Sarah Kaplan

Chart of the decade, from a new blockbuster reportage on how billionaires took over American politics www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

In reversal, Coast Guard again classifies swastikas, nooses as hate symbols The new order came hours after The Post reported the service would instead classify such symbols as “potentially divisive” under guidelines set for release next month.

How @washingtonpost.com reporting gets results: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

How billionaires took over American politics The current concentration of wealth is unlike anything in history. So is billionaires’ involvement in politics.

“If you’re a billionaire, you want to stay a billionaire,” one donor told @bethreinhard.bsky.social about his political spending.

Don't miss this tour-de-force about the unprecedented influence of the ultrarich on American elections and politics.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

The deadliest roads in America The number of pedestrians killed by vehicles has increased in the U.S., with road infrastructure and inadequate safety measures among key contributing factors.

An extraordinary work of investigative journalism, revealing how high speeds and larger vehicles, combined with a systemic bias towards cars (and against people in low-income communities) have made U.S. streets so deadly for pedestrians.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...

Gazans will return to a shattered city after Israel leveled its high-rises Israeli bombardment punched large holes in Gaza City’s skyline by repeatedly demolishing high-rise buildings containing hundreds of homes and businesses.

“It wasn’t just a building; it was our whole history."
www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

America saved him from the Taliban. Trump wants to send him back. He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S. Then ICE arrested him. If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

"This is the place the U.S. government delivered him out of and the place it intends to send him back to."

A must-read from @johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

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.

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...

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...

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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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.

“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...

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.

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

The health risks from plastics almost nobody knows about Researchers have linked phthalates, chemicals found in plastics, to premature birth, infertility and ADHD.

“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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

‘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.

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...

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.

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

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.

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
wapo.st/3IRXIlK

Gazans are starving. Here’s what lack of food does to the human body. Children suffering under severe food shortages can face lifelong consequences.

“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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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.

“[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...

Journalists Are Starving in Gaza “I used to chase the truth. Now I chase calories.”

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

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.

“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...

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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...

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.

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
wapo.st/3TgX03t

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.

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)

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.

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/...

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...