Ed Yong is the author of I Contain Multitudes and a science writer at The Atlantic . His most recent article is "How the Pandemic Will End." “Normally when I write things that are about a pressing societal issue, those pieces feel like they’re about things that need to get solved in timeframes of, say, months or years. ... But now I’m writing pieces that are affecting people’s choices and lives, and hopefully the direction of the entire country, on an hourly basis. The changes I hope to see, I hope to see immediately. Like right now. And that does create a massive sense of urgency, a sense of pressing, incredibly high stakes. And it’s a burden.” Thanks to Mailchimp and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode. @edyong209 edyong.me Yong on Longform [01:08] "How the Pandemic Will End" (The Atlantic • March 2020) [02:49] "The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?" (The Atlantic • July 2018) [28:21] "How a Pandemic Might Play Out Under Trump" (The Atlantic • Dec 2016) [39:33] Flash Forward Podcast [46:02] "The Last Giraffes on Earth" (The Atlantic • March 2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices