How do you write about a slur? My New York Times colleague Sonia A. Rao and I recently grappled with this. Here's the backstory:

The R-Word has returned with a vengeance. In recent months it has been used by President Trump, various right-wing influencers, and Justice Department official in charge of civil rights. If the term is known to be offensive, the question then is: Why? Why use it? My story, with Sonia Rao.

Five years after the Capitol riot, and nearly a year after President Trump granted clemency to those who attacked police officers, vandalized the landmark, and disrupted the orderly transfer of power, conspiracy-obsessed J6ers even want more. By Alan Feuer and me. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/u...

President Trump began his second term by granting wholesale amnesty to those implicated in the Capitol riot stoked by his stolen-election lies. Now those J6ers hunger for more payback - a zombie-like hunger rooted in the conspiracy theories pushed by Trump and his allies. By Alan Feuer and me.

This Christmas, the Barrys have moved up. No longer just Entenmann’s. Now: Entenmann’s PREMIUM! A joyous Christmas to all!

The Trump administration rejected coin designs that would, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary, feature Frederick Douglass, a women's suffragist and Ruby Bridges. Instead: Pilgrims, founding fathers - and the sitting president. My story, with photos by Rachel Wisniewski:

The Village Green was kind enough to feature an article about the upcoming movie "The Lost Children of Tuam," now in post-production. Thank you very much, Mary Barr Mann!

Coins tell the story of us. One of the world's finest collections can be found in lower Manhattan, but almost no one ever sees these coins, and so off to Toledo they go. My story, with the typically excellent photos of Todd Heisler. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/a...

After they were finished catching up, he ended the call with, “I’ll see you all of a sudden, kid. Bye-bye.” How could we be so lucky to get the combination of William Kennedy and @danbarry58.bsky.social all in one story? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/a...

I went up to Albany all of a rainy night and what mug do I find but William Kennedy, THE William Kennedy. Author of "Ironweed," "Roscoe," and so many other novels that endure. He's 97, he's still writing - and he'll drink you under the table. So here: Your "Great Read."

“It is anti-American at its core.” A great story from @danbarry58.bsky.social about yet another Trump fiasco of ego and sycophancy in the making www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...

Another @danbarry58.bsky.social classic. These columns are a genre all their own. NYT: A Two-Headed Coin That Always Comes Up ‘Trump’ www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...

The Trump administration is planning to feature the sitting president on a coin, upending an anti-monarchical custom dating to George Washington, who might as well have coined the phrase “No Kings.” My dive into the numismatic past: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...

Sometimes I feel like Una O’Connor’s scream.

The filming of “The Lost Children of Tuam” in Tuam, Co. Galway. A scene from my story: “Their oversize hobnail boots beat a frantic rhythm as they hustle to their likely slap at the schoolhouse door.” h/t: The Tuam Herald

"As in, now." Today's article pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @danbarry58.bsky.social & @nytimes.com! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/n...

So very honored to talk about storytelling with the great journalist Line Vaaben at the Fortellingens Kraft 2025 conference in Bergen, Norway. I assured everyone that speaking truth to power continues in the United States.

Bergen, Norway September 2025

So they're shooting a movie this month in Ireland that is based on my 2017 story, "The Lost Children of Tuam." It's about the scandalous mother and baby homes and the indefatigable Catherine Corless, who exposed the heartbreaking truth -- forcing Ireland to reckon with its past.

Today is my 30th anniversary at The New York Times. The parade up Fifth Avenue begins at noon. It will feature Jumbo the elephant, Mayor Jimmy Walker, Mr. Met, Miss Rheingold, and various Tammany dignitaries assembled by Big Tim Sullivan. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Dedicated public servants, sacrificed at the altar of Trump. A great and galling story from @danbarry58.bsky.social and @alanfeuer.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/n...

A prosecutor's firing "confirmed for him his view that the Justice Department he had been honored to work for was now helping to whitewash a traumatic event in American history, supporting President Trump’s reframing of its violence as patriotic" and of some DOJ lawyers as villains or traitors.

And, for those who prefer, there's an audio version of our DOJ pardon/purge story, with a brief explanation of how Alan Feuer and I approached it. Produced by @adriennehurst.bsky.social and read by me. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/n...

After Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, there has come the purge - of the federal prosecutors who handled the cases. Fired or demoted for doing their jobs. Story by Alan Feuer and me. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/n...

The President of the United States: Too much focus at the Smithsonian on “how bad slavery was.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...

Out of Order Ocean Park, Maine August 2025

Celtic Swirl Ocean Park, Maine August 2025

The Script of Snails Ocean Park, Maine August 2025

Artist: Low Tide Ocean Park, Maine August 2025

Summer Blur Queensbury, New York August 2025

To all professionals (and retirees) in the journalism, film, television, radio, theatre, entertainment, and arts world, join the challenge to post a photo of yourself in your job. Just a picture, no description. The goal is to flood social media with our profession.

A deeper look at Vance Boelter, the Minnesota man accused of having a political hit list and killing a Democratic legislator and her husband and critically wounding another Democratic lawmaker and his wife. With stellar journalists @ruthgraham.bsky.social‬ and ‪@londonoe.bsky.social.

Today is the 44th anniversary of the conclusion to baseball's longest game: 33 innings, between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox. McCoy Stadium, where it all took place, was just torn down. So pause, remember, and celebrate responsibly.

The upstate New York town of Herkimer and its famous native son, The Human Calculator, have something to say about basketball. Namely, that the game was invented there. Read my story and discuss: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/n...

Red, White, and Blue: Limited Edition ‘Merica June 2025

On the shelves. Herkimer Historical Society June 2025

Sinkholes open on Interstate 80, but why? Because the New Jersey past needs to remind the New Jersey present of what once was. My story: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/n...

Train strikes, plane delays, sinkholes on the interstate. New Jersey, a state of constant motion, is stuck between stations. My essay of frustration: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/n...

All you need to know about these New York Knicks is reflected in the swollen left eye of Josh Hart. #Knicks

My new phrase for all occasions, personal, social, political: "Extra omnes!"

It's a breautiful day, and the Derby is running. Forget all that! At 6 pm EST, on C-SPAN2 (!), I'll be talking to Gay Talese, the one and only: www.c-span.org/event/book-t...

The Ruth Buzzi Bench Westerly, Rhode Island

The reaction to Sabrina's story has been quite positive - although someone complained about this "newcomer." If Sabrina, the grandchild of immigrants, is a newcomer, what does that make me? Or Paul Revere? Both of us children of immigrants. AmericanAF. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/u...

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/u... By @danbarry58.bsky.social More patriotic and engaged in her town history at 15 than most of us.

Meet Sabrina, 15 and "Lexington AF." High schooler and granddaughter of immigrants, she works hard to make the Revolutionary Era cool and interesting for kids - but with a sassiness that has some town elders coughing up their mulled cider. My story: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/u...

Persist. Lexington, Massachusetts April 2025

"President Trump’s team is selectively stripping away the public record, reconstructing his preferred vision of America in the negative space of purged history, archivists and historians said." Spot-on, by Tiffany Hsu. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/05/t...

The gym Ive played in for 20+ yrs will soon be unavailable as the parish needs to rent it for financial survival. These words from @danbarry58.bsky.social that first appeared 13 yrs ago in @commonweal.bsky.social describe best why the news is impacting me today. www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/s...