John Archibald
@johnarchibald.bsky.social
📤 2619
📥 118
📝 290
Journalist. Author. Podcaster. Pulitzer x 2. Granddad.
This is really good stuff by
@crowejam.bsky.social
, documenting the deportation of Fonzie Andrade in graphic novel form. You won't see this just anywhere.
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https://www.al.com/news/2026/02/see-how-fonzie-went-from-living-the-dream-in-alabama-to-surviving-a-nightmare-in-mexico.html
about 12 hours ago
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Alabama has never cared about protecting its air or water. Or its people, for that matter. It’s why the state has a sniveling, equivocating, kowtowing, toothless Alabama Department of Environmental Management instead of an environmental protection agency.
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https://www.al.com/news/2026/02/archibald-this-is-why-alabama-is-so-full-of-it.html
2 days ago
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Fonzie thought he was an Alabamian. He lived for football and his fiancee and a little too much fun. I followed him to Mexico when he was deported to a place he did not know or understand. This is his story. As it is with any deportation, it is not his story alone.
www.al.com/news/2026/01...
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'Deported for that?': Football referee forced to leave Alabama for Mexico
Fonzie had to leave behind his fiancée and 18-month-old son in rural Alabama.
https://www.al.com/news/2026/01/football-referee-forced-to-leave-alabama-for-mexico-how-many-kids-would-get-deported-for-that.html
14 days ago
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This place is a lot.
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Why do Alabama schools need Commandments our politicians don’t follow?
Blessed are the hypocrites, for they shall inherit the Education Policy Committee.
https://www.al.com/news/2026/01/why-do-alabama-schools-need-commandments-our-politicians-dont-follow.html
22 days ago
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With all due respect, Mr. President, you've got a lot of damn nerve.
www.al.com/news/2026/01...
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Archibald: Oh yeah, white people have been ‘very badly treated’
The Civil Rights Act – the Movement itself – didn’t just make life better for Black people. It made life better for poor whites too, no matter what the anger mongers might say.
https://www.al.com/news/2026/01/archibald-oh-yeah-white-people-have-been-very-badly-treated.html
29 days ago
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You know the answer.
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Which Jan. 6 rioter would you invite to a dinner party?
Pelts, horns, Molotov cocktails or feet on the furniture?
https://www.al.com/news/2026/01/which-jan-6-rioter-would-you-invite-to-a-dinner-party.html
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
John Archibald
Prison Policy Initiative
about 2 months ago
As the threat of AI looms over us all,
@johnarchibald.bsky.social
's multi-part story for
@al.com
highlights just how quickly (and quietly) the technology is creeping into the criminal legal system, almost always in ways that will make the lives of incarcerated people and their loved ones worse:
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Archibald: Did Alabama’s pricey prison lawyers just use AI to file motions? The judge wants answers
A lawyer paid $42 million by the state is among those facing the wrath of a federal judge.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/05/did-alabamas-pricey-prison-lawyers-just-use-ai-to-file-motions-the-judge-wants-answers.html
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You know Tommy Tuberville is bad. If you want see just how far we have fallen, take a look at the words of this former Alabama GOP governor. Not so long ago.
www.al.com/news/2025/12...
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Tommy Tuberville wants a war; he could learn from this GOP governor
“I believe that instead of resisting change, Alabama should embrace change, hold it tight, and never let it go,” the GOP governor said.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/12/tommy-tuberville-wants-a-war-he-could-learn-from-this-gop-governor.html
about 2 months ago
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Just because
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This Land Is Our Land
YouTube video by Todd Snider - Topic
https://youtu.be/TBMU7jkYEd4?si=xZi20QvyfXXSVqsC
2 months ago
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I find myself thinking of water often.
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Archibald: Trump’s environmental triple whammy threatens lifeblood of Alabama
Are we parasites or stewards of this place?
https://www.al.com/news/2025/12/archibald-trumps-environmental-triple-whammy-threatens-lifeblood-of-alabama.html
2 months ago
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Fascinating book. Come talk about it.
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2 months ago
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Can Doug Jones do it again?
www.al.com/news/2025/12...
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Would-be Alabama Gov. Doug Jones: ‘We are going to be OK”
"I recognize that this is an uphill battle, that we’re the underdog. But there is a lane." -- Doug Jones
https://www.al.com/news/2025/12/would-be-alabama-gov-doug-jones-we-are-going-to-be-ok.html
2 months ago
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Amen to that. :)
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3 months ago
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I'm so very sad over the death of Todd Snider. This is why.
