@RaR

southern bureau chief @nytimes

 ATL
nytimes.com/by/rick-rojas
Joined January 2009
  • Tweets5K
  • Following767
  • Followers10.9K
173Media
My strange, stressful drive home nyti.ms/2wVa7PN

My Unforgettable Drive Home to Beaumont, Texas (Published 2017)

All I can remember is clutching the steering wheel tightly, inching forward as water splashed against the car.

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Outside New Orleans, a New Mardi Gras Experience: The King Cake Drive-Thru via @RaR nytimes.com/2024/02/12/us/ki…

It’s Mardi Gras. Welcome to The King Cake Drive-Thru. (Published 2024)

A tire shop parking lot has become a popular destination for those craving the beloved treat. The only problem: Which variety to choose?

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Trying so hard to get ⁦@RaR⁩ to break up with the national desk and join the fun kids over at ⁦@nytcooking⁩. nytimes.com/2024/02/12/us/ki…

It’s Mardi Gras. Welcome to The King Cake Drive-Thru. (Published 2024)

A tire shop parking lot has become a popular destination for those craving the beloved treat. The only problem: Which variety to choose?

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I might could read this piece by my fellow Southerner @RaR. nytimes.com/2023/12/22/us/so…

Explaining the South on Instagram, One Custom at a Time (Published 2023)

Landon Bryant talks about grits, prayer lists and humidity, addressing a diverse audience bound by its fascination with a colorful, complicated place.

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“The Lord laid it on my heart and we all need to lift her up because — insert information here,” Mr. Bryant explained in the video detailing how one might go about gossiping by way of a prayer request. HIGH-larious story, especially in the hands of @RaR. nytimes.com/2023/12/22/us/so…

Explaining the South on Instagram, One Custom at a Time (Published 2023)

Landon Bryant talks about grits, prayer lists and humidity, addressing a diverse audience bound by its fascination with a colorful, complicated place.

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This insane and terrible story, well told by ⁦@RaR⁩ nytimes.com/2023/11/19/us/ja…

A Mother’s Search for Her Son Leads to a Pauper’s Grave and More Questions (Published 2023)

Bettersten Wade spent months calling the police for help finding her son, without being told that an off-duty officer driving an S.U.V. had fatally struck him on the same day she last saw him.

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Beautiful story by ⁦@RaR⁩ on the Carters, their marriage and their hometown of Plains, Ga. Well done Rick (and Rosalynn) nytimes.com/2023/11/20/us/ca…

The Carters’ Hometown Mourns for the Love of a Lifetime (Gift Article)

Their marriage was admired for its endurance — 77 years — and for the affection between the two people in it. “It radiated,” one acquaintance said.

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Here's my latest for @propublica:
Charles Ornstein@charlesornstein9 Oct 2023
Wow. What a read: A Racist Harvard Scientist Commissioned Photos of Enslaved People. One Possible Descendant Wants to Reclaim Their Story. propublica.org/article/harva… @JenBerryHawes

A Racist Harvard Scientist Commissioned Photos of Enslaved People. One Possible Descendant Wants to...

The images are among the oldest known photographs of enslaved people in America. Tamara Lanier’s fight to gain control of them shows there is no clear system in place to repatriate remains of captive...

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“It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity that swallows up everything and conspires with the heat to make any activity without air-conditioning draining and even deadly.” Classic ⁦@RaR⁩ beautiful writing. nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/so…

The South Knows a Hot, Sticky Summer. But This? ‘It’s Hell.’ (Published 2023)

It’s not just the heat, as Southerners have explained for generations. It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity. And this year the punishing conditions have been relentless.

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The South Knows a Hot, Sticky Summer. But This? ‘It’s Hell.’ via @RaR in New Iberia, LA nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/so…

The South Knows a Hot, Sticky Summer. But This? ‘It’s Hell.’ (Published 2023)

It’s not just the heat, as Southerners have explained for generations. It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity. And this year the punishing conditions have been relentless.

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Rick Rojas retweeted
John Schwartz@jswatz19 Aug 2023
"It’s not just the heat, as Southerners have explained for generations. It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity that swallows up everything and conspires with the heat to make any activity without air-conditioning draining and even deadly." @RaR nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/so…

The South Knows a Hot, Sticky Summer. But This? ‘It’s Hell.’ (Published 2023)

It’s not just the heat, as Southerners have explained for generations. It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity. And this year the punishing conditions have been relentless.

