Snippet of my Bluesky bio
Hi! This is another edition of Link Roundup here at Forney’s Findings. If you follow me on Bluesky or Instagram (or happen to be in a Discord server with me), you’ll know I love me some links. This week has more than 50 different outlets. I’m unsure if that’s a Link Roundup record, but it certainly felt noteworthy.
Here are a handful—all read in their entirety by me before adding—that I wanted to share:
Education:
Alabama University president fires unknown number of faculty over social media posts and forgets the part where he points out which posts violated policy (Alabama Reflector)
Dozens of conservative groups to create educational brainwashing
programmingcosplaying as civics for America’s 250th anniversary (Washington Post gift link)Texas Republicans attempt to take their ball and leave regarding free speech on college campuses (Texas Tribune)
Baltimore schools establish their own generative AI policy for teachers (Technical.ly)
Science and Healthcare:
Asteroids may provide hints at the origin of water on Earth (New Scientist)
Medical facilities don’t have enough blood from Black donors to match those in need (Afro News)
Man catches alligator in D.C. (WTOP)
(Podcast) Octopuses can do literally anything with any of their eight arms (NPR)
Former CDC Director, Susan Monarez, says she was fired for refusing to pre-approve vaccine recommendations without being shown any data first (States Newsroom)
First deaf Black woman to earn a STEM PhD in America reminds others to be themselves, despite challenges (Chemical & Engineering News)
Part of C&En’s annual Trailblazers package
How Montgomery County is preparing for climate change project funding cuts (Baltimore Banner)
Might encounter paywall
A compound found in nail polish was banned in the EU, but there’s no need to panic (Chemical & Engineering News)
With recent firings and resignations, things are not great at the CDC these days (STAT News)
There may be a paywall
Houry said she resigned because CDC leaders were reduced to rubber stamps for decisions made by political staff. Monarez said the loss of medical expertise had implications far beyond the CDC itself. “If you don’t have the commensurate skill sets or the ability to ask the right questions and you’re willing to sign off on decisions that are not made with the best available data and evidence,” she said, “it does put at risk our children, it puts at risk others who need these vaccines, and it takes us into a very dangerous place in public health.”
News Media:
How Texas Latino journalists are keeping history from being whitewashed (The Barbed Wire)
The reality is living in Texas is truly heartbreaking, but it’s also the place where communities are resisting. Texas communities are organizing not in spite of the oppression, but because of it. Texans create joy even in the midst of the tragic headlines.
And as journalists, it’s our job to tell the full story — to tell the truth about injustice and violence and success and jubilation, and everything in between.
In an attack on public transparency, the Pentagon threatens to revoke media access if they publish unauthorized information (New York Times)
Secretary of Defense, former Fox News host and bad Signal user Pete Hegseth has only held one press conference during his term
What independent Chicago outlets learned from L.A. and D.C. to cover ICE activity in their communities (L.A. Taco)
Fox and Friends host who advocated for state-sanctioned murder of mental ill unhoused people still employed (Reuters)
Read Karen Attiah’s termination letter from the Washington Post for allegedly violating their policy against “disparaging people based on their race, gender or other protected characteristics”. (Substack)
Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.
— Karen Attiah (@karenattiah.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Government:
Alexandria housing authority CEO is fired for living in one of their affordable housing units (WJLA)
Relatable content? US government on the verge of a shutdown (USA Today)
South Carolina representative loses mind after learning breast augmentations are also gender-affirming care (them)
Trump issues executive order adding $100,000 fee to H1-B visas (NPR)
House Oversight Committee summons Discord, Steam and Twitch CEOs to hearing on online radicalization (Aftermath gift link)
Despite amphipods, myriad delays and a pandemic, Maryland’s Purple Line is nearly complete (Baltimore Banner)
Trump’ attorney general resigned after being unable to build a fraud case against Leticia James—who successfully sued Trump years prior. (Associated Press)
TikTok to split into TikTok US and regular TikTok with Trump-approved investors holding majority ownership (Washington Post gift link)
California becomes the first state to ban federal law enforcement from wearing masks. The law’s enforcement is uncertain (NPR)
Prince George’s County data center development temporarily paused after community organizes against it. They got 20,000+ signatures on a petition (NBC4 Washington)
Pam Bondi’s hate speech comments were so stupid that even MAGA people are arguing with her (TIME)
More on this from The Verge
But America is closer than it’s been in decades to outright abandoning the First Amendment, and it’s not happening to fight groups directly tied to acts of violence or online communities that largely exist to foment hatred of vulnerable people or pundits with an unabashed and damaging disregard for the truth. It’s being done to prevent Americans from speaking ill of a single public political figure, one of the clearest examples of what a robust speech law is supposed to protect.
