Guitar Lightnin' Lee, a New Orleans R&B guitar player with a powerful growl, died Nov. 7. @alisonf.bsky.social once described his Thunder Band as “real blues, real punk, real New Orleans.” I appreciated him as a storyteller, recounting funny and poignant tales about back-of-town clubs in the 1960s.

A Wisconsin farming town, facing an existential budget crisis, considers an offer from the federal government: generous funding in exchange for cooperating with ICE. Conflict ensures, along with a death threat. @rubycramer.bsky.social gets closeup: wapo.st/4imdjrw. HT @thesundaylongread.bsky.social

"A mass surveillance network with a particularly American focus: cars."

NPR's Scott Simon offers some needed perspective on Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who was executed in 2018. This week President Trump said of the murder, "A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen."

What congressional district was hit hardest by DOGE funding cuts? This one right here, in Durham, North Carolina. @christadutton.bsky.social writes about the hits to the 4th District, a center of science and global health. @notus.com @theassemblync.bsky.social @briannaclarke.bsky.social #ncpol

The most comprehensive story yet about Fernando Vazquez, the 18-year-old U.S. citizen who was abducted by federal immigration agents from a construction site in Cary, North Carolina. @ncnewsline.com #ncpol

An update on Fernando Vazquez, the U.S. citizen who was hauled away from a construction site in Cary, North Carolina. From Willie Daniely at WRAL. www.wral.com/news/local/f... #ncpol

Her daughter had so many other questions. How do we know these people are ICE? Why aren’t they identifying themselves? What happens if they aren’t ICE? How is this legal? @chenkel.bsky.social @ncnewsline.com #ncpol #Raleigh

Immigration officers hauled away a construction worker in Cary NC. "A half mile up the road, they looked at his wallet and saw he was a citizen," said his supervisor. "They pulled him out of the van and threw his wallet out the window. He had to walk back here." #ncpol www.cbs17.com/news/local-n...

Federal immigration officers hauled away a construction worker in Cary, North Carolina. "About a half mile up the road, they looked at his wallet and saw he was a citizen," said his supervisor. "They pulled him out of the van and threw his wallet out the window. He had to walk back here." #ncpol

Even for immigration lawyers, navigating the Border Patrol’s opaque operation in North Carolina is nearly impossible. For those detained, it can be life-altering: “You can’t un-ring the bell on the harm.” By Greg Lacour in @theassemblync.bsky.social. #ncpol

#ncpol #durham

#ncpol #durham

"Charlotte is living, at least for the next few days, in the bizarre land between truth and fiction, between the 'worst of the worst' promise and the visuals of citizens being hassled to show their documents while going about otherwise ordinary lives." @michaelngraff.bsky.social, Charlotte Optimist.

Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell told WRAL News that agents are “already in Raleigh and will be active tomorrow.” #ncpol

BREAKING: U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will be deployed in the Raleigh area on Tuesday, Democratic legislative sources briefed by Gov. Josh Stein’s office told The Assembly and INDY on Monday. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

“People are nervous just because of the tactics. Even me. I’m brown-skinned and I’m an American citizen and I’m a vet. But here I’m thinking: should I be carrying my passport with me?” Victoria Bouloubasis reports for @theguardian.com from Charlotte NC, where at least 81 were arrested. #ncpol

The mayor of Evanston, Illinois sharing advice to Charlotte on protecting its immigrants. #ncpol

“The most appalling thing was: These guys still had the audacity to smile and wave at the camera after … coming and dragging a boy out, pinning him against the concrete.” @oehrli.bsky.social www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/a...

"The Man in the Red Beret," a lovely documentary by Derek Bridges has started streaming on Amazon Prime. If you like New Orleans, chess, or a good story, you should watch it.

“If he was some kind of narcoterrorist, then why are we living in misery instead of a mansion?” @simonromero.bsky.social @nytimes.com

You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants. We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua. www.propublica.org/article/chic...

NEW: 2020 footage said to be in 2025. A neighbor who keeps reappearing in the same clip, said to be on different days & months. A broadcast from elsewhere suggested as Portland. How Fox News misled its viewership -- which may have included the president. www.propublica.org/article/port...

Today is the 50th anniversary of @poynterinstitute.bsky.social, which reshaped my trajectory as a journalist: how I think and write about race, listen to others, question my own assumptions, enter unfamiliar communities. I'm grateful for the opportunities to unlearn, learn, and coach there.

