Media Consumption 12/2/12-12/8/12

I've chosen a few things that I read or watched this week to share. I hope you'll check them out, and if you feel so inclined, share with me something that you came across this week that you enjoyed!

Cancer Pick

The Real Housewives of Chemotherapy – Suleika Jaouad in The New York Times

Jaouad writes a column for the Times called Life, Interrupted about her own experience as a young person with cancer. It is a great column, and it is really wonderful to get a patient’s voice and perspective on things. She has a great post about “battle language” Fighting Cancer and Myself that I also recommend, but I chose this video post that she did along with her friend Kristen Howard because I think it fits really well with my cancer pick from a few weeks ago about finding humor in cancer. It’s also a great Real Housewives spoof, and is really well done so what’s not to like there.

Science Pick

Physicists Bummed that Physics Is Pretty Much What They Expected – Alexis Madrigal for The Atlantic

I chose this first and foremost because I love the title. But, it is also a great little short post about how uncertain the future of physics research is because things are quite certain at the moment. Having found evidence of the Higgs Boson last summer, there isn’t a whole lot left to prove.

Writing Pick

Tips: Harnessing Social Networks For Information When You Write A Story – Khalil Cassimally onScientific American’s SA Incubator

The SA Incubator is Scientific American’s blog dedicated to new and young science writers (I’ve made a few appearances there myself) but it has a lot of information that I think is applicable to people who are in different stages of their career as well. This "tips" post has a lot of great information about how journalists can use social media sites that I think is a useful read for anyone.

Bonus Pick

Math Paper Retracted Because Some Of It “Makes No Sense Mathematically” – Ivan Oransky on Retraction Watch

Again, chosen mostly for the title. At work this week, my colleagues and I were discussing issues related to uncertainty/risk communication and how to cover scientific “failures.” The issue of paper retractions came up, and this is just one of many stunning examples that can be found on Retraction Watch – it’s a great site, and really useful for journalists trying to keep track of a story and what happens after a paper is published.