Trump walks back sending troops to Chicago because the state doesn’t want them. Backup plan in Memphis (CNN)
DACA recipients are getting caught up in Trump’s campaign against immigrants (States Newsroom)
Government shutdown o’clock? (States Newsroom)
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the committee, said Republicans’ decision to write the stopgap bill on their own signaled they weren’t actually interested in bipartisanship and that it “reflects a broken political system.”
“They would rather shut down the government than sit down and talk with Democrats about lowering costs for millions of Americans, preventing people from getting kicked off their health care and stopping President Trump and budget director Russ Vought from stealing from our communities and from our constituents,” DeLauro.
People and Relationships:
One in five Houston residents are living at or below the poverty line, the highest in the nation’s top 25 cities (Houston Public Media)
Lil Nas X’s felony charges demonstrate how charge stacking hurts Black defendants (Capital B)
Georgetown holds its first “Performative Male” competition (The Georgetown Voice)
The New York Times wants your most interesting breakup lines for a project wrapping Oct. 5.
A new app seeks to mainstream gay cruising, but this comes with its own problems (them)
(Video) Monkey-barring (v): the act of swinging from one relationship to the next to avoid being alone (Good Morning Chicago/USA Today)
Bumble relaunches Bumble BFF as its own app with a focus on groups and building community (TechCrunch)
Unsure if users are still limited to friend matches of their same gender
An after-school program helps affirm trans and queer youth (Huffington Post)
A church in Katy, TX won’t shy away from its support for LGBTQ+ Christians (Houston Chronicle)
Call out bigotry? You might risk your chill girl status (The Guardian)
What it’s like raising a trans child in D.C. (The 19th & 51st)
Boyfriend glow-up trend on TikTok is a mix of bragging and objectification (USA Today)
A Texas pastor and Trump ally played an AI-generated eulogy for Charlie Kirk…by Charlie Kirk (Chron)
Andrew Yang’s 2028 platform: fewer phones, more partying (USA Today)
Redefining measures of success for 30-year-old Black, single people (The Defender)
Ezra Klein is speed-running the previous bad takes per week world record (Jezebel)
Bring shame back, actually (Boston Review)
Arts, Culture and Food:
Houston’s iconic rainbow crosswalks have been removed, their return is uncertain (Houston Public Media)
Boring art? Try adding some chalance (The Georgetown Voice)
Demon Slayer movie shows that anime’s hype isn’t a fluke (The Hollywood Reporter)
DC’s Art All Night brought the community together when they really needed it (Washington City Paper)
The Go-Go Musuem in D.C. is asking for donations to keep its doors open (WUSA9)
Semicolons are an endangered species; younger writers may not notice (USA Today)
Some phenomenal art in here. There’s also a quiz
Thanks to tariffs and ICE raids, grocery prices are higher than they’ve been in years with no relief in sight (NPR)
Six free art exhibits to check out in Baltimore this fall (Baltimore Banner)
AI Love Island wellness scams on TikTok and other words I wish I could untype (Teen Vogue)
How Rebecca Sugar pushed back to keep Ruby and Saphire’s relationship in Steven Universe (them)
Start your French Presses, International Coffee Day is 10/1
Overcompensating renewed for season 2 on Amazon Prime (Variety)
I learned Charlie XCX is an executive music producer from this article
People who routinely whine about “cancel culture” have no issue with the response to any media not eulogizing Charlie Kirk (Wired)
Humor and satire are particularly triggering for authoritarian figures, according to curator and culture critic Hrag Vartanian, editor in chief of the arts publication Hyperallergic.
