Good Question

Why Do You Like Sad Songs and Movies?

‘Poignant’ media may help us find answers to life’s big questions

Markham Heid
Elemental
Published in
5 min readMay 5, 2021

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Photo by Jace & Afsoon on Unsplash

On my 13th or 14th birthday, I can’t remember which, my dad gave me a boombox and some CDs.

The CDs were Neil Young’s Harvest, and greatest-hits collections from the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and the Steve…

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Markham Heid
Elemental

I’m a frequent contributor at TIME, the New York Times, and other media orgs. I write mostly about health and science. I like long walks and the Grateful Dead.