John Hammontree

Archibald: When bombs shook the South, and an unsung hero stepped up “It looked kind of weird because this guy … didn't turn around to see what happened,” he told police.

Man, I wish there were more people like Jermaine Hughes.

American Shrapnel History Podcast · Weekly Series · The Olympics explode on a July night in 1996. The largest pipe bomb the country has ever seen. A string of bombings shakes Atlanta for the next year. Thousands of pho...

TOMORROW. The podcast that @johnarchibald.bsky.social, @johnhammontree.bsky.social and I have spent three years working on drops. Episodes 1-3. Subscribe here, it would mean the world to us: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/a...

BPL Presents “American Shrapnel: The Weaponization of Eric Robert Rudolph", Alabama Media Group Podcast Launch & Panel Discussion What: "American Shrapnel: The Weaponization of Eric Robert Rudolph - Podcast Launch and Panel Discussion from Murrow-Winning Alabama Medi...

BIRMINGHAM. Come hang out with @johnarchibald.bsky.social @johnhammontree.bsky.social and me at the library tomorrow. We’re fun and cool. Mostly. bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2025/07/bpl-...

American Shrapnel History Podcast · Weekly Series · The Olympics explode on a July night in 1996. The largest pipe bomb the country has ever seen. A string of bombings shakes Atlanta for the next year. Thousands of pho...

Some personal news, as they say: after three years, @johnarchibald.bsky.social, @johnhammontree.bsky.social, and I are finally launching our limited-series podcast on Eric Rudolph and right-wing extremism. Follow us and give us stars (five would be nice) here: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/a...

Long time coming.

@kbeccaandrews.bsky.social, @johnhammontree.bsky.social and I are about to drop an 8-part podcast about serial bomber Eric Rudolph and the rise of Christian/white nationalism.

We're excited about it. First episodes out July 30. Follow on Apple Podcasts to help us get it started.

Three weeks to release but climbing the charts.

Thanks so much for your help. Follow at Apple Podcasts to keep it going.

@kbeccaandrews.bsky.social
@johnhammontree.bsky.social

Incredibly honored, thrilled and stunned to be part of the 2026 class of Nieman Fellows. Cannot wait to learn from this phenomenal group of journalists from around the world!

Archibald: UAB fears Trump reprisals, kills scholarship for Black med students "They're just another parrot parroting the same misguided racial nonsense and tropes."

Some schools fight. But UAB is literally sending checks back to donors, killing scholarships for high-performing Black med students rather than risk wearing the scarlet letters of DEI.

And just look who gets called "morally reprehensible."

Some of the same folks who have passed laws preventing districts from changing the name of a high school that was named after a Confederate general only a few decades ago, are suddenly willing to change the centuries-old name of a body of water. Guess historic preservation only matters sometimes!

At this point, I think the Yea Alabama fund should be sending checks to us for having to sit through this.

When Families Need Housing, Georgia Will Pay for Foster Care Rather Than Provide Assistance In more than 700 cases over five years, Georgia reported inadequate housing as the sole reason for taking a child into foster care, a WABE and ProPublica analysis found. Advocates say it would be chea...

In Georgia, a mom facing eviction reached out to DFCS for help. They offered her nothing. Soon the agency took her kids away because of "inadequate housing."

The state then paid *$6,200 a month* to house her kids in foster care.

One of the most important and infuriating stories I read this year:

Sportscenter but it’s just Stephen A. and the Muppets.

YouTube video by Alabama Crimson Tide on AL.com CNN's Kaitlan Collins on playoff hopes, DeBoer's t-shirt & Saban FaceTiming recruits at White House

Alabama superfan @kaitlancollins.bsky.social joined the pod this week and shared behind the scenes stories of Saban's many visits to the White House over the years. youtu.be/7mnctA0-NWQ

Never forget what they took from us.

YouTube video by Alabama Crimson Tide on AL.com Verne Lundquist reflects on Alabama, Tiger Woods, Happy Gilmore & a legendary career

Verne Lundquist hopped on the pod this week to confirm that he will be back for Happy Gilmore 2, along with "just about every major golfer," and... Post Malone? Oh, also he's a big fan of Conclave. And, of course, the Iron Bowl. youtu.be/sC5vA2OBmU8

How will the first election with an all-Black party end? It’s Election Day, 1966, and the Voting Rights Act is being put to the test. In the fourth episode of Panther, the ballots are counted. Who will come out on top? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reckon-radio/id1420215603?i=1000622377819

The Alabama Legislature dances back into federal court - Alabama Reflector Redistricting in Alabama follows the same steps, decade after decade. But it was hard to tell last week who was leading the dance.

Here's my analysis of Alabama's redistricting session last week. It wasn't like prior ones I've covered. Republicans won every vote but seemed to constantly be on the defensive; Democrats lost every vote but seemed confident they would prevail in court.

A fight for rights and control in a Black Belt town without elections Newbern, Ala., has never had an election. Now it has two men claiming to be mayor.

Patrick Braxton wanted to run for mayor in the small Alabama Black Belt town of Newbern. When he asked for qualifying papers, he was told, this town didn't have elections. https://www.al.com/news/2023/07/a-fight-for-rights-and-control-in-a-black-belt-town-without-elections.html

How did a county known as “Bloody Lowndes” become the birthplace of the Black Panther? Because the people of Lowndes met vicious, racist violence with a powerful response. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reckon-radio/id1420215603?i=1000620881118

Panther, the latest podcast from Reckon Radio is now live!
Give it a listen and join us in exploring this rarely told chapter of American history. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reckon-radio/id1420215603?i=1000620878783

How do you build democracy from scratch in the heart of the Jim Crow South? Find out tomorrow when the first two episodes of the latest season of Reckon Radio drop.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reckon-radio/id1420215603?i=1000619092556

“I saw... its thoughts. I saw what they're planning to do. They're like locusts. They're moving from planet to planet... their whole civilization. After they've consumed every natural resource they move on... and we're next. Nuke 'em. Let's nuke the bastards.”

Last week my colleagues at the Alabama Reflector published a seven-part series on women’s health in Alabama, from lack of reproductive services to declining maternal care to the state’s high rates of heart disease and cervical cancer. You can find all the stories here.