P.T. Barnum’s Man-Monkey. America’s house is glassier than ever and the rocks in its quarry too many to count. Most conspicuous among the recently-hurled slabs was a protocol-squashing mass expelled by a South Carolina congressman who interrupted a Barack Obama health care address by blurting out, “You lie!” He has…

The cause-mo-not. Health care was once a foregone conclusion. There was Doctor Washington, tall as Abe Lincoln. He made house calls. I had the measles and he wiped my forehead. My lungs talked the talk of rabid dogs. Doctor Washington descended from George. My father told me that the doctor…

The Spanish flu, known as “La Gripe Española” or “La Pesadilla”: The root of all fears. Before feudalism relinquished its superstitious sway over urban Italy, the word cancer was unutterable. Obituaries spoke medievally of una malattie oscura, a “dark disease.” Announcing cancer invaded privacy; it was an admission of rape by…