Mandrake is a hero -- everyone should know his story. A gift link to a feature about an ordinary guy with a secret identity who saw something that was wrong and inspired the whole country to fix it. slate.com/life/2026/07...

In 1990, a Man Saw Something He Didn’t Like in His Neighborhood. His Response Changed History—but It’s Been All but Forgotten.

“Mandrake the Magician” fought crime—just not the usual kind.

slate.com

I asked Mark Ein, the chairman of the Mubadala DC Open, whether he spoke w/Serena Williams about taking a wild card to DC. Indeed he did. "If she hadn't been hurt, I think there's a high chance she would have come, at least played doubles," he told me.

In DC, I asked Lorenzo Musetti what he thought of Jannik Sinner WD'ing from Montreal after he's won every Masters 1000 in '26. He said Sinner was likely "thinking of the recent memories that he had" from the clay season, which "was maybe a little bit too much of tennis, even for him [chuckle]."

New at Bounces: An interview with Kei Nishikori in which I tried my best to convince him that his career was actually really good and he wasn't always so sure. Read: www.benrothenberg.com/p/kei-nishik...

Kei Nishikori's Exit Interview

A wide-ranging interview with the Japanese superstar in his final year on tour.

benrothenberg.com

Never forget the World Cup of Arm-Folding!! slate.com/culture/2014...

Who Won the World Cup of Arm-Folding?

This year’s World Cup has featured some of the planet's greatest athletes performing seemingly impossible physical tasks. Bicycle kicks. Spectacular...

slate.com

Rodger Sherman@rodger.bsky.social · 3w ago

THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF JOURNALISM FROM THE ENTIRE WORLD CUP

For the August issue of @theatlantic.com I wrote about the past, present, and (thrilling, uncertain, injury-riddled) future of pro tennis www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Can Tennis Survive Its New Golden Age?

The next generation of elite players has arrived. On the court, they are delivering astonishing play. Off the court, they aren’t entirely happy.

theatlantic.com

A bargain at any price but especially at this price!

Ben Rothenberg@benrothenberg.bsky.social · 3mo ago

To echo player complaints about only receiving an alleged ~15% of tournament revenues at Roland Garros, Bounces is giving a 15% discount on annual subscriptions during the 2026 French Open! Our first ever discount--and maybe the last --so check it out! www.benrothenberg.com/rg26discount

This is a review essay featuring three books on trans-inclusion in sport: @katiebarnes.bsky.social's Fair Play, Harrison Browne and @rachelbrowne.ca's Let Us Play, and Ellie Roscher and Anna Baethe's Fair Game. I recommend them all! I recommend reading them all together.

Texas Observer@texasobserver.org · 3mo ago

New from @jessicawluther.com, in our magazine: Because sports have a built-in gender binary at their core, gender-expansive athletes are immediately seen as a threat. But it's also an opportunity to question our assumptions about gender and belonging.

My dad's first book, Making the Second Ghetto, has informed the study of urban America since 1983. Ta-Nehisi Coates formulated his case for reparations after reading it. The new book is called Segregating Cities, and includes two previously unpublished essays. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Segregating Cities

Collects critical essays by the author of Making the Second Ghetto.   Arnold R. Hirsch (1949–2018) was one of the preeminent urban historians of his generation, a reputation cemented by his landmark b...

press.uchicago.edu

My dad wrote a classic. I discovered its unfinished sequel when he was terminally ill. Last week, pieces of it were published in a new book. This essay is about how that happened, and why I spent 15 years working on it. short 🧵 slate.com/life/2026/05...

My Father’s Hidden Life Was in a Box in His Office. By the Time I Found It, It Was Almost Too Late.

The papers held the key to his life’s work—and his legacy.

slate.com

When the Savannah Bananas revived a Negro Leagues team I was v. intrigued. The Indianapolis Clowns are a historic/fraught franchise. I spoke w/players+a Bananas exec+historians to see how they're thinking about Clowns 2.0. Read my feature in @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The Savannah Bananas Bring Back a Negro Leagues Team

The organization is best known for its dance numbers and trick plays. Now it’s reviving one of the most entertaining—and controversial—franchises in baseball history.

theatlantic.com

On this the 40th anniversary of The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, enjoy our deep dive on the One Year podcast into the amazing/bizarre story of what happened when Geraldo looked for buried treasure on live TV slate.com/podcasts/one...

How The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults Became a Legendary American Fiasco

Looking back on Geraldo Rivera’s jaunt through an abandoned Chicago hotel.

slate.com

31 years ago today on 4/19/1995 white supremacist terrorists bombed Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. In the days after the attack, a Muslim-American man named Ibrahim Ahmad was blamed for the attack. This is the story of the man who didn't bomb Oklahoma City slate.com/news-and-pol...

In 1995, a Heinous Crime Led to Another Dark Episode in America. Everyone Has Forgotten What Happened. They Shouldn’t.

The story of a man who didn’t do it.

slate.com

In 1956, Jackie Robinson wrote to a white New Orleans sports writer: "I am happy for you, that you were born white. It would have been extremely difficult for you had it been otherwise.” There's an incredible backstory here, which I was able to dig up with the help of the sports writer's daughter.

