Barry Yeoman
@barryyeoman.com
Freelance journalist in North Carolina who writes longform stories about political, social, and environmental issues. Web site: http://barryyeoman.com. Newsletter: http://barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com. Teaching: Duke, Wake Forest.
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Barry Yeoman
@barryyeoman.com
· Jan 21
#intropost Hi Bluesky. I'm a freelance journalist who tries to put human faces on complex issues. I also teach at Duke and Wake Forest. I'll be posting my favorite longform narrative in all media, plus my own work and my students' too. Here's me as a baby journalist in 1990. Photo: Sadie Bridger.
Today is the 50th anniversary of @poynterinstitute.bsky.social, which reshaped my trajectory as a journalist: how I think and write about race, listen to others, question my own assumptions, enter unfamiliar communities. I'm grateful for the opportunities to unlearn, learn, and coach there.
'Poynter Day’ marks Poynter Institute’s 50th anniversary, rallies supporters - Poynter
The nonprofit is seeking to raise $50,000 for its mission to strengthen journalism, truth and democracy.
www.poynter.org
November 11, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Today is the 50th anniversary of @poynterinstitute.bsky.social, which reshaped my trajectory as a journalist: how I think and write about race, listen to others, question my own assumptions, enter unfamiliar communities. I'm grateful for the opportunities to unlearn, learn, and coach there.
When I teach interviewing, the first journalist my students listen to is @annasale.bsky.social, host of Death, Sex & Money. This episode shows why: Sale is simultaneously unflinching and compassionate. Her interviewing is trauma-informed, but she doesn't shy away from taboo topics. @slate.com
Her Boyfriend Was Killed in a Random NYC Attack. Right-Wing Trolls Mocked Her.
“The harassment has never stopped.”
slate.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:22 AM
When I teach interviewing, the first journalist my students listen to is @annasale.bsky.social, host of Death, Sex & Money. This episode shows why: Sale is simultaneously unflinching and compassionate. Her interviewing is trauma-informed, but she doesn't shy away from taboo topics. @slate.com
A delightful read by Josh Levin. Also, fun to learn what my old NYU journalism professor Mitch Stephens was like as a teenager.
An incredible story about the stuff guys used to do to entertain themselves before there was posting on the internet: defector.com/wilbur-huckl...
Wilbur Huckle For President: Solving A 61-Year-Old Mets Mystery | Defector
Earlier this year, on a cold Sunday in January, I walked into an antique store in a Washington D.C. suburb. When I go to a shop like this one, I’m not looking for chairs or lamps. My interests are a l...
defector.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:15 PM
A delightful read by Josh Levin. Also, fun to learn what my old NYU journalism professor Mitch Stephens was like as a teenager.
My former student Andrew Long has written a marvelous story for The Assembly about an atheist YouTuber who "still tears up when he talks about his relationship with God—the 'most intimate thing' he’s ever had—and mourns that he now believes 'it’s all bullshit.'" @theassemblync.bsky.social
The Atheist Who Wants You to Go to Church
Raleigh-based YouTuber Jared Smith has made a name critiquing religion. But he’s not trying to sway people away from faith.
www.theassemblync.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:44 PM
My former student Andrew Long has written a marvelous story for The Assembly about an atheist YouTuber who "still tears up when he talks about his relationship with God—the 'most intimate thing' he’s ever had—and mourns that he now believes 'it’s all bullshit.'" @theassemblync.bsky.social
I've listened to the first three episodes of Tending. It's a wondrous podcast series: a sound-rich and soulful journey through North Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, and (soon) Texas, during which storyteller/host Shirlette Ammons meets the Black farmers who have taken on systemic racism at the USDA.
Tending
www.tendingpodcast.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:40 AM
I've listened to the first three episodes of Tending. It's a wondrous podcast series: a sound-rich and soulful journey through North Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, and (soon) Texas, during which storyteller/host Shirlette Ammons meets the Black farmers who have taken on systemic racism at the USDA.
The powerful new Serial podcast series, The Preventionist, opens at a Pennsylvania county meeting where dozens of families talked about a pediatrician who had wrongly accused them of child abuse. Dyan Neary traced the doctor's career back three decades, uncovering a pattern of similar allegations.
