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Barry Yeoman

@barryyeoman.com
1.2K followers 474 following 566 posts

Freelance journalist in North Carolina who writes longform stories about political, social, and environmental issues. Web site: barryyeoman.com. Newsletter: barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com. Teaching: Duke University.

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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 3h
Excited to introduce North Star Way, a podcast series launching Oct. 27. We interviewed Minnesotans about the creative and courageous ways they showed up for their neighbors during the largest federal immigration operation in U.S. history. A collaboration with John Noltner and A Peace of My Mind.
youtube.com
North Star Way: Minnesota Navigates a Harsh Winter (trailer)
YouTube video by Barry Yeoman
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 25/09/2026
Our Guardian story about how 7-Eleven and Circle K, the US's top convenience store chains, habitually overcharge customers appears to have hit a nerve. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i... @jocelynzuck.bsky.social @byardduncan.bsky.social @sophiemsullivan.bsky.social @michaelwhudson.bsky.social
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 25/09/2026
A Stanford law professor reacts to our investigation.
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Byard Duncan @byardduncan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NEW for @theguardian.com: U.S. Convenience store giants have been quietly overcharging consumers for years. It's salt in the wound for ppl struggling with out-of-control living costs. W/ @barryyeoman.com, @sophiemsullivan.bsky.social and @jocelynzuck.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Amid soaring living costs, America’s biggest convenience-store chains quietly overcharge consumers
Guardian investigation: 7-Eleven and Circle K stores often fail to honor advertised prices – charging more at pump and register for gas, snacks, and other items
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Sophie Sullivan @sophiemsullivan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Was happy to add "7-Eleven secret shopper" to my resume this summer and help report this excellent investigation into serial overcharging by America's convenience stores, alongside @jocelynzuck.bsky.social, @barryyeoman.com and @byardduncan.bsky.social. Thanks to our editor Mike Hudson! Read below.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 24/09/2026
MY LATEST: Today @theguardian.com published our investigation of 7-Eleven and Circle K. Both chains routinely overcharge customers for food, toiletries, tobacco, and medicine, and yet elude government scrutiny. With @jocelynzuck.bsky.social, @byardduncan.bsky.social, @sophiemsullivan.bsky.social
theguardian.com
Amid soaring living costs, America’s biggest convenience-store chains quietly overcharge consumers
Guardian investigation: 7-Eleven and Circle K stores often fail to honor advertised prices – charging more at pump and register for gas, snacks, and other items
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 23/09/2026
One of my investigative stories is about to drop, which means I'll be sending out my Unabridged newsletter soon—maybe tomorrow. If you don't subscribe (it's free), this would be a good time.
barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com
Barry Yeoman: Unabridged
Journalism (and other) recommendations, along with links to my own latest work.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 18/09/2026
Durham NC holds itself up as a pro-immigrant jurisdiction. But its magistrates and judges repeatedly refer people facing low-level criminal charges to ICE when they're not required to—even for offenses as minor as a single trespassing charge. @twitterlessabe.bsky.social @indyweek.bsky.social #ncpol
indyweek.com
Durham Judicial Officials Are Unnecessarily Putting People on ICE's Radar for Low-Level Crimes
Durham judicial officials flagged people for citizenship checks when they didn’t need to, landing some in ICE custody, INDY found.
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The Sunday Long Read @thesundaylongread.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
For six decades, in four languages, Taleen Mardirossian’s grandmother kept a secret. Who was she hiding, and why? In this new, haunting SLR original, Taleen tells an intergenerational story of love, language, and loss. sundaylongread.com/2026/09/12/t...
sundaylongread.com
The Mother Tongue of All Secrets - The Sunday Long Read
For six decades, in four languages, my grandmother kept a secret. Who was she hiding, and why?
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 08/09/2026
"[Sloan] Rachmuth’s lawsuit raises crucial questions that courts are grappling with across the country: What’s the line between an internet asshole and a criminal? And will attempts to regulate decency inevitably stifle dissent?" @jeffreybillman.bsky.social @theassemblync.bsky.social #ncpol
theassemblync.com
Shouting Terrorist in a Crowded Grocery Store
Charges against Sloan Rachmuth were quickly dropped, but she says the arrest violated her First Amendment rights.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 06/09/2026
This column is worth your time.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 06/09/2026
West Point’s Cadet Hostess Office was founded in 1931 as a matchmaking service for aspiring young officers. It still exists, writes Jasper Craven. One recent document stresses the importance of “opening the door for ladies,” but only in a literal sense. @playboy.com HT @profligategrace.bsky.social
playboy.com
The Military Office Training Cadets in Old-School Manhood
West Point’s Cadet Hostess Office Is the military’s training ground for old-school masculinity.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 31/08/2026
Kevin Sieff reports from Tapachula, at the southern tip of Mexico, where the Trump administration has been dumping immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti. Many of them elderly, some stripped of their green card after spending most of their life in the United States. @theatlantic.com
theatlantic.com
A Reverse Ellis Island
A city at the southern tip of Mexico has become the place where migrants’ dreams go to die.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 29/08/2026
Hanif Abdurraqib writes about the group chats—with writers and fellow former teen punks—that bring him closer to the joys of everyday life. www.newyorker.com/culture/essa...
