Kathleen McLaughlin

It's becoming chillingly clear: an administration that gleefully dismantled USAID and consigned countless people to slow death by starvation and preventable disease will not hesitate to inflict hunger on tens of millions of Americans by cutting off SNAP funds.

oh wow, even that headline.

This is going to be fun! Read my interview with Leah here and get yourselves to her book talks substack.com/home/post/p-...

A poster advertising book tour dates from Oct 6-9 in Montana featuring author Leah Sottile discussing her book Blazing Eye Sees All

Hey Montana friends, this is next week!

Bozeman - Mon 10/6 at the Country Bookshelf w/ @betsygainesquammen.bsky.social
Helena - Tues 10/7 at Montana Book Co. w/ @kemc.bsky.social
Missoula - Wed 10/8 at Fact & Fiction w/ Lee & Jule Banville
Hamilton - Thurs 10/9 at Chapter One w/ Russ Lawrence

Oh I would love to!

We live in a time of even greater wealth inequality than preceding the French Revolution

Hi cousin Marge! ✊🏼

Weird autocorrect from my phone!

the payments are not straightforward, they are based on how often you donate and incentivized to get people to donate at the highest frequency allowed anywhere in the world. The hourly pay does not reflect actual time and prep required - it's much more complicated and opaque than it might seem.

Kathleen McLaughlin’s book about the plasma industry is an extremely eye-opening look at poverty in the US, and how people who sell plasma to help make ends meet are exploited without being given proper protection and support.

This is a labor issue conveniently shrowded in stigma.

I think there's a pretty obvious argument that regulatory oversight remains weak because the industry primarily targets people who aren't wealthy or connected.

I strongly recommend this book, I learned so much from it - I hadn't even known the economics of blood was a thing! IMHO it's also a really good example of a former foreign correspondent using that experience/lens to reveal/learn something new about their home country in a very thoughtful way

Thanks, Katharin!

It's crazy how big it is, and how hidden it is despite being so big!

I tryyyyyyy, Frankie!

Super interesting development. Unfortunately it's nearly impossible to mimic the components of human immunoglobulin (IVIG), which is the primary medical product made with the plasma Americans donate/sell.

I love the needle wizards. So hard to find, and so amazing when you do.

I don't know what you're talking about, but it's not legal to sell plasma in Haiti. There are only six countries in the world where it's allowed, and the US is the largest source of human plasma in the world.

*precarity, that is

wild story, but I'm having a plasma infusion right this very minute, so thanks for being donor ;-) It does saves lives; it also makes huge profits.

We have a large population of people who live with economic precocity - moreso than other wealthy nations. It's a fact. There are reasons the practice of paying people for plasma remains legal here and not in most of the rest of the world.

BBC World Service - The Documentary, America: The human plasma factory Kathleen McLaughlin investigates the multibillion-dollar global plasma industry

Here's a documentary on the topic I just did with the BBC. The economics of blood in America are fascinating www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

It's a shocking statistic for sure! I think because it primary affects lower-income people, the scale of the industry remains hidden to most people.

It's all in there, including that Europe (wealthy nations) is the primary importer of American plasma. I suppose it's more fun to argue over a post or a podcast though.

Given that the vast majority of Americans who sell blood primarily do so first and foremost for money, yes it does reflect the economic hardships of the United States. Really do wish more people would read my book!

This should say check *out* of course

BBC World Service - The Documentary, America: The human plasma factory Kathleen McLaughlin investigates the multibillion-dollar global plasma industry

Did you know payday loans wither when plasma centers open? Check put my new radio documentary for BBC World Service here www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

I covered both the China scandal and the US scandal in my book. What's interesting is China's scandal happened in part because they closed their markets to imported blood product because the US dumped tainted blood on other countries like Japan. They tried to ramp up a domestic supply way too fast.

I wrote a whole book about this, and the experience of reporting it was an education in how deeply unequal American life has become. www.simonandschuster.com/books/Blood-...

You can’t make me read it! Lol