From Serial Productions: The Preventionist
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:16 AM
The powerful new Serial podcast series, The Preventionist, opens at a Pennsylvania county meeting where dozens of families talked about a pediatrician who had wrongly accused them of child abuse. Dyan Neary traced the doctor's career back three decades, uncovering a pattern of similar allegations.
Reposted by Barry Yeoman
New: FEMA records show the agency has spent millions less on hazard mitigation in NC than expected this year thanks to delays.
As FEMA and state officials feud about who is to blame, families are left paying for homes that are too flood-damaged to live in.
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
As FEMA and state officials feud about who is to blame, families are left paying for homes that are too flood-damaged to live in.
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
North Carolina homeowners in limbo as they await FEMA buyouts after Helene
State officials say applications to FEMA for more than $200 million in aid for homeowners have sat unapproved for months.
www.charlotteobserver.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:38 PM
New: FEMA records show the agency has spent millions less on hazard mitigation in NC than expected this year thanks to delays.
As FEMA and state officials feud about who is to blame, families are left paying for homes that are too flood-damaged to live in.
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
As FEMA and state officials feud about who is to blame, families are left paying for homes that are too flood-damaged to live in.
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
Reposted by Barry Yeoman
Crunching numbers on SNAP in NC.
Belts of rural counties in the south & northeast will see anywhere from a quarter to a third of their residents without food assistance. Ten of the state’s 99 counties have 25% or more of its residents enrolled in SNAP. #ncpol
ncnewsline.com/2025/10/29/l...
Belts of rural counties in the south & northeast will see anywhere from a quarter to a third of their residents without food assistance. Ten of the state’s 99 counties have 25% or more of its residents enrolled in SNAP. #ncpol
ncnewsline.com/2025/10/29/l...
Looming SNAP pause will impact rural and urban North Carolinians • NC Newsline
The SNAP food assistance program helps feed a total of 1.4 million North Carolinians. They will all stop receiving benefits this week.
ncnewsline.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Crunching numbers on SNAP in NC.
Belts of rural counties in the south & northeast will see anywhere from a quarter to a third of their residents without food assistance. Ten of the state’s 99 counties have 25% or more of its residents enrolled in SNAP. #ncpol
ncnewsline.com/2025/10/29/l...
Belts of rural counties in the south & northeast will see anywhere from a quarter to a third of their residents without food assistance. Ten of the state’s 99 counties have 25% or more of its residents enrolled in SNAP. #ncpol
ncnewsline.com/2025/10/29/l...
SNAP is in the news right now as it runs out of money.
But hundreds of thousands beneficiaries have been losing their benefits to transnational crime rings for years—because the cards used to deliver food aid are so outdated. By @almsnatalie.bsky.social.
But hundreds of thousands beneficiaries have been losing their benefits to transnational crime rings for years—because the cards used to deliver food aid are so outdated. By @almsnatalie.bsky.social.
Inside the Secret Service hunt for skimmers as outdated SNAP cards let thieves steal millions
The government still uses 1970s-era technology to deliver SNAP, leaving beneficiaries vulnerable to transnational crime rings that have taken hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits in recent year...
www.nextgov.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:02 AM
SNAP is in the news right now as it runs out of money.
But hundreds of thousands beneficiaries have been losing their benefits to transnational crime rings for years—because the cards used to deliver food aid are so outdated. By @almsnatalie.bsky.social.
But hundreds of thousands beneficiaries have been losing their benefits to transnational crime rings for years—because the cards used to deliver food aid are so outdated. By @almsnatalie.bsky.social.
Reposted by Barry Yeoman
Guzy set out to photograph a parade.
"Then I’m like, well maybe I should check it (immigration court) out for a day or two — and here I am, almost five months later."
"I’m 100% sure that things are done differently because eyes are on the scene."
Photojournalism can impact both sides of the lens.
"Then I’m like, well maybe I should check it (immigration court) out for a day or two — and here I am, almost five months later."
"I’m 100% sure that things are done differently because eyes are on the scene."
Photojournalism can impact both sides of the lens.
ICE in courts: How two photojournalists are dealing with the trauma of documenting immigrant detentions at Federal Plaza | amNewYork
Almost every day for five months, photojournalists David Dee Delgado and Carol Guzy have entered 26 Federal Plaza with cameras in hand.
www.amny.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Guzy set out to photograph a parade.
