Here are some things I’ve published:
On “this and thats,” and towards an “ethics of digression,” The Cleveland Review of Books
On entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre’s harmas, Off Assignment [with a behind-the-scenes interview!] — nominated for some things!!
On a lost literary genre (the airline magazine), The Columbia Journalism Review [spotlighted at Longreads and the Browser]
On Terry Allen’s drawing of a songbird, for an exhibit at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts [link goes to an image, not to the writing, which is print-copy only!]
On the “semiotics of old age,” The Columbia Journalism Review
On formality in contemporary nonfiction, The Paris Review Daily
On oldness and coverage of oldness, The Columbia Journalism Review
On the writer Nicholson Baker, Essay Daily
On a wild trip to the sixtieth anniversary celebration of the Day the Music Died, West Branch — nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2022.
On a certain kind of dog leash (the “Gentle Leader”) + some other things, DIAGRAM
On corporate radio, and personal vs. corporate debt, The Columbia Journalism Review [spotlighted at Longform]
On an old job at a naming company, and corporate language, Popula
On a garden, a homegrown language, and a weird anonymous book, Speculative Nonfiction
On fear and moving, Popula
On Jon Lovitz, obviousness, and the festering angers of childhood, Goodnight, Sweet Prince — a Pushcart Prize nominee!
On the glut of historical recreation reality television from the early 2000s (“Manor House,” “Frontier House,” etc.), Counterpunch [print]
On the Iowa caucus, Counterpunch [print copy only]
On “Wizards of Loneliness” (inaugural essay of my new travel/culture column, The Visitor), Counterpunch
On a catastrophic Mississippi River flood, the fascinating Quad Cities, and a broadcast meteorologist working to convince his viewers of climate change, The Columbia Journalism Review
On Arthur Russell and Oskaloosa, The Iowa Review [print copy only] — a Best American Essays “notable” in 2020!
On Raynaud’s Syndrome/the Polar Vortex, Lit Hub
On the amazing Bolerium Books in San Francisco, The New Yorker
