Sonia Shah

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Sonia Shah

Sonia Shah (born 1969 in New York City, United States) is an American investigative journalist and author of articles and books on corporate power, global health and human rights.[1][2][3]

Early life[edit]

Shah was born in 1969 in New York City to Indian immigrants.[4] Growing up, she shuttled between the northeastern United States, where her parents practiced medicine, and Mumbai and Bangalore, India, where her extended working-class family lived, developing a lifelong interest in inequality between and within societies. She later earned BA in journalism, philosophy, and neuroscience from Oberlin College.[4] She later became the managing editor of Nuclear Times, joined South End Press in 1997, and began writing full-time on developing countries and corporate power in 2000.[4]

Work[edit]

Shah's writing, based on original reportage from around the world, from India and South Africa to Panama, Malawi, Cameroon, and Australia,[5] has been featured on current affairs shows around the United States, like Democracy Now!,[6] as well as on the BBC,[7] Australia's Radio National,[8] and Ted.com.[9] A frequent keynote speaker at political conferences, Shah has lectured at universities and colleges across the country, including Columbia's Earth Institute,[10] MIT,[10] Harvard,[11] Muhlenberg College,[12] Stetson University,[13] and elsewhere.

Her writing on human rights, medicine, and politics have appeared in a range of magazines from Playboy, Ms. Magazine, Sojourners, The Lancet, Salon, and Orion to The Progressive and Knight-Ridder.[4][14] She has also published articles in The New York Times, Mother Jones, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, Foreign Affairs, and New York Times Magazine.[15][16][17] Her television appearances include A&E,[18] CNN,[19] and Radiolab,[19] She has also consulted on many documentary film projects, from the ABC to Channel 4 in the UK.[20][13] Shah is a former writing fellow of The Nation Institute[21] and the Puffin Foundation.[22] The annual human rights award, the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, is given to someone who has done distinctive and courageous social justice work.

In 1992, Between Fear and Hope, a book she edited, was published.[23] In 1999, Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire, a book she edited, was published. It described Asian Women frustration with the mainstream feminist movement in the United States dominated by White Women. The book also addressed the attitudes of Asian women on a wide variety of topics including insights on immigration, jobs, culture and the media as it tells the history and formation of the Asian Feminist Movement.[24] Caroline Chung Simpson described the book, in a review for the Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, that the book was a vital contribution to Asian American Studies.[25]

In 2004, her book Crude: The Story of Oil was published. This book chronicles the story of petroleum production.[26] She was later interviewed by ABC as part of their 2008 documentary with the same title as her book.[20][27] Shah later said that she agreed to the documentary filmmaker giving the film the same name as her book and stated that it had "amazing footage" of her in it.[18] The book was later published in other countries like Italy and Greece.[4]

In 2006, Shah published another book entitled The Body Hunters. This book focused on indigent patients used as test subjects by pharmaceutical companies. [26] Ted.com argued that this book established Shah as a "heavy hitter in the field of investigative human rights reporting.[28] The book was adapted from an article in The Nation.[4]

A few years later, in 2010, she published a book titled The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years. This book was described by Kirkus Reviews as a sad and "sobering account" which communicated "important lessons" for readers,[29] and the year's "most significant science book" for general readers by Cleveland.com.[30] It was praised by the Washington Independent Review of Books for chronicling "the science and social impact of malaria."[31]

In 2016, Shah published a book about pandemics and disease entitled Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond. The book was described as a "not fun reading, but...necessary",[32] and a look at the "major contagious disease outbreaks of modern history."[33] The New York Times was more critical, arguing that the book had "no clear focus" and superficially rehashed "the existing literature."[34] The book was selected as a finalist for Los Angeles Times Book Prize in science and technology in 2017, the National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award, and other awards.[3]

Her 2020 book, The Next Great Migration, describes both human migration and animal migration as a consistent pattern throughout the history of humanity and life on earth.[35][36][37] It also describes the trend towards building border barriers such as the Trump Wall on the Mexico–United States border, and the harm inflicted by these structures.[38][39][40]

Personal life[edit]

She lives in Baltimore with molecular ecologist Mark Bulmer and their two sons, Zakir and Kush.[35][41][42] She previously lived in North Queensland, Australia with her family.[4]

Shah is also politically active. This includes pushing the Baltimore County Council to abandon a redistricting plan and calling for more Black majority Council districts.[43][44][45] Shah also criticized the county's district structure, saying it was "devised in the 1950s" and argued that it was "outdated" and did not reflect the county's current demographics.[46]

Bibliography[edit]