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Hellish conditions, daily. By @RaR nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/so…

The South Knows a Hot, Sticky Summer. But This? ‘It’s Hell.’ (Gift Article)

It’s not just the heat, as Southerners have explained for generations. It’s the moist, soupy, suffocating humidity. And this year the punishing conditions have been relentless.

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Rick Rojas retweeted
Liam Stack@liamstack28 Jul 2023
I wrote about Sinead O’Connor and how the experiences that shaped her — child abuse, teenage incarceration at a church-run home for “fallen women,” attacks she faced as an adult — helped chart the forces she fought against in her art and public life. nytimes.com/2023/07/27/nyreg…

Sinead O’Connor Condemned Church Abuse Early. America Didn’t Listen. (Published 2023)

In Ireland, Ms. O’Connor spoke out about abuse and the complicity of religious institutions. When she came to the United States, many were not ready to hear her — yet.

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In Louisiana, a Democratic Governor Leans on Vetoes to Stall Conservative Agenda. via @NYTimes ⁦@RaR⁩ nytimes.com/2023/07/23/us/lo…

In Louisiana, a Democratic Governor Leans on Vetoes to Stall Conservative Agenda (Published 2023)

John Bel Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, has successfully vetoed bills that have glided into law elsewhere in the region. Soon, he’ll leave office.

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Kathleen McElroy is the only other journalist I know of (besides me) in the Texas A&M to NYT pipeline. I met her as a sophomore, and I was just in awe, having someone of her stature and experience willing to talk stories and even dig into my raw copy. nytimes.com/2023/07/12/us/te…

Texas A&M Celebrated a New Journalism Director. Then Came the Complaints. (Published 2023)

Kathleen McElroy was appointed head of a journalism program at the university. But then her work in D.E.I. seemed to come into question.

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She not only told me about the NYT Student Journalism Institute, she convinced me I was worthy of it. It’s no exaggeration to say the program altered the trajectory of my life and career. I feel a lot of things about this, but it’s mostly sadness over what could have been.
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one step forward, 1,000,000 steps back @TAMU
Kate McGee Balagia@McGeeReports11 Jul 2023
NEW: Texas A&M recruited a UT professor to revive its journalism program, then watered down the offer after “DEI hysteria” #txlege #txed texastribune.org/2023/07/11/…

Kathleen McElroy will stay at UT-Austin, rejecting A&M journalism offer

The university celebrated its decision to hire Kathleen McElroy to revive its journalism program. She says she’s staying at UT after she felt judged because of her race and gender.

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Don’t be mistaken about who these vocal, anti-DEI constituents are . @TheBattOnline did a deep dive last year on the exact type of hyper-conservative, anti-diversity and anti-LGBTQ+ Texas A&M alumni who A&M administrators take meetings with. thebatt.com/news/the-rudder-…
Kate McGee Balagia@McGeeReports11 Jul 2023
NEW: Texas A&M recruited a UT professor to revive its journalism program, then watered down the offer after “DEI hysteria” #txlege #txed texastribune.org/2023/07/11/…

Kathleen McElroy will stay at UT-Austin, rejecting A&M journalism offer

The university celebrated its decision to hire Kathleen McElroy to revive its journalism program. She says she’s staying at UT after she felt judged because of her race and gender.

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Maybe disaster can lead to opportunity. I heard that a lot in Rolling Fork in the weeks after the devastating tornado. But was it a chance to breathe life into a struggling town — or set off on the well-trodden path to leave the Mississippi Delta? nytimes.com/2023/07/09/us/mi…

In the Mississippi Delta, Hoping for Opportunity After a Ruinous Tornado (Published 2023)

Rolling Fork, Miss., like much of the Delta, had already been wrecked by disinvestment and decline before a giant tornado swept through in late March, leaving residents to ponder whether to rebuild...

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On the Fourth of July in Atlanta, you first go see the official, government-sanctioned fireworks display, then you watch the almost certainly unsanctioned one being fired off in a bank parking lot.
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Dateline: Nutbush City Limits nytimes.com/2023/05/29/us/ti…

This Town Made Tina Turner. She Made It Famous. (Published 2023)

The singer, who just died, immortalized her hometown in a song. Its residents remember how she sprinkled her glitter onto Nutbush, Tenn., opening it to the world.

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