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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn
@tedalcorn.bsky.social
1.1K followers 970 following 79 posts
Reporting on health + justice in NYTimes, NM in Depth, more • Teaching @ Columbia & NYU Wagner • Former Everytown, NYC Mayor’s Office • Bi-Nuevo: New Mexican in NYC
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · 6d
Much hue & cry at the end of USAID but Trump admin is also quietly terminating half the grants of Millennium Challenge Corp including $420 million for a water treatment system in East Timor, where nearly half of kids are stunted from waterborne illness. My latest: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/w...
In East Timor, U.S. Retreats From Plan to Build ‘Lifesaving’ Sewage Plant
www.nytimes.com
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
meredithshiner.com
Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner.com · 13d
remember when we had the hatch act
drewharwell.com
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 13d
White House photo op for the president's granddaughter's new $130 sweatshirt line
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
petersterne.com
Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 15d
More from the Suffolk University poll: www.suffolk.edu/-/media/suff...

Do you support or oppose "defund the police"?
Support - 21%
Oppose - 74%

Would you support or oppose cutting some of the police budget and using the money for social services?
Support - 54%
Oppose - 41%
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · 16d
I know the exception proves the rule but since it pubbed today @thetrace.org www.thetrace.org/2025/09/bran...
Brandon Scott Pushed Baltimore Shootings to Historic Lows. Now Comes the Hard Part
In his first term, Mayor Scott went all in on violence reduction. Will his political foes topple the peace?
www.thetrace.org
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · 18d
Have always thought real estate interests could be leveraged to invest *in advance* in local, evidence-based gun violence prevention strategies, since they stand to make some of the largest, most direct financial gains from safer streets. @wsj.com www.wsj.com/us-news/the-...
The People Betting on a Baltimore Comeback
The city’s violent reputation has long hurt its economy. But crime is finally waning.
www.wsj.com
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · 22d
Evergreen tweet!
tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · 22d
“I think the main thing that’s caused so much confusion is that he was always generally apolitical for the most part,” the friend told me. “That's the big thing, he just never really talked politics which is why it's so frustrating.”
kenklippenstein.bsky.social
Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 22d
New Tyler Robinson posts leaked to me tell a very different story than you've heard before:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-...
Exclusive: Leaked Messages from Charlie Kirk Assassin
Accused shooter’s “politics” is not what government and media say
www.kenklippenstein.com
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · 24d
Interesting to see @gabbygiffords.bsky.social & former Sen. Jeff Flake co-author this. In 2013 he broke a promise to her to support a background check bill, essentially dooming the once-in-a-generation effort. The loss galvanized her to start @giffords.org. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
emmbadger.bsky.social
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 26d
If the federal show of force in Washington has had a deterrent effect on crime, it appears to have deterred entirely normal aspects of city life, too.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Sep 6
The US govt. is burying a major report linking alcohol with cancer, as it prepares to water down dietary guidelines advising stricter moderation. Good review of the industry campaign to kill it, with bipartisan help (👀 @mikethompson.house.gov ). @dylanlscott.bsky.social www.vox.com/health/46008...
Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows.
Kennedy wants to “Make America Healthy Again” — but doesn’t want you to see a report that could do just that.
www.vox.com
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
reuvenblau.bsky.social
Reuven Blau @reuvenblau.bsky.social · Sep 4
Inbox: The city Correction Department just announced another death on Rikers Island, the 12 this year and third over the past week. The judge overseeing the department is currently looking over candidates for a “remediation manager” role. She’s taken the entire summer and no deadline on the books.
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Aug 31
Deaths at Burning Man are exceedingly rare, and none to my knowledge have been violent. If this turns out to be, it couldn’t occur at a worse time for the organization behind the event, which has been struggling to fundraise to keep up with its expenses.

www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...
Burning Man death investigated as homicide after attendee found in ‘pool of blood’
Authorities are investigating a man’s death at Burning Man as a homicide after he was found in a “pool of blood” Saturday night in Black Rock City.
www.sfchronicle.com
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
sarahrknight.bsky.social
Sarah Knight @sarahrknight.bsky.social · Aug 7
Arkadi Gerney and I argue for maximum deterrence as our best path forward in @washingtonpost.com
postopinions.bsky.social
Washington Post Opinions @postopinions.bsky.social · Aug 7
"Those looking to counter red state power grabs like Texas’s should look to another period of brinkmanship for inspiration."

