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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · 1d

An extraordinary story made possible by an unprecedented partnership between Washington Post reporters and readers. It takes immense trust to give a journalist access to your data and your story. My colleagues and I strive to earn and keep that trust every day.
www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/int...

How TikTok keeps its users scrolling for hours a day

Washington Post reporters analyzed data from over 800 TikTok users to learn how the app turns people into power users, some of whom spend hours per day scrolling.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · 8d

Vital, devastating reporting from @megkelly.bsky.social @joyceshlee.bsky.social & co. on the human consequences of President Trump's suspension of foreign aid
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Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting.

USAID antimalarial and HIV supplies valued at nearly $140 million were delayed in the first half of the year or not delivered at all due to the Trump administration’s foreign aid pause, The Post found...

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · 13d

“We didn’t get any direction or info from him,” said an official who has worked on ~75 FEMA operations. “We never got an email from him. There was definitely no indication that he was involved.”

Staggering reporting from the indomitable Brianna Sacks
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...

As Texas flooded, key staff say FEMA’s leader could not be reached

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting administrator, David Richardson, is often inaccessible, several current and former officials say, raising concerns within the agency.

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · 28d

News you can use from @davidovalle.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

How to get a coronavirus vaccine and who’s eligible amid limited access

Here’s what to know about navigating pharmacies, doctors, insurance companies and the government when trying to get updated coronavirus vaccines.

www.washingtonpost.com

Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · 28d

“We’re just constantly exposed to a soup of chemicals."

Amazing reporting by @shannonosaka.bsky.social & co. on the plastic pollutants that are almost impossible to avoid -- and whose potential harms we're just beginning to understand.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

The health risks from plastics almost nobody knows about

Researchers have linked phthalates, chemicals found in plastics, to premature birth, infertility and ADHD.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 31

My dear pal @joyceshlee.bsky.social is the most tenacious and incisive visual forensics journalist I have ever met. Seriously -- never try to keep a secret from her because she will DEFINITELY find it out.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Trump administration to destroy birth control intended as aid

Belgium, the United Nations and aid groups say they have offered to save $9.7 million in supplies kept in a Belgian warehouse.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 31

The amazing Katie Mettler, whose commitment to local journalism and doggedness in exposing wrongdoing and uplifting the righteous is a thing to behold:

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Baltimore is seeing the city’s fewest homicides in 50 years. Here’s why.

Multiple people have taken credit for the historic drop that mirrors a national decrease in violent crimes. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott says it’s due to a community-based approach to gun violence.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 31

Some bylines to look out for:

My inspiring friend @schmidtsam.bsky.social, who led this jaw dropping investigation into conditions at the mega prison where Trump has sent deportees
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the mega prison where the U.S. deported migrants

Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 31

Lots of brilliant colleagues mark the ends of their Post careers today. But the special thing about this newsroom is its incredible spirit of camaraderie and friendship. Every legend who leaves has mentored countless others who are going to take up the baton. Underestimate us at your own peril.

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Fenit Nirappil @fenitn.bsky.social · Jul 31

The Washington Post offers the most complete view yet of conditions in the El Salvador mega prison where the U.S. is sending migrants. Gift link: wapo.st/3HbPOmE

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Hannah Natanson @hannahnatanson.bsky.social · Jul 31

Latest in a string of stories you can read only/first from the @washingtonpost: The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work right now, under the Trump admin's resignation program w/ @merylkornfield.bsky.social @laurameckler.bsky.social
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The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work

Early resignation offers and other programs have reduced the workforce, but critics say the moves are also wasting money.

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 28

“Unlike shooting or bombing, if killing stops, the dying won’t stop. It’ll still continue for some time,” said Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University.

“Starvation in war like this is a massacre in slow motion.”
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Gazans are starving. Here’s what lack of food does to the human body.

Children suffering under severe food shortages can face lifelong consequences.

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 24

“[Children's] small bodies are shutting down — they can’t breathe, their immune systems are collapsing."

Meanwhile, Gaza health authorities say more 1,000 people have been shot and killed trying to access food distribution sites backed by Israel and the US.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Mass starvation stalks Gaza as deaths from hunger rise

Aid agencies warned for months that Israel’s harsh limits on food aid would bring acute malnutrition and widespread suffering to Gaza’s 2.1 million people.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 23

"I used to chase the truth. Now I chase calories.”
www.cjr.org/news/journal...

