The Outline
Michael Waters
Free tablets for the incarcerated come with a price
The prison technology company JPay donated tablets to prisons but then jacked up prices for books, games, and music.
The outrageous scam of “free” tablets for the incarcerated
The devices are little more than an exorbitant paywall for education and communication.
We’re sorry, your senator cannot be reached at this time
Extremely outdated technology and zero policy mean calling your reps is often not as effective as we’d like it to be.
The era of presidential assassination by drone has arrived
An attempt on the life of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is the first.
Military bans fitness trackers for revealing defense secrets
Jogging is a trap.
Indoor cycling is rebranding as a media industry
Welcome to our fit new overlords.
Donald Trump’s Russian collusion: The cast of characters
Who’s involved, and what did they do?
We finally have data about the number of LGBT people in the military
Over 6 percent self-identify as LGBT.
The booming business of luxury chicken diapers
It’s Instagram’s fault.
Banning smoking in public housing is cruel and unnecessary
Eviction rates are already at epidemic levels.
So you bought a ghost town
Who is paying $12 million for an abandoned town? We found out.
RBG says she’ll remain on the court for at least five years, but why not forever?
We aren't playing around.
Liberal, Kansas is diversifying so fast, it has a new accent
Welcome to the oddball liberal outpost deep in Trump voting territory.
More inmates are reporting sexual assaults
But officials accused of sexual assault continue to avoid blame.
Tracking devices are required in this French high school
Everything is great.
How prisons are poisoning their inmates
Hundreds of U.S. prisons and ICE detention centers are built on toxic sites, and people inside are getting sick.
Uber drivers are officially employees in New York state
Hopefully benefits are coming next.
An extremely easy fix for the problem of missed court dates: text reminders
Jail time and fines for missing court already target low-income people.
Facial recognition, welcome to U.S. high schools
Just asking questions: Why don’t we try gun control first to stop school shootings?
U.S. voting machines were vulnerable to remote hacking for six years
Welcome to your election-hacking nightmare.
Ocasio-Cortez sees potential for a Freedom Caucus of the left
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is considering one.
ICE contracts bring in millions for U.S. colleges
Northeastern’s $2.7-million contract is one of several.
Asylum in America, by the numbers
In the growing battle over immigration, it’s crucial to separate fact from fiction.
Heat waves hurt communities of color the most
The number of heat-related deaths is only rising.
The Jehovah’s Witness data-collection scandal
Have you heard the news?
Vaseline is the forgotten victim of the U.S.-China trade war
Sorry, soybeans.
The Supreme Court’s silence on criminal justice issues
And how liberal justices can fix it.
Researchers might be overlooking people who recover from depression
A new report says there are gaps in how the condition is studied.
The Jewish activists challenging Israel’s Birthright program
Travelers walked off their trip to protest its failure to address the topic of Palestine.
A gig economy for restaurant employees is a terrible idea
Restaurant workers are dealing with enough.
States have been undercounting opioid deaths
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found over 70,000 previously unclassified opioid deaths.
Our immigration system is especially cruel to disabled children
They’re being separated from their families and denied proper care.
$117,000 per year is now considered low-income in San Francisco
Welcome to hell!
The Tumblr bloggers building a canon of asexual history
Academics have long ignored the history of asexuality, so online communities are stepping in.
Abuse accusations against USC doctor may number in the thousands
The case is expected to grow even bigger than Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar's.
The UN human rights council never imagined anyone would quit
The U.S. left the council, and there’s no protocol for replacing a nation that gives up on human rights.
Facebook HQ continues pricing people out of house and home
Menlo Park, CA is suffering a gentrification crisis.
Recycling is collapsing under our anxiety about the planet
Your coffee cups are costing us.
Unsheltered homeless rate is fifteen times higher in L.A. than New York
L.A. provides little shelter to homeless people, despite that it has one of the highest homeless populations in the country.
The secretive non-profit gaming California’s health laws
The Council for Education and Research on Toxics has won million-dollar settlements using a controversial public health law.
This magazine is banned in prisons
Stopping the incarcerated from reading Prison Legal News is a First Amendment threat.
Want to save bananas? Put them in the CRISPR
A gene-editing startup is trying to solve a global banana crisis.
Beware the primary election saboteur
A little-known Democrat got conservative support, for possibly shady reasons.
The Colorado funeral home that sold body parts for a profit
Is it your uncle’s ashes? Or is it a ploy to hide that he was chopped up and sold?
Piles of garbage could bring down Putin
Moscow's suburbs are a literal dump — and Russians are fighting back.
A $139,000 vanilla heist
The spice is now worth more than silver, and thieves are cashing in
Death to library fines
The Baltimore library system is leading a movement.
The right to bear flamethrowers
If this pro-gun organization gets its way, Elon Musk's new gadget would be protected under the Second Amendment.
There are still 1,728 Confederate symbols on display in the U.S.
110 have been removed in the last two years.
Men love being philanthropic — if they can get something in return
A new study reveals, once again, that men are all about themselves.
A beloved Bay Area restaurant is closing because staff can’t afford the Bay Area
Thanks, dystopian housing market!
The “Gen Z is destroying everything” takes are coming
Welcome to your dark, Croc-less future.
Running is the new networking sport for the start-up set
Move over, golf.
All hail the mighty balloon lobby
Welcome to one of America’s most expensive B-list political fights.
