Ben Bragdon is deputy managing editor for local news, overseeing enterprise reporting projects for the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. Ben was previously editorial page editor for those newspapers and Central Maine Sunday for more than 10 years. Before that, he was managing editor for weekly newspapers at Current Publishing in Westbrook. He began his career as a reporter at the Piscataquis Observer in Dover-Foxcroft and editor at the Moosehead Messenger in Greenville. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston University.
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PublishedAugust 31, 2024
Commentary: The Trump/RFK Jr. alliance is weird, but here’s how it might work
In an election cycle that can only be described as stranger than fiction, things have just gotten impossibly weirder. Longtime Democrat-turned-independent candidate for president Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the race and endorsed none other than Donald Trump. The move wasn’t totally unexpected; both campaigns have been hinting at it for days, and […]
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PublishedAugust 29, 2024
Commentary: The weight-loss drug revolution exposes the weakest links in our health care system — drug pricing and insurance
It’s rare that a drug can have such a pronounced effect that its immediate benefits translate into health care savings for years, even decades. To the wonder drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi, which wipe out hepatitis C, we can now add the weight-loss medicine Ozempic and its cousins Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound. These drugs have shown […]
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PublishedAugust 28, 2024
Commentary: Identifying division is easy; finding points of agreement is difficult
Negative campaigning is increasing in volume and nastiness every election cycle. Campaigns are based on a “divide and conquer” strategy, pitting citizens against each other. If you ask most political operatives why this is the case, they’ll tell you it’s because it works. It drives donations, volunteer engagement and turnout. And while I won’t debate […]
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PublishedAugust 27, 2024
Scholars Strategy Network: Biden years have seen job growth, new investment
Even with this buoyancy in the labor market, American consumers are facing high prices for food and housing causing negative attitudes about the economy overall.
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PublishedAugust 27, 2024
Commentary: If you didn’t get an extreme-weather alert, you’re alone
With the planet heating up and nature growing more deadly and destructive, new tools to help people gauge their climate risks are landing faster than DVD-sized hail in Texas. But these models still need fine-tuning. For now, a simpler approach might be to just throw a dart at any map of the U.S. Wherever it […]
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PublishedAugust 26, 2024
Commentary: Harris’ price controls are a solution in search of a problem
Vice President Kamala Harris proposed price controls on groceries last Friday to stop food companies from “gouging” American consumers. It’s a terrible idea from the Democratic presidential nominee, as many have already pointed out, because price controls lead to shortages and other bad outcomes. It’s also doubtful Harris could push such a policy through Congress. […]
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PublishedAugust 25, 2024
Commentary: Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is harmful — and false
Last month at the Republican National Convention, former President Donald Trump revived the long-standing myth that immigrants are taking American jobs, claiming that of jobs created under President Joe Biden, “107% of those jobs are taken by illegal aliens.” This statement is false, as U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that both U.S.-born and […]
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PublishedAugust 24, 2024
Commentary: Trump’s allies are creating more election chaos in Georgia
The Georgia Board of Elections — which is dominated by election deniers — approved a rule change Monday that will sow chaos into the state’s election process and guarantee that if the November vote is close, we may not know the results of the presidential race for weeks. They’re playing with fire. By tipping the […]
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PublishedAugust 24, 2024
Commentary: Teaching civil discourse — A classroom blueprint for all America
First-time teachers and first-time voters gearing up for the 2024 election may have only ever been exposed to toxic polarization — it’s their norm. But for those of us who’ve been in the classroom for decades, the landscape of teaching civics has changed dramatically. In the early 2000s, America was polarized, but teaching during a […]
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PublishedAugust 21, 2024
View from Away: Yes, more schools should ban student cellphones
This year’s hottest back-to-school trend is one most students won’t like: cellphone bans. A growing number of districts across the country have enacted, or plan to enact, prohibitions on students using their mobile phones during school hours starting this academic year. That includes some of the biggest districts, including Los Angeles Unified and New York […]
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