In this week's #LongreadsTop5 ⬇️
• The American Dream, dashed (@washingtonpost.com)
• Remembering D’Angelo (@the-ringer.bsky.social)
• DIY DNA (@noemamag.com)
• What media bias really looks like (@motherjones.com)
• Mummy dearest (Edify)

longreads.com/2025/10/17/l...

"At a time when the courts are denying a record number of asylum claims, a judge will soon decide whether he should be deported. If he is returned, he expects the Taliban to be waiting for him."

@johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social for @washingtonpost.com: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

My latest, on a man who supported the war in Afghanistan, came to the U.S. legally, applied for asylum, had two kids, became a bookkeeper, bought an American flag bumper sticker.

Then ICE arrested him. If he's deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.
wapo.st/49aGaw2

Unbelievable story of Afghan refugee, a highly vetted fluent English speaker who helped the US against the Taliban and now lives here with his US citizen kids, declared “illegal” and perhaps about to be shipped home by the Trump admin to his likely death

New on the backlash to Jim Acosta's "interview" of a dead Parkland teen's AI avatar, with its clunky phrases ("so much fun to the series") and "ghoulish" display.

"Can't possibly represent what that child wants to say in any reasonable way"

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... @willoremus.com

Last month, we profiled JJ Ficken, a Colorado farmer whose life was upended by Trump's policies. Four days later, the USDA called: The grant money he feared would never come was on its way. Checks for dozens of other desperate farmers should soon follow:
wapo.st/3ISIUDu

1. “Abandoned by Trump, a Farmer and a Migrant Search for a Better Future” @johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social, Sarah Blaskey, Matt McClain

"To survive the administration’s cuts and cruelty, a Trump voter and an immigrant needed each other."

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

This heartbreaking story by @JohnWoodrowCox.bsky.social is gorgeously, empathetically written. The details could only have come from extraordinary reporting. This piece will be taught in journalism schools. wapo.st/44pck4q

My latest, from Camp Mystic: The story of one teenage counselor's extraordinary courage amid so much loss.

Deeply grateful to Ainslie Bashara for sharing.
wapo.st/44pck4q

. @johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social consistently writes humanizing narrative, but this article is next-level good. It's about a farmer who was promised a federal grant to hire a Guatemalan worker—only to have the Trump administration freeze the funds as "DEI." With Sarah Blakely; photos by Matt McClain.

On today's front page, the story of a farmer, a migrant and what it means to make a commitment.

Part of our examination into how President Trump’s policies are reshaping the lives of Americans, with reporting from Sarah Blaskey and photos from Matt McClain.
wapo.st/4liDorF

After threats against schools exploded last year, police arrested hundreds of students.

This is the story of what happened in one Florida county where the sheriff perp walked, and publicly shamed, children as young as 11.

w/ @hannahnatanson.bsky.social:
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...