Barrett Brown is free from prison, but not from the crime he didn't commit.
Journalist Barrett Brown is free, but will continue to pay
Back on the outside for the first time in 4 years, Barrett enjoys an Egg McMuffin. #FreeBB pic.twitter.com/bLbX21ZcTJ
— Free Barrett Brown (@FreeBarrett_) November 29, 2016
Journalist Barrett Brown was released from a Texas federal prison yesterday after serving over four years behind bars.
Brown was convicted after taking a plea bargain that admitted a role in the alleged hack of Stratfor—which he had nothing to do with until after the fact. He will continue to pay Stratfor some $200 a month for accessing data that had been independently hacked and available online for months by the time he saw it.
Nov 30, 2016You have to remember, we’re the Freemasons. Only, we’ve got a sense of humor. You have to wield power with a sense of humor. Otherwise you become the FBI.
↩︎ D Magazine
The marvel that was Barrett's "Review of Arts and Letters and Prison"
Barrett Brown's "review of arts and letters and prison" column, first published by D Magazine and then the Intercept, is one of the very best inside-prison looks at the horrors of the criminal justice system.
On ersatz Dungeons & Dragons, reading Gaddafi in "the hole," eating mouse, and Kissinger's biography, Brown's dispatches are lucid, funny, and terrifying, especially given the weakness of the federal case that convicted him.
Nov 30, 2016We live in a sort of silly cultural hell where the columns are composed by Thomas Friedman, the novels are written by Jonathan Franzen, the debate is framed by CNN, and the fact-checking is done by no one.
↩︎ The Intercept
The Editors' Longreads Picks
- An excellent essay on poverty and writing by Starr Davis. Updated May 31, 2022
- Novelist Héctor Tobar tries to understand the 1992 Los Angeles riots through the experiences of a single high school.
- Steven Johnson with a long assessment of the current state of A.I. and language. (The illusion has gotten very good.)
Welcome to The Morning News Tournament of Books, 2017 edition.
- Our championship match is decided in the Tournament of Books, with news of a Rooster surprise debuting this summer. Updated Mar 31, 2017
- In Thursday's action, Reyhan Harmanci sets up a colossal final.
- The Zombie round opens with Buzzfeed's Isaac Fitzgerald reading The Nix and The Underground Railroad.
Все ваши Белый дом принадлежит нам.
- "Will Putin expose the failings of American democracy or will he inadvertently expose the strength of American democracy?" Updated Mar 3, 2017
- Wilbur Ross just wanted to make some money in ethically gray areas (that should've prevented him from taking office).
- Jeff Sessions's spokeswoman can't help but continue to lie.
The oceans are under assault, and not just from the White House and friends.
- Trump's assault on the environment begins with American headwaters. Updated Mar 1, 2017
- Don't just blame the oil companies for destroying the oceans—blame sushi restaurants.
- Nothing escapes the deepest trenches of the ocean floor. Not light, not nutrients, not pollutants.