The Story Behind Jackie Robinson’s Damning Kiss-Off to a White Sports Writer

That sports writer’s daughter, now 83, reads and responds to it for the first time.

slate.com

This posthumous collection of my dad’s writing includes a previously unpublished piece on how Chicago was segregated. It extends the analysis from his seminal book Making the Second Ghetto. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

For about a year I've been working with some of the best reporters and editors in L.A. to build a brand new city news outlet. It launches tomorrow. Is it possible to operate a sustainable local journalism business in 2026? Let me know! lamaterial.com

Home | L.A. Material

News for Los Angeles.

lamaterial.com

Good morning! I have a new piece about the 1986 Texas women’s basketball team, which 40 years ago became the first women’s bball team to go undefeated and win the championship. How hard it was to do and how great this team was that did it. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

UT’s First (and Only) March Madness Title Didn’t Come Easily

The Longhorn women are chasing a feat first accomplished forty years ago.

texasmonthly.com

Bill Guerin is a complete caveman and this was a reckless, good ol' boys roster-building strategy and also he was right and those of us who doubted him are unfortunately losers slate.com/culture/2026...

The U.S. Had a Crazy Strategy to Beat Canada for Men’s Hockey Gold. I Can’t Believe It Worked.

Canada had the U.S. outgunned, so the Americans went to Milan with a bunch of machetes.

slate.com

Scott Hanson just said on Gold Zone that Hunter Hess (the free skier Trump called a loser) is 6-foot-9, "one of the tallest Olympians." U.S. Ski & Snowboard told me+@mollyolmstead.bsky.social that Hess is actually 6-foot flat. 6-foot-9 is a typo in his Team USA bio!!! slate.com/culture/2026...

Why a Floppy-Haired 27-Year-Old Olympic Skier Is Making Conservatives So Very, Very Angry

“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think,” he said, fatefully.

slate.com

As Rodger notes in his great newsletter, Shiffrin won the slalom by 0.53 seconds in 2014. Her two wins by a combined 2.03 seconds are bigger than the combined margins of the women's slalom winners in 2022, 2018, 2010, 2006, 2002, 1998, 1994, and 1992 sports.beehiiv.com/p/olympics-d...

Olympics Day 13: DOG AT THE OLYMPICS

Yesterday was the best day at the Olympics. Today is gonna be the new best day at the Olympics. But more importantly: DOG!

sports.beehiiv.com

Rodger Sherman@rodger.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Mikaela Shiffrin wins the slalom gold medal by 1.50 seconds If you add up the winning margins of the winners at the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 women's slalom, you get 1.51 seconds

Jesse Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84. The civil rights icon always held America to account—and never stopped fighting to preserve what he knew could be taken away. I wrote about how he saw our future so well.

Jesse Jackson Knew Better Than to Forget

The civil rights icon always held America to account—and never stopped fighting to preserve what he knew could be taken away

theringer.com

RIP to Jesse Jackson, who in this debate w/David Duke in 1977 delivered (until the host cut him off) a message of unity and against "national isolationism" that's important to hear today. He also ended the show w/one of the sickest burns ever directed at Duke: "You're not even a legitimate Klansman"

It’s 10pm. Do you know where Brian Ferentz is coaching now?

College Football's Split Zone Duo@splitzoneduo.com · 6mo ago

Do you know where Brian Ferentz is coaching now?

They're calling it the Reverse Miracle on Ice, where the American Olympic hockey team become ambassadors for a politics that the country isn't even a little bit interested in slate.com/culture/2026...

The Olympic Hockey Tournament Is About to Get Very Trumpy

In the 1980 Olympics, it was the U.S. vs. the USSR. Now, it’s the U.S. vs. Canada.

slate.com

I am loving Ilia Malinin's tribute to Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2

"On the day the WaPo sports section died—was killed, in fact—we ought to resist nostalgia ... First, nostalgia does little to polish the circulating résumés of the Post sportswriters who lost their jobs. Second, nostalgia is liable to make you wistful. What happened today should make you angry."

Bryan Curtis@bryancurtis.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Me on the death of the Washington Post sports section. This isn't a day to be nostalgic. It's a day to be angry. www.theringer.com/2026/02/04/m...

Our Kickstarter is live‼️ A new season of Burn It All Down is coming and we need your help to make it happen. Your support keeps independent, feminist sports media alive! Learn more and support the campaign here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/bur...

It's been really lovely reading all the tributes to Dan. Many people have asked if they can contribute to support his wife and son. You can do so here: everloved.com/life-of/dan-...

Visit Dan McQuade's Memorial Website

Take part in remembering Dan McQuade. Read his obituary, share your own memories, and learn about any funeral details on Ever Loved.

everloved.com

Defector@defector.com · 6mo ago

Dan McQuade, 1983–2026: defector.com/dan-mcquade-...

If I'm running an NFL team, my first question during the interview process is whether this was AI generated. If you're not writing your own LinkedIn Taco Bell sponcon, then can we really trust you with the keys?

Jason Kirk@jasonkirk.fyi · 6mo ago

QB1

@redargyle.bsky.social hey Anthony, can you email me at josh.levin@slate.com? have a question for you about curling. thanks!