Medium

Jack El-Hai

Featured Book

The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness

The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness

Physician Walter Freeman attempts to treat thousands of psychiatric patients needing help during the middle of the 20th century.

2007

Stories

Jack El-Hai

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Jul 3

Godfather of the Lobotomy: Egas Moniz

Last year we saw no big celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the development of psychiatric surgery — not even in Portugal, where…

Godfather of the Lobotomy: Egas Moniz

Jack El-Hai

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Jun 24

Confessions of an Art Linkletter Kid

Art Linkletter died sixteen years ago, but I still sometimes think about the long black limousine that appeared outside my Los Angeles…

Confessions of an Art Linkletter Kid

Jack El-Hai

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Jun 15

The Cherry Sisters: good or bad?

Somehow, 125 years ago, five apparently talentless siblings from Marion, Iowa, reigned as America’s most famous female vaudeville team. For…

The Cherry Sisters: good or bad?

Jack El-Hai

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Jun 3

Damn History #103 / June 2026

A medicine man and a mystery writer

Damn History #103 / June 2026

Jack El-Hai

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May 5

Damn History #102 / Use your sitzfleisch

May 2026

Damn History #102 / Use your sitzfleisch

Jack El-Hai

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Apr 6

Damn History #101 / April 2026

What makes a bestseller? I should know, right?

Damn History #101 / April 2026

Jack El-Hai

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Jun 2, 2025

Damn History / June 2025

Issue 91: Obscured by Smoke

Damn History / June 2025

Jack El-Hai

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May 28, 2025

Obscured by Smoke

A wonderful writer and friend of mine named Burl Gilyard died in May 2025. Burl’s career was varied and admirable, and you can read about…

Obscured by Smoke

Jack El-Hai

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May 16, 2025

Reading by Chance

When using a random-number generator is the best way to choose your next book

Reading by Chance

Jack El-Hai

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May 2, 2025

His lobotomy

A few weeks ago, I learned that a man I admired, Howard Dully, died on February 11, 2025. He was 76 years old and had been one of the…

His lobotomy

Jack El-Hai

Jack El-Hai

Book Author

Books: The Case of the Autographed Corpse (Oct. 2026), The Nazi and the Psychiatrist (adapted into the film Nuremberg). Covers history, medicine, and science.

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