Keith Wailoo
American historian of medicine and public health, and professor at Princeton University, known for examining the intersections of race, politics, and disease in works such as How Cancer Crossed the Color Line, Pain: A Political History, and Pushing Cool.
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. Pushing Cool
Big Tobacco, Racial Marketing, and the Untold Story of the Menthol Cigarette
A history of menthol cigarettes reveals how tobacco companies engineered “smoothness” and strategically targeted Black communities by selling an alluring idea of cool, comfort, and identity. Drawing on advertising, politics, and public health, it traces the alliances among marketers, media, musicians, and community leaders that normalized menthol use and deepened addiction, even as evidence of disproportionate harm mounted. The narrative follows decades of regulatory and legal battles culminating in contemporary moves to restrict or ban menthol, exposing how race, commerce, culture, and policy intertwined to shape addiction and health disparities.
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