Author: Matt Kristoffersen
Greetings–
This week I was in Baltimore to partake in the annual meeting of the American Society for Human Genetics, partly to find material for my next book on heredity, and partly to look for good stories to report. I envisioned a few peaceful days kicking back in dimly lit rooms, gazing at Manhattan plots. But news waits for no one, and so I ended up on the phone a fair amount of the time to file a couple stories. To wit: Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, October 9, 2015”
Greetings–
Thanks to everyone who responded about the pacing of Friday’s Elk. I’ve decided to keep sending it out every week, although there may be a week here or there where I’ll have to let a Friday slip by. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, October 2, 2015”
Welcome back to Friday’s Elk, a newsletter about what I’m up to. Thanks for subscribing!
After a summer hiatus, I’m going to start sending it out again on a regular basis. I’m still debating whether that should be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. I want to find the optimal tradeoff between frequency and information. (I don’t think anybody wants daily emails that contain half a sentence each, nor does anyone want a once-a-decade tome.) If you have a preference, please let me know at carl@carlzimmer.com. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, September 25, 2015”
Greetings!
I hope your summer has unfolded well. The picture here is from a trip I took to the Galapagos Islands in July. After writing for years about this special place, it was fabulous to finally see it in person.
The last time I sent out a Friday’s Elk, before my trip, I said I’d be taking off the rest of the summer. I’m breaking my summer silence (briefly) primarily to let you know about some housekeeping matters at Friday’s Elk. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk: A break from summer break”
WIRED, August 20, 2015
THE CENTERS FOR Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 68 children in the US are on the autism spectrum, a number that stands in staggering contrast to a 1970 study that put the figure at one in 14,200. Some people believe we’re in the middle of an autism epidemic. But autism has always been part of the human experience, as journalist (and WIRED contributor) Steve Silberman shows in his new book, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. It’s only recently, he argues, that we have become properly aware of it. We spoke to Silberman about how the modern world came to recognize autistic people and how autistic people helped shape the modern world.
Continue reading “How Autistic People Helped Shape the Modern World”