Mississippi Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom, a Black man, has flipped Forrest County—a county with a history of both racial terror and civil rights organizing that is named for Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Scott Colom Flips County Named for Ku Klux Klan Founder Nathan Bedford Forrest

Mississippi Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom has flipped Forrest County, named for Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest.

mississippifreepress.org

The biggest under the radar story of midterms: Dems now have the votes to finally end Electoral College & enact National Popular Vote Interstate Compact thanks to new trifectas in PA, MI, WI, AZ, NV & maybe AK @pemalevy.bsky.social & I break down this huge news www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

America finally has the votes to end the Electoral College

After more than 200 years, the midterm results could change how we pick presidents.

motherjones.com

This was Blanche Kelso Bruce, who served as a U.S. senator for Mississippi from 1875 to 1881. www.nypl.org/events/exhib...

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 2d ago

it's been so long since mississippi has had a black senator that the last one was born enslaved

okay so while we're all up and chatting: DC statehood DC statehood DC statehood DC statehood DC statehood DC statehood DC statehood

If anyone at NYT wants to talk to me about this anonymously, you can reach me via Signal at marisakabas.04 or email marisa@thehandbasket.co

Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 3d ago

Honestly in shock. @nytimes.com terminated the contract of romance fiction columnist Olivia Waite because she reposted on Bluesky criticism I and @markjacob.bsky.social had of the paper’s lack of coverage of the new rape allegations against Donald Trump. Details and a statement from Olivia here:

BREAKING: The New York Times has terminated their contract with romance columnist Olivia Waite after she reposted @markjacob.bsky.social 's repost of @marisakabas.bsky.social criticism of the Times’ coverage of new rape allegations about Trump. That is a sentence I didn’t think I’d type today.

The New York Times Terminates Contract with Romance Columnist Olivia Waite After Bluesky Repost - Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

bit.ly

What does Baba Yaga, the witch of Slavic folklore, have to do with the new TV show Yaga? After three episodes I'm still not sure, but I wrote about Baba Yaga's history: www.history.com/articles/bab...

Who Is Baba Yaga, the Mysterious Witch of Slavic Folklore? | HISTORY

For centuries, tales of the fearsome old woman who lives in a hut on chicken legs have blurred the line between villa...

history.com

One chatbot "summary" of an article "substituted the name of a murder suspect with the reporter covering the case."

The NewsGuild-CWA@newsguild.org · last wk.

🔗 Sign the petition demanding that USA TODAY Co. pauses the use of the DeeperDive tool: actionnetwork.org/petitions/ou...

NEW: "It’s been hell." "I’m dead inside." "I honestly don’t know if I will ever find work in the U.S. again, let alone D.C." "It’s akin to screaming into a void." What is going on with D.C.'s job market? Contributor Abi Newhouse investigated:

Why job-hunting in DC is uniquely soul-crushing right now

DOGE cuts, hiring managers who ghost, and the "screening questionnaire" that takes a full day to complete.

51st.news

This week, Emma and Soleil converse about YCSE: "One thing I keep thinking about is the failures of tech journalism here. The chance to tell a story about a young, attractive, blonde woman who’s also the next Steve Jobs must have been overpowering." www.coyotemedia.org/you-can-see-...

‘Horror Movie Love Eggs’: COYOTE Watches ‘You Can See Everything’

(It all depends on how you define the word "can.")

coyotemedia.org

this whole thing smacks of gender www.theverge.com/policy/10146...

Don’t forget for a second that Elizabeth Holmes is a liar

What three hours of a documentary looks like to someone who spent four months at the Holmes trial.

theverge.com

Wallace Shawn Emerges As Frontrunner To Replace Daniel Craig As James Bond

JUST IN: The police shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley as he sat in his mother’s lap in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Miss., in June “was justified,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office said on Monday. Her office will not charge the white officer who shot the child.

Kohen Wiley Shooting ‘Was Justified,’ Mississippi AG Says

The police shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley as he sat in his mother’s lap in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Miss., in June “was justified,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s…

mississippifreepress.org

A 56-year-old Mexican man held at a federal immigration facility in Laredo was found dead in his cell Saturday morning. His family says the center would not give him medicine for diabetes, high blood pressure and a heart condition. He is the 7th person to die in ICE custody in Texas this year.

Migrant found dead at Laredo Processing Center run by ICE

The death was confirmed by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who said the 56-year-old Mexican national was found unresponsive in his cell. He’s the seventh person to die while detained by ICE this year.

texastribune.org

We already have flying cars. They're called helicopters. They're really expensive and there are good reasons you have to have a pilot license and work with air traffic control to fly them. Putting jets on a sedan is not going to result in a better vehicle or transportation experience in any way.

