“The Renegade Sheriffs,” the New Yorker
For the New Yorker, Ashley Powers takes us on a fascinating detour into the world of constitutional sheriffs, law enforcement officers who believe it’s up to them to interpret and enforce the law in their counties. This movement, which appeared in the ’70s, largely fell out of favor for a while, but has seen a resurgence in law enforcement officials like Joe Arpaio and David A. Clarke, Jr. — Greta Kaul, data reporter
“How do you tell the kids that Grandma is in jail for resisting nuclear weapons?” Waging Nonviolence
Frida Berrigan writes about explaining to her kids that their grandmother was in jail for protesting nuclear weapons. The group Kings Bay Plowshares did an action at the largest nuclear submarine base in the world, attempting to draw attention to both militarism and racism on the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Frida attempts to parse the effects of being part of a family whose members have done things like this for decades, while drawing attention to the absurdity that the things they’re protesting should instead raise. — Jonathan Stegall, user experience engineer
“In Brexit, Economic Reality Competes With Nostalgia for Bygone Days,” The New York Times
A dispatch by The New York Times from another place lured by the political pull of an industry whose best days are probably behind it: the town of Grimsby, in northeast England, which was once the center of a bustling fishing industry with hundreds of boats. Today, the town’s working fishermen could all fit in the same small pub. Grimsby voted to leave the EU to protect English fishing, but the town’s new powerhouse industry — processing of fish meat — depends on immigrant labor that could be harder to come by when the UK does actually leave. This great, colorful look at Grimsby’s plight should echo for us here. — Sam Brodey, Washington correspondent
“Pure Heart,” Sports Illustrated
Though he wasn’t as well-known as some of his contemporaries, William Nack was one of the greatest sports writers of the last 50 years, the kind of journalist who made complicated, deeply reported stories look effortless. Nack died recently, and though he covered a crazily diverse range of subjects — from Sugar Ray Leonard to Bobby Fischer — perhaps his best story was this beautifully rendered piece from 1990 on the death of Secretariat. — Andy Putz, editor
