features writer @ slate alex.sammon@slate.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/alexsammon.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/alexsammon.bsky.social/post/3ms7hy2m5fk2gmany thanks to the kind folks at @longreads.com for highlighting my latest feature on the shoplifting crisis https://longreads.com/2026/07/15/america-shoplifting-epidemic-loss-prevention-shrink/03 Aug 2026 21:47 +0000at://did:plc:vq7uml5blkmvbocdf4w5sl7c/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms7hy2m5fk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/alexsammon.bsky.social/post/3mqkd7o6jwk2hAmerica is in the midst of a shoplifting crisis the level of social collapse. Gavin Newsom thinks so; Ron DeSantis thinks so; House D+Rs think so. So i went to the world's most advanced anti-shoplifting lab to get the hard science, and found...the anatomy of a crime panic. https://slate.com/life/2026/07/shoplifting-walmart-target-amazon-retail-florida.html?gift_token=D5lDREm2T0ia7y0ygwCRig13 Jul 2026 18:31 +0000at://did:plc:vq7uml5blkmvbocdf4w5sl7c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqkd7o6jwk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/alexsammon.bsky.social/post/3mk43n43voc26For Earth Day: The might Florida Orange industry has collapsed 95 percent in 20 years. 100 percent of the trees are infected with a disease deemed incurable. Was it Chinese pestilence that killed the FL orange? Or real estate, wall street, globalization, and pesticides... https://slate.com/business/2026/04/florida-state-orange-food-houses-real-estate.html22 Apr 2026 18:07 +0000at://did:plc:vq7uml5blkmvbocdf4w5sl7c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk43n43voc26https://bsky.app/profile/alexsammon.bsky.social/post/3mjxjrtposk2cThe Florida orange crop has collapsed 95 percent in 20 years, headed for a century-low 12 million boxes. 100 percent of the trees are infected with a disease transmitted by an invasive Chinese bug, and deemed "incurable." Who killed the Florida Orange? https://slate.com/business/2026/04/florida-state-orange-food-houses-real-estate.html?tpcc=giftedarticle20 Apr 2026 22:36 +0000at://did:plc:vq7uml5blkmvbocdf4w5sl7c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjxjrtposk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/alexsammon.bsky.social/post/3mhvlx55iis25In 2022, Gil Kerley opened a used bookstore in Albuquerque. His neighbors were elated—gentrification! Higher property values! Then they watched in dismay as he moved a steadily growing homeless camp into the parking lot. Was it all a revenge plot? https://slate.com/business/2026/03/homes-new-mexico-book-store-homeless-trump.html?tpcc=giftedarticle25 Mar 2026 17:19 +0000at://did:plc:vq7uml5blkmvbocdf4w5sl7c/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhvlx55iis25