The Body Issue

The Body Issue.  The New York Times Magazine.  October 28, 2012.

A marvelous and eclectic collection of essays on massage, gerontology, yoga, and mortality.  The emphasis here moves away from the "hard science" of medicine toward more emphasis on the intangible, cultural, intuitive, psychological, as well as the use of data to shape the behavioral and physical environment.

In The Island Where People Forget to Die Dan Buettner focuses on the social, cultural, and dietary features of the Greek island of Ikaria to determine why so many of its residents live so long.

In Naked With Strangers by John Jeremiah Sullivan recounts his personal experience and reactions to receiving a series of massages and body treatments.

In Safety Lessons from the Morgue by Robert Stook explores the work of Susan P. Baker of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as  uses data about causes of deaths to work for policies and environments that promote safety.