Sonia Shah

Sonia Shah is a science journalist and the author of PANDEMIC: Tracking Contagion from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2016). Her fifth book, The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move, was published in June.

First Came the Hurricane, Then Came the Campaign of Terror

First Came the Hurricane, Then Came the Campaign of Terror First Came the Hurricane, Then Came the Campaign of Terror

Climate change made Hurricane Dorian a monster that pummeled the Bahamas’s Haitian minority. Human cruelty made its aftermath brutal. Both could have been prevented.

Sep 22, 2020 / Feature / Sonia Shah

It’s Time to Tell a New Story About the Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It

It’s Time to Tell a New Story About the Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It It’s Time to Tell a New Story About the Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It

The way we talk about contagion matters. It shapes how societies respond—and whether many of us will survive.

Jul 14, 2020 / Feature / Sonia Shah

How Trump Is Going to Get Away With a Pandemic

How Trump Is Going to Get Away With a Pandemic How Trump Is Going to Get Away With a Pandemic

There are lots of ways for the Trump administration to cook the data to hide the extent of the coronavirus outbreak—in fact, it already is doing so.

Mar 31, 2020 / Sonia Shah

Think Exotic Animals Are to Blame for the Coronavirus? Think Again.

Think Exotic Animals Are to Blame for the Coronavirus? Think Again. Think Exotic Animals Are to Blame for the Coronavirus? Think Again.

Scientists have fingered bats and pangolins as potential sources of the virus, but the real blame lies elsewhere—with human assaults on the environment.

Feb 18, 2020 / Column / Sonia Shah

Health workers Brazil

Do the Olympics Actually Make the World Less Healthy? Do the Olympics Actually Make the World Less Healthy?

The Olympics bill themselves as celebrations of physical fitness, but often leave sickness and compromised health systems in their wake.

Aug 19, 2016 / Sonia Shah

Letters Icon

Letters From the August 15-22, 2016, Issue Letters From the August 15-22, 2016, Issue

Suffering in private… An ounce of prevention… Pulsing with love…

Jul 28, 2016 / Our Readers, Seth Freed Wessler, and Sonia Shah

From Zika to Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs: Welcome to the New Age of Contagions

From Zika to Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs: Welcome to the New Age of Contagions From Zika to Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs: Welcome to the New Age of Contagions

Today’s deadly new pathogens aren’t just a scientific challenge, they’re a political one.

Jun 16, 2016 / Feature / Sonia Shah

Why Africa Doesn’t Want Foreign Aid Why Africa Doesn’t Want Foreign Aid

Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo argues that aid actually undermines the social and economic fabric of the developing world.

Mar 17, 2009 / Feature / Sonia Shah

Scientists Come Out for Human Rights Scientists Come Out for Human Rights

After eight years of being sidelined by the Bush administration, many in notoriously apolitical professions are ready to stand up and be counted on the social and ethical implicati...

Jan 27, 2009 / Feature / Sonia Shah

FDA Puts Medical Test Subjects in Danger FDA Puts Medical Test Subjects in Danger

Research subjects in developing countries--often the poorest, the sickest and with the fewest options--become more vulnerable.

May 19, 2008 / Feature / Sonia Shah

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