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Archibald: Loss of beloved folk singer feels like a death in the family
He was a storyteller, a poet, a philosopher who gave voice to those who “didn’t want to throw a fishing line in that old mainstream.”
https://www.al.com/news/2025/11/death-of-beloved-folk-singer-cuts-deep-for-fans.html
3 months ago
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Sim left Alabama to protect his family. He has since written a book “And the Dragons Do Come: Raising a Transgender Kid in Rural America.” Give it a read.
thenewpress.org/books/and-th...
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3 months ago
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We live in a world where it's hip to be mean. Mean is the point, whether we’re talking SNAP benefits or immigration or prison or economics. Human rights, civil rights and common decency are 20th century concepts. Like retirement. Or conversation. Consider the case of Sim Butler and his family.
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He fled Alabama to protect his family, and now he warns the world
“The weight of living in Alabama, of living in fight or flight every day, was something I didn’t realize I was carrying until I got out of there."
https://www.al.com/news/2025/11/he-fled-alabama-to-protect-his-family-and-now-he-warns-the-world.html
3 months ago
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reposted by
John Archibald
The New Yorker
3 months ago
The Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph may not be a household name these days, but he is talked about reverently by extremists on online forums, where the phrase “do a Rudolph” is used as a shorthand for terrorist attacks.
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Defeating the Far-Right “Blob Man”
The story of Eric Rudolph, the Atlanta Olympics bomber, offers lessons about the persistence of violent extremism, and how to combat it.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/defeating-the-far-right-blob-man?utm_medium=social&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=bluesky&mbid=social_bluesky&utm_brand=tny
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Check one off the bucket list.
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Defeating the Far-Right “Blob Man”
The story of Eric Rudolph, the Atlanta Olympics bomber, offers lessons about the persistence of violent extremism, and how to combat it.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/defeating-the-far-right-blob-man
3 months ago
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Perhaps we should go ahead and rip that plaque off the Statue of Liberty and stop pretending to be something we are not. Kiss those huddled asses goodbye and claim it is all in the name of liberty and justice for all.
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Fonzie lost in immigration court. Now Alabama father will move to a country he knows nothing about
“There’s nothing about this kid that’s not American,” said a former Blountsville Town Council member.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/10/fonzie-lost-in-immigration-court-now-alabama-father-will-move-to-a-country-he-knows-nothing-about.html
3 months ago
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Thanks!
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4 months ago
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We have to take our stories back.
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Archibald: What happened when I Googled myself
AI created a phony national controversy, a fake Miss Alabama and a life in hiding.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/10/archibald-what-happened-when-i-googled-myself.html
4 months ago
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Just a little ode to the big man.
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Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor thunders into big man history
Proctor is no William "The Refrigerator" Perry. Just call him "The Walk-In Freezer."
https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2025/09/archibald-alabamas-kadyn-proctor-thunders-into-big-man-history.html
4 months ago
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When you find yourself without internet or cell service you realize what's important.
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How to disconnect and still keep your Wordle streak alive
How does one survive in a world without news alerts and sports scores, without the latest memes and Reddit reaction to the day’s threat to our fractured nation?
https://www.al.com/news/2025/09/archibald-why-disconnecting-is-the-best-way-to-reconnect.html
5 months ago
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Eric Rudolph wrote this of his targets: “It was irrelevant to me which particular issue – taxes, abortion, gun rights – ended up being the spark that ignited this revolution. This was a war between two entirely different world views.” Those who want to divide us want chaos. Don’t let them win.
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Archibald: What a serial bomber can teach America in this perilous moment
We are not at war.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/09/what-a-serial-bomber-can-teach-america-in-this-perilous-moment.html
5 months ago
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Thanks! Y’all read Jordan Green.
add a skeleton here at some point
5 months ago
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Am I nuts to get bent out of shape about kids getting Bibles in schools? At a time when the president autographs them for cash and tells supporters he needs their $15 to further his unlikely bid to get into Heaven? Call me crazy.
www.al.com/news/2025/09...
5 months ago
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5 months ago
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A thread. In the summer of 2005, more than 7 years and 20 surgeries after Eric Rudolph pressed a button on his homemade detonator and forever changed her life, Emily Lyons faced her bomber in a Birmingham, Alabama courtroom.
5 months ago
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Redditors, join us for an AMA this morning from 10:30 to 12:30 to talk bombers and the damage they left behind.
www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrimeP...
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From the TrueCrimePodcasts community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the TrueCrimePodcasts community
https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueCrimePodcasts/s/rM6bx0rRyT
5 months ago
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reposted by
John Archibald
AL.com
6 months ago
The great survivalist Eric Rudolph was caught by a rookie cop while dumpster diving. This is that story. Listen here:
https://www.al.com/news/2025/08/american-shrapnel-part-7-how-a-rookie-cop-caught-the-uncatchable-eric-rudolph.html
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It really is. :)
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6 months ago
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Indeed
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6 months ago
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Episode 7 out today. I think it's a fun one.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
6 months ago
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The best thing about Birmingham is that it is comfortable. The worst thing about Birmingham is that it is comfortable. We have no time to be comfortable,
@randallwoodfin.bsky.social
.
