Lise Olsen
@liseolsen.bsky.social
Investigations editor @TexasObserver.org Author THE SCIENTIST & THE SERIAL KILLER @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social & CODE OF SILENCE—the inside story of the first federal judge to be impeached for sex crimes @BeaconPress.bsky.social www.liseolsen.com
School voucher billionaire Jeff Yass “is the top beneficiary of a state tax loophole that allows the wealthy to write off billions in donations to private and religious schools.” By @freddy-brewster.bsky.social www.levernews.com/how-a-tax-lo...
How A Tax Loophole Drained Schools And Enriched A Trump Megadonor
Billionaire GOP donor Jeffrey Yass scored millions in private-school tax credits while he bankrolled the lawmakers who expanded them.
levernews.com
Kids as young as 10 are being arrested and cited in school for common misbehavior. The state can raise the age of criminal responsibility to address this. www.texasobserver.org/texas-school...
In Texas Schools, a Crisis of Arrests of Kids as Young as 10
A groundbreaking data analysis shows how districts across the state are arresting and citing children for common misbehavior, leaving lasting trauma as the Legislature rejects bills to raise the age o...
texasobserver.org
We partnered with The Unforgotten to do a podcast! If you're interested in potential wrongful convictions, hypnosis, or the death penalty—or if you just want to go on a wild ride during your commute—check out ‘Riding Shotgun’ wherever you listen to podcasts. www.texasobserver.org/riding-shotg...
'Riding Shotgun': New Observer True Crime Podcast Explores Death Row Case of Charles Flores
With Free Range Productions, Michelle Pitcher digs deep into a conviction involving a dubious hypnosis technique.
texasobserver.org
Must-read review by @michellepitcher.bsky.social on the #newbook by @pamelacolloff.bsky.social
Texas Observer@texasobserver.org · 3w agoIn books, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Paul Skalnik was a bigamist and a con artist who passed bad checks and role-played as a successful businessman, and yet a man's life hung in the balance based on his doubtful testimony in a death penalty trial.
New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Lawyers used rap lyrics to encourage an all-white jury to sentence James Broadnax to death. He's still facing death this month even though another man confessed to the crime.rap/
A Looming Execution Raises Questions of Race, Responsibility, and Rap
James Broadnax is set to be executed April 30. But someone else has admitted to the crime.
texasobserver.org
ICYMI: I reported and hosted Season 5 of The Unforgotten: Riding Shotgun. We dove into the curious death penalty case against Charles Flores, who was convicted after a key witness was hypnotized by police. Check it out anywhere you get your podcasts. (Apple chose us as a featured show this week!)
I've watched for over a year while @josephinelee.bsky.social has toiled over this story. It's a feat of reporting and an incredible read: In Texas Schools, a Crisis of Arrests of Kids as Young as 10 www.texasobserver.org/texas-school... - via @TexasObserver
In Texas Schools, a Crisis of Arrests of Kids as Young as 10
A groundbreaking data analysis shows how districts across the state are arresting and citing children for common misbehavior, leaving lasting trauma as the Legislature rejects bills to raise the age o...
texasobserver.org
In books, from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Paul Skalnik was a bigamist and a con artist who passed bad checks and role-played as a successful businessman, and yet a man's life hung in the balance based on his doubtful testimony in a death penalty trial.
Review: A Jailhouse Snitch and the System that Made Him
Pamela Colloff’s debut book is a propulsive study of a fatally flawed tactic beloved by prosecutors in Texas and beyond.
texasobserver.org
Pig butchering, scammer universities and the systematic bilking of the lovelorn. @amandaeyreward.bsky.social explored all that while researching her #newbook Arrivals and Departures www.texasobserver.org/austin-novel... @texasobserver.org #ATX twisted #romance #newnovels
Inside the Dark World of Romance Scammers
An Austin author’s new novel delves deep into the scammer networks that exploit the vulnerable and the lovelorn.
texasobserver.org
In books, from @liseolsen.bsky.social: "I didn’t know there were lawyers [and investigators and accountants] whose entire job is dismantling scams and finding scammers in Texas. They are fascinating people. And this is what they do every day."
Inside the Dark World of Romance Scammers
An Austin author’s new novel delves deep into the scammer networks that exploit the vulnerable and the lovelorn.
texasobserver.org
New: A new novel from Amanda Eyre Ward brings the dark world of "pig butchering" romance scams into the light. The Observer's @liseolsen.bsky.social interviewed the Austin author about how she went inside the world of fraud and those who fight it ...
Inside the Dark World of Romance Scammers
An Austin author’s new novel delves deep into the scammer networks that exploit the vulnerable and the lovelorn.
texasobserver.org
Great conversation with The Logical podcaster and author Josh Tolley about #investigativejournalism & #truecrime youtu.be/YnKwDdlzwVA - we hung out in his Conroe #Texas studio. Check it out👇🏻
Investigative Journalism: Uncovering the Truth
YouTube video by JoshTolley
youtu.be
New from @josephinelee.bsky.social, in our magazine: Districts across the state are arresting and citing young children children for common misbehavior, leaving lasting trauma as the Legislature rejects bills to raise the age of criminal responsibility and floods schools with even more police.
