The Daily Show
Jon Stewart had Atul Gawande, the fabulously talented writer and surgeon, on his show yesterday to laugh in the face of death. Gawande’s new book, Being Mortal, is a must-read for anyone who doesn’t want to die in an ICU. It tackles the thorny subject of how the medical profession has failed badly when it comes to the needs of the dying, or, as Gawande put it to me a few hours before the Daily Show taping, “We have medicalized aging, and that experiment is failing us.” Let’s hope this book makes a difference when the time comes.
