When I was a kid, my dad gave me the talk: and by that I mean, he sat me down and told me the story of Prop 187. It’s hard to overstate how profoundly that law changed Latino life in California. Is the same about to happen in Texas?

For The Atlantic:

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

FWIW, the You're Wrong About... episodes about Nicole Brown Simpson are incredibly heartbreaking and @remember_sarah does a great job contextualizing the murder trial.

podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the…

If you're gonna watch anything about the O.J. Simpson trial, I personally recommend ESPN's 'O.J.: Made in America' -- one of the best docuseries of the past few decades. It's 7.5 hours over three episodes and brilliantly and responsibly made. Essential.

At a certain point in a draft the cuts that once felt painful and ruthless and impossible are just so clear: the sentences begin vibrating with the desire to be disappeared.

We couldn't see much thanks to the clouds, but bonding with a lot of strangers who were also standing outside in the middle of the day staring at the sky--oooing as everything went totally dark for a minute, and then as it brightened--was the balm I needed for these strange times

I'm reading Megan Kimble's excellent new book, CITY LIMITS, which is ostensibly about highways, but is really about the failure of our car-centric cities, and the possibility for charting a different future--told through immersive, character-driven storytelling. So good.

It's rare to see conditions inside Rikers, but Jan Ransom obtained this footage showing how 8 officers and a captain stood by for 7 mins, 51 secs as teen Nicholas Feliciano hung himself in a cell. Now, a $28m settlement. w/ Ainara Tiefenthäler Michael LaForgia nytimes.com/2024/04/06/nyr…

.@Statesman journalists in Austin are less than one day into a four-day strike.

Gannett has begun recruiting for several temporary employees to replace them.

Can’t remember the last time a piece brought me so much outrageous pleasure. ⁦Gary Shteyngart⁩ is a national treasure. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

I had a dream last night about an unsolved series of 'crimes' (it made sense in dream-logic) in which an unknown figure was sending strangers mysterious packages which contained...homemade nesting dolls.

I am so so so excited to share this news! 🎉🎉ProPublica Announces 50 State Initiative, Boosting Local Journalism Commitment propublica.org/atpropublica/p…

Have you ever been paid a set fee for a gig and thought ‘I should spend as little time as I can on this’?

Brian Dorsey’s lawyers were paid flat fees, and many think this is why he faces execution next week.

I dug into how common this is with Keri Blakinger:

themarshallproject.org/2024/04/03/exe…

I can't say enough good things about this fellowship. If you're working on a book-length work of narrative nonfiction that interrogates a vital social issue, please apply:

I think about Evan Gershkovich every day, but today I can't stop. A year. An abomination. Unbearable.

We've had a setting for him at each of our holiday tables this year, a full cycle. I was hoping by now I would have given him the placecards I've collected. #IStandWithEvan

Nothing inspires confidence before a flight quite like flight attendants moving passengers “to balance out the plane.”

We don't talk enough about the trauma that jury duty can saddle people with.

Especially when you're sending someone to their death.

Especially when you later learn you didn't have all the facts, and they might be innocent.

Great Texas Monthly story:

texasmonthly.com/news-politics/…

New: A North Carolina hearing is exposing the long history of racism in the state's death penalty system. One prosecutor described defendants as 'predators of the African plain,” another wrote that a white juror was “good” b/c she'd “bring her own rope.”
borderbelt.org/nc-racial-just…

It never ceases to amaze me how many trial lawyers don’t seem to eat when they’re working. Apparently they just subsist on adrenaline and air. Lesson for any reporter covering them: pack snacks!

In 2021, a man in at Men’s Central Jail tried to kill himself by removing his trach tube & stuffing Q-Tips in his airway. He was sent to a hospital then right back to the jail, where staff did not notice when he did it again -- and died. latimes.com/california/sto…

I got to celebrate Kim Green and the publication of her incredible new book, SLOW NOODLES, written with Chantha Nguon.

Kirkus calls it “a remarkable and important piece of work…that mixes horror and hope, disaster and good food, creating a poignant, fascinating read.”