newyorker.com
There’s No Place Like Group Chats
My old friends and I have ended up scattered across different states, in different time zones, but we’ve made our own neighborhood inside the black and blue bubbles of our phones.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 26/08/2026
Democratic Senate candidate @roycoopernc.bsky.social won praise in 2007, when he was North Carolina's attorney general, for declaring three Duke lacrosse players innocent of rape. Critics wish he’d done more for other defendants. @jimmorrill.bsky.social @theassemblync.bsky.social #ncpol
theassemblync.com
What the Duke Lacrosse Case Says About Roy Cooper
The Senate candidate won praise for declaring three players innocent as AG in 2007. Critics wish he’d done more for other defendants.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 26/08/2026
. @tommytomlinson.bsky.social on Dolly Parton: "She looked and sounded only like herself, and yet so many of us can see and hear ourselves in her—well, maybe not our current selves, but the version we hope to be. Those rhinestones were mirrors."
substack.com
The greatest living American
#303: The easy brilliance of Dolly Parton
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 24/08/2026
When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy, a vessel that set a US military record for uninterrupted time at sea, stirring concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health. @apnews.com
apnews.com
He was waiting for his son to return from the USS Lincoln. Then Border Patrol arrested him.
The father of a man serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln has been arrested by immigration authorities.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 21/08/2026
Hannah Goldfield reports on Hooters’s rebrand as a family-friendly restaurant—and brings her own family to eat there: “ ‘I love Hooters!’ my seven-year-old son declared. Who was I to argue with him?” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Your Friendly Neighborhood Hooters
The chain is attempting a wholesome revival. Will it work?
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 17/08/2026
I just donated and hope you will too. David France's documentary films, including "How To Survive A Plague" and "Welcome To Chechnya," have been gripping and important chronicles about how people under attack fight for survival.
gofundme.com
Donate to Finishing Funds For Testing Testing Sandi Bachom, organized by paul McGuire
Testing Testing Sandi Bachom is a 29-minute documentary short about the … paul McGuire needs your support for Finishing Funds For Testing Testing Sandi Bachom
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 16/08/2026
Moments after she got off a flight in Burbank, California, a young man in a brown hooded sweatshirt stopped Galina Bobreneva. “Congratulations, you’ve been chosen for secondary screening,” the federal agent told her before handcuffing her and leading her to an unmarked vehicle. By Miriam Jordan.
nytimes.com
He Was a MAGA Patriot. ICE Took His Wife Away.
The case represents a new front in President Trump’s mass deportation drive: arrests at airports of people who have active immigration cases and no criminal history.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 16/08/2026
Courageous on-the-ground reporting from Sinloa, Mexico, where the drug cartels are gunning down influencers. By Kevin Sieff for @theatlantic.com.
theatlantic.com
Influencers Are the Sinaloa Cartel’s Newest Targets
The U.S. is trying to destroy Mexican cartels. But so far, a turf war has only deepened.
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Jose Pagliery @josepagliery.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
A source of mine in ICE detention camps got deported to one of the most dangerous cities in Latin America. I followed him there to tell his story. @notus.com: www.notus.org/national/dhs...
notus.org
No ID, No Money, No Way Out: DHS Deports a Man to a Country He Doesn't Know
The Trump administration sent Rogelio Bolufé, a Cuban national, to a cartel city in Ecuador with no means of escape.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 09/08/2026
"I believe that when we look for division, we're going to find it," John Noltner, founder of the storytelling project A Peace of My Mind, says in this new TEDx Talk from Belfast, Northern Ireland. "And when we look for connection, we're going to find that, too."
youtube.com
How To Listen For What Else Is True | John Noltner | TEDxBlack Mountain
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 06/08/2026
Nonprofit @sahanjournal.bsky.social does stellar reporting on immigrants and people of color in Minnesota. Its staff reflects the diversity of the communities they cover. I particularly recommend Katelyn Vue's unfolding series on a Hmong family left behind when the father was deported to Laos.