"Then I’m like, well maybe I should check it (immigration court) out for a day or two — and here I am, almost five months later."
"I’m 100% sure that things are done differently because eyes are on the scene."
Photojournalism can impact both sides of the lens.
"Then I’m like, well maybe I should check it (immigration court) out for a day or two — and here I am, almost five months later."
"I’m 100% sure that things are done differently because eyes are on the scene."
Photojournalism can impact both sides of the lens.
While reporting on NC Chief Justice Paul Newby, who helped engineer the Republican takeover of Congress, @dougbockclark.bsky.social heard from the NCGOP: “I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration... I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” @propublica.org #ncpol
“Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All”: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America
Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well be...
www.propublica.org
October 30, 2025 at 1:44 PM
While reporting on NC Chief Justice Paul Newby, who helped engineer the Republican takeover of Congress, @dougbockclark.bsky.social heard from the NCGOP: “I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration... I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” @propublica.org #ncpol
After Trump said he'd meet Putin in Budapest, @huffpost.com's @svdate.bsky.social asked who recommended the Hungarian capital. “Your mom did,” texted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an exchange she posted online. “Your mom,” communications director Steven Cheung texted moments later.
When This Reporter Comes Calling, the White House Insults Go Flying
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:59 PM
After Trump said he'd meet Putin in Budapest, @huffpost.com's @svdate.bsky.social asked who recommended the Hungarian capital. “Your mom did,” texted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in an exchange she posted online. “Your mom,” communications director Steven Cheung texted moments later.
Tomorrow in #Durham NC: Duke's journalism program will screen a short documentary called "Second Trauma," about how journalists cover victims of gun violence. I'll lead a Q&A with producer Oronde McClain and director Yvonne Latty. 5:30 pm, Sanford School, Room 04. RSVP at the link below. #durhamnc
'The Second Trauma': Centering Victims' Stories in Crime Reporting - DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy
We are pleased to host gun violence survior Oronde McClain (Director of the Survivor Connection program at the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Prevention) and…
dewitt.sanford.duke.edu
October 28, 2025 at 6:43 PM
In my latest Unabridged newsletter, I wrote about hope, and about the people we met in Louisiana this summer who offered me a way out of despair. (Photos: John Noltner.)
Bayous of hope
It's not the same as optimism. But nine days in Louisiana showed me how good people find the encouragement to press on.
barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:44 PM
In my latest Unabridged newsletter, I wrote about hope, and about the people we met in Louisiana this summer who offered me a way out of despair. (Photos: John Noltner.)
The new N.C. congressional map turns the battleground 1st District red. It passed the Senate on Monday evening on a party-line vote—after Republicans cleared the gallery amid chants of “Cheaters!”—and will likely be approved by the House by Wednesday morning. www.theassemblync.com/politics/dem...
Democrats’ Deep Hole
What would it take for North Carolina Democrats to overcome the latest GOP congressional gerrymander? A political earthquake.
www.theassemblync.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
My friend @dgraham.bsky.social has written a smart column for @theatlantic.com about why the No Kings protests matter. It includes a delicious description of the protest here in #Durham NC.
Why the ‘No Kings’ Protests Matter
Huge demonstrations won’t translate into immediate political results, but there’s a reason the president is so bothered by them.
www.theatlantic.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:09 AM
My friend @dgraham.bsky.social has written a smart column for @theatlantic.com about why the No Kings protests matter. It includes a delicious description of the protest here in #Durham NC.
"At that moment, I better understood the outsize reactions to Mamdani’s rise. It’s that he may have the temperament — and the public support — to effect meaningful change to policy and legislation. Stardom is not what’s inherently threatening. Combining it with competence is." By Astead W. Herndon.
Inside the Improbable, Audacious and (So Far) Unstoppable Rise of Zohran Mamdani
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:46 AM
"At that moment, I better understood the outsize reactions to Mamdani’s rise. It’s that he may have the temperament — and the public support — to effect meaningful change to policy and legislation. Stardom is not what’s inherently threatening. Combining it with competence is." By Astead W. Herndon.
