"Custer arrives at the Herald office at 7 a.m. each morning, checking the inbox and preparing for the day. Despite thousands of hours of work over the years, he has never taken a paycheck — nor have many of the paper’s volunteers."

If the Super Bowl isn’t your cup of tea, our tenth-annual photo collection of superb owls just might be. Take a look at these magnificent birds via The Atlantic Photo:

INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.

I'm so frustrated by the layoffs at the Washington Post, and in particular the continued gutting of local news coverage. There are more than 6 million people in the DMV, and multiple examples of news outlets that appear to be operating successful business/nonprofit models at a much smaller scale.

I'm so sorry to hear that John Allen Jr. has passed away. He was an extraordinary journalist, fair-minded and second to none in his analysis of Vatican news. share.google/gRf4QBtj337z...

A few months ago, my daughter won a goldfish at the fair. That was the start of my s̶p̶i̶r̶a̶l̶ uh, new hobby. I wrote about it for @opensecretsmag.bsky.social:

This is just so lovely.

I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”

What sort of midterms do the Democrats' New Jersey and Virginia midterms point to? I had a look using historic results and wound up with a central estimate of D+6 and a confidence interval from R+5 to D+16. Not exactly conclusive! owenwinter.co.uk/2025/11/10/d...

In October, the Fairfax County Animal Shelter's pet resource center assisted 525 pets and distributing 8,782 pounds of food—an all-time high. Residents are rallying to make sure the need is met at the shelter, and elsewhere in the county. My latest for @ffxnow.bsky.social:

WAIT I WAS WRONG The *Old* Farmer's Almanac, the yellow one (that hung on a nail in my grandparents' bathroom) is NOT shutting down. The Farmer's Almanac, which um...I have no feelings about really...is the one shutting down phew www.almanac.com/old-farmers-...

Every suggested Reel I see on Facebook nowadays is like "RUN don't walk to TJ Maxx," or "You won't BELIEVE what I found at Marshalls," then cuts to an image of a Disney oven mitt or something equally underwhelming. It's actually kind of comforting that the algorithm is this bad. 😂

For an article, I'd like to talk to a parent who is enrolled in the new Beyond the Bell pilot program for after school care in Fairfax County. Is that you or someone you know? Please reach out: [email protected]

When you live in Northern Virginia, what happens on a tiny section of a busy arterial road can make all the difference to quite a lot of people. 14,000 a day, to be precise. A recent story from me in @ffxnow.bsky.social:

I don't know who needs to hear this, but apparently there's a whole website that will deliver Google search results without the AI clutter: udm14.com

A lovely list! But despite the popularity of "Strega Nona," I think Tomie de Paola's true masterpieces are "Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs" and "The Clown of God." (I have a lot of strong feelings about children's literature...😂)

Can bus service still get better if you're cutting the total number of stops? Thousands of riders around Fairfax may find out the answer to that question soon, as the city considers overhauling its bus line. I wrote recently for @ffxnow.bsky.social: www.ffxnow.com/2025/10/09/f...

My local library made a display of censored books. Apparently "Hop on Pop" made the list...

We have quietly launched Off the Charts, our @economist.com data newsletter, on Substack. You can subscribe to the newsletter for FREE (paid subscribers also receive access to our newsletter archive & two of our data-driven pieces each week) theeconomistoffthecharts.substack.com

The son "took his father's visa paperwork and Social Security card to the ICE Richmond Field Office off Arboretum Parkway. However, he was told it 'didn't matter.'"

The back story of the three sisters who left the retirement community they were forced to move into, and took back their home:

"The accelerating furor reflects how online outrage does not always emerge organically, but is often the result of a small number of prominent voices redirecting their audience’s attention."

OK, who plays Sister Bernadette, Sister Regina, and Sister Rita in the movie?

New from 404 Media: airlines are selling *5 billion* ticketing records to the government for warrantless searching, per new docs we obtained. ARC is a data broker owned by United, American, Delta, etc. Then sells peoples' travel info to ICE, Secret Service, FBI etc www.404media.co/airlines-sel...

"These kids were literally praying," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. "It was the first week of school. They were in a church. They should be able to go to school or church without the risk of fear or violence." https://bit.ly/4fZGEqo

"A survey by Common Sense Media published last month found that 72 percent of American teens have used A.I. chatbots as companions. Nearly one in eight said they had sought 'emotional or mental health support' from them." 😮

Read the whole thread.

A Minnesota county with fewer than 10,000 residents has three local, family-owned newspapers.

USAID funded roughly half the world’s supply of ready-to-use therapeutic food. The dismantling of the agency has disrupted the global supply chain that provides the packets, leaving thousands of malnourished children at risk of dying.

"So much of Pompeii is known that it is easy to forget how much is not known: one-third of Pompeii is still unexcavated."

On the State Department reports that portray Germany as more oppressive than El Salvador. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

We’re not books but we went from not having a newspaper to being one of the most subscribed to newspapers in America in less than a year, and our social media conversion numbers are attributable to Bluesky by a good plurality.

🪄✨️feed cleansing✨️

An extraordinary story.

Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration tell Gisela Salim-Peyer that they were tortured during their months inside El Salvador’s megaprison.

[324845-chilly-autumn-breeze].

I didn’t find any of the explanations for what’s going on with the bad job market for new college grads satisfying, so I spent a week trying to figure out what was up and what it means for the larger economy. Turns out it’s not AI! Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

In the presence of police, a bondsman allegedly: -Forced his way into a home -Shoved and pointed a gun at the son inside -Threw the mother and her partner on the bed -Forced the partner into a car, where he was held for hours The man was deported without having a chance to speak to a lawyer.

Rubin's debut pictures are out today, and they're just gorgeous. This one, of nebulas, combines 678 images taken over seven hours—quick work for a telescope like this. My story on what we might find over the next 10 years of glittering views: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

I asked ICE where the “413% increase in assaults” justification for its officers using masks came from. They didn’t answer. So I dug into it, and what I found … did not boost their argument. Gift link: wapo.st/4l7a1ch

One of the most disturbing things I've read in a long time.

What does America owe this family? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Looks like I'm going to live forever.

I wrote about Trump's surprise withdrawal of Jared Isaacman's nomination to lead NASA, and the future of the agency under an administration that wants to demolish space science, for @notusreports.bsky.social: www.notus.org/trump-white-...

One of the last places Emmilee Risling was seen was on the Yurok Reservation, in an area known as End of Road. More than three years later, she’s the face of a crisis: Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

Boys and young men are struggling — in their educational achievement, mental health and transitions to adulthood — even as their female peers surge ahead. Here's what data shows.

This is so beautiful.

Spotted in Georgetown:

If I could time-travel back to 2015, I'd tell myself "Stop trying to make f̶e̶t̶c̶h̶ Vine happen." But I can't, so instead I'm cruising through this amazing podcast: pca.st/podcast/12be...

Who is Pope Leo XIV? We've got you covered. bit.ly/4kdywDG