"I want to say: You're not crazy. Here's why you feel like this."

A conversation with Cutaway Notes, author of Public Health Matters, about using storytelling to reframe public health for everyday people

I discovered the public health newsletter Public Health Matters shortly after I started writing on Substack. I had been looking for writers with institutional experience who are finding new ways to make knowledge more accessible online.

Public Health Matters is written by a recent college graduate who goes by the handle Cutaway Notes. It’s a relatively new newsletter (like Feed for Thought), but I was immediately struck by its clarity of perspective and tone. Through storytelling, Cutaway Notes explores issues like perimenopause and intimate partner violence, framing them as critical public health issues. It’s the kind of work that’s needed, as public trust shifts from institutional authority to personal voices online.

We connected last week over video to talk about her experience writing publicly for the first time. Our conversation touched on imposter syndrome, institutional blind spots, and why public health research needs better storytellers.

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Jena: Hi! It’s so nice to meet you after reading your writing. I’m curious to hear more about your background. How did you get into public health?

Cutaway Notes: I graduated last April from University of Michigan with my Bachelor’s, and I majored in public health. I knew I wanted to have a health-adjacent major, but I also knew I didn’t want to go to medical school.

And then I was fortunate enough to do a two-year research project on reproductive health. We were looking at the reproductive landscape post-Roe, the political campaigning of the 2024 election, and how abortion existed in the post-Roe landscape according to differing state laws. And then we got published in a law review, which was a mixture of both worlds, law and public health.

So my focus became women’s health, specifically reproductive health. That is where I felt like, Oh my God, this is my passion. I really, really love this.

And now I am pivoting into law school. Because I had moved so much between both worlds, public health and law, I was really beginning to understand how my future career and role would land. And although I had done a ton of advocacy, research, and community work in public health, I felt that the next stop, getting a JD, would be the answer to the advocacy I wanted to be a part of.

At the core of my work was people, my interactions with them. And I felt like the way I could make a difference that was most aligned with me, and reaching my future clients, was a JD.

J: Congratulations on graduating! And on finding something you love. What made you want to start Public Health Matters?

CN: It really comes back to that reproductive health project I mentioned. That’s how I discovered Substack.

I was doing a lot of research around reproductive health policies. I started reading Abortion, Every Day by Jessica Valenti. That’s how I got introduced to Substack and where I got a lot of my research.

After we got published, we were supposed to pursue a spin-off project post-graduation. We were excited to explore projects around a possible short book or feature story.

However, we were stopped dead in our tracks when the political landscape flipped on its head. We were struggling to find funding, and there were just a lot of issues. We tried to find grant money in other ways, but it was just a bunch of waiting.

And then I was like, You know what? I’m not gonna wait anymore. I’m just gonna pick up and start writing.

J: Good for you! I empathize with the funding issues. It’s such a hard time right now, unfortunately. Did you have an idea of what you wanted the Substack to be when you started?

CN: At first it was supposed to be comedic, about personal stuff. I loved reading people’s personal Substacks and thought it was so much fun. Like Twitter but not toxic.

But when I started working, I saw a lot of institutional failure-esque topics that really angered me. I wrote a piece about perimenopause, and I’m writing now about femicide. I feel like all of my work and research have been focused on institutional failure. And that’s kind of my niche, which I discovered during my reproductive work, sitting at the intersection of law and public health.

J: Did you feel nervous about starting to write publicly?

CN: I literally debated the decision of writing for three months. I feel like I was waiting for something to happen, this perfect day to come for me to begin writing.

I wanted to do writing in my jobs, but it just wasn’t working. A lot of places don’t do writing like this. Their communications are more like, let’s do a poster, or let’s write about this holiday. They don’t write about actual public health issues.

Then when I tried to write for health magazines, they weren’t hiring. I reached out to professors for help, but I felt like so many things weren’t working. And that’s why I started ruminating again.

J: What were you ruminating about?

CN: A lot of imposter syndrome. Because I only have a Bachelor’s in Public Health. I noticed that a lot of writers were doctors or dietitians or nurse practitioners. And I thought, Wow. These people must know a lot more than me. What if I post something and they’re like, “What do you know?”

I had also spent so much time on Reddit, and I saw how defensive and hostile people could be there.

It was honestly just a lot of fear and a lot of talking myself out of it so that I could stay in my comfort zone instead of trying something new.

But then, after I tried to get writing jobs and the research funding went out the window, I was just like, I’m gonna try.

I can’t tell you how I actually plucked up the courage to start writing. But one day, I just did.

J: I think a lot of people – myself included – can relate to feeling imposter syndrome. Are there any specific goals you have for Public Health Matters?

CN: I have two goals, two dreams.

