Welcome to Focal Point

Hello, Big Think. Welcome to Focal Point, a blog about politics, ideas, photography, media, feminism, and more. I’m a freelance journalist in Brooklyn, New York. I do both print and photojournalism, hence the name of the blog. 

I didn’t set out to become a blogger. I started in 2004 while I was applying to PhD programs in philosophy.

When the applications didn’t work out, I drifted into pharmaceutical advertising during the Vioxx era. I became deeply disenchanted when I realized that the industry was literally hijacking medical science to sell drugs. They weren’t just spinning the results of studies. I saw pharmaceutical companies conceiving, executing, and analyzing research in the service of marketing objectives. I began to worry that evidence-based medicine was being hacked.

Eventually, I quit to blog and report full-time, but the experience left a lasting impression.

One antidote to the corporate corruption of science is education. As a reporter, I write a lot about science, medicine, and the political contexts in which they unfold. When you’re battling deadlines, it’s easy to miss the big picture. I hope Focal Point will be a place to explore those larger issues. Expect to read about U.S. health care reform and reproductive rights. Along the way, we’ll tackle sex, drugs, and the DSM.

I’m very excited to be joining Big Think. Let’s reason together.