Larissa MacFarquhar talks with a would-be volunteer for a human-challenge trial, in which—hypothetically—subjects are infected with SARS-CoV-2 to test a potential vaccine. MacFarquhar then interviews two scientists about how much risk is too much. Jelani Cobb talks with a legal scholar about the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, which the scholar describes as a fatal confusion of citizen’s arrest, stand-your-ground laws, and racial profiling. Plus, a short story by Peter Cameron about a teen-age boy spending a long, boring Memorial Day trapped with two people he cannot deal with: his mother and his new stepfather.
To Test a Vaccine for COVID-19, Should Volunteers Risk their Lives?
Larissa MacFarquhar talks with a would-be participant in a human-challenge trial, in which trial subjects are–hypothetically—infected with SARS-CoV2 to test a potential vaccine.
When Is a Killing Not a Crime?
In the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a legal scholar sees a fatal confusion of citizen’s arrest, stand-your-ground law, and racial profiling.
Reading “The Plague” During a Plague
When her students were sent home from school owing to the coronavirus outbreak, an English teacher assigned them Albert Camus’s novel “The Plague.”
A Memorial Day by the Pool
In Peter Cameron’s short story, an angst-ridden teen wages a campaign of silence against the stepfather he can’t abide.
