The wonders that are drugs have always been tested first. Yet drug testing gets cast in the shadows of the story of medicine, along with the people who them. Pharmascenery—my new, twice-monthly newsletter experiment—aims to correct that.

The goal of Pharmascenery is to ask: What is a cure, and what is healing? What are the ramifications—on the body, on the climate, and on our capacity to heal—of the big business of medicine? Why, for the past 300 years and counting, have the majority of life-saving drugs been tested first on enslaved, enlisted, institutionalized, imprisoned, and poor people? By centering human research subjects in my meditations on medicine, I hope to provide fresh and unconventional ways of thinking about the drugs we take, the medicines we need, and the role of pharmacy (and Big Pharma) in how we heal.

Expect looks inside of the testing labs of the world; interviews with real lab rats and guinea pig advocates; behind the scenes glimpses of promising and over-promised drugs; true stories from inside the lab; interesting and weird drug histories; encomiums about the wonders of drugs; salacious tales of pharmaceutical fraud; movie reviews; policy reviews; and a fair bit of contemplation on what it means to take—and test—drugs. Expect content that’s careful, led with curiosity, and backed by research. (And, critically: not anti-science.)

It’s new, and I’d love your input! (And support.)