Michael Graff
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michaelngraff.bsky.social
Michael Graff
@michaelngraff.bsky.social
420 followers 45 following 15 posts
Southern bureau chief, Axios. Co-author, THE VOTE COLLECTORS. North Carolina’s where I am. Maryland’s where I’m from. Probably thinking about crab cakes.
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michaelngraff.bsky.social
New one tonight charlotteoptimist.com/cmpd-chief-j...
Johnny Jennings' legacy: CMPD chief announces retirement and reflects on 33 years — including this tumultuous final lap - The Charlotte Optimist
CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings will retire on Jan. 1, 2026 with a $305,000 severance package that's broken up in several pieces.
charlotteoptimist.com
May 26, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Michael Graff
naninephoto.bsky.social
On building up a city, a family legacy and a storied golf tournament. We are here today, and drinking in all CLT has to offer! @michaelngraff.bsky.social #thecharlotteoptimist #thequeencity #PGA #QuailHollow

charlotteoptimist.com/pga-champion...
PGA Championship 2025: Adding to Quail Hollow's 'woodpile' - The Charlotte Optimist
Johnny and Johno Harris reflect on Charlotte, golf, Rory McIlroy — and the future
charlotteoptimist.com
May 18, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
ncrabbithole.com
lol'd at this @michaelngraff.bsky.social lede about one of Charlotte's most powerful men charlotteoptimist.com/pga-champion...
It’s true what they say about Johnny Harris, at least the part about how you can hear him coming long before he arrives. He’s still a freight train, although maybe a little more polished and patient now in his late 70s than he was in his 30s. On Good Friday morning last month, five days after he was in Augusta to witness an electric Masters finish, and three weeks before the PGA Championship at his home Quail Hollow Club, his voice rumbled down the hallway like a Harley. And when he walked into the library to greet me, I thought the lights might flicker. He asked me where I wanted him and his son, Johno, to sit. I asked where might be most comfortable for him. “I don’t care,” he chuckled in a classic drawl that smashes I don’t into Ion. “I’ll sit wherever you tell me to.” I suggested the couch. “Well, two of us on the couch doesn’t look very good,” he said. He pointed to the card table on the other side of the room, and so that’s where “wherever you tell me to” would be.
May 12, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
ncrabbithole.com
Always read @michaelngraff.bsky.social (which will be much easier to do if you sign up for The Charlotte Optimist). Fantastic debut piece: charlotteoptimist.com/charlotte-wo...
Charlotte's not an awkward teen anymore - The Charlotte Optimist
A street-level look at life in Charlotte in 2025.
charlotteoptimist.com
May 6, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by Michael Graff
naninephoto.bsky.social
Just read inaugural essay by @michaelngraff.bsky.social - charlotteoptimist.com/charlotte-wo...
It’s a wonderful piece of writing. Subscribe and you, too, can read the Charlotte Optimist, a weekly Sunday column - helping to keep ties alive to my beloved former city 💕👑🌷
Charlotte's not an awkward teen anymore - The Charlotte Optimist
A street-level look at life in Charlotte in 2025.
charlotteoptimist.com
May 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
michaelkruse.bsky.social
"I hope it lasts a long time," says @michaelngraff.bsky.social.
Journalist Michael Graff brings gratitude to your inbox with new publication
The Charlotte Optimist's first story will be published on May 4.
www.axios.com
April 30, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
allybfraz.bsky.social
It’s about time some of the real journalists in #CLT took their city back. Hell yes, @michaelngraff.bsky.social this is something I am genuinely excited to see!
April 24, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
tommytomlinson.bsky.social
My bud @michaelngraff.bsky.social launched The Charlotte Optimist today ... it's for Charlotte, but the way Mike writes, it'll be for everyone. Sign up now.

charlotteoptimist.com/why-im-launc...
Why I’m launching The Charlotte Optimist - The Charlotte Optimist
Hello. Maybe you’re here because you’ve followed my work over the years, or maybe you’re hungry for new ideas for local media, or maybe you arrived by mistake and you’re already trying to close the wi...
charlotteoptimist.com
April 24, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
michaelkruse.bsky.social
This from @michaelngraff.bsky.social will be worth it.
Why I’m launching The Charlotte Optimist - The Charlotte Optimist
Hello. Maybe you’re here because you’ve followed my work over the years, or maybe you’re hungry for new ideas for local media, or maybe you arrived by mistake and you’re already trying to close the wi...
charlotteoptimist.com
April 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
chriscooperwcu.bsky.social
Excited about this one. But I’d also be excited to subscribe to a @michaelngraff.bsky.social project about most anything.

A Graff substack comparing the consistency of oatmeal brands? Sign me up. A new Graff project about the hidden joy of formica? I’ll be an inaugural subscriber.
April 24, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
niemanstoryboard.org
Our Friday newsletter: How do you define journalism?

