Rivka Galchen
Rivka Galchen, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has contributed fiction and nonfiction to the magazine since 2008. She writes often about science and medicine; her subjects have also included P. G. Wodehouse, Karl May, and her own neighborhood. Galchen has an M.D. from the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine. Her work has been anthologized in the Best American series and elsewhere, and she has previously been a frequent contributor to the London Review of Books, Harper’s, and the Times Magazine. She is the author of two novels, a short-story collection, an essay collection, and a novel for children. Her most recent novel, “Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch,” is centered on the true history of the witch trial of the mother of the astronomer Johannes Kepler. She is currently working on a book of essays about the lives of scientists.
A Guide to the Total Solar Eclipse
Eclipses dazzled the ancient world. Now that we understand them better, they may be even more miraculous.
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined
It’s now thought that they could illuminate fundamental questions in physics, settle questions about Einstein’s theories, and even help explain the universe.
Thinking About A.I. with Stanisław Lem
The science-fiction writer didn’t live to see ChatGPT, but he foresaw so much of its promise and peril.
Trials of the Witchy Women
Across seven centuries, women have been accused of witchcraft—but what that means often differs wildly, revealing the anxieties of each particular society.
Inside the Illegal Cactus Trade
As the craze for succulents continues, sometimes the smuggler and the conservationist are the same person.
Reinventing the Dinosaur
“Life on Our Planet,” a new Netflix nature documentary, renews our fascination with our most feared and loved precursors.
Life After “Calvin and Hobbes”
Bill Watterson’s return to print, after nearly three decades, comes in the form of a fable called “The Mysteries,” which shares with his famous comic strip a sense of enchantment.
What Insects Go Through Is Even Weirder Than We Thought
A scientist suggests that the startling science of metamorphosis has a new dimension.
The Magnificence of the Bluefin Tuna
Karen Pinchin’s “Kings of Their Own Ocean” gives us a new look at the beauty and the importance of an ancient fish.
A New Approach to M.S. Could Transform Treatment of Other Diseases
Multiple sclerosis was once seen as a “dead-end disease.” But lots of little interventions have added up to remarkable progress. Should that change how we take on other conditions?
The Astounding Birth of a Gorilla at the Smithsonian Zoo
Breeding in zoos fuses science and nature in striking ways.
What Is a Weed?
The names we call plants say more about us than they do about the greenery that surrounds us.
How Gardens Promise the Renewal of Life—and Its End
In “Spring Rain: A Life Lived in Gardens,” Marc Hamer wonders what he leaves behind him.
The Myth of the Alpha Wolf
The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it.
The Threat and the Allure of the Chinese Balloons
Even balloons launched for scientific reasons have always carried political ballast.
What the Green Comet Tells Us About the Past—and the Future
Comets are inspiring marvels in the night sky. They may also hold the secrets of habitable planets.
Bernadette Mayer, the Poet of Escape
Her juxtapositions of documentation and seeming randomness made her a part of what she was observing.
A Guide to the Total Solar Eclipse
Eclipses dazzled the ancient world. Now that we understand them better, they may be even more miraculous.
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined
It’s now thought that they could illuminate fundamental questions in physics, settle questions about Einstein’s theories, and even help explain the universe.
Thinking About A.I. with Stanisław Lem
The science-fiction writer didn’t live to see ChatGPT, but he foresaw so much of its promise and peril.
Trials of the Witchy Women
Across seven centuries, women have been accused of witchcraft—but what that means often differs wildly, revealing the anxieties of each particular society.
Inside the Illegal Cactus Trade
As the craze for succulents continues, sometimes the smuggler and the conservationist are the same person.
Reinventing the Dinosaur
“Life on Our Planet,” a new Netflix nature documentary, renews our fascination with our most feared and loved precursors.
Life After “Calvin and Hobbes”
Bill Watterson’s return to print, after nearly three decades, comes in the form of a fable called “The Mysteries,” which shares with his famous comic strip a sense of enchantment.
What Insects Go Through Is Even Weirder Than We Thought
A scientist suggests that the startling science of metamorphosis has a new dimension.
The Magnificence of the Bluefin Tuna
Karen Pinchin’s “Kings of Their Own Ocean” gives us a new look at the beauty and the importance of an ancient fish.
A New Approach to M.S. Could Transform Treatment of Other Diseases
Multiple sclerosis was once seen as a “dead-end disease.” But lots of little interventions have added up to remarkable progress. Should that change how we take on other conditions?
The Astounding Birth of a Gorilla at the Smithsonian Zoo
Breeding in zoos fuses science and nature in striking ways.
What Is a Weed?
The names we call plants say more about us than they do about the greenery that surrounds us.
How Gardens Promise the Renewal of Life—and Its End
In “Spring Rain: A Life Lived in Gardens,” Marc Hamer wonders what he leaves behind him.
The Myth of the Alpha Wolf
The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it.
The Threat and the Allure of the Chinese Balloons
Even balloons launched for scientific reasons have always carried political ballast.
What the Green Comet Tells Us About the Past—and the Future
Comets are inspiring marvels in the night sky. They may also hold the secrets of habitable planets.
Bernadette Mayer, the Poet of Escape
Her juxtapositions of documentation and seeming randomness made her a part of what she was observing.