The good news is the nation is finally talking about cancer, said Lance Armstrong in Newsweek. But it took two high-profile victims to get the discussion started. First was Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, going public with a recurrence of her breast cancer. Then White House spokesman Tony Snow, who had previously beaten colon cancer, found out the disease was back, this time in his liver. There was an immediate outpouring of public sympathy for both Snow and Edwards, but little surprise or anger: Three and a half decades after Richard Nixon declared war on the disease, Americans no longer believe cancer can be conquered. As a cancer survivor, I find this complacency
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 fairly vain cartoons about Vanity Fair’s interviews with Susie WilesCartoon Artists take on demolition derby, alcoholic personality, and more
-
Joanna Trollope: novelist who had a No. 1 bestseller with The Rector’s WifeIn the Spotlight Trollope found fame with intelligent novels about the dramas and dilemmas of modern women
-
Codeword: December 20, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
