Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Well, week 3 of my 5-week course is in the bag. Students are taking their 3rd weekly exam today and tomorrow while I prep for week 4. I’m also getting initial reports back from my students who are out on their summer internships - as I’ve mentioned, I took over the summer internship program last year - and everyone is very happy, which is always great to hear.
Last week I posed a question to you, “What advice would you give your 20-something self and why?” I’ve received six responses so far. My favorite tidbit so far is, “Don’t run down the steps at night in the rain - trust me!”, which definitely sounds like the voice of experience. Seriously - I’ve received some heartfelt answers which I will share in parts soon. But I was hoping that if you haven’t answered yet, you might still do so. It’s anonymous unless you write your name in the answer box - I have no idea who the six people were who have answered so far. (Well, one person told me he had answered, and I think I can guess which response his is, but I don’t know. And I don’t know any of the rest.) So here’s the link again:
https://unh.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_54rogofirpruqhw
This week I have three pieces on the investigation into whether COVID-19 was the result of gain-of-function research. This is probably the most important thing happening right now. But I also have several other fun pieces, including a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace which I had never heard before, but fits into our advice to our younger selves discussion.
I’ve been having some fun painting bookmarks, and looking for clever quotes to go with them sometimes. I really liked this Julia Child quote - “No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” It fits nicely with the video from Rebecca Love (below), the Wallace talk, and also with our discussion of advice to younger selves. Of course this quote doesn’t just apply to cooking, but to everything. You can be born with all sorts of natural talent, but talent is just potential until you apply yourself to the task. You know, like painting bookmarks. :)
Have a great week! Stay safe out there and enjoy the links!
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Read
What: Vanity Fair, The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins
Why: I just shared a video of Katherine Eban, the author of this article, last week and I usually avoid repeats from week to week, but this week Eban is out with this new article examining perhaps the most important topic facing the whole world right now - where did COVID-19 come from? And as it happens, she also made an appearance on the Longform Podcast, so I’ve included that below as a listen. Eban is a serious journalist, not a conspiracy theory hack. She might not be right, but she deserves serious consideration. It is looking like COVID-19 was the result of a gain of function experiment getting out of the lab. Eban makes a solid case. You can listen to her talking about her research in the podcast below. The implications are quite horrifying - to think that COVID-19 is a real world microscopic Frankenstein unleashed through human arrogance is tragic and humbling.
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What: WaPo, Can a subscription model fix primary care in the U.S.?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/03/primary-care-one-medical/
Why: I’m a fan of the subscription model for primary care, especially if it lets primary care docs get off the hamster wheel of productivity that burns so many of them out and gives them an opportunity to really have a relationship with their patients. The examples of direct primary care, the term I like for subscription primary care, tend to be solo practices or small groups. It’s interesting to hear about large companies trying to develop this model at scale. It will be interesting to see if they can make it work. (HT to my father for this one)
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What: WSJ, What Are the Odds? Even Experts Get Tripped Up by Probabilities
Why: Because the goat-behind-the-door game makes my head hurt. It really drives home how statistics is non-intuitive to the untrained mind. And most of us have untrained minds. Seriously - it’s a quick demonstration of why we make so many mistakes. Statistics are often right, but our brains are programmed to think in stories and anecdotes.
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Watch
What:This Is Water - David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech (20 min)
Why: I stumbled across this commencement speech by David Foster Wallace earlier this week. It’s perfect to go with our survey about what advice you would give your 20-something self (which you should still participate in!). I can’t believe I only just heard it for the first time. It’s a beautiful reminder about what is important. Technically this is a video, but it’s basically only audio since the video is just a still picture. I recommend putting it on while you wash the dishes or something mindless.
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What: Rebecca Love | TEDxBeaconStreet, Nurse Innovation: Saving the Future of Healthcare (13 min)
Why: Love is a nurse and she talks passionately about the need to bring innovation down to the front line. She argues that nurses are embedded in the workflow of caring for patients, and that they make “27 workarounds per shift”. Not sure about the precise number, but that is an interesting point. It goes to why we need educated professionals working as nurses - if someone is constantly having to adjust, they have to have deep intuition. This isn’t just about nursing, though. It’s about where and how innovation happens. Economists refer to the lessons learned through engagement with a task as “learning by doing”. I know, it’s a bit of technical jargon, but I’m confident you can figure out what it means. Most innovation comes from learning by doing, and a little bit from laboratories and experts. One of the miracles of the Toyota Manufacturing System is that it formalizes the capture of innovation at the front-line level. Love is basically making an argument for that approach.
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Listen
What: President’s Inbox, The Lab-Leak Theory of COVID-19’s Origins, With Nicholas Wade (30 min)
https://thepresidentsinbox.podbean.com/
Why: The President's Inbox is a podcast for the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-partisan think tank that works on foreign affairs. I mention that, in particular the non-partisan part, because the fight over COVID's origins became highly politicized during Mr. Trump's administration. Now that Mr. Trump is no longer involved, it seems the idea that COVID originated in a Chinese lab as part of a "gain of function" (taking a natural virus and making it more dangerous to humans) study and was accidentally leaked in Wuhan is gaining traction in the US. This is a thoughtful discussion of the scientific evidence that supports the claim that the COVID virus was the result of human intervention and error.
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What: Longform Podcast, Katherine Eban (49 min)
https://longform.org/posts/longform-podcast-443-katherine-eban
Why: Eban is the author of the Vanity Fair article I link to in “read” above. This podcast is about the craft of journalism, so Eban is interviewed about how she went about doing her investigation. It’s a really nice complement to the article itself. I think you will come away finding her quite credible. It is also impressive to see the work that went into researching the article and how it came together.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
If you’re looking for a searchable archive, you can see my draft folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jwGLdjsb1WKtgH_2C-_3VvrYCtqLplFO?usp=sharing
Finally, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://markbonica.substack.com/welcome
See you next Friday!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
'It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.' - Gandalf (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)