The Atlantic Announces Tom Bartlett as Staff Writer

As The Atlantic continues a major expansion of its editorial team, we are announcing that Tom Bartlett begins today as a staff writer covering health and science under the second Trump administration. Recently, Tom has covered the measles outbreak in West Texas, speaking with a parent of the first child to die of the disease in America in a decade and reporting on what RFK Jr. told grieving families about the measles vaccine. He has also written about the most extreme voice on Kennedy’s new vaccine committee.  

Below is the staff announcement from editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and executive editor Adrienne LaFrance:

Dear everyone,

We are very glad to share the news that Tom Bartlett is joining The Atlantic as a staff writer. Tom is an extraordinary reporter and a brilliant, empathetic writer—qualities that were all on display in the stories he wrote for us earlier this year about the Texas measles outbreak. As you no doubt remember, Tom found and interviewed the family of the first American child to die of measles in a decade, and he was also first to report on the conversations that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had with victims’ families.

At The Atlantic, he will cover a wide range of stories at the intersection of health and science, with a particular focus on attacks against enlightenment values and the remaking of American public health in the second Trump presidency.

Tom comes to us with great expertise in scientific controversy and rooting out scientific dishonesty. Most recently, during his 22 years at The Chronicle of Higher Education, he covered the reproducibility crisis in psychology, numerous academic scandals, and even research about falsehoods that was itself falsified. Tom is also a seasoned features writer. (The Tom Bartlett completists among us will also remember his excellent profiles of Tucker Carlson and Gene Weingarten for the Washingtonian.) He has become one of the nation’s great experts on the anti-vaccine movement, and is skilled at covering the field’s major players with requisite scrutiny while still maintaining respectful curiosity about why people believe what they believe, and always demonstrating a willingness to go where the story—and the truth—lead him.

Tom is based in Austin, Texas. Please join us in welcoming him to the team.

Adrienne and Jeff

The Atlantic has announced a number of new hires this year, including managing editor Griff Witte; staff writers Isaac Stanley-Becker, Tyler Austin Harper, Quinta Jurecic, Nick Miroff, Toulouse Olorunnipa, Ashley Parker, Alexandra Petri, Missy Ryan, Vivian Salama, Michael Scherer, Jamie Thompson, Josh Tyrangiel, Caity Weaver, and Nancy Youssef; and senior editors Jenna Johnson and Dan Zak. Please reach out with any questions or requests.

Press Contacts:
Anna Bross and Paul Jackson, The Atlantic | press@theatlantic.com