Brandon Wall

How D&D Became Therapy for Some Men on Texas’ Death Row For men awaiting execution in Texas, illicit games of Dungeons & Dragons became a lifeline.

For men awaiting execution on Texas’ death row, Dungeons & Dragons became a lifeline — an escape from extreme isolating conditions, leading to the sort of friendships solitary confinement usually prevents.

See their D&D character sheets, maps & more:

If you care about accountability and justice, follow @themarshallproject.org on Bluesky and Flipboard for trusted reporting on the criminal justice system.

📰 👉 flipboard.com/@MarshallPro...

Illinois boasts 3 players for USA Women's Hockey for 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy Illinois natives Tessa Janecke, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Abby Murphy will take the ice for USA Women's Hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

lol i was just googling that myself, Kendall Coyne Schofield went to Sandberg www.northernpublicradio.org/wnij-news/20...

INCREDIBLE shot, incredible goal, incredible game 🇺🇸🥇

Federal Prisons Bar Gender-Affirming Care for Trans People ‘People will die,’ an advocate warns, as standard treatments for gender dysphoria are replaced with therapy and antidepressants after Trump’s order.

BREAKING: The federal prison system will stop providing gender-affirming medical or social transition care to almost any transgender people, under a new policy released by the Bureau of Prisons Thursday. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/02/19/t...

To a Resident on the Block, Jackson Was Simply a Friendly Neighbor

To a Resident on the Block, Rev. Jesse Jackson Was Simply a Friendly Neighbor.
My latest reporting from Chicago for @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/u...

thank you my friend <3 <3 <3

Thank you!

thank you!

As a side note, I definitely plan to be more active and posting on here, and not just work-related posts. Thanks for following // sorry in advance

I'm looking forward to supporting their work telling important stories, finding new ways to expand our reach, and exploring the ever-evolving, chaotic world of digital strategy 🤘🙃

Some personal news: Happy to say I recently joined @themarshallproject.org as Audience Director. It's an important investigative newsroom focusing on criminal justice that I've been a fan of for years, and I'm SO excited to be here

It's been a great start thanks to my kind and generous colleagues✨

My media prediction is that people (millennials) gawking at, and ironically repeating the language around, niche streaming culture talking about Clavicular et al is going to end in embarrassment and normalizing a new slur along the way

hands down my biggest online pet peeve of the moment

Tens of Thousands of Mothers Were Flagged to Police Over Flawed Drug Tests at Childbirth The Marshall Project found more than 70,000 cases referred to law enforcement over allegations of substance use during pregnancy — and that’s a significant undercount.

New Marshall Project investigation this week: "In many cases, the referrals began with false positive results from flawed drug tests — sometimes triggered by the women’s prescribed medications." www.themarshallproject.org/2026/02/10/b...

We tested those gross piles of snow on NYC's sidewalks. Here’s what we found. The snow may not be as toxic as it looks. You still shouldn’t eat it.

Gothamist lab tests NYC's snow that's been laying around for a few weeks. Spoiler alert: "The snow acts like a revolting sponge for the city’s filth" gothamist.com/news/we-test...

How The New York Times uses a custom AI tool to track the “manosphere” The daily podcast round-up is just one way the Times is adopting in-house AI transcription and summarization tools.

Well that's an interesting use case: "the Manosphere Report now follows about 80 podcasts hand-selected by reporters at the Times ... When one of the shows publishes a new episode, the tool automatically downloads it, transcribes it, and summarizes the transcript"

www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/how-...

Tens of Thousands of Mothers Were Flagged to Police Over Flawed Drug Tests at Childbirth The Marshall Project found more than 70,000 cases referred to law enforcement over allegations of substance use during pregnancy — and that’s a significant undercount.

We found over 70,000 cases referred to law enforcement over allegations of substance use during pregnancy — and that’s a significant undercount.

In many cases, the referrals began with false positive results from flawed drug tests — sometimes triggered by the women’s prescribed medications.

While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.

The cover of the newest Chicago Reader, which features a huge photo of an egg that’s cracking open

My feature on Fire Talk Records’ Chicago-based imprint, Angel Tapes

After a month and a half break from print, the Reader makes its debut as a monthly. Thank you to everyone who supported the paper last year when we were scraping by week to week, and all the ups and downs before then. Thank you to everyone who picks up a new issue, it means the world.

"One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset" www.cia.gov/stories/stor...

I've been friends with Kim for 13 years and I am absolutely flabbergasted, she is a versatile, TREMENDOUS reporter (and human being). A huge asset to any newsroom fortunate enough to have her

Catherine O’Hara, ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Actress, Dies at 71

RIP to an absolute legend :( www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/a...

Children in ICE Detention Skyrocket in Trump’s Second Term With a six-fold jump in children in detention, advocates allege harrowing conditions are putting kids’ lives at risk.

The number of children in ICE detention on a given day has skyrocketed, jumping more than sixfold since the start of the second Trump administration. We analyzed data obtained by the Deportation Data Project and found that ICE held around 170 children on an average day under Trump.

Why It’s Hard for Civilians to Sue ICE for Its Actions in Minnesota The civil rights law that has allowed lawsuits against local and state police doesn’t apply to federal agents.

The civil rights law that has allowed lawsuits against local and state police doesn’t apply to federal agents. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/27/m...

Some good news! Guan Heng has just been granted asylum in the US, although DHS reserve the right to appeal the decision in the next 30 days.

I grew up with Alex Pretti The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by federal agents was my childhood best friend.

"As I reviewed photos of protesters and tear gas in the wake of his death, I didn’t realize [...] that the man millions of people had seen lying facedown on the pavement from multiple angles of eyewitness video was my childhood best friend."

www.theverge.com/policy/86856...

🚨 SCHUMER just now: “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”

Protesters flooded the intersection of Nicollet Avenue and W. 26th Street in south Minneapolis, near where Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal agents Saturday morning.

Video by Aaron Lavinsky, Genevieve Ross, Kyeland Jackson and Louis Krauss.

The National Basketball Association game scheduled for today between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center has been postponed.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — NBA postpones Warriors-Timberwolves game at the Target Center 'to prioritize the safety and security' of the community.