The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row by Keri Blakinger

Keri Blakinger delivers beautiful, insightful reporting in this story about death row inmates who set some level of escape from their often inhumane circumstances by retreating into the fantastical worldscapes first ushered into the world by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, in the nineteen-seventies. All the details are telling, but Blakinger still employs a light hand in making her points. If her sympathies are clear, her writing is still resolutely truthful. Thispiece is published by The New York Times Magazine.

Our Brands Are Crisis by Scott Tobias

Much as I remain a staunch supporter of Greta Gerwig’s delightful, inventive blockbuster, I do find it strange that there’s so little acknowledgement of the decades of fame enjoyed by the product Barbie before the arrival of the movie Barbie in the otherwise understandable celebration of the film’s status as a box office success that’s not tied to stultifying dominant Marvel machine. Written for The Reveal, Scott Tobias offers a corrective, acknowledging the strange new trend of corporate brands essentially getting the laudatory biopic treatment.

Queens Roared, And Coco Gauff Roared Back by Giri Nathan

The dominance of a certain chauvinistic, libertarian, anti-vaccine jerkface on the men’s side of the sport has contributed to me following professional tennis less closely than I have in the past. Even so, I’ve enjoyed watching this summer as Coco Gauff has taken steps from promising up-and-comer to significant contender. Giri Nathan writes about Gauff’s impressive run at the U.S. Open for Defector.