Happy New Year! I went to bed well before midnight and felt great about it.
I've worked much of the past two holiday weeks, and it's been wonderful — with fewer meetings and emails, I've been able to spend my time doing the best part of my job, editing essays and reviewing submissions. I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions, but if I had one, it would be to say no to as many meetings and phone calls as possible and spend more of my time editing. I would always rather have Microsoft Word open (I can't stand Google Docs) than Zoom.
I wanted to flag two First Opinions for you:
- In December, I asked you, dear newsletter reader, to answer two questions: What stories do you think went undercovered in 2024? What are you keeping an eye on in 2025? The response was so good that I published a roundup.
- In keeping with tradition, I published a list of the most read First Opinions of 2024. Instead of publishing the top five or six, as we have done in years past, I listed the top 10 free First Opinions and the top nine STAT+ First Opinions. (Why not 10? Because one piece appeared in the top 10 for both.) The top result is fascinating: It's a piece about colonoscopy prep. Others look at everything from politics to medical school research to the backlash against health insurance companies.
What will the top 20 (or 19) First Opinions in 2025 be? I can't wait to find out. As always, email me your submissions.
Recommendation of the week: I just binged the new "Serial" season "The Good Whale," which tells the story of Keiko, the whale who starred in the '90s kids blockbuster "Free Willy." My fourth-grade teacher made us all write letters pleading to move Keiko out of his small tank in Mexico, but I basically stopped following the story after that. "Serial" asks a great question: Were the efforts to return Keiko to the wild about that particular orca, or about all whales? (Also: I want to take this opportunity to say that I am one of the few people who loved the Bowe Bergdahl season of "Serial.")
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