Links for August 28, 2019

How Inmates Play Tabletop RPGs in Prisons Where Dice Are Contraband

In correctional facilities across America, inmates cluster around tables in the common room to play games like Dungeons & Dragons. And they do it without dice.


MLB leans on longtime mud supplier, not Rawlings, to coat balls

Bintliff harvests the mud himself, using only a shovel and a few buckets, as he has for his entire adult life. The 62-year-old has recently begun bringing a trusted assistant to help him carry the load, but other than that, the process is the same as it has always been. After he collects the mud, he hauls it back to his yard in southern New Jersey, where it sits until he’s ready to pack it up in his garage and ship it out to teams. His wife, Joanne, takes orders and does invoicing. That’s it. There’s no one and nothing else to the operation. It’s increasingly out of place in a hyper-controlled, ultra-competitive, high-tech league, where every detail is calibrated for peak efficiency.


Why the Internet Loves This Pennsylvania Rest Stop

A photo of a strip of fast-food outlets and gas stations is used to critique the sameness of the American landscape. But it could only be one place on Earth.