Tracey Anne Duncan

Bio

Tracey Anne lives in New Orleans with five pets and zero spouses. They studied magic at Columbia and writing at Louisiana State. They've also been a body worker and yoga teacher since the last influx of rave and have been word-slinging about health and culture way pre-Obama. Tracey Anne is obsessed with poetry, deep critical analysis, snoballs, and helping people live their most hashtag worthy lives.
A new study shows coronavirus is yet another reason to get rid of the middle seat forever
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Figuring out your exposure risk when flying in the age of COVID-19 requires some complex math. Luckily, scientists have done it for us. Turns out that keeping the middle seat empty reduces COVID-19 exposure risk on airplanes by a third, according to…
SAMe is hyped as a miracle supplement for depression. But does it actually work?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Because some of us like to opt for more “natural” treatments before we hit the hard stuff, there are hundreds of supplements out there claiming to treat different types of mental illness. Although prescribed medication and talk therapy has proven to…
Why have 3 states shut down Johnson & Johnson vaccine sites?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
The latest vaccine drama here in the U.S. seems to involve figuring out the exact risk of side effects. Three states — Georgia, Colorado, and Michigan — recently shut down Johnson & Johnson vaccine sites after some people had adverse reactions. But…
Are bedtime stories the new Ambien?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on my sleep cycle and I cannot function on low sleep. So lately, I've been using bedtime stories to fall asleep. Yes: I allow people with soothing voices on an app to lull me to sleep. A lot of other people have caught…
Is rose tea healthy or just hype? Experts weigh in
By Tracey Anne Duncan
A loved one of mine recently gifted me a jar of aromatic rose tea, a current wellness influencer fan fave. I was thrilled, not only because the tea itself — made from actual petals and buds of a rose bush — is beautiful, but also because the notion…
Scientists can now diagnose depression with a blood test
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Despite the fact that mental illness is quite common, it’s still heavily stigmatized across cultures and sometimes even challenging to diagnose and treat. Even if you are lucky enough to have good behavioral health care, your doctor has to combine…
The pandemic is not an excuse to misgender me
By Tracey Anne Duncan
I came out as nonbinary nine months ago, in what felt like a euphoric frenzy of personal liberation. But despite the fact that I’m very public about being queer and gender non-conforming and clear about my pronouns, I get “she”-ed every day — often…
Choose-your-own erotica books let you customize your horniness
By Tracey Anne Duncan
I love reading books. I love sex. Naturally, you might think that means I love reading books about sex — otherwise known as literary erotica. You would be wrong. It’s not that I have anything against erotica as a literary genre; in fact, I’m 100% in…
Amazon is sorry everyone found out their employees have to pee in bottles
By Tracey Anne Duncan
While Amazon employees across the United States consider unionizing amid reports of unethical and unsafe work conditions, the company has admitted it’s sorry for at least one thing — lying to Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) on Twitter. It all started when…
Remote work has made things even harder for marginalized employees, says a new study
By Tracey Anne Duncan
More than one year into the coronavirus pandemic, we’re all wondering what the future of work looks like. As countless companies switched to remote work models, some people were hopeful that the change might increase diversity by allowing more…
Um, should I really be taping my mouth shut to stop snoring?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
I snore. For obvious reasons, I can’t be sure what it sounds like but I have a feeling my snoring sounds less like a softly purring kitten and more like an asthmatic guinea pig. My boo says it’s cute, but I suspect that this is one of those things…
How in god's name are we facing yet another coronavirus surge?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
The race to find a vaccine has now become a race to get folks vaccinated. It seems like a race we’re winning though, because fully a third of adults in the U.S. has received at least one dose of the vaccine, CNBC reported. At the same time, we’re…
TikTok is making consent sexy again
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Sex education in the United States is notoriously bad. I attended some of the best public schools in this country, and when I had sex for the first time, I didn’t know how to use a condom. I didn’t hear the word “consent” until I went to a kink…
A comprehensive guide to an ethical post-pandemic glow up
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Everyone's obsessed with the post-pandemic glow up. No one wants to leave the house for the first time looking like the slugs we became during our year of collective grief, boredom, and Dorito binges. But that extra 10 pounds isn't all we gained…
Do vaccine side effects really mean it's "working"?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
When I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a few weeks ago, I felt sick for three days. The relentless headache and a low-grade fever made me concerned that my reaction was a sign that something was going wrong. Upon hearing this concern, a friend…
4 therapist-approved ways to get grounded when you're feeling anxious
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Spring is in the air and, in many places, it seems like the world is reopening. But the combination of the extended stress of the pandemic, vaccine anxiety, and the reality that the pandemic isn’t over yet has a lot of us feeling untethered. Trying…
DoorDash will now let you order COVID-19 tests like tacos
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Throughout the pandemic, one of the major hurdles we’ve faced in curbing the spread of COVID-19 is testing. In some places tests have been in short supply, and in other places the wait time to get results has laughably long. For a while, in New…
The unexpected anxiety of emerging from quarantine
By Tracey Anne Duncan
As of this coming Friday, I will be considered fully vaccinated. I feel simultaneously lucky and also, low-key terrified. I'm excited to reenter the world of real human bodies, but suddenly I have events to choose from, so FOMO is back. Even though…
Intersectionality is often misunderstood. So what does it actually mean?
By Tracey Anne Duncan
The term intersectionality gets thrown around a lot by progressives and conservatives alike. I’ve seen conservatives use intersectionality to describe what they see as some kind of mythical new caste system in which people with the most marginalized…
The maker of OxyContin has a curious plan to redeem itself
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Late last night, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, filed a bankruptcy plan that would effectively dissolve the company. It would mean that the company that makes OxyContin would pay more than $4 billion towards settling injury claims,…