By Dr. Jonathan M. Metzl. Looks at the long history of distrust of public health and the larger forces―social, ideological, historical, racial, and political―that allow mass shootings to occur on a near daily basis in America. Looking closely at the cycle in which mass shootings lead to shock, horror, calls for action, and, ultimately, political gridlock, explores what happens to the soul of a nation―and the meanings of safety and community―when we normalize violence as an acceptable trade-off for freedom. Mass shootings and our inability to stop them have become more than horrific crimes: they are an American national autobiography. Points to mass shootings as a symptom of our most unresolved national conflicts and sets us on the path of alliance forging, racial reckoning, and political power brokering we must take to put things right. Read more.