Journalists Are Starving in Gaza

“I used to chase the truth. Now I chase calories.”

www.cjr.org

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 21

“We’re living in a climate that we’ve never seen and it keeps throwing us curveballs. How do you plan for the worst thing you’ve never seen?”

In this year of floods, Helene's aftermath holds important lessons about how communities can become more prepared.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

A new era of floods has arrived. America isn’t prepared.

A Washington Post investigation reveals why so few people evacuated in the state hit hardest by last year’s deadliest disaster.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Margaret Barthel @margaretbarthel.bsky.social · Jul 18

Today I'm thinking about this: when Hurricane Helene devastated Appalachia last year, my public radio colleagues in North Carolina, West Virginia, and Southwest Virginia stepped up. They broadcast the emergency alerts. They carried the official press conferences live.

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 17

The world is grim right now, but the universe is still full of wonder. I'm always grateful to @joelachenbach.bsky.social for reminding me of that fact. www.washingtonpost.com/science/inte...

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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Jul 11

Exclusive: Kerr County, where nearly 100 people were killed and more than 160 remain missing, had the technology to turn every cellphone in the area into a blaring alarm, but officials did not do so before or during the river level rising to record heights.

Kerr County did not use its most far-reaching alert system in deadly Texas floods

Local officials used the system more than two days after the recorded height of the floods.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Scott Dance @byscottdance.com · Jul 5

There was no immediate sign the staffing shortages that have wracked the National Weather Service this year contributed to the tragedy in Texas. There are a handful of vacancies at two central Texas forecasting offices, according to a union representing meteorologists.

Live updates: Rescuers search for more than two dozen missing campers after Texas floods killed at least 27

The flooding in Kerr County, Texas, killed 27, while Camp Mystic on the banks of the Guadalupe River had dozens of girls unaccounted for.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sam Mednick @smednick.bsky.social · Jul 2

US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammunition as Palestinians seek food in #Gaza.

The AP has obtained videos of a food-distribution site in Gaza and interviewed two American contractors working there.

apnews.com/article/pale...

US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammo as Palestinians seek food in Gaza

American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Asso...

apnews.com

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jul 2

Really helpful overview of what the GOP bill means for people on Medicare & Medicaid, those who get their health insurance on the marketplaces and people who depend on rural & safety net hospitals
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What the GOP’s tax bill means for your health care

Legislation passed by the Senate on Tuesday could affect how people sign up for Medicaid and the insurance marketplaces, and where they can get care.

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Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · Jun 29

Please read this @khoureld.bsky.social story about the consequences of USAID cuts.

Children are dying from starvation on the streets of Sudan — and the food that could save them, already paid for by our government, is languishing in U.S. warehouses.

(No paywall)

In Sudan, where children clung to life, doctors say USAID cuts have been fatal

The Trump administration’s cuts to USAID had an immediate and deadly impact in war-ravaged Sudan, according to civilians, doctors and aid officials.

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Sarah Kaplan @sarahkaplan48.bsky.social · Jun 29

A stunning scoop from @mariasacchetti.bsky.social: Despite pledging to target criminals, the Trump administration has freed a three-time felon from prison in exchange for his testimony against Abrego, a wrongly deported man who has not been convicted of a crime www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Star witness against Kilmar Abrego García was due to be deported. Now he’s being freed.

Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes is a three-time felon released early from federal prison to a halfway house in exchange for testifying against Kilmar Abrego García.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Jacob Bogage @jacobbogage.bsky.social · Jun 25

Trump & Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” would be one of the largest wealth transfers from the working class to the wealthy in U.S. history.

But how would it affect YOU?

We built a calculator.

Plug in your info to see what it’d mean for your finances.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...

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Reposted by Sarah Kaplan

bonnieberkowitz.bsky.social @bonnieberkowitz.bsky.social · Jun 23

Bad things happen when cities aren't prepared for extreme heat (such as what is out there today) wapo.st/3G9JATS

We built a fake metropolis to show how extreme heat could wreck cities

Extreme heat grounds planes, stops trains, wrecks roads, breaks pipes and generally creates havoc, especially in places that are used to cooler temperatures.

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