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."\n\n\u201cNormally when I write things that are about a pressing societal issue, those pieces feel like they\u2019re about things that need to get solved in timeframes of, say, months or years. ... But now I\u2019m writing pieces that are affecting people\u2019s 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\u2019s a burden.\u201d\n\nThanks to Mailchimp and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode.\n@edyong209\nedyong.me\nYong on Longform\n[01:08] "How the Pandemic Will End" (The Atlantic \u2022 March 2020)\n[02:49] "The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?" (The Atlantic \u2022 July 2018)\n[28:21] "How a Pandemic Might Play Out Under Trump" (The Atlantic \u2022 Dec 2016)\n[39:33] Flash Forward Podcast\n[46:02] "The Last Giraffes on Earth" (The Atlantic \u2022 March 2020)\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices