Alan Greenblatt
Alan Greenblatt has been covering politics and government in Washington and around the country for 20 years. He came to NPR as a digital reporter in 2010, writing about a wide range of topics, including elections, housing economics, natural disasters and same-sex marriage.
He was previously a reporter with Governing, a magazine that covers state and local government issues. Alan wrote about education, budgets, economic development and legislative behavior, among other topics. He is the coauthor, with Kevin Smith, of Governing States and Localities, a college-level textbook that is now in its fourth edition.
As a reporter for Congressional Quarterly, he was the inaugural winner of the National Press Club's Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, which is given to outstanding reporters under the age of 35. Sadly, he no longer meets that requirement.
Along the way, Alan has contributed articles about politics and culture for numerous publications, including The New York Times, Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is happy to be working for an outlet where he has been able to write about everything from revolutions in the Middle East to antique jazz recordings.
Alan is a graduate of San Francisco State University and holds a master's degree from the University of Virginia.
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The National Literacy Trust commissioned 50 artists to paint benches with scenes from famous books and placed them around London for the summer.
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Gordimer found her central theme exploring the human effects of racial injustice, but her work continued long after South Africa's apartheid regime had ended.
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Charter schools have lifted test scores and graduation rates in New Orleans, but racial disparities remain a problem as charters are given responsibility for nearly all the city's children.
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Merriam-Webster has added 150 words to its Collegiate Dictionary, but it forgot to include the "p" in its pronunciation guide to "Yooper" — a term describing people from Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
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Sam Brownback's reelection as the GOP governor of Kansas might have been a slam dunk, but he's managed to anger enough constituency groups — including some Republicans — that now he faces a real race.
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The plane's vanishing is a tragedy and an unsolved mystery. The desire for answers means the event could retain attention for decades, as have the disappearances of Jimmy Hoffa and Amelia Earhart.
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Journalists talk to narrow sets of experts all the time. Spy magazine once ran an issue quoting the same expert in nearly every story, a total of 17 times, as an in-joke about Washington insularity.
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The tipped minimum wage has been stuck at $2.13 an hour since 1991. In states where servers make more than the federal minimum wage, restaurants haven't been hurting.
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Certain issues brook no dissent. But how do media outlets decide if and when a strong enough consensus has emerged to safely dismiss other viewpoints?
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The transition from one role to the other is difficult, and many have failed making the attempt. Nelson Mandela was a rare example who succeeded in both jobs. In addition, he willingly stepped down after one term in office, setting an example for a young democracy.