First, I always wanted to start a podcast. I feel so much more free when I talk. When I write, I edit and re-edit. I’m thinking so much about these issues anyway so when I write, it’s like I start overthinking.

But strangely, when I talk, it’s not like that. Like the conversation you and I are having now… I find this so much more fun than us typing.

J: I agree – this is fun! So there’s the podcast. Was there a second dream you wanted to share?

CN: Yes, the other one was, honestly, just to have a community to talk to other people. I like connecting with people. Especially now in a world where we’re shifting so much into AI, you don’t really know who wrote what.

It’s so fun to talk, like we are now, or in the comments. Because that’s when I know that people are reading my posts.

But I’m really struggling with Notes. I am having a hard time landing a reaction with them, haha.

J: Ugh, I can’t figure out Notes either. Some people are really good at it. So what is your writing process like?

CN: My first ever post that I wrote was the most raw one. It was my why post and I forced myself to write it because I like reading other people’s why.

With public health, I feel like there’s so many great people. So many great doctors, nurses, professors, so many great people in academia, and all the people who are actually engaging with the literature and working with it.

But there’s not enough people disseminating it. And I wanted a tangible way for people to engage with public health that wasn’t too gatekeepy or with too much medical jargon.

I want to be the middleman. Like: here’s this complicated thing. Let me talk to you about it in a very easy, conversational way. Let me tell you a story about it, and let’s have a discussion.

When it comes to how I choose topics, I focus on things that a lot of people don’t talk about.

For example, my piece about perimenopause was more personal, because I was close with someone who had an MPH and was a pharmacist, and even she had such an awful time getting her perimenopause diagnosed and properly addressed. And the more research I did, the more I realized that this was such an overlooked issue and rarely talked about.

If You’re Googling Perimenopause Symptoms, You’re Not Alone

There’s a lot of information about perimenopause, but it’s so academic. The articles talk about things like the exact neurotransmitters that run through your body at a certain age, or hormonal gymnastics that are hard to understand without a background. And that’s all valuable. But being that middleman, by disseminating that information, I just want to say: Here’s why you feel like this. You’re not alone. You’re not crazy.

And I feel like it’s because I have a huge problem with people, especially women, apologizing for how they feel. It makes me so mad. Don’t apologize! This is normal.

As for what I write, I write about institutional failures. I write about things that make me angry, because I feel like that emotion shows in my writing.

I try to write about things that we don’t always perceive to be public health, but they should be. And I want to write thought provoking things, but in a way that makes sense to a regular person.

J: That passion does come through in your writing. How do you decide what to write about? How long does it take you to write?

CN: I have a list of ideas, and I organize everything in Notion. And then I go with what my gut is feeling at the time.

Let’s say this week, I could write about a number of different angles on femicide. I sit down and do more research. If I find myself in a rabbit hole of research for more than 30 minutes, I know I’ve hit the jackpot.

I like to start broad, and then narrow down. I’ll outline the angle, my hook. Then I’ll just do research and sit down for a chunk at a time to write. Two to three hours, maybe longer.

When I have a draft, I always skip a day. Come back, edit. And then shorten it down.

I never do my closing the first time I draft. So when I do my edit, that’s when I write my closing. And then I try to find a catchy title. That’s always the most difficult part – picking a title, picking a picture.

And then I transfer everything that lives on Notion onto Substack.

There’s a lot of information about perimenopause, but it’s so academic … Being that middleman, by disseminating that information, I just want to say: Here’s why you feel like this. You’re not alone. You’re not crazy.

J: How do you carve out the time for research and writing?

CN: You know, it’s been hard. I work a job now and I juggle different things on the side. So sometimes it’s hard for me to justify sitting down and carving time to write. Because for me, the Substack is my passion project.

I’m writing for myself. No one’s looking over my shoulder for this. That’s also the difficulty of it, because I have to keep myself accountable and not talk myself out of writing.

I don’t know about you, but everyone around me is just obsessed with work. I know people who work two jobs, and sometimes they work a different job on the weekend. It’s just crazy. And then, when I tell people, Oh, I write for fun, they’re like, Oh, you don’t get paid for that? It’s wild for them to hear.

J: I get that. What do you think would make it easier for more young people to start writing and sharing their ideas publicly?

CN: I hope there can be a bridge for younger people to start writing. For me personally, I wish there was some kind of manual or guide to walk me through how to write and post on Substack. I instead found myself getting stuck in the loop of people who wanted to sell me their courses online by promising the fastest way possible of getting subscribers. I had a lot to figure out on my own, which really prolonged my posting process.

I think we need to cultivate more talent and brain power from young people and graduates from institutions. They are the people interacting with the work, disseminating it, engaging with it.

They are, in their own way, the experts in their own fields. ◾

Thank you to Cutaway Notes for sharing your experience with us! Subscribe to Public Health Matters for more storytelling about public health.