Wildcard
Creative essays, films and unexpected connections across medicine, art, literature, history and everyday life.
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The Kilt Inspector Would Like a Word
A red-shanked douc langur arrives for the Highland Fling already wearing bright red stockings. The judges demand his tailor’s number. He says ‘Evolution.’
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One Last Dance. Please Stop Saying That.
Several gelada dance couples take turns performing Tsyganochka-inspired numbers. Unfortunately, the announcer keeps calling every one the last dance. A short absurdist film and essay by Olga Goodman, MD.
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The Spider Pleads Not Guilty
A 30-second tarantella by two gibbons. No spider was seen, but the tambourine is wanted for questioning. A new absurdist Monkey Dance Series film and essay by Olga Goodman, MD.
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The Pub Would Like Its Floor Back
The Monkey Dance Company promised a quieter show after the Dutch clog disaster. Instead, golden-maned tamarins take over an Irish pub—and the floorboards begin drafting a complaint.
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Going Dutch. The Punchline Wears Wooden Shoes.
The locals on Borneo were joking about Dutch colonizers when they called proboscis monkeys ‘Dutch monkeys.’ Centuries later, the punchline returns wearing wooden shoes—and dancing klompendansen.
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The New Artistic Director Has a Tail
The Monkey Dance Company has hired a bonnet macaque to bring order to its repertoire. Her Bharatanatyam recital is impeccable. The casting director is sweeping up petals.
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The Monkeys Are Back. Management Has Resigned.
Monkey Dance Series, Part II: chimpanzees dance a melodramatic tango, then a Pulp Fiction-style twist contest. Two 30-second original AI-created film parodies by Olga Goodman, MD.
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From Jive to Swan Lake: Two Impossible Performances
Two 30-second fantasy films by Olga Goodman, MD: monkeys jiving in a snowy 1950s diner, and gorillas performing classical ballet. An essay on the visual language of the wonderfully impossible.
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First a Drawing. Then a Dragon.
A time-traveling woman encounters a medieval city and a dragon drawn across the sky. A 59-second fantasy film and visual essay by Olga Goodman, MD, on the difference between recognizing a pattern…
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The Night the X-Ray Escaped
An X-ray hand breaks free, flies above a neon city and returns to the clinic. A 35-second visual fantasy about what radiographs reveal—and what they leave out.
Rheumatology is the art of suspecting inflammation. Radiology is the art of waiting until it finally agrees to be seen.
Rheumatology diagnoses the argument. Radiology waits for the evidence to calcify.