Plus: Mary Schmich revisits Studs Terkel's "Division Street," Livingston Award finalists, @michaelngraff.bsky.social's stories about Charlotte, and @nazriahi.bsky.social's ode to rejection.

niemanstoryboard.org/2025/04/25/w...

#storytelling
What is journalism, and why does it matter? - Nieman Storyboard
Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Schmich's new podcast, plus Livingston Awards and local storytelling in Charlotte, North Carolina
niemanstoryboard.org
April 25, 2025 at 3:22 PM
michaelngraff.bsky.social
Hats off to Easter, the only holiday that doesn’t end with fireworks in our neighborhood.
April 21, 2025 at 1:18 AM
michaelngraff.bsky.social
We live across the street from an Airbnb that’s kinda tucked behind a house, and let me tell you, people are not at their best when they arrive at a destination they can’t find.
April 17, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by Michael Graff
barryyeoman.com
This week's edition of my newsletter features stellar journalism and storytelling by @allisonbsalerno.bsky.social, @cmgreer.bsky.social, @saragentzler.bsky.social, @mckenziefunk.com, @michaelngraff.bsky.social, @jeffreybillman.bsky.social, @natedimeo.bsky.social and others, plus my own latest story.
My latest: The lawyer, the organizer, the priest, and the sheriff
As the Trump administration ramps up deportations, my city is contending with the limits of its ability to protect its immigrant community. Plus, a political throwback to 1996 and some other good jou...
barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com
April 15, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
barryyeoman.com
Jack Cobb, a lifelong Republican with decades of blue-chip legal experience, gave up a lucrative role in private practice role in 2024 to take a federal consumer-protection job. Then Elon Musk took a chainsaw to his agency. @michaelngraff.bsky.social @theassemblync.bsky.social
A Charlotte Regulator Gets DOGE’d
A Charlotte lawyer—and lifelong Republican—with decades of blue-chip legal experience got the axe at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
www.theassemblync.com
April 2, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
tommytomlinson.bsky.social
The second, by my pal @michaelngraff.bsky.social, on a lifelong Republican who lost his job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
www.theassemblync.com/politics/cha...
A Charlotte Regulator Gets DOGE’d
A Charlotte lawyer—and lifelong Republican—with decades of blue-chip legal experience got the axe at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
www.theassemblync.com
April 2, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
tommytomlinson.bsky.social
Two DOGE stories for you this morning ... the first one, via my SouthBound podcast, on a UNC Charlotte professor whose team lost a grant on counseling for sexual violence in the LGBTQ community:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
SouthBound
Government Podcast · Updated Monthly · The South … What is it? Movies, books, songs, myths and legends have tried to explain this part of the United States. SouthBound, a new podcast series from WFAE,...
podcasts.apple.com
April 2, 2025 at 12:38 PM
michaelngraff.bsky.social
EB White’s lovely “wind the clock” letter to a reader, written 52 years ago this week. lettersofnote.com/2012/01/06/w...

@lettersofnote.com
April 2, 2025 at 1:42 AM
michaelngraff.bsky.social
Happy Opening Day!
an orioles mascot stands in front of a crowd of people
ALT: an orioles mascot stands in front of a crowd of people
media.tenor.com
March 27, 2025 at 12:27 PM
michaelngraff.bsky.social
“The city can be a lot.”

What I wrote a year ago.

www.charlottemagazine.com/inherit-the-...
Inherit The Courtyard - Charlotte Magazine
During that long season, we found ourselves and each other in intimate spaces
www.charlottemagazine.com
March 14, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Michael Graff
tommytomlinson.bsky.social
RIP John Feinstein. It’s hard to imagine what a breakthrough A SEASON ON THE BRINK was when it came out in 1986. It gave me and countless others a new idea of what sportswriting could be.

www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
John Feinstein, sports commentator and best-selling author, dies at 69
He had a long affiliation with The Washington Post and wrote books including “A Season on the Brink,” about Indiana University men’s basketball coach Bob Knight.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 13, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
michaelkruse.bsky.social
This from @michaelngraff.bsky.social is gonna be good. Sign up.
The Charlotte Optimist
charlotteoptimist.com
March 4, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
ncrabbithole.com
Mr. @michaelngraff.bsky.social, one of the best writers, editors, and people I know, has a new project in the works, and you should sign up for it here: charlotteoptimist.com
The Charlotte Optimist
More details to come soon. Sign up now for updates.
charlotteoptimist.com
March 4, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Michael Graff
mikehixenbaugh.com
Missed this amid the fire hose of news: The Trump admin is now putting Education Department employees on administrative leave for simply attending a diversity training offered by the agency. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
Education Department employees placed on leave for attending diversity training
Several employees began receiving leave notices late Friday.
www.politico.com
February 2, 2025 at 3:57 PM
michaelngraff.bsky.social
Wrote a little something the other day www.axios.com/local/richmo...
Party like it's 1992: The Washington Commanders are back, and Richmond is cheering
It's been 33 years since we had something to cheer for.
www.axios.com
January 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM