Joseph Osmundson

New York

Scientist and Writer at Freelance

scientist, writer. VIROLOGY (Norton, 2022) "dazzling... love essays" -NYTimes Book Review, NBCC & Lambda Literary Finalist.

Articles

Interview with KB Brookins, author of Pretty

Dec 6, 2024 | theoffingmag.com | Shlagha Borah |Gauri Awasthi |Aurielle Marie |Joseph Osmundson

KB Brookins is a writer, cultural worker, and artist from Texas. They are the author of HOW TO IDENTIFY YOURSELF WITH A WOUND (2022, Kallisto Gaia Press), FREEDOM HOUSE (2023, Deep Vellum), and PRETTY (2024, Alfred A. Knopf). The Offing published their poems March 20, 2024. Editorial Assistant Shlagha Borah conducted the Q&A. Donate to The Offing! Our Patreon supporters received early access to the Q&A with The Offing contributor KB Brookins.
Making sense of being a no-longer-starving artist | Xtra Magazine

Jul 18, 2024 | xtramagazine.com | Joseph Osmundson

It’s my last day of two weeks of vacation. I’m sitting in my favourite little park in Lisbon, one of my favourite cities in the world, and I am feeling horrible. No, not traveller’s tummy, nor fear of this pleasure ending; I’m ready to get home to my dog and to my own bed. The weather in Lisbon has cooled to near perfection and the breeze finishes the job. I finish my sparkling water and indulge in a beer, an Imperial.
We Can Prevent Another Summer mPox Outbreak

May 28, 2024 | scientificamerican.com | Joseph Osmundson

In May 2022, when the spread of mpox virus began to be reported outside of Central Africa for the first time, queer health advocates imagined it would become a clear demonstration of a successful emergency response. Because of the similarity between mpox and smallpox, the U.S. government had not only already developed and tested effective diagnostics, a treatment (the antiviral drug TPOXX) and a vaccine but had stockpiles of them all.
Bud scars and bodies in queer middle age | Xtra Magazine

Apr 29, 2024 | xtramagazine.com | Joseph Osmundson

It’s 2024: “Wow, you really got thick since the last time I saw you.”Just before, I’d been in a good mood, walking from my office to the subway, planning my meal in my head. Most nights, even when I get home late, I try to cook, both because I enjoy cooking, and because delivery seems to have doubled in cost (How is a Chipotle Burrito Bowl suddenly 40 bucks?) and because home-cooked food, I know, is better for my body.
Viral Genetics Confirms What On-the-Ground Activists Knew Early in the Mpox Outbreak

Mar 26, 2024 | scientificamerican.com | Joseph Osmundson

In June 2022 I sat shaking my head as I heard from senior U.S. government officials that mpox (then monkeypox) was under control. At the time, my dear friend back home in New York, to whom I’d spoken on the phone, had mpox. I knew the government officials were wrong. If they weren’t outright lying, they were at least using a lack of available testing to minimize a growing epidemic.
Fruiting bodies and friendship in queer middle age

Feb 9, 2024 | xtramagazine.com | Joseph Osmundson

It’s a rainy Sunday in December, and I’m watching my dog nap. I’m swimming in a kind of melancholy that I’m trying to turn into a friend. It’s no surprise to me; my seasonal affective disorder is likely as old as I am. The difference between now and when I was younger is that I know it, I name it. Suffering, I believe, is a part of human existence, and I just happen to suffer a little bit more in the months between Fall Back and Spring Ahead. Awareness helps.
The gentrification of the dancefloor

Jul 13, 2023 | xtramagazine.com | Joseph Osmundson

The sun is out, and I’ve been drinking. The music is disco, and I find myself dancing. I’m accidentally enjoying myself at Ty Tea, an ongoing summer Sunday party in Brooklyn. The party takes place in the industrial backyard of the club 3 Dollar Bill and continues a long tradition of gay tea dances and afternoon discos. The music is a mix of pop and disco and club beats, in other words: pretty good, if you ask me.
Global North learning from Global South: A community-led response to mpox in New York City

Jun 28, 2023 | journals.plos.org | Grant Roth |Jennifer Barnes-Balenciaga |Joseph Osmundson |Nguyen Tran

Loading metrics Citation: Roth G, Barnes-Balenciaga J, Osmundson J, Smith MDR, Tran NK, Diamond N, et al. (2023) Global North learning from Global South: A community-led response to mpox in New York City. PLOS Glob Public Health 3(6): e0002042. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002042Editor: Julia Robinson, PLOS: Public Library of Science, UNITED STATESPublished: June 28, 2023Copyright: © 2023 Roth et al.
A culinary journey through ‘The Bear’ and queer camp cuisine

May 26, 2023 | xtramagazine.com | Joseph Osmundson

For the past eight years, I’ve watched the Super Bowl with my friend H–. We alternate between her house and mine, and have included the various partners we’ve had over these years. H– and I have shared so much of our adult life together. We’ve shared more meals than I can count, some cooked by her, some cooked by me, many cooked by strangers (ramen, noodles, pizza, Thai, dosas). H– is vegetarian, and I take the task of making yummy veggie foods for her very seriously.
How ‘women’s rights’ activists create language that dehumanizes trans people

Apr 24, 2023 | xtramagazine.com | Joseph Osmundson

This week, my boyfriend was watching a clip from Dr. Phil featuring a conversation between “women’s rights” activists and trans people about what makes a woman. I hate daytime talk shows, but Devon loves The View and stumbled on this clip, and I do admit that overhearing trashy daytime TV clues me in to how folks outside of my academic and activist communities are using language and thinking.