“Authoritarians can deal with violence. They can deal with everything except being laughed at,” Vartanian says.
DC Comics cancels Red Hood comic after creator comments on Charlie Kirk’s death (them)
Throwing the government’s regulatory weight against people Trump’s political enemies is the entire point (Defector)
ABC and Disney pull Jimmy Kimmel’s show indefinitely (Variety)
Sinclair said they won’t reissue the show until Kimmel apologizes AND funds Turning Point USA
The weenies at Disney reinstated the show a few days later after a lot of people criticized them (The Hollywood Reporter)
Nexstar-owned ABC affiliates still won't air the show (CNBC)
With a price increase already in the works, Disney didn’t want to risk even more cancellations (The Handbasket/Marisa Kabas)
[Documentary] An exploration of Montgomery County’s hip-hop scene (Montgomery Community Media)
Full disclosure, this was done by another group in the fellowship that I recently wrapped. I just think it’s cool, even if I didn’t know them personally
KPop Demon Hunters might have a short film in the works (Kotaku)
Books:
Keya Chatterjee, one of the co-founders of Free DC, wrote a dystopian fantasy novel. She’s hosting an author talk at Solid State Oct. 14
Slate put out a package on the 25 best picture books of the last 25 years
Sept. 15–Oct. 15 is Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month
Bookshop dot org is doing a 20% off sale on select titles by Latine authors
I put together a list of books I recommend and bookish creators to follow
Takoma Park reopens its library and community center after extensive renovations (Montgomery Community Media)
Are self-help books worth it? (Vox gift link)
Video Games:
Overwatch 2 reveals Persona 5 collab skins (Kotaku)
How Silksong helped a player rehab their tendon condition (Aftermath gift link)
[Video] SEGA refuses to just make Sonic Riders 4. Anyways, here’s everything we know about Sonic Racing: Crossworlds (Gamespot)
Extreme gear aka the hoverboards from Sonic Riders are back!
Xbox Series X/S to see another price hike, citing “macroeconomic concerns” a.k.a. tariffs (Kotaku)
Economics:
People are impersonating legitimate businesses on Walmart’s marketplace to sell counterfeit products (CNBC)
A year-long investigation led to this video and article
Between stagnant job opportunities and high home prices, many Americans feel stuck (Washington Post gift article)
Many businesses in Ocean City, MD rely on J-1 visa-holding students to help with seasonal work. The students often work multiple jobs with limited English to make ends meet (Baltimore Banner)
Chipotle paid $400K+ to former landlord at Union Station and hasn’t gotten its money back (Washington Business Journal)
PDF in case of paywall
You can also read the BizJournal for free with a DCPL card. That’s how I read them
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reaches $3 trillion valuation after lighter-than-expected antitrust ruling (CNBC)
The company ended the day with a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion by market’s close.
The stock got a big lift in early September from an antitrust ruling by a judge, whose penalties came in lighter than shareholders feared. The U.S. Department of Justice wanted Google to be forced to divest its Chrome browser, and last year a district court ruled that the company held an illegal monopoly in search and related advertising.
Sports (not just basketball this time):
A’ja Wilson
robs Napheesa Collierand makes history as the only four-time MVP in WNBA history (Yahoo Sports)Paige Bueckers wins Rookie of the Year (ESPN)
Natalie Nakase wins 2025 Coach of the Year, the first Asian American woman head coach in league history and now the first to win this award (WNBA)
The Valkyries’ Veronica Burton took home Most Improved (ESPN)
A year after winning a title, New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello is out of a job. The streets had thoughts (USA Today)
Sandy Brondello fired before Chris Koclanes
— #ana (#@salt3dwounds)
2:58 PM • Sep 23, 2025
Fred VanVleet expected to miss season with torn ACL (Houston Chronicle)
American high school football is not ready for climate change and its rising temperatures (Atmos)
