Unlike his combative exchanges with senators about vaccines, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was conciliatory and accommodating about agriculture interests.

Unlike his combative exchanges with senators about vaccines, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was conciliatory and accommodating about agriculture interests.

© Mark Peterson for The New York Times

Health has become polarized by the Trump administration, which shares an ethos with “The Biggest Loser,” including an obsession with personal responsibility.

“A Marriage at Sea” provides a kind of rebuke to the current extreme cultural narratives about heterosexual romance.

Peer-to-peer persuasion is a necessary tool right now.