Joe Murphy

Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted. As vaccination rates decline, the economic consequences will increase, research suggests.

New piece from @ErikaEdwards.bsky.social looks at the question: "What's the real cost of a measles outbreak?" www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...

Live updates: The U.S. and Israel are striking Iran Follow the latest news and live updates after Israel says it has launched a preemptive strike against Iran.

LIVE UPDATES: U.S. military begins 'major combat operations in Iran,' President Trump says.

• Iran is retaliating against multiple U.S. military facilities in the Middle East, a U.S. official says

• Iranian state media reports explosions in central Tehran

• Israel declares a state of emergency

Producer Price Index by Commodity: Metals and Metal Products: Iron and Steel Producer Price Index by Commodity: Metals and Metal Products: Iron and Steel

Is there much seasonality in the data? The non-seasonal set is solid. fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WPU101

'No expense has been spared': Inside a luxury jet DHS wants to buy for deportations DHS leadership says the department needs the jet for immigrant deportations and Kristi Noem’s travel. A brochure given to passengers who recently flew on it with Noem highlights its “exceptional inter...

My colleague Julia Ainsley, who is not on this site but is a killer on the DHS beat, obtained exclusive photos of Kristi Noem's luxury jet that she needs for "deportations."

Generations, if discussed, are defined as follows: 1. Gen Z, born after 1995 2. Younger Millennials: born between 1989-1995 3. Older Millennials: born between 1978-1988 4. Gen Xers: born between 1965-1977 5. Baby Boomer: 1946-1964 6. Traditionalists: pre-1946

Wake up hon a new definition of generations in the U.S. just landed

Data Reporter, NBC News Digital Company Description: NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. We create world-class content, which we distribute across our portfolio of film, television, and stre...

JOB: NBC News' Data / Graphics team is hiring a data reporter. It's four days in the office (NYC, D.C. or L.A. – note that the job description only mentions NYC), and it's a union job.

Job: smrtr.io/xfxS7
Our work: www.nbcnews.com/datagraphics

Hi Mr. Rodriguez, I know we don't know each other but if there are stories you see in your work that aren't being covered in the news, drop me a line here or at joe.murphy@nbcuni.com

Yup it's down for me.

Broken bones, burning eyes: How Trump's DHS deploys 'less lethal' weapons on protesters Federal immigration officers have repeatedly used force in ways that appear to violate their own policies or general policing guidelines, NBC News found.

“I’ve never seen federal agents so out of control and acting in such a malicious manner,” a former federal prosecutor and federal judge said. “They said they were going after ‘the worst of the worst,’ then they became the problem.

Read this by @jonschuppe.bsky.social & @natashakorecki.bsky.social

NBC News mapped out the web of connections between Jeffrey Epstein and those in President Trump's administrations, past and present. More than half a dozen – including the president – showed up in Epstein file dumps. This graphic shows those names: Howard Lutnick, RFK Jr., Stephen Feinberg, Mehmet Oz, John Phelan, Kevin Marsh, Elon Musk and Steve Bannon.

At least a half-dozen top officials in the current Trump administration have connections to Jeffrey Epstein, according to an NBC News review of some of the over 3 million documents the Justice Department has released. #dataViz

www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

Presidential approval tracker: How popular is Trump at his second term? Follow Trump’s approval rating in NBC News polls and see how it compares to those of Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Updated regularly.

NEW: Trump’s approval poll ratings continue to decline.

STORY: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

DATA TRACKER: www.nbcnews.com/data-graphic...

In case you missed it: my full, free, open course on accessibility and visualization is out!

A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.

The cover of the 1990-something non-fiction book If At All Possible, Involve A Cow: The Book of College Pranks. By Neil Steinberg.

The back cover of the book, with a bunch of text that is too small for me to type in sorry.

Got this @neilsteinberg.bsky.social classic in the mail today... giving it to my 9-year-old.

Good question! I don't have a good answer.

Huh. So it’s 9 that I’m focused on, fwiw. Just followed.

Out of curiosity, were you able to download the entirety of sets 9 and 10? The CDN hasn't gotten me (or anyone else I know) past 31GB of 10 or past 21GB of 9.

