Forty years ago this week, an insurance salesman's debut novel began appearing on shelves around DC.

That book was THE HUNT FOR THE RED OCTOBER. It launched Tom Clancy's publishing empire — with a nudge from The Post.

Come with us on this deep dive…

washingtonpost.com/history/2024/1… "RED OCTOBER" tells the story of an attempted defection in the Soviet navy. It captured the zeitgeist in '80s America.

It also was a deeply improbable success. The 37-year-old Clancy had barely any written works to his name. His publisher had never put out a novel before…

Since the fall of Roe, hospitals have been turning away pregnant women who needed emergency abortions.

Now the Supreme Court will decide if the Biden admin has the power to penalize those hospitals.

Our primer on the case. With @amarimow @CAKitchener.

washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04… One example we found:

A pregnant woman arrived at a Florida hospital in Dec. 2022, five days after her water broke, pleading for treatment. She was sent home.

Federal officials concluded that the hospital put her life at risk.

Read the investigation: documentcloud.org/documents/2457…

I finally saw “Oppenheimer” and got so curious about Robert Downey Jr’s character — Lewis Strauss.

Who was this guy, really? I write about DC — why hadn’t I ever heard of his famous Senate hearing?

It sent me down what became a rabbit hole of Washington politics. Spoilers, obv.

https://twitter.com/jayhancock1/status/1766834591296348329

I first started a couple weeks ago with (what I thought) was a simple question: could I find the room where Strauss faced his Senate panel?

I just wanted to stop by and see the real thing.

And it's clear from the hearing transcript where it really took place. But one problem...

For two decades, PEPFAR has saved millions of lives around the world.

Now the HIV program faces a new threat: US abortion politics, mystifying and worrying global partners.

“Taking funding away… means death,” one HIV leader in Uganda told The Post.

washingtonpost.com/health/2023/07… How did abortion ensare PEPFAR?

It started with Rep. CHRIS SMITH, a longtime PEPFAR champion who now claims its funds help support abortion abroad.

In a one-hour interview in his office yesterday, Smith said the global abortion fight took precedence over re-authorizing PEPFAR.

Are you feeling groggy from “Spring Forward”?

Senators last year passed a bill that would've ended our clock changes… but it died in the House.

Now Congress is trying again.

I’ve been covering this debate for a year. Here’s what I’ve learned. (Thread)

wapo.st/3ZDsq5w Americans have fought over time rules for most of our history.

First there was “sun time,” based on its position in the sky.

Then the railroads created our regional time zones. (Sparking conspiracies about “railroad time”…)

Finally Congress formalized time zones during WW1.

“Permanently suspended” user Matt Binder has found a loophole: he can talk (and is talking!) on this Twitter space, right now.

twitter.com/i/spaces/1yNxa… Interesting conversation from media figures on Twitter’s sudden evolution

“Many of us on this chat have been in situations where people have posted pictures in real-time,” says @brianstelter - but unlike them, Musk has power to decide what’s a threat now

twitter.com/i/spaces/1yNxa…

increasingly convinced that most writers I haven’t met are actually sentient AIs Bad news: I am also AI

Scoop: White House preparing to ask for $10 billion in public health funds in lame-duck Congress, per people familiar

- $8.25 billion for domestic covid

- remaining funds for global covid, issues like hep C and monkeypox

w/help from great @JStein_WaPo

washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11… New covid funding push — coming after prior efforts collapsed — would focus on next-gen vaccines and treatments.

FAUCI: “The supplemental requests that we keep putting in … just because they don’t go anywhere, doesn’t mean the need for them disappears.”

washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11…

Everyone enjoying “fall back?”

If the Senate got its way — and the bill they passed in March became law — today would have been the last-ever “fall back.”

But instead, the bill for permanent daylight saving quietly died in the House.

I got curious how that happened. (Thread.) First - as we reported at the time, the Senate bill surprised the House. It surprised the White House. As @pdmcleod first reported, it also surprised some senators: buzzfeednews.com/paulmcleod/day…

And in Washington, “surprise” is not a good strategy for winning allies and making law.

Just 4% of eligible Americans have gotten latest covid booster. And overall US booster rates remain very low.

@EricTopol: “A travesty.”

@jonfavs: “I blame the federal health bureaucracy.”

A look at what went wrong — and what’s at stake if virus surges.

washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10… We spoke to Americans across the country about why they’re not getting boosted — especially if already vaxxed.

Among their reasons

- didn’t know shots were available
- prior infections
- apathy about virus
- mixed messages about need

More with @VPMaryBeth @majohnso @RubleKB.

