I appreciate how open-ended the essay format is, particularly in an online era. A headline establishes what you’re setting out to do, and if people click on it, you’ve got buy-in to make your case. While the format of my Front Row Seat column in the Duluth News Tribune varies, I often use that space to write essays about different aspects of local life. In other publications — including The Tangential and The Current — I’ve written essays on a wide range of topics.
Duluth News Tribune
- How I became an arts writer (April 7, 2022)
- What I learned at critics’ summer camp (July 27, 2022)
- Duluth’s mascots are a strange bunch — and that’s just how we like it (January 25, 2023)
The Tangential
- The Social Network, the Harvard of dreams, and the dreams of Harvard (originally published in the Twin Cities Daily Planet, October 6, 2010)
- Atari’s E.T.: Why it deserves its strangely legendary status (April 28, 2014)
- We all live on Main Street: Why Sinclair Lewis still matters (August 30, 2015)
Elsewhere
- Chess, cheerleading, Chopin: What gets you into college? (with Jason Kaufman, Contexts, May 2006)
- I’m turning 40, and I still owe $40K in student loans (The Financial Diet, March 27, 2015)
- What to make of Isaac Asimov, sci-fi giant and dirty old man? (Lit Hub, May 14, 2020)
