Jess McAllen
banner
jessmcallen.bsky.social
Jess McAllen
@jessmcallen.bsky.social
Staff writer & fact checker at @thebaffler.com

Reporting on healthcare, especially mental health, chronic illness, and care inequalities

I'm from New Zealand but am in New York.
Reposted by Jess McAllen
I'm looking to interview chronically ill/disabled contractors on your concerns about private health insurance spiking for a @motherjones.com piece. Please email [email protected].

Especially looking to chat about how being a contractor too may be more accessible.
November 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
November 5, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
Last few spaces on my small museums & mental health w'shop this Sat 8 Nov
I'll teach you neuroscience of how Tetris,Lego & arranging collections like this👇 help our brains deal with stress & lift mood;we'll make small museums together.
Also:30% off my Etsy:
workshops.emmamitchell.uk/courses/copy...
November 3, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
In 1961, Ray Trussell was appointed as New York City’s hospital commissioner. You might not know his name, but you should—as @jessmcallen.bsky.social reports, he fundamentally transformed how the city’s hospital system works.
In Poor Health | Jess McAllen
Affiliation in New York City hospitals was meant to improve care—and lower costs. But that hasn’t quite worked out.
thebaffler.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
Affiliation contracts were intended to improve care—and lower costs—at New York City’s public “safety-net” hospitals by pairing them up with private nonprofit institutions. But as @jessmcallen.bsky.social reports, it hasn’t panned out that way.
In Poor Health | Jess McAllen
Affiliation in New York City hospitals was meant to improve care—and lower costs. But that hasn’t quite worked out.
thebaffler.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:20 PM
i'm a big believer in never let them know ur next step but i'm also a believer in always let them know ur next step which really is the never let them know ur next step of letting them know your next step
October 31, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
I am interested in starting to hear from care workers on SNAP about your concerns. I'm @motherjones.com's disability reporter. Please be in touch. My email is [email protected] and my Signal is juliametraux.49. Reposts are appreciated.
October 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I know I say this a lot but even w good insurance in the US chronic illness is soooo expensive
October 24, 2025 at 9:57 PM
If I had a dollar for every time i knock over a mug of water foolishly placed on my bed right before I go to sleep I would have about $20
October 21, 2025 at 4:37 AM
hello, I am looking for anyone who has had a ridiculous insurance denial recently, can be anonymous but must be in the US. Pls reply here or email [email protected] x
October 20, 2025 at 9:29 PM
obsessed w the image help
He runs a roving gang that stages hate crimes, and you do not have to hand it to him, but I agree with Curtis Sliwa on one thing: The way to get rid of rats is well cared-for cat colonies. I lived in a LES building behind a restaurant with one and there were no rats. Never mayor, but maybe Cat Czar.
Curtis Sliwa's Feral Cat Vigilantes Will Clean Up This Dirty Town
To solve the city's rat problem, we need roving feline justice squads.
hellgatenyc.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
i see mike king and "i am hope" is in the news again recently. just resharing this amazing piece @jessmcallen.bsky.social wrote for webworm last year: www.webworm.co/rockstar/
The Making of a Mental Health Rockstar
Does Mike King’s popularity come with a big dose of impunity?
www.webworm.co
October 16, 2025 at 3:51 AM
I've used public transport in ways u can't even imagine
October 16, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Do u know if u fill a rice cooker with water and rosemary it makes the house smell so nice
October 13, 2025 at 2:17 AM
omg it was a bird
Who created our quintessential cuisine? Credit for first putting cheese in a beef pie is hotly contested – but one thing seems certain, it was a Kiwi. Jonathan Milne investigates.
The mystery of NZ's world-famous mince and cheese pie
newsroom.co.nz
October 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
September 30, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
From 1969 to 2008 John Margolies photographed the eccentric roadside architecture and ephemera of the US. @librarycongress bought the lot, a total of 11,710 colour slides, and lifted all copyright restrictions on them. Here's our highlights: publicdomainreview.org/collection/j...
September 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
When a hospital comes under the thumb of private equity, patients and workers suffer the consequences. That’s something James Kelly witnessed personally working as an ICU nurse. He spoke to @jessmcallen.bsky.social about his book back in March.
September 23, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
September 22, 2025 at 11:33 PM
It's my fave season : just before autumn
September 11, 2025 at 10:17 PM
there was no song of the summer? u mean phantom of the bop-era?
September 8, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Unfortunately people were right about meal prepping
September 8, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
Journalists at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been on strike for more than 1,000 days. In our new issue, Tadhg Larabee reports on the union’s battle and its connection to Steel City’s labor history.
Stop the Presses | Tadhg Larabee
In Pittsburgh, one newsroom has been on strike for more than two years. Something has to give. Will it be the workers?
thebaffler.com
September 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Jess McAllen
"What no one prepared us for, though, was that the logic that we followed—we want the business to succeed; we need our jobs to make money—didn’t apply to ownership." thebaffler.com/latest/a-fai...
A Fair Slice | Becca Young
Unionizing at Brooklyn’s Barboncino was the easy part—then came the negotiations
thebaffler.com
September 2, 2025 at 6:39 PM