The U.S. is sending its most athletes ever to the Winter Olympics. Here's where they're from. The state that produced the most Olympians is Colorado, with 32 athletes listing hometowns from the Centennial State.

MAP: A nice big interactive map showing the hometowns of the 232 athletes on Team USA: www.nbcnews.com/data-graphic... #dataViz

South Carolina measles outbreak reaches 789 cases, surpassing Texas The ongoing outbreak has spread to at least 3 other states, sending hundreds of people into quarantine.

South Carolina’s measles outbreak is now larger than the one in Texas was, and has been linked to cases in at least three other states. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Dozens of CDC databases are not being updated — most related to vaccines, study finds The agency plays a key role in tracking the disease spread and vaccination rates. Last year, it seemed to back away from some of that work, according to new research.

"Nearly half of the databases that the CDC used to update regularly — surveillance systems that tracked public health information like Covid vaccination rates — have been paused without explanation, according to new research."

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

With Congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton announcing she will not run for re-election ( www.nbcnews.com/politics/202... ), that takes the total number of 80-and-older politicians in Congress running for re-election down to half (12 out of 24 members). Earlier: www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

Trump's DHS has shot 12 people during immigration enforcement operations since September. Here's what to know. Federal agents have shot three people in Minneapolis in recent weeks, killing two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Videos contradict the Trump administration's account of their deaths.

@NBCNews.com tracked the number of people who officers from the Dept. of Homeland Security have shot, now at 12: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Map: Track the spread of measles in the U.S. Measles case counts soared to a 34-year high in 2025. NBC News will continue to track totals this year.

The U.S. has counted more than 400 measles cases so in the first 22 days of 2026, which is more cases than get reported most entire years.

The @NBCNews.com measles tracker is back for another year with more charts, more maps and more data: www.nbcnews.com/data-graphic...

Trends in County-Level Childhood Vaccination Exemptions in the US This study examines US county-level trends in nonmedical and medical exemptions to childhood vaccination requirements.

Our latest study in @jama.com on trends in county-level vaccine exemptions, demonstrating geographic pockets of high vaccine exemptions and high susceptibility to vaccine-preventable diseases. Great collab with @nbcnews.com colleagues and our Stanford team. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The new principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Ralph Abraham, appeared to shrug off the possibility that the U.S. could lose its measles elimination status. Asked on a call with reporters Tuesday whether the loss would be significant, he said, “Not really.” “We have these communities that choose to be unvaccinated. That’s their personal freedom,” Abraham said. “I think we have to respect those communities that choose to go somewhat of a different route.”

What CDC leadership has to say about measles in the U.S. – this story is also a good read on the elimination status of the disease: www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

YouTube video by Colemine Records Kelly Finnigan - Santa's Watching You [OFFICIAL AUDIO]

I know it's well past expiration date but I'm still listening to this Christmas song, Santa's Watching You, it feels both classic and modern and recasts famous Christmas lyrics with a surveillance-y flavor www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Sf...

A photo of the rear end of an red 1980s car in pretty good condition for being like 40 years old.

A closer-in photo of the car, centered is a mint condition "BUSH/QUAYLE 1988" bumper sticker from a presidential race decades ago.

rare bird

Some Trump administration social media posts mirror extremist rhetoric While the posts are a small part of the administration’s overall social media presence, experts say they are clear references to white supremacist messaging.

“These are no longer dog whistles,” Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, said. “They’re bullhorns.” www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

Another thing here: None of the 80-and-older representatives and senators in Congress who are up for re-election in 2026 have a competitive seat, per @CookPolitical.com's latest report.

This chart shows which of Congress’s oldest 24 members are running for re-election (13 members), which aren’t (six members), and which are uncertain (four members). Each politician’s current age is shown, and for those running, the age they would be at the end of the term they could be re-elected for is shown. The party of each member is also shown. All of these politicians are at least 80 years old, most are younger than 84, and one is in his 90s. The uncertain politicians are, on average, the oldest, though there are three politicians at or near 88 who are running for re-election.

Pitched and landed this story for @NBCNews.com: 24 members of Congress are 80 or older. More than half are running for re-election. #dataViz www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...