sahanjournal.com
South St. Paul family regroups after father’s deportation to Laos
South St. Paul resident Linda Yang is raising her five sons alone after her husband, Zong, was deported to Laos during Operation Metro Surge.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 06/08/2026
"Even without scandal, western North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District had turned competitive. Jamie Ager, the Democrat, had been making hay of his background as a farmer with deep roots... Now, just over 12 weeks before Election Day, Republicans are scrambling to find a candidate." #ncpol
nytimes.com
Scandal Leaves North Carolina G.O.P. With No Candidate and Little Time (Gift Article)
Representative Chuck Edwards’s decision to drop his re-election bid amid sexual harassment charges came as a Democratic farmer, Jamie Ager, was already making inroads.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 05/08/2026
Good work by @mlk50.com.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 22/07/2026
"Attempting a coherent portrait of Groypers can feel a bit like trying to describe the plot of a Surrealist film, or a fantasy board game that takes place in its own universe. But they see their movement as a gathering storm about to break over American politics." --Antonia Hitchens, @newyorker.com.
newyorker.com
How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics
Inside the battle for the post-MAGA G.O.P.
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Brian Barrett @brbarrett.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
A WIRED investigation has identified multiple members of the paramilitary units behind some of the most egregious immigration enforcement actions of the last year. from @awinston.bsky.social and @regret.bsky.social
wired.com
Unmasking the Paramilitary Agents Behind Trump’s Violent Immigration Crackdown
A WIRED analysis of DHS records identified dozens of specialized federal agents who used force against US civilians during the largest known deployment of its kind in US history.
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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
“It’s clear that Nolan Wells’s unfortunate death struck a nerve with me and my Black peers who have lived and parented through the token Black experience. Some of us describe seeing some of our worst moments reflected back to us in those photos of Wells with his white friends.”
thecut.com
Who Will Protect Us When No One Is Looking?
Why Nolan Xavier Wells’s death has unnerved so many Black parents — including me.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 19/07/2026
The bomb that set off the culture wars of the 1980s and '90s detonated in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, writes Louis Menand in @newyorker.com.
newyorker.com
How “Piss Christ” Became a Culture-War Bomb
The fight over Andres Serrano, Robert Mapplethorpe, and the National Endowment for the Arts became a preview of the politics that followed.
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Caitlin Gibson @caitjgibson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Truly extraordinary portrait of an American family and AI by my brilliant friend and former colleague Jessica Contrera. A must-read: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
When A.I. Is a Member of the Family
A single mom, her two daughters, and the chatbots that fill in the gaps.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 17/07/2026
A meticulous, searing profile of the ICE officer who killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. There were numerous tipoffs in publicly available records about his mental instability and violent streak. @apnews.com @jack-brook.bsky.social HT @joshtpm.bsky.social
apnews.com
AP Exclusive: ICE officer in Maine shooting has history of violent behavior, family and records say
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood, according to c...
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 14/07/2026
"Now there are many more Black birders looking for welcoming, safe places to enjoy birds. One such place is the Joe Farm, a Black-owned family farm in Hale County, Alabama." By Dudley Edmondson. @cornellbirds.bsky.social
allaboutbirds.org
A Cattle Farm in Alabama Draws Birders for a Spectacle of Kites
The Joe family farm practices a land ethic that has brought in the birds, and now a burgeoning side business that is bringing in birders to the Black Belt of Alabama.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 13/07/2026
We all made assumptions about this Reuters photo. Even me. Even you. It took @notus.com reporter @byelliesilverman.bsky.social to track down the story of Bernita Bowlding and her worried family, and to tell it ethically.
notus.org
The Woman in the Photo Wanted to Be Alone. Instead, She Went Viral.
America saw what it wanted to see on the face of its newest icon. And everyone saw it wrong.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 12/07/2026
"When Donald Trump first appeared in U.S. politics, Graham recognized him immediately for what he was: the spokesman for an alien ideology, one radically different from the idealistic patriotism that Graham had practiced and preached since childhood." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Quintessential Politician of This Era
The late South Carolina senator made a mid-career turn to MAGA.