When I teach interviewing, the first journalist my students listen to is @annasale.bsky.social, host of Death, Sex & Money. This episode shows why: Sale is simultaneously unflinching and compassionate. Her interviewing is trauma-informed, but she doesn't shy away from taboo topics. @slate.com

A delightful read by Josh Levin. Also, fun to learn what my old NYU journalism professor Mitch Stephens was like as a teenager.

My former student Andrew Long has written a marvelous story for The Assembly about an atheist YouTuber who "still tears up when he talks about his relationship with God—the 'most intimate thing' he’s ever had—and mourns that he now believes 'it’s all bullshit.'" @theassemblync.bsky.social

I've listened to the first three episodes of Tending. It's a wondrous podcast series: a sound-rich and soulful journey through North Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, and (soon) Texas, during which storyteller/host Shirlette Ammons meets the Black farmers who have taken on systemic racism at the USDA.

The powerful new Serial podcast series, The Preventionist, opens at a Pennsylvania county meeting where dozens of families talked about a pediatrician who had wrongly accused them of child abuse. Dyan Neary traced the doctor's career back three decades, uncovering a pattern of similar allegations.

New: FEMA records show the agency has spent millions less on hazard mitigation in NC than expected this year thanks to delays. As FEMA and state officials feud about who is to blame, families are left paying for homes that are too flood-damaged to live in. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...

Crunching numbers on SNAP in NC. Belts of rural counties in the south & northeast will see anywhere from a quarter to a third of their residents without food assistance. Ten of the state’s 99 counties have 25% or more of its residents enrolled in SNAP. #ncpol ncnewsline.com/2025/10/29/l...

SNAP is in the news right now as it runs out of money. But hundreds of thousands beneficiaries have been losing their benefits to transnational crime rings for years—because the cards used to deliver food aid are so outdated. By @almsnatalie.bsky.social.

Guzy set out to photograph a parade. "Then I’m like, well maybe I should check it (immigration court) out for a day or two — and here I am, almost five months later." "I’m 100% sure that things are done differently because eyes are on the scene." Photojournalism can impact both sides of the lens.

While reporting on NC Chief Justice Paul Newby, who helped engineer the Republican takeover of Congress, @dougbockclark.bsky.social heard from the NCGOP: “I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration... I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” @propublica.org #ncpol

After Trump said he'd meet Putin in Budapest, @huffpost.com's @svdate.bsky.social asked who recommended the Hungarian capital. “Your mom did,” texted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an exchange she posted online. “Your mom,” communications director Steven Cheung texted moments later.

Tomorrow in #Durham NC: Duke's journalism program will screen a short documentary called "Second Trauma," about how journalists cover victims of gun violence. I'll lead a Q&A with producer Oronde McClain and director Yvonne Latty. 5:30 pm, Sanford School, Room 04. RSVP at the link below. #durhamnc

In my latest Unabridged newsletter, I wrote about hope, and about the people we met in Louisiana this summer who offered me a way out of despair. (Photos: John Noltner.)

#ncpol By @jeffreybillman.bsky.social.

My friend @dgraham.bsky.social has written a smart column for @theatlantic.com about why the No Kings protests matter. It includes a delicious description of the protest here in #Durham NC.

"At that moment, I better understood the outsize reactions to Mamdani’s rise. It’s that he may have the temperament — and the public support — to effect meaningful change to policy and legislation. Stardom is not what’s inherently threatening. Combining it with competence is." By Astead W. Herndon.

After Indiana University ordered student newspaper @idsnews.bsky.social to stop publishing, students and staff from rival Purdue's student paper, The Exponent, traveled two hours to deliver a paper to newsstands. The headline: 'WE STUDENT JOURNALISTS MUST STAND TOGETHER.'" By Brian Rosenzweig.

I love this gorgeous two-minute animation that asks a counterintuitive question: How many people does it take to #stutter? Brought to you by #Stuttering Commons and SPACE.

Love this story in Editor and Publisher on innovative website Adopt a Station, showing how much public media TV and radio stations relied on federal funding. No surprise, many of those most dependent serve rural, indigenous and Black communities. READ: https://loom.ly/oY2Jmt0

North Carolina's Republican-majority legislature, following President Trump's lead, plans to redraw the congressional map to give the GOP more representation. This is the only state in which the governor, a Democrat, can't veto political maps. @ncrabbithole.com reveals the unlikely culprit. #ncpol

Christophe Gleizes was a respected French soccer journalist on assignment in Algeria, investigating a soccer star's death. He was caught up in a political crackdown and sentenced to seven years on charges of “advocating terrorism.” By Kevin Sieff for the @washingtonpost.com.

"In unison." Amen. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat. Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

#ncpol @alecdent.bsky.social