The latest from Arkadi Gerney and @sarahrknight.bsky.social:
Opinion | To defeat the Texas gerrymander, Democrats need to go nuclear
It’s not enough for blue states to redraw their own maps.
wapo.st
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
michaelschulman.bsky.social
Michael Schulman @michaelschulman.bsky.social · Aug 6
Last week, I became someone who knew someone killed in a mass shooting. Here's my remembrance of Wesley, across the decades. www.newyorker.com/news/postscr...
Remembering Wesley LePatner
I met Wesley in 1985, during the summer we both turned four. Until last Monday, our lives always seemed to run on parallel tracks.
www.newyorker.com
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Aug 7
Practical and evidence-based: Johnson City, TN considers shortening hours of alcohol sales to cut crime, a strategy Baltimore has adopted with success (I reported on it last year for @thetrace.org). www.johnsoncitypress.com/news/busines...
City leaders say curbing hours of alcohol sales is practical
Johnson City commissioners believe an ordinance to cut off the sale of alcohol in bars at 1 a.m. is a practical approach to dealing with public safety issues in the downtown.
www.johnsoncitypress.com
tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 29
So grateful for this opportunity, which allowed me to report on a novel anti-cancer effort in rural Kentucky. Read more: www.statnews.com/2025/07/23/c...
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
samwang.bsky.social
Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · Jul 26
In politics partisan actors are often rational. However, an exception is about to occur in the form of mid-decade redistricting.

Republicans and now Democrats are threatening a wave of new gerrymanders. I will skip the part about it being wrong. More importantly in our amoral age: it will not work.
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 25
A few big outlets scooping some up, but no evidence many are staying in journalism. Bad for democracy.
tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 25
In my analysis, since 2018, the event's cost per attendee has been growing faster than the average revenue per attendee. Somewhere in there the lines crossed, meaning the org now loses money for each additional attendee. They will not balance their books w/out revenue/donations from somewhere else.
tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 25
Burning Man, like many human endeavors that don't benefit from advances in "efficiency," seems afflicted by Baumol's cost disease: price of labor to put it on goes up, and revenue can't keep pace. The original econ paper on this (focused on symphony orchestras) is a gem: www.jstor.org/stable/1816292
On the Performing Arts: The Anatomy of Their Economic Problems on JSTOR
W. J. Baumol, W. G. Bowen, On the Performing Arts: The Anatomy of Their Economic Problems, The American Economic Review, Vol. 55, No. 1/2 (Mar. 1, 1965), pp. 495-502
www.jstor.org
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 25
These aren't insignificant costs. In 2023, govt permits/fees reached $4.9M (+21% since 2019). Vehicle & equipment rentals $7.6M (+87%). Could the Org negotiate better deals? Maybe—this year they sought 20% reductions from 25 biggest vendors—but one-time savings won't change the long-term trends.
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 25
Govt + vendors are a significant cost but based on data @burningman.org shared with me, I don't think they are a major cause of nor the solution to its recent and ongoing financial crunch... A little more detail:
mackreed.bsky.social
Mack Reed @mackreed.bsky.social · Jul 24
Bloomberg lays out the BORG’s struggle for Burning Man to remain solvent - and completely overlooks a two huge root causes - bloated cost-sharing demands from governments and law enforcement agencies and the captive-market dynamics at work in inflated vendor costs. archive.ph/2025.07.23-0...
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 23
Kentucky has pioneered improvements in rural cancer-care. Now their progress is imperiled by the deepest Medicaid cuts in the country. My story out today about @ukmarkey.bsky.social in @statnews.com, supported by @npcinstitute.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2025/07/23/c...
Kentucky’s campaign to improve rural cancer care is a national model. Federal cuts threaten its progress
Improvements in rural cancer care in Kentucky could be imperiled by President Trump's tax and domestic policy bill.
www.statnews.com
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tedalcorn.bsky.social
Ted Alcorn @tedalcorn.bsky.social · Jul 22
Last year #burningman reached more people than ever—but it also fell $20 million short, and has never come closer to extinction. Read my story in @BW about the unique conundrum facing a utopian culture that eschews commerce but still has to pay its bills. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash
The festival has billionaire devotees, more than 100 offshoot events and a cult following. So why is the organization behind it struggling to stay afloat?
www.bloomberg.com
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Reposted by Ted Alcorn
larrylevitt.bsky.social
Larry Levitt @larrylevitt.bsky.social · Jul 1
The Senate has just passed what amounts to the biggest health reform plan since the ACA, rolling back many of the health insurance coverage increases achieved by the ACA.
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