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Stephanie McCrummen @mccrummen.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
More and more Americans are seeing politics as a spiritual battle against actual demonic forces. In Tennessee, a bookstore owner found out exactly what that could mean: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Demon Next Door
A growing number of charismatic Christians see themselves as waging a spiritual battle against the forces of Satan. Sometimes those forces are right across the street.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 11/07/2026
🧵 These two events represent a chilling escalation by the Trump Administration against a free press. Yesterday federal agents showed up at the homes of several @nytimes.com journalists with subpoenas them after they reported on security concerns involving the new Qatari-donated Air Force One. (1/2)
nytimes.com
Times Journalists Subpoenaed as Trump Escalates Pressure on Media (Gift Article)
The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 11/07/2026
“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects.” By Michael M. Grynbaum.
nytimes.com
Times Journalists Subpoenaed as Trump Escalates Pressure on Media
The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 09/07/2026
"A clutch of people who cared about Mr. Platner worried about his mental health, amid his ongoing efforts to heal from post-traumatic stress disorder after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The worst-case scenario wasn’t running for Senate and losing—it was destroying the life he worked hard to build."
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KQED Arts & Culture @kqedarts.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
A new study in the American Journal of Public Health relies on internal corporate documents to show how the tobacco giant applied cigarette research to its development of ultra-processed foods. www.kqed.org/news/12086137/heres-ho…
kqed.org
Here’s How Philip Morris Designed Lunchables to Hook Generations of Kids | KQED
A new study in the American Journal of Public Health relies on internal corporate documents to chronicle how the tobacco giant applied cigarette research to its development of ultra-processed foods.
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Jessica Sidman @jessicasidman.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Forget the Reflecting Pool. US Park Police say organized crime is operating on the National Mall, and no one's talking about it. My deep-dive into the pirate food trucks wreaking havoc around America's Front Lawn. washingtonian.com/2026/06/29/d...
washingtonian.com
Inside the Food Truck Mafia Wreaking Havoc Around the National Mall
Turf wars. Food and fire hazards. $15 ice-cream cones. How an organized network of unlicensed food trucks took over America's Front Lawn.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 06/07/2026
🧵
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 05/07/2026
"The music started. Yehor stayed still. Then he lifted his right palm into the empty space before him. For the next three minutes, he needed to pretend that his date, Masha, was still there." @siobhanogrady.bsky.social and Liubov Sholudko report from Kyiv. H/T @thesundaylongread.bsky.social.
nytimes.com
The Prom Went On in Kyiv, but Masha’s Date Danced Alone
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 04/07/2026
This photo, taken today by @reuters.com photographer Cheney Orr. The caption: A commuter sits as members of the group Patriot Front ride the metro on the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 4, 2026.
reutersconnect.com
Licensable picture: Fourth of July celebrations, in Washington
A commuter sits as members of the group Patriot Front ride the metro on the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C.,...
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 04/07/2026
July 4 marks a year since the Central Texas floods that killed at least 135 people in the Hill Country, including 28 at the all-girls' Camp Mystic. I knew about the flood, of course. But I didn't really FEEL it until I read Sean Flynn's new article in @theatlantic.com. Photos by Tamir Kalifa.
theatlantic.com
The 10,000-Year Flood
The banks of the Guadalupe River were an idyllic spot to park an RV. Then, last summer, it started to rain harder and faster than anyone could imagine.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 03/07/2026
Happy Independence Day.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 26/06/2026
Enbridge wants to build a natural-gas pipeline through Chatham Co., NC. It says residents have nothing to fear. But in Tennessee, Enbridge damaged wetlands and streams, and prematurely built a bridge in a sensitive aquatic habitat, prompting the feds to issue a stop-work order. @lisasorg.bsky.social
insideclimatenews.org
A Pipeline Company Says It Will Protect the Environment in North Carolina. Its Record in Tennessee Says Otherwise. - Inside Climate News
Damaged wetlands and streams, spills of drilling mud and a federal stop-work order have plagued the Ridgeline Expansion Project in Tennessee.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 25/06/2026
In Cary, N.C., an #LGBTQ organizer suffered a black eye at a Pride event after a man shouting homophobic slurs allegedly struck her with a flagpole. But the man can't be charged with a hate crime, because the state's law does not cover sexual orientation. By Faith Wardell. #ncpol @newsobserver.com
newsobserver.com
Cary LGBTQ+ organizer injured in alleged Pride assault. Why she wants tougher charges
The Pride Market showcased dozens of local vendors with hundreds of locals shopping and celebrating Pride. But the festivities took a turn just after 6 p.m.
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Michael Kruse @michaelkruse.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Started reading this late last night thinking I probably wouldn't finish and then couldn't stop.
newyorker.com
The Paperboy’s Secret
In boyhood, guilt was a constant companion. I stopped mentioning the quarters that Mr. Wood put into my pocket.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 24/06/2026
#ncpol
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