In Texas Schools, a Crisis of Arrests of Kids as Young as 10
A groundbreaking data analysis shows how districts across the state are arresting and citing children for common misbehavior, leaving lasting trauma as the Legislature rejects bills to raise the age…
texasobserver.org
From @liseolsen.bsky.social in our magazine: The departing creatures create their own wind, their wings beating out a collective nocturnal staccato.Their speed is astonishing. These are the world’s fastest bats, able to fly up to 100 miles per hour.
Postcard: The Bats of Bracken
As many as 20 million of the winged mammals gather at one Texas Hill Country cave, creating one of nature’s most jaw-dropping displays.
texasobserver.org
And if you aren't able to visit the cave, Bat Conservation International has a 24/7 YouTube livestream you can watch. Not as awesome as being there, but still quite a sight to see when millions of bats emerge in the evening.
Bats Flying From Bracken Cave Live
YouTube video by Bat Conservation International
youtube.com
Follow some of the hard-working journalists at Texas’ oldest totally independent nonprofit news organizations. And become a member to get our magazine six times a year. texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/join/
Mr French Fries@mrfrenchfries.bsky.social · last mo.Cool that we have a step in the right direction, though. go.bsky.app/EdSL3Co
“Boom, they’re out! You get that vortex when they surge out of the cave, and then when they reach the tree line, you get that river of bats in the sky.” New from our magazine, visit Bracken Cave Preserve, the densest concentration of mammals in one enclosed place, with @liseolsen.bsky.social:
Postcard: The Bats of Bracken
As many as 20 million of the winged mammals gather at one Texas Hill Country cave, creating one of nature’s most jaw-dropping displays.
texasobserver.org
“The water development board wouldn’t even mention it.” Last week: The Corpus Christi water crisis is a sign of Texas' planners persistent refusal to grapple with the reality of climate change.
Texas’ Refusal to Plan for Climate Change Created a Crisis in Corpus Christi
Stubbornly unrealistic assessments of the region’s reservoir system turned this year’s drought conditions into an emergency.
texasobserver.org
Follow some of the hard-working journalists at Texas’ oldest totally independent nonprofit news organizations. And become a member to get our magazine six times a year. texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/join/
Mr French Fries@mrfrenchfries.bsky.social · last mo.Cool that we have a step in the right direction, though. go.bsky.app/EdSL3Co
The database of federal global warming research recreates a website that was closed amid the administration’s broad retreat from climate science. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/climate/noaa-climate-science-data-website.html
Former NOAA Employees Revive Climate.gov Web Site
The database of federal global warming research recreates a website that was closed amid the administration’s broad retreat from climate science.
nytimes.com
Cool that we have a step in the right direction, though. go.bsky.app/EdSL3Co
In books, from @liseolsen.bsky.social: Lauren Hough, and her dog, set out to retrace John Steinbeck's 10,000 mile journey across America. But the trip is very different when you're a queer woman in 2026.
A Queer Texan Retraces Steinbeck’s 10,000-mile trip
Austin author and essayist Lauren Hough serves up a monster of a tale about traveling with a dog named Woody Guthrie on a road trip across America.
texasobserver.org
From @liseolsen.bsky.social: 60 years after John Steinbeck's 10,000 mile journey across America, Austin writer Lauren Hough set out in a 2001 Dodge Ram van with her dog, a mutt named Woody, to discover whether they can survive a similar trip in a much-altered America.
A Queer Texan Retraces Steinbeck’s 10,000-mile trip
Austin author and essayist Lauren Hough serves up a monster of a tale about traveling with a dog named Woody Guthrie on a road trip across America.
texasobserver.org
Austin-area hospitals denied miscarriage care despite clarification to Texas’ abortion ban, federal complaint alleges www.texastribune.org/2026/06/22/t...
Austin area hospitals denied miscarriage care, complaint alleges
Lynn Callaway says she was sent home from two hospitals, despite an infection, due to healthcare providers’ fear of the state’s abortion ban.
texastribune.org
occasional reminder that my [award-winning] second book is in paperback and it's cheap as hell. bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York
Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York
bookshop.org
One of many fun surprises in this book about @laurenhough.bsky.social ‘s #roadtrip with her #dog -Woody Guthrie- was her stop in LA to see my intrepid journalist friend @keribla.bsky.social . A great #summerread
Bluesky
friendkeribla.bsky.social
Texas Observer@texasobserver.org · last mo.New from @liseolsen.bsky.social: An Austin essayist, and her dog, took a 10,000 mile journey across America in the footsteps of John Steinbeck. In her new book, Lauren Hough explores the landscape of a transformed and transforming country ...
New from @liseolsen.bsky.social: An Austin essayist, and her dog, took a 10,000 mile journey across America in the footsteps of John Steinbeck. In her new book, Lauren Hough explores the landscape of a transformed and transforming country ...
A Queer Texan Retraces Steinbeck’s 10,000-mile trip
Austin author and essayist Lauren Hough serves up a monster of a tale about traveling with a dog named Woody Guthrie on a road trip across America.
texasobserver.org
From @liseolsen.bsky.social in our magazine: Texas Rangers were asked to assist a border city in three murder cases -- including that of a local attorney. The results? A botched trial; a controversial plea and lots of missing evidence.
The Troubling Disappearance of ‘El Gallito’
A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?
texasobserver.org
New, from @liseolsen.bsky.social in our magazine: “I wish somebody would really investigate. Because I want to know who took my brother’s life. Who had the nerve to take him.”
The Troubling Disappearance of ‘El Gallito’
A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. Will anyone ever be held responsible?
texasobserver.org
