Astred Ngnepieba is a senior at Vanderbilt University studying Medicine, Health, & Society and Chemistry. Her work moves between biomedical research and the health humanities, convinced that the most interesting questions live at that border. Planet Normal grew from a steady observation that “normal” is a peculiar construction, institutionally enforced and anything but natural. Under the supervision of Dr. Lauren Mitchell, Astred was permitted to take that suspicion seriously. As you read Planet Normal, Astred hopes you find the familiar newly strange and stay there a little longer than is comfortable.