Early in my career, I spent a couple years writing about the NFL and its concussion policies.

Some things have changed — but many haven't, including the incentives for the league, its teams and even its players to play down concussions and find ways to cover them up.

https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/713006477443743744

There are many examples of players who admitted later — like former NFL returner Josh Cribbs — that they actively hid their concussions, worried about losing playing time and opportunities.

https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/718538873857511425

From December 2021: “Senate Republicans are eyeing a procedural move to prevent the insulin cap from applying to privately insured Americans, seeking to deny Democrats a talking point … even if it means that some patients will go without relief.” washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12… Last year, The Post identified at least 19 Republicans who had authored or cosponsored bills to lower diabetics’ drug costs.

But asked repeatedly, many refused to say whether they’d support Dems’ plan.

(And only seven GOP ended up voting in favor of insulin copay cap just now.)

A woman working at a day care in Illinois has tested positive for monkeypox, multiple sources tell The Post.

Multiple children reportedly exposed.

Illinois officials holding a briefing at 4 PM ET.

More TK. Press conference is here:

illinois.gov/about/live-vid…

SCOOP: Biden officials planning to declare a *public health emergency* for monkeypox as soon as today, two officials tell The Post.

More than 6,600 cases of virus have been confirmed as officials race to prevent virus from becoming entrenched in US. washingtonpost.com/health/2022/08… Officials are also planning a second declaration that would allow for emergency-use authorization + expedite medical countermeasures, which could unlock more flexibility on vaccines.

(US officials have been racing to boost limited vaccine supply.)
washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07…

CDC has found two cases of monkeypox in children, @CDCDirector said today on @PostLive.

Walensky: We have seen now two cases that have occurred in children… those children are doing well. See the full story here from @bylenasun @FenitN, who confirm that the cases — found in an infant and a toddler — were the likely result of household transmission.

washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07…

Got some questions on monkeypox this weekend from friends — namely “should I worry?” or “what is this virus, anyway?” —after the latest wave of stories and the rise in cases.

So wanted to share some answers, drawing on what we’ve reported at The Post.

Thread: First: monkeypox isn’t covid. It doesn’t spread as easily as covid (instead, it relies on skin-to-skin contact). There isn’t a single confirmed US death yet.

But it can be quite painful + cause complications.

And the size of the outbreak is setting new US records every day.

https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1548085935295713280

Monkeypox isn't covid — the viruses are quite different.

But doctors say the plodding response to monkeypox continues to remind them of early 2020 — and experts worry we're running out of time to stop the virus from becoming entrenched in the U.S. too.
washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07… Leaders have echoed those concerns, with @NYCMayor urging Biden to address a CDC vaccine-sharing plan that he said left NYC short of doses and criticized federal officials’ “piecemeal approach” to sharing information.

That letter: documentcloud.org/documents/2208…

After digging into Biden’s covid plan — and watching him speak today — consistent theme has been the White House believes its strategy is working. And Year 2 plan will look much like Year 1.

But should it?

In sum: Mixed success last year.

In detail: 🧵

washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01… First, to recap the White House covid plan:

— Released a year ago this week

— Contained 180-plus promises, lumped into seven goals

— Was hailed by public health experts as comprehensive

— Also seen as overdue; “the obvious plan for combating Covid-19,” @ezraklein wrote

NEW: Covid hospitalizations have soared — but there’s no national data on how many are “incidental.”

So we talked to hospital leaders and workers in 18 states to assemble a picture.

Our takeaway: it’s a tale of two variants. With @FenitN @dtkeating.
 washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01… Delta: still menacing the Midwest and pockets beyond.

Omicron: generally mild but still crowding hospitals and sickening workers, limiting capacity.

So what does it all mean for why covid patients are in hospitals? Here’s how it broke down in one big Cleveland system.

People queuing up for a free rapid test giveaway at local DC library, which doesn’t start for another 75 minutes. The line now loops itself. The giveaway doesn’t start for another 20 minutes.

Biden to speak on his winter covid plan later today. What’s in it: new measures (like rapid at-home tests at no cost for privately insured) and more focus on existing tactics like boosters (like “family vaccination days”). With @bylenasun @tylerpager.

washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12… Notable measures in Biden winter covid plan

- ad campaign for boosters
- partnership with AARP to focus on seniors
- reimbursing Medicaid providers for “vaccine counseling visits” about kids’ shots
- More access to at-home tests
- Tighter international travel testing protocols