows up both in early infection

Issue #2 When Infection Doesn't End On persistence and what gets lost when infection is treated as an event Welcome to Field Notes . Each week, I take one idea from the episode—something that feels like a hinge point—and follow it where it leads. Not to repeat the science, but to see what it reveals. If you want the full story, you can read or listen to the episode here . In the Margins Most of the time, we treat infection like something that declares itself and then resolves

Issue #1 When Systems Adapt On flexibility, vectors, and persistence Welcome to the first issue of Field Notes. Each week, I take one idea from the episode—something that feels like a hinge point—and follow it where it leads. Not to repeat the science, but to see what it reveals. In the Margins What makes murine typhus unusual isn’t the pathogen—it’s the flexibility of the system. The transmission cycle used to be a closed loop of rats, fleas, and humans. Now the system inclu