Former reporter pursuing the past. Writing book on language history. Substack on history, economics, stuff. 2020 Pulitzer finalist for investigative journalism.
Ellicott City, Maryland
Joined August 2008
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Scoop from me in science history. Newly found letters reveal ugly details in Nobelists' campaign to rob Rosalind Franklin of credit for helping find DNA structure. jayhancock.substack.com/p/lo…
$250 device tells all. "I found Sleep Clock data to be accurate, correctly noting when I got into bed"
Jay Hancock retweeted
What could lure me out of retirement to write again? How about Oregon moving towards single payer! My latest for @KFFHealthNews
kffhealthnews.org/elections/…
Jay Hancock retweeted
Here's the thing: you can't detect AI writing. Not really. It's not about the words — it's about the voice. And that voice? Nuanced. Thoughtful. Genuinely human. The truth is quieter than the hype. Let's unpack that. 🧵
On the French AI novel: so many reflexively claiming bias or saying "you can't detect AI writing". I will donate $1000 to the charity of your choice if you show me a single literary French text of 1000+ words, pre-2022, with Internet Archive link, that is 100% AI on Pangram. 1/2
Uh oh
Mind-reading AI can translate brainwaves into written text
A system that records the brain’s electrical activity through the scalp can turn thoughts into words with help from a large language model ― but the results are far from perfect
newscientist.com/article/240…
docs.google.com/document/d/1…
'At some point, a friend called from Argentina and said, “Come here: there’s no war, and people drink wine.”' @meduzaproject meduza.io/en/feature/2026/08…
Jay Hancock retweeted
forgive self- promotion but if you want to read how and when the politicisation of vaccination began in US have a read of the penultimate chapter of my Foreign Bodies : Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations, published in 2023
The 20% who lived in the most pro-Trump places suffered 70,000 more COVID deaths than the 20% in the most pro-Biden places. Red America obeyed those who told them not to mask, not to vaccinate. They died for it. No, Fauci is not the villain here. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0…
Important. ERs rejecting patients w/ the wrong insurance. No matter how rules change to address health-care abuses, scumbags find new workarounds.
Please give my investigation a read.
How a hospital operator used the No Surprises Act to fuel a stunning financial turnaround
statnews.com/2026/06/29/nute… @statnews 5/5
Jay Hancock retweeted
I feel like I should periodically reappear on this site just to say one thing: "I told you so."
Saturday evening! Talking to @MelanieDGKaplan at @TheIvyBookshop in Baltimore about her book, Lab Dog, describing animal experiments for medical research and her investigation into the background of her adopted lab beagle. Hear the talk & buy books! facebook.com/events/20091093…
Financing roads has always been a challenge for communities & governments. In the 1600s the English started putting up barriers -- turnpikes -- and charging fees. @genejean & How-to History tell all. N.E. USA still calls toll roads turnpikes. how-to-history.com/2026/05/2…
Jay Hancock retweeted
The Shangri La speech by @SecWar, in which he discusses every US ally & partner in the Indo-Pacific except Taiwan, echoes Dean Acheson's ill-fated 1950 address to the National Press Club in which he left South Korea outside the US defense perimeter. We know how that played out.
Social media is mostly horrible but on a very good day it can still do this. Read the replies.
This is probably a long shot, but if anybody happens to be in DC this weekend and plans on visiting Arlington, I would love to see a fresh photo of my husband’s grave in Section 60.
SSG Alan W. Shaw
Section 60, Grave 8451
B Co 1/12 Cav, 1st Cavalry Division
November 10, 1975 - February 9, 2007
There’s just something about knowing people still stop by, still say his name, still remember. 🇺🇸⭐🇺🇸
It's @EugeneSteuerle noting something that Wall St seems clueless about: "the real rate of return on inflation-indexed bonds is nearly as high as the earnings-to-price level of stocks." Attn @TipsWatch. governmentwedeserve.substack…