There’s nothing like holding a paper in your hands. That’s why we're so excited to partner with The Pack World to see The 51st’s reporting IRL 🗞️ See where you can grab a copy tomorrow am: 51st.news/the-51st-in-...

The 51st in print!

Why we partnered with a collective of D.C. natives to produce a print edition and where you can get a copy

51st.news

In contrast, the National Writers Union put out a statement yesterday condemning the ongoing, large-scale book destruction by Anthropic and Amazon: nwu.org/project-pana... @nwu.org

NWU Condemns Ongoing, Large-Scale Book Destruction By AI Companies | NWU

The National Writers Union (NWU), the labor union of freelance writers and creative workers in all formats, genres, and media, condemns ongoing efforts by artificial intelligence companies to scan and...

nwu.org

off the fucking rails. a rogue government.

Federal agents search Rep. Ilhan Omar's home as part of a criminal investigation, AP sources say

Federal agents have searched Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home as part of a criminal investigation. That's according to people familiar with the matter.

apnews.com

In the last quarter of a century, rent has increased roughly 141%. Any guesses how much freelance writer rates have risen in that same time frame?

The Objective@objectivejournos.bsky.social · last mo.

How much do you think freelance journalists make per word? The latest analysis of the @fspnwu.bsky.social's Rate Sharing Database found steep discrepancies. objectivejournalism.org/2026/09/free...

ChatGPT is adding the signatures of real New Yorker cartoonists to its AI-generated images. So far, I've found the signatures of more than 15 contributors. "It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...

All prisoners should have the right to vote while in prison

Taniel@taniel.bsky.social · last mo.

Arguably the biggest democracy referendum next month: Virginia is one of only three states where the state constitution says people should lose their right to vote FOR THEIR ENTIRE LIFE if they are convicted of any felony. This measure would allow anyone to vote after prison.

This is the first lawsuit filed on the death of a woman from an abortion ban. It argues that the Texas abortion ban violates constitutional rights. 🧵 19thnews.org/2026/09/texa...

Tierra Walker died after she couldn’t get an abortion. Her family is suing Ken Paxton.

The case argues that Texas’ near-total abortion ban violates the state and U.S. constitutions. It is the first lawsuit over a death linked to an abortion ban.

19thnews.org

We were on scene here the day ICE shot Silverio; we saw how DHS blamed him for his own death and how too many media outlets parroted their statement. Only 8 months later did the IL State Police open an investigation into his shooting, and we still don't know the name of the agent who shot him.

Happening now in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park: Community members have gathered to commemorate the 1-year anniversary of the death of local resident Silverio Villegas González, whom an as-yet unidentified ICE agent shot and killed on this block at the start of "Operation Midway Blitz."

Sharing from Internet Archive: “Much of BET’s digital journalism is no longer available on the web Internet Archive has preserved more than 199,000 BET articles over the years. They can now be accessed through the Wayback Machine & a new pilot explorer: wayback-labs.sf.archive.org/bet-explorer/

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 2mo ago

BET Digital has permanently removed all its digital news articles from its website to 'prioritize video content,' I'm told. Years of news articles are now gone forever. Some writers were able to save their stories; some weren't

@nwu.org has advice about this in our Anthropic settlement explainer by @edwardhasbrouck.bsky.social: nwu.org/anthropic/

Courtney Milan@courtneymilan.com · 2mo ago

Hi! Anthropic Q&A re:rights reversion and publisher claims. This is not legal advice; I can't give you legal advice. What I can do is tell you what I would do under certain circumstances.

Paw Paw, West Virginia mentioned @beth-ron1987.bsky.social!

The 51st@51st.news · 2mo ago

The delicious pawpaw fruit is abundant throughout the D.C. region in September. Here's how to get *your* paws on "nature’s best kept secret" from @ecwilliams.bsky.social:

NEW: "If the D.C. Council is serious about public safety, 2028 shouldn't just be when this curfew expires – it should be the deadline the city sets for building what actually keeps kids safe." More on our latest opinion piece:

D.C.'s Black teens deserve better than a curfew

Policing in Navy Yard is already out of control, and criminalization is likely to only make things worse.

51st.news

From a 3D printer to a recording studio, a DC Public Library card gives you access to so much more than books. Our new guide from @msbeckylittle.bsky.social lays out the highlights:

What's more punk than ... a sewing machine?

From a 3D printer to a recording studio, your DC Public Library card gives you access to so much more than books.

51st.news