Robert Samuels

For those watching figure skating, this is the simplest explanation of a triple axel I could come up with:

If you're tuned in to #prevagenuschamps #usfigure, here is a round up of skaters competing for the #Olympics2026 , with one-on-one interviews from Andrew Torgashev, Maxim Naumov, Tomoki Hiwatashi, Jacob Sanchez and Jimmy Ma: wapo.st/4jBKtUG

Bjerke said he was upset that there were no statistics to show whether refugees had been responsible for an increase in robberies and burglaries. With so many refu­gee students learning English in school, he wondered whether native speakers were losing valuable time from their teachers. Most upsetting, he said, was that the Somalis were not adopting “American customs,” such as playing hockey or eating hot dogs.

Ten years have elapsed since @newsbysamuels.bsky.social included this remarkable paragraph in a story still well worth reading. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tru...

Alysa Liu makes you cry on Saturday and smile on Sunday. What a satisfying evening of skating so far. #gpfigure #skateamerica

Madison Chock, the matador, has informed me that she does not kill Evan, the bull, at the end of the program. Merely tames him. This is both a relief and disappointing all at once. #gpfigure #skateamerica

So many ice dancers are pretending to die at the end of their programs, and, as a serious journalist, I need to figure out what the heck is going on. #gpfigure #skateamerica

How Alysa Liu has mastered holding the hearts of everyone in an audience is stunning. The crisp running edges, the increase in technical difficulty and the propulsive surge feels different than before. It is the same program, but feels like we are in a different era for her. #gpfigure #skateamerica

Feather light jumping on Lara Naki Gutman, excellent run out on those jumps. #gpfigure #skateamerica

Theoretical temperature. It's still cold as Lady Tremaine was to Cinderella here. #gpfigure #skateamerica

The temperature just turned up in the arena after an uninhibited Starr Andrews leads the first group, then Rink coming out of the gate with a whirl of a triple axel. #gpfigure #skateamerica

Brown/Brown really captured the spirit of the 90s dance in their exuberant interpretation to jump around - much like those in the 90s, though, probably got ahead of themselves with a range of minor and serious bobbles. But encouraging progress. #gpfigure #skateamerica

Nikolaj Memola, for the record, is taller than Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. #gpfigure #skateamerica

We are at the Club Kabuki Tomono and there's no place I'd rather be on a Friday night. Love those stalking deep edges and a gorgeous triple axel. #skateamerica #gpfigure

A standing ovation for Jason Brown, which feels like an appreciation for all that he has given to the sport over the years. This particular program felt a little self-conscious, hesitant going into the axel and a stumble on his combination. Lots of room for growth, even now. #gpfigure #skateamerica

The crowd at Skate America is gearing up for some riverdance! I, for one, think the step sequence is worth being a TikTok trend. #skateamerica #gpfigure

I'm not alone on this?! Maybe I should go on blueksky more often

Luc Economides' short program mixing Lion King and Kanye West is my guilty pleasure. I love this program so much. #skateamerica #gpfigure

Join us next week for our special @litquake.org installment of Movie Night at Roxie Theater with @ingridrojasc.bsky.social + @newsbysamuels.bsky.social

Tickets: tinyurl.com/mry3xe93

🧵 (3/3) Dayton Literary Peace Prize hosts a special event with DLPP honorees @vluck89.bsky.social‬, @newsbysamuels.bsky.social, @gilbertking.bsky.social. @corinnabarrettlain.bsky.social speaks in Montgomery, AL. William & Phillip Taubman launch McNamara at War with a virtual talk at 92NY.

Hey there! I helped write the piece. The story actually describes the systemic failures of DC leaders to help schools that were almost exclusively Black, which led to poor outcomes. That is why.

How D.C.’s failure to curb truancy fueled a surge in youth crime District leaders linked school attendance to crime, but failure to reduce absenteeism in middle schools yielded the biggest youth crime surge in a generation.

Phenomenal reporting on how D.C.’s failure to curb truancy fueled a surge in youth crime, by @newsbysamuels.bsky.social @lauren-lumpkin11.bsky.social and @Jdharden.bsky.social no paywall: wapo.st/4432CV3

How D.C.'s failure to curb truancy fueled a surge in youth crime District leaders linked school attendance to crime, but failure to reduce absenteeism in middle schools yielded the biggest youth crime surge in a generation.

Last school year, 30% of D.C. middle-schoolers — or five times more than a decade ago — were truant. See how empty desks — and the city's failed attempts to curb the problem — fueled the district's youth crime wave. By @jdharden.bsky.social, @newsbysamuels.bsky.social & Lauren Lumpkin:

How D.C.'s failure to curb truancy fueled a surge in youth crime District leaders linked school attendance to crime, but failure to reduce absenteeism in middle schools yielded the biggest youth crime surge in a generation.

Amidst platitudes about how the District needed more afterschool programs, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared that every student needs an afterschool program. Then she cut the afterschool budget by $1 million. One of the jaw dropping parts of this story done by me and my colleagues: wapo.st/4432CV3

Before we started reporting, it was easy for us to presume that Floyd’s words were incidental. They were not.

He decried the actions of the officer as coldblooded, cried out to his mother, and then he repeated over and over again, to his children and to his friends, that he loved them.

I often return to George Floyd’s final actions as an act of remarkable faith. On May 25, 2020, he woke up on a day he didn’t know he’d die. As he took his last gasps under the knee of a police officer, realizing his time was coming to end, he told his story through a weakened, strained voice.

And it is the feeling so often rejected by those who have the least, who, like George Floyd, wake up each day in hopes that a better tomorrow might be possible. This form of American hope was a defense mechanism, but it was also an engine that kept them engaged in the world.

Pessimism is the ultimate American privilege. It is the feeling held most easily by those whose lives would still be functional, and maybe even satisfactory, if nothing changed.
#georgefloyd #memorialday

His Name Is George Floyd (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Robert Samuels, Toluse Olorunnipa: 9780593490822 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books WINNER OF THE 2023 PULITZER PRIZE IN NONFICTION WINNER OF THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE; FINALIST FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS PRIZE...

As we are remembering George Floyd, I highly recommend the Pulitzer Prize winning His Name is George Floyd by @newsbysamuels.bsky.social and Toluse Olorunnipa. So powerful.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/703358...

@newsbysamuels.bsky.social I am watching your talk at Westminster Forum on May 15 in Minneapolis😢 So moving is your story from your book “His Name is George Floyd” We all have grief in our hearts from losing loved ones like George Floyd. He is resurrected by your story. Bless You.