After Indiana University ordered student newspaper @idsnews.bsky.social to stop publishing, students and staff from rival Purdue's student paper, The Exponent, traveled two hours to deliver a paper to newsstands. The headline: 'WE STUDENT JOURNALISTS MUST STAND TOGETHER.'" By Brian Rosenzweig.
Purdue student journalists deliver special 'solidarity' newspaper to IU Bloomington campus
The special edition blasted across town features columns from IDS and Exponent editors, alongside QR codes to support both student papers.
www.yahoo.com
October 19, 2025 at 9:12 PM
After Indiana University ordered student newspaper @idsnews.bsky.social to stop publishing, students and staff from rival Purdue's student paper, The Exponent, traveled two hours to deliver a paper to newsstands. The headline: 'WE STUDENT JOURNALISTS MUST STAND TOGETHER.'" By Brian Rosenzweig.
I love this gorgeous two-minute animation that asks a counterintuitive question: How many people does it take to #stutter? Brought to you by #Stuttering Commons and SPACE.
How Many People Does It Take To Stutter?
YouTube video by Stuttering Commons
www.youtube.com
October 19, 2025 at 9:06 PM
I love this gorgeous two-minute animation that asks a counterintuitive question: How many people does it take to #stutter? Brought to you by #Stuttering Commons and SPACE.
Reposted by Barry Yeoman
Love this story in Editor and Publisher on innovative website Adopt a Station, showing how much public media TV and radio stations relied on federal funding. No surprise, many of those most dependent serve rural, indigenous and Black communities. READ: https://loom.ly/oY2Jmt0
After Congress yanks $1.1B from CPB, a one-page site starts saving stations - Editor and Publisher
When lawmakers rescinded $1.1 billion in public media funding, hundreds of local NPR/PBS outlets — especially rural and Indigenous stations — were pushed to the brink. Enter Adopt-A-Station, a simple dashboard that spotlights the most at-risk outlets and turns clicks into gifts; in its first month, it drew 40,000 visitors and funneled donors directly to stations like KTNA in Alaska — proof that a lean tool can move real money, fast.
www.editorandpublisher.com
October 19, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Love this story in Editor and Publisher on innovative website Adopt a Station, showing how much public media TV and radio stations relied on federal funding. No surprise, many of those most dependent serve rural, indigenous and Black communities. READ: https://loom.ly/oY2Jmt0
North Carolina's Republican-majority legislature, following President Trump's lead, plans to redraw the congressional map to give the GOP more representation. This is the only state in which the governor, a Democrat, can't veto political maps. @ncrabbithole.com reveals the unlikely culprit. #ncpol
Why Can't North Carolina's Governor Veto A Redistricting Bill?
GOP state lawmakers are coming back to Raleigh next week to try and make North Carolina's congressional delegation even MORE Republican. The governor can veto lots of bills. Why not this one?
www.ncrabbithole.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:08 PM
North Carolina's Republican-majority legislature, following President Trump's lead, plans to redraw the congressional map to give the GOP more representation. This is the only state in which the governor, a Democrat, can't veto political maps. @ncrabbithole.com reveals the unlikely culprit. #ncpol
Christophe Gleizes was a respected French soccer journalist on assignment in Algeria, investigating a soccer star's death. He was caught up in a political crackdown and sentenced to seven years on charges of “advocating terrorism.” By Kevin Sieff for the @washingtonpost.com.
He investigated a soccer star’s death and ended up charged with terrorism
Christophe Gleizes was a highly respected French soccer journalist on assignment in Algeria. He was caught up in a sweeping political crackdown.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Christophe Gleizes was a respected French soccer journalist on assignment in Algeria, investigating a soccer star's death. He was caught up in a political crackdown and sentenced to seven years on charges of “advocating terrorism.” By Kevin Sieff for the @washingtonpost.com.
Reposted by Barry Yeoman
Reposted by Barry Yeoman
EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.
Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
www.politico.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.
Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
North Carolina said Monday that it will work on a new congressional map that could yield another GOP-leaning district in the state.
It's the latest state to heed President Trump’s call to redraw congressional maps five years earlier than usual.
It's the latest state to heed President Trump’s call to redraw congressional maps five years earlier than usual.
North Carolina Republicans heed Trump’s call to redraw congressional map
State becomes latest to join a national redistricting battle sparked by the president’s urging to shore up the historically small GOP House majority ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:16 AM