This is why I do all my pet shopping with Chewy. I emailed them today because one of the flea collars I purchased from them is defective. Less than an hour later, they've put in an order for a replacement and sent me a sweet apology email.

I can't recommend NaTakallam enough if you're considering learning a new language. I've been taking language classes with a refugee. She's an amazing teacher. You cannot beat the prices.

The Oakland A’s were killed by greed. Do not allow the people responsible for this to spin it any other way. John Fisher did not have to move this team. Major League Baseball and its owners did not need to be complicit in it. This was a choice. A wrong one. History will sneer.

My NPR editor just saved me from a mistake that would have really hurt. Everyone needs editors in life. Hug your editor (if appropriate and welcome 😆) 🙏

Exciting! 404 Media is partnering with our friends at WIRED. Two of our stories a month will run on WIRED.com (and on 404 Media). We remain fully journalist-owned, this is just a dream sitch where we can show our work to WIRED's readers 404media.co/404-media-is-p…

Some professional news — I'm joining NPR's Science Desk! For the next 6 months I'll be covering the wonders of the living world, the forces that threaten them, and how scientists and policymakers can make a difference. If you've got tips for stories in this space, reach out!

“People are scared to go out and spend." Empty shops, workers staying home, even self-deporting — the undocumented are waiting for the other ICE boot to drop. 📝: Jesse Alejandro Cottrell sfstandard.com/2025/07/23/sf-…

My latest for the The San Francisco Standard. For this story, I attended a self-deportation going away barbecue. It was as surreal as you might imagine.

SF Immigration Court prohibits photography and recording — so we brought an illustrator. Inside, teenagers face judges alone, and children crawl around the floor as their parents face lawyers for the government. 📝: Jesse Alejandro Cottrell sfstandard.com/2025/08/11/all…

Immigration court is a black box where cameras are prohibited from recording a central locale in the Trump Administration's reshaping of our society. So The San Francisco Standard sent me and visual artist Dan Bransfield to document a few days at SF's immigration court.

Amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, parents at the San Francisco Unified School District are sending their kids back to the classroom in fear. 📝: Jesse Alejandro Cottrell, Han Li 李晗, and George Kelly allaboutgeorge @ sfba.social & bsky sfstandard.com/2025/08/18/tru…

Staff crying on the job. Personal effects packed in boxes as judges await their firings. And a widespread feeling that the Trump administration’s destruction of the US’s immigration courts is an attack on the rule of law. My latest for The San Francisco Standard. sfstandard.com/2025/09/04/she…

Since January, six judges at the SF Immigration Court have been terminated. Current and former judges report morale has cratered, with more firings expected and 121,455 cases backlogged. 📝: Jesse Alejandro Cottrell sfstandard.com/2025/09/04/she…

Retired immigration judge Dana Leigh Marks was at the top of her field, a Supreme Court litigator who became the voice of immigration judges across the US. She says the Trump administration has destroyed 45 years of her life's work in 6 months. My latest for the The San Francisco Standard.

Amid Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, even the once privileged green card holders are feeling unsafe. 📝: Jesse Alejandro Cottrell and Han Li 李晗 sfstandard.com/2025/09/23/gre…

My latest for the The San Francisco Standard.

Just before the judge arrives, attorney Diana Mariscal prepares the dozen migrants for their hearings. She explains in Spanish that there’s a chance ICE will detain them today. But what comes next surprises them all. New longread from Jesse Alejandro Cottrell: sfstandard.com/2025/10/20/cou…