External videos
video icon Presentation by Shaw on The Fever, August 2, 2010, C-SPAN
video icon Forum on infectious diseases and pandemics moderated by Shah, featuring discussion of Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, From Cholera to Ebola and Beyond, February 23, 2016, C-SPAN
video icon Presentation by Shah on Pandemic, February 26, 2016, C-SPAN
  • Shah, Sonia (1992). Between Fear and Hope. Fortkamp Publishing Company. ISBN 1-879175-10-X. – editor
  • Shah, Sonia (1999). Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire. South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-575-9. – editor
  • Shah, Sonia (2004). Crude: The Story of Oil. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-625-7.
  • Shah, Sonia (2006). The Body Hunters. New Press. ISBN 1-56584-912-4.
  • Shah, Sonia (2010). The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-23001-2.
  • Shah, Sonia (2016). Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-374-12288-1.
  • Shah, Sonia (2020). The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1-63557-197-4.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kilian, Clarence (July 15, 2020). "Who Are You Calling 'Invasive'?". The Tyee. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022.
  2. ^ Washington, John B. (August 26, 2020). "Migration as Bio-Resilience: On Sonia Shah's "The Next Great Migration"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Sonia Shah". Pulitzer Center. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Sonia Shah". The Globalist. Archived from the original on September 4, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  5. ^ Ha, Thu-Huong (September 12, 2013). "The past and future of malaria: A Q&A with Sonia Shah". Ted.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021.
  6. ^ "Sonia Shah: "It's Time to Tell a New Story About Coronavirus — Our Lives Depend on It"". Democracy Now!. July 17, 2020. Archived from the original on February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  7. ^ "Investigative science journalist Sonia Shah to speak Jan. 24". University of Nebraska-Lincoln. January 18, 2017. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  8. ^ Adams, Phillip (March 10, 2010). "The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years". ABC. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  9. ^ Shah, Sonia (June 2013). "3 reasons we still haven't gotten rid of malaria". Ted.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Past Event: Facing the Future: Predicting and Preparing for Disease Outbreaks". Museum of the City of New York. April 2019. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  11. ^ Powell, Alvin (February 24, 2015). "Malaria: Down but not out". The Harvard Gazette. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  12. ^ Kita, Meghan (September 23, 2021). "Science Journalist Sonia Shah Delivers First In-Person Center for Ethics Lecture Since Start of Pandemic". Muhlenberg College. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Investigative journalist, author speaks at SU". Stetson University. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016.
  14. ^ "Sonia Shah". Ms. Magazine. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  15. ^ Tisdale, David (November 4, 2019). "Acclaimed Science Journalist Sonia Shah presenter for Nov. 12 University Forum" (Press release). Hattiesburg, Mississippi: The University of Southern Mississippi. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  16. ^ Shah, Sonia (February 1, 2020). "Native Species or Invasive? The Distinction Blurs as the World Warms". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  17. ^ Shah, Sonia (January 12, 2021). "How Far Does Wildlife Roam? Ask the 'Internet of Animals'". New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Crude: the movie". Sonia Shah. January 25, 2008. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Baresh, Matthew (September 30, 2021). "Sonia Shah lecture covers people and microbes on the move". Muhlenberg Weekly. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Crude: The incredible journey of oil". ABC. 2007. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  21. ^ "Sonia Shah". The Nation. 2 April 2010. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  22. ^ "Sonia Shah". National Book Festival. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  23. ^ "Oil in the Age of Depletion: A Renewed Assault on Human Rights & the Environment". Indybay. September 27, 2004. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  24. ^ Foo, Loro. "Asian American Women: Issues, Concerns, and Responsive Human and Civil Rights Advocacy" (PDF).
  25. ^ Simpson, Caroline Chung (2001). "Review of Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire, ; Q & A: Queer in Asian America". Signs. 26 (2): 555–557. doi:10.1086/495606. JSTOR 3175455.
  26. ^ a b Schaub, Michael (July 12, 2010). "Malaria's 'Fever': A Global Scourge For 500,000 Years". NPR. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  27. ^ "Black Gold and a Green Planet". The New York Sun. January 25, 2008. Archived from the original on February 3, 2008.
  28. ^ "Sonia Shah". Ted.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  29. ^ "Review: The Fever, by Sonia Shah, malaria". Kirkus Reviews. June 3, 2010. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  30. ^ Walton, David (July 26, 2010). "'The Fever' by Sonia Shah traces malaria's domination of humanity". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  31. ^ "Meet Sonia Shah". Washington Independent Review of Books. February 24, 2016. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  32. ^ "Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond [Review]". Kirkus Reviews. December 6, 2015. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  33. ^ Meyers, Teyla (January 31, 2020). "The Coronavirus in Context: A Q&A with Sonia Shah, Author of 'Pandemic'". DirectRelief. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  34. ^ Garrett, Laurie (March 6, 2016). "'Pandemic,' by Sonia Shah". New York Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020.
  35. ^ a b Shah, Sonia (February 2, 2021). "Interview". Granta (Interview). London, United Kingdom: Sigrid Rausing. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  36. ^ "New Book Argues Migration Isn't A Crisis — It's The Solution". NPR. June 2, 2020. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  37. ^ Hage, David (June 12, 2020). "Review: 'The Next Great Migration,' by Sonia Shah". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  38. ^ Adams, Tim (June 7, 2020). "The Next Great Migration by Sonia Shah review – why people wander". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  39. ^ "The New Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move". Kirkus Reviews. April 15, 2020. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  40. ^ Varadarajan, Tunku (January 1, 2021). "'The Next Great Migration' Review: A World in Motion". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  41. ^ "Sonia Shah". Macmillian. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  42. ^ "About Sonia". Sonia Shah. 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  43. ^ Lee, John (October 26, 2021). "People put pressure on Baltimore County Council to scrap its redistricting map". WYPR. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  44. ^ Leckrone, Bennett (December 15, 2021). "Civil Rights Advocates, Residents Continue Calls for Second Majority Black Baltimore County Council District". Maryland Matters. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021.
  45. ^ Leckrone, Bennett (October 26, 2021). "At Public Hearing, Baltimore County Residents Urge County Council to Reject Redistricting Commission Maps". Maryland Matters. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021.
  46. ^ Condon, Catherine (March 3, 2022). "Baltimore County coalition wants referendum adding four seats to growing county's council". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.

External links[edit]

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