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Archibald: Woodfin’s Birmingham beatdown was epic; but don’t get comfortable
This was no fight. It was Michael Jordan vs. Michael Jackson in a slam dunk contest, Mike Tyson vs. Mr. Rogers – if Mr. Rogers just wouldn’t stop talking.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/08/archibald-woodfins-birmingham-beatdown-was-epic-but-dont-get-comfortable.html
6 months ago
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reposted by
John Archibald
Justin Eger
6 months ago
Most people hear "factory jobs" and think "1950s economic prosperity," which was only possible through strong unions. The GOP says "factory jobs" and means "1880s corporate dominance over the working class." Recognize the difference.
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reposted by
John Archibald
Brian Lyman
6 months ago
If you hate your property taxes, lemme show you what happens to a state living under tax caps first imposed by white racists in 1875. (Because they didn’t want to educate Black children.)
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That would be nice ... If the University of Alabama wasn't rolling over like a ... hmm ... crimson tide?
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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reposted by
John Archibald
𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘤 𝘗𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵
6 months ago
add a skeleton here at some point
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A friend summed up Tuberville's plan for Alabama better than I did: “It's build factories, send kids to tech school to work at the factories, build prisons for those who don't want to work at the factories, and cut taxes for the factory owners.” Make Alabama 1901 again!
www.al.com/news/2025/08...
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Archibald: Tubs' plan would Make Alabama dumb again
“It's build factories, send kids to tech school to work at the factories, build prisons for those who don't want to work at the factories, and cut taxes for the factory owners.”
https://www.al.com/news/2025/08/tuberville-plan-make-alabama-dumb-again.html
6 months ago
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reposted by
John Archibald
Josh Millwood
6 months ago
I’ve know. This kid since he was ~10-11. We are from the same town, Blountsville,
#Alabama
and went to the same High School, J. B. Pennington. We even attended the same church in the past, Blountsville Baptist Church. He was raised there and has tried to support and give back to his community.
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Last month he was prepping for the football season. Watching film, learning the new rule changes, getting in shape so, as a high school back judge, he could get everything in front of him. Now he's in ICE detention and can't see what lies ahead.
www.al.com/news/2025/08...
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Archibald: Football ref raised in Alabama awaits fate in ICE detention
We’ve all seen videos of masked ICE agents making arrests, but what is it like when the cameras are off? I asked Fonzie Andrade to describe it.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/08/football-referee-raised-in-rural-alabama-awaits-fate-in-ice-detention.html
6 months ago
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My pleasure! Thanks for coming.
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6 months ago
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That was a lot of fun. Thanks to you and everybody for coming out.
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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“In the days after the Olympics, Rudolph decided he needed more powerful explosives, so he set his sights on dynamite stored at the Austin Powder Co. in Asheville, N.C.” Episode 5 dropped today. It’s not just about a bomber, but survivors.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
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American Shrapnel
History Podcast · Weekly Series · The Olympics explode on a July night in 1996. The largest pipe bomb the country has ever seen. A string of bombings shakes Atlanta for the next year. Thousands of pho...
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/american-shrapnel/id1822610396
6 months ago
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Thanks so much, Larry.
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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He played ball at JB Pennington High, went to the Baptist church on Sundays and Methodist youth group Wednesday nights. He fell in love and drives a pickup and referees high school games and talks with a better Southern accent than I do.
www.al.com/news/2025/08...
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Small town Alabama is the only home Fonzie knows, but ICE came for him anyway
“I don't know nothing about Mexico,” he said. “I don't even know how their political things work."
https://www.al.com/news/2025/08/small-town-alabama-is-the-only-home-fonzie-knows-but-ice-came-for-him-anyway.html
6 months ago
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Episode 4 of American Shrapnel is out. And another bomber pops out of a funnel cloud.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
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The Funnel Cloud
Podcast Episode · American Shrapnel · S1 E4 · 39m
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/american-shrapnel/id1822610396?i=1000720871017
6 months ago
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I've written at least five times over the years that "1984" was late, but on the way. Well here it is.
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Archibald: It’s always 1984 somewhere
There’s real Ministry of Truth stuff going on right in front of our eyes.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/08/archibald-its-always-1984-somewhere.html
6 months ago
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7 months ago
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Man, I wish there were more people like Jermaine Hughes.
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Archibald: When bombs shook the South, and an unsung hero stepped up
“It looked kind of weird because this guy … didn't turn around to see what happened,” he told police.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/07/archibald-when-bombs-shook-the-south-and-an-unsung-hero-stepped-up.html
7 months ago
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