Ed Yong, a prominent science journalist, rose to fame through his Covid-19 reporting, earning him a Pulitzer Prize. However, the emotional toll of covering the pandemic led to feelings of depletion comparable to those experienced by healthcare workers and patients. In 2023, Yong left his position at The Atlantic and has since turned to birding as a restorative practice. As the fifth anniversary of the pandemic lockdowns approaches, he reflects on the lessons learned—or not learned—from that challenging time.
I remember talking to public-health experts for a story and hearing people say that they were feeling depressed, anxious, they couldn't sleep, and thinking, Man, that feels very familiar.
By the middle of 2023, I realized that I was doing my best work at severe cost to all of the other parts of myself.
Despite having achieved a level of success and attention that most writers can only dream of, Yong's immersion in Covid left him feeling as utterly depleted.
Yong has found a measure of salvation, even transcendence, in birding, a pastime that he, like so many others, took up in the wake of those grim days.
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