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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If Congress can't agree to raise the debt ceiling before Thursday, it's not necessarily the case that Treasury will immediately be unable to pay bills. But if there's no agreement, financial markets might panic at any time, doing real harm.
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As the president tries to convince the public that Republicans bear the blame for budgetary gridlock, he faces an entirely different political and media landscape than in the last government shutdown nearly 18 years ago.
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Before Detroit, the city of Stockton, Calif., suffered the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The city's biggest challenge now is convincing voters they need to pay higher taxes before things get worse.
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When it comes to military action against Syria, members of Congress are divided by factions rather than party lines. That means the president still has a long way to go to assemble enough votes for a majority.
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Most dating sites won't pair up people from the two different parties. And for good reason, according to some researchers. Ideology, particularly on social issues, is as strong a predictor of whether couples will make it as religion or drinking habits.
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Gays often lack the kind of support from adult children or other family members that prevents people from sliding into homelessness. In San Francisco, they are twice as likely to be homeless as straights, indicative of a problem in major cities nationwide.
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The number of executions has dropped by more than half over the past 15 years, and six states have abolished capital punishment since 2007.
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The financially troubled city of Detroit is eyeing the sale of its prized artworks, which include paintings by van Gogh. In recent years, a number of museums have brought in millions by selling off art. Such sales invariably trigger protest but can proceed unless there's some legal violation involved.
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He was a soulful reedman, an amazing talent scout for decades and a bandleader of one of the country's most popular acts. Born in 1913, Herman led "Thundering Herds" that were both big draws and well-respected by the likes of Igor Stravinsky. Here are five recordings which still sound fresh today.
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Jobs and the economy dominated political discussion during the election year, but have since been forgotten. Even before the current outbreak of scandals, it was clear Washington preferred to talk about other issues.