Jessica McAllen

Jessica McAllen is a staff writer and fact checker at The Baffler. An award-winning journalist from New Zealand, she focuses on mental health issues.

In Poor Health

Jessica McAllen

October 31

What is the real mission of a safety-net hospital?

An NYPD officer stands on a subway platform while a subway comes into the station.

Serious Harms

Jessica McAllen

June 5, 2025

New York’s mental health crisis is at a crossroads.

A digital illustration of pills on a blue background and lattice of small gray squares, as well as yellow and red rectangles with percentage signs inside them.

BadRx

Jessica McAllen

June 2, 2025

Issue no. 79

Are medicine’s middlemen pharmacy parasites?

Failure to Rescue

Jessica McAllen

March 20, 2025

A conversation with James Kelly.

Who Gets to Be a Therapist?

Jessica McAllen

March 6, 2025

On the thin line between gatekeeping and discrimination.

A golden statue wearing a medical face mask.

Masks Off

Jessica McAllen

November 20, 2024

The push to criminalize face coverings puts everyone at risk.

A pixelated illustration depicts a robot sitting in a brown armchair, with pen and journal, looking at an empty green chaise lounge chair. There is a planted pot on the ground, and a painting hanging on the wall behind it.

The Therapist in the Machine

Jessica McAllen

October 28, 2024

Issue no. 76

AI therapy bots are ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of mental health.

Beyond “Baby Blues”

Jessica McAllen

September 30, 2024

A conversation with Rachel Louise Moran.