"The Marshall Islands had never fielded a national soccer team. With this 11-a-side tournament, these young men would be the first to carry their nation onto an international stage." A ⚽️ story from @jordanphickey.bsky.social: longreads.com/2026/04/21/m...

The Last Nation to Play - Longreads

The Marshall Islands' first men's national soccer team discovers what “home” can mean—on a field in Springdale, Arkansas.

longreads.com

“Inconvenience is when your DoorDash shows up late or your pizza is cold, not being asked to find a new place to live in one of the most challenging rental markets in the country.” @jordanphickey.bsky.social on the luxury student dorms decimating affordable housing in college towns @inthesetimes.com

CLF is delighted to announce the new fellows who comprise the 2025 cohort of the Food Systems and Public Health Fellowship for Journalists. The 2025 cohort is the fellowship’s second cohort and is composed of 12 journalists. clf.jhsph.edu/about-us/new...

Lancaster’s Cleo Hearn is a rodeo legend. His four sons have all made their mark on the sport. Even his toddler granddaughters are set to saddle up.

The Legend and Legacy of the Original Cowboy of Color

Lancaster’s Cleo Hearn is a rodeo legend. His four sons have all made their mark on the sport. Even his toddler granddaughters are set to saddle up.

dmagazine.com

Some exciting personal news: Looks like the @longreads.com piece that I wrote about Amanda Arafat and her family was named a #JamesBeard finalist in profile writing this morning. Thrilled and humbled because that's some pretty impressive company to be in — but especially glad that this very 1/3

Fayetteville was once a town that pulled people back in after they’d left to sample other cities. But for many residents, especially the ones that make NWA weird in the best way possible, the gravity of this place isn’t applied equally.

As Northwest Arkansas booms, residents are asking: Does Fayetteville still belong to them? - Arkansas Times

Fayetteville was once a town that pulled people back in after they’d left to sample other cities — once they’d achieved “escape velocity,” as the great Arkansas writer Charles Portis put it. But for m...

arktimes.com

I asked an international human rights lawyer recently what red lines to watch for - he said, “when people start to disappear.” Well…https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/us/ice-tufts-student-detained-rumeysa-ozturk.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts Student, Is Detained by ICE

The university was told that the student’s visa had been terminated, its president said in a late-night email to students and faculty members.

nytimes.com

"Poring over social media isn’t so different than idly wondering what happened to young people in a well-loved yearbook." @jordanphickey.bsky.social for @dmagazine.bsky.social:

Plano Senior High Alum’s Instagram Quest to Find 1,122 Former Classmates - Longreads

"An optometrist and Pokémon master Minh Nguyen has tracked down nearly 200 former classmates. It may have saved his life."

longreads.com

Agriculture has long been a part of Northwest Arkansas’ identity. However, over the past several decades, Walmart’s corporate presence has ushered in a surge of urban development, shifting the region from a farming hub into a major metropolitan area. Via @investigatewest.bsky.social

Can Northwest Arkansas farming survive in Walmart’s backyard? • Arkansas Advocate

Agriculture has long been a part of Northwest Arkansas’ identity. However, over the past several decades, Walmart’s corporate presence has ushered in a surge of urban development, shifting the region…

buff.ly

Been perusing the list of the 569 #vouchers vendors approved by the Arkansas Dept. of Ed. Some that stand out: Upward Fitness & Pickleball in Siloam Springs; Springdale Youth Wrestling; Swim with Karma in Bentonville; Echo Valley Arabians in Gravette. #Arkansas

The Shumater@theshumater.bsky.social · 2y ago

Well, this smells. And it's not the horses' fault ...

Read Jordan P. Hickey’s #VQRTrueStory on an Arkansas town coming to grips with its past, new in our Fall 2024 issue:

Image Problems

“People will see your ad. It will work.” He wasn’t wrong. There are few places better suited to be the poster child for billboard advertising than Harrison, Arkansas, which was dubbed “the most…

buff.ly