The Invisible Kingdom By Meghan Orourkeepub < 2027 >

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke is a 2022 National Book Award finalist that combines memoir and investigative journalism to examine the "silent epidemic" of chronic, autoimmune diseases and the medical system's failure to address them. The book highlights O’Rourke’s own fifteen-year struggle for a diagnosis, arguing for a necessary shift toward validating patient experiences and embracing medical uncertainty, with strong thematic parallels to the ongoing Long COVID crisis. Read the full review at Los Angeles Times .

Bud Boomer

Bud Boomer is a former American Sheriff from Niagara County who doesn't like Canadian beer but does enjoy wearing flannel. After many years in law enforcement, followed by a few rotations overseas as a contractor with Hacker Dynamics (on the same PSD team, he's proud to say, as Bert Gummer, Tom Evans, and Walter Langkowski). He was an avid outdoorsman at one time, and will still sleep on the ground if he has to, but nowadays would prefer to stick to day hikes and climbs and sleeping indoors where it's comfy and warm. He has been hopelessly lost in the Canaan Bog at least half a dozen times, but still enjoys practicing land nav there. Bud believes anyone who eats poutine râpée is either a commie or stupid.