Personal email: olga.khazan@gmail.com
Is it really possible to change your entire personality in a year? An award-winning journalist experiments with her own personality to find out—and reveals the science behind lasting change.
In recent years, Olga Khazan had been spiraling toward an existential crisis. Though she treasured her loving relationship and her dream job, her neurotic personality often left her snatching dissatisfaction from the jaws of happiness. While her overachieving had always been a professional asset, Olga lately felt like her brittle disposition could shatter under the weight of just one more thing—but could she really change her entire personality?
Research shows that you can alter your personality traits by behaving in ways that align with the kind of person you’d like to be—a process that can make you happier, healthier, and more successful. In Me, But Better, Olga embarks on an experiment to see whether it’s possible to go from dwelling in dread to “radiating joy.” For one year, Olga reluctantly clicked “yes” on a bucket list of new experiences—from meditation to improv to sailing—that forced her to at least act happy. With a skeptic’s eye, Olga brings you on her journey through the science of personality, presenting evidence-backed techniques to help you change your mind for the better. Sharply witty and deeply fascinating, Me, But Better offers a probing inquiry into what it means to live a fulfilling life, and how you can keep diving into change, no matter how uncomfortable it feels.
The Rock Doc (featured on Longform)
Being Black in America Can Be Hazardous to Your Health (featured on Longform)
Why Do Women Bully Each Other at Work?
No Other Option — Across the country, medical boards allow abusive doctors to keep seeing patients. And patients addicted to opioids keep going back. (for the Texas Observer.)
America’s Most Powerful Medical-Debt Collector — investigation into civilian medical debt at military hospitals led to legislation being introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and a new provision about military hospitals included in the NDAA
The Obesity Cure Is Out of Reach in the Heaviest States — Bariatric surgery is the best treatment for obesity, but many states don’t cover the procedure in their state employee, Obamacare, or Medicaid plans.
What Are Parents Supposed to Do With Their Kids? — We contacted every state. Of the 30 who got back to us, 15 admitted they had no free child care available for parents who can’t work remotely
The Real Reason Americans Aren’t Quarantining — Most Americans aren’t actually quarantining after traveling or being exposed to coronavirus. The reason? They have work.
What Americans Don’t Know About Their Medications — Why is side effect information so confusing?
Invisible Middlemen Are Slowing Down American Health Care — on the scourge of pharmacy benefit managers
Living Poor and Uninsured in a Red State — CJR: “If a prize were given for the best story about Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to date in 2014, it would go to The Atlantic for Olga Khazan’s ‘Living Poor and Uninsured in a Red State.’”
The New Face of Trumpism in Texas
Amazon Confirms First Known Coronavirus Case in an American Warehouse
Don’t Get Your Pet Groomed, Groomers Say — when hair salons closed, Petco’s grooming salons stayed open
The Problem With ‘Uber for Therapy’ — a popular therapy app fired its counselors, then offered to hire them back as part-timers without benefits
Women in the U.S. Can Now Get Safe Abortions by Mail — citing poor access and a growing need, a global provider of mail-order abortion pills expanded to the U.S.
Forgetting and Remembering Your First Language
Multiple Lovers, Without Jealousy
You Can Be a Different Person After the Pandemic — New York Times
Charter school known for rigor comes to D.C. — Washington Post
The unexpected benefits of being weird — Vox
At-home birth has pros and cons — Los Angeles Times
The ‘Rock Doc’ Who Prescribed 1.4 Million Pain Pills
The New Etiquette of Procuring Food
Radio Atlantic: Being Black in America Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
MSNBC (e-cigarette regulations)
MSNBC (the psychology of motivation)
To the Point (national)
Marketplace (national)
Workplace wellness programs: WOSU (Columbus, Ohio)
Royal childhoods: KPCC (Los Angeles)
Amanda Knox: Talk of the Nation (formerly national)
The 12 Days of Christmas: WBEZ (Chicago)
Edward Snowden/asylum law: WPR (Wisconsin)
