The latest on vaccines, plus announcing my *NEW BOOK*
Welcome (back) to the CitizenCohn newsletter
Hello! If you’re getting this, then you have subscribed to my newsletter in the past. You may be wondering why today’s is coming via a different platform (substack) and what I’ve been doing lately.
The switch to substack is purely about convenience. It’s easier to use and has a more capable interface. As for what I’ve been doing, well, I have a few updates.
First, I’m still covering policy and politics at HuffPost. Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time on the COVID-19 response, especially vaccines. Last week, I took a deep dive into the question of whether we should be delaying second shots, as the U.K. is doing. You can read more here.
But I have also been working on something else -- a big project that I started about two years ago, although really it’s been an ongoing project stretching all the way back to the beginning of my professional career.
It’s a new book.
The title is THE TEN YEAR WAR: Obamacare and the Unfinished Crusade for Universal Coverage. As the title suggests, it’s my attempt to write a definitive history of the Affordable Care Act and clashes over it.
It draws heavily on my original reporting, including internal documents and new, on-the-record interviews with key figures in the story, starting with former President Obama.
The book covers policy, obviously, and has a lot to say about a question that this country has been debating for decades: How to fix our broken health care system.
But THE TEN YEAR WAR is really more a book about politics -- how the two parties, the media, our governing institutions have all changed, and how those shifts shape our national conversation. You might say the book is really a case study in how America has become nearly ungovernable and what we can do about it.
It also offers lessons for progressives on how to craft, pass and implement reforms in the future. I’d like to think that makes it especially timely right now, with President Biden and the Democrats trying to launch their agenda.
The book is out on February 23 -- yes, in less than ten days. I’ll have more to say about it shortly, including news about media appearances and a series of virtual events open to the public (including zoom events at some of my favorite bookstores around the country). I’ll also use this newsletter to add thoughts on the book’s content, both before and after publication.
But for now, if you’d like to read more about THE TEN YEAR WAR, you can go to this website: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250270931
That website has links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as independent booksellers.
Yes, pre-sale orders help. A lot!
Thank you and, as they say, watch this space.
— Jonathan