Ava Kofman is a journalist. She is the 2023 recipient the Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism.
Latest by this author
Francis Galton’s experiments in biometric detection promised a revolution in crime-solving, but also laid the groundwork for racialized thinking that echoed into modern genetics.
More about this author
Ava Kofman is a journalist based in Brooklyn. Her writing on technology has appeared in the Atlantic, the Nation, VICE, and elsewhere. In 2023, she won the Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism. Find her on X at @EyyWa.
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The Runaway Monkeys Upending the Animal-Rights Movement
The New Yorker | November | 2025
When a group of macaque monkeys escaped from one of the biggest primate-breeding centers in the United States, the event sparked a surprising reaction: two very different groups of people are now calling for all laboratory animals to be released. On one side are animal-rights activists, who have long argued that using animals for testing is cruel and unnecessary. On the other side are some MAGA supporters, who normally don’t agree with these activists but believe the escape shows that the system is out of control and untrustworthy.
Even though these groups have almost nothing in common, they have temporarily joined forces around this issue. Their unusual alliance has created a heated national debate about how research animals are treated, whether breeding facilities are safe, and if the government should change the rules. The monkey escape turned into a much bigger conversation about science, ethics, and public responsibility.
The New Yorker | June | 2025
In 2008, an anonymous blogger named Mencius Moldbug, aka Curtis Yarvin, wrote a long online manifesto arguing that equality was harming society. He claimed the media and universities, which he called “the Cathedral,” kept people loyal to liberal ideas. Moldbug said democracy should be eliminated and replaced with a CEO-style ruler who would run the country like a giant corporation. He imagined a government that shut down public schools, dismantled universities, banned most journalism, fired nearly all civil servants, and cut off foreign aid, alliances, and immigration. In 2025 these ideas, previously seen as extreme, had clearly influenced parts of the modern right.
ProPublica | October | 2024
Oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks have used their money to push Texas politics further to the right by funding aggressive campaigns against fellow Republicans. Their strong Christian nationalist beliefs are shaping state policies that weaken the separation of church and state. Dunn is also connected to think tanks hoping to influence a possible second Trump administration, showing how their political reach extends beyond Texas.
ProPublica | April | 2024
The EPA has announced tough new rules to cut cancer-causing air pollution from chemical plants, especially ethylene oxide, one of the most dangerous chemicals. Emissions should drop by 80 percent. The rules require real-time fence line monitoring so communities—often Black neighborhoods in places like “Cancer Alley”—can finally see what they’re breathing. Activists pushed hard for these changes after years of high cancer risks and weak oversight. Industry groups say the rules are costly, but experts believe they’ll be difficult for future administrations to undo.
The New Yorker | November | 2022
Hospice care started as a compassionate idea to let people spend their final days with dignity at home. But over time, it has grown into a huge $22 billion industry, where some companies take advantage of patients and the system.</article>
Media by this author
Feature | November | 2023
The Gold winners of the 17th Annual Barlett & Steele Awards spoke with Jim Steele at Arizona State University about their winning investigations. Paige St. John, Jim Morris, and Ava Kofman explained what first inspired their reporting and answered audience questions. In his address, Steele encouraged students and journalists to learn from others’ work, saying that reading strong and weak journalism is one of the best ways to grow as a reporter, especially now that it’s easier than ever to access many examples.
Feature | March | 2022
In spring 2021, ProPublica reporter Ava Kofman was assigned a big story about an environmental disaster, but she soon discovered the disaster didn’t actually happen. As she investigated further, she found deeper problems with the environmental data behind the story. In her talk, Kofman describes how she and her team uncovered the truth and used accurate data to reveal some of the worst toxic air-pollution hotspots in the United States. After her presentation, she speaks with Joanna Radin, a Yale professor of the history of medicine.
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