The American South has the highest HIV rates in the country^[1], accounting for more than half of new HIV diagnoses nationwide in 2023. This is despite growing availability of a highly effective HIV prevention medication^[2] that has made it possible to live a long, healthy life with this once fatal disease.

This medication – called preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP^[3] – reduces the risk of HIV transmission by over 99% when...

Imagine a city street at dusk, silent save for the rising sound of a collective guttural moan. Suddenly, a horde of ragged, bloodied creatures appear, their feet shuffling along the pavement, their hollow eyes locked on fleeing figures ahead.

A classic movie monster, the zombie surged in popularity^[1] in the 21st century during a time of global anxiety – the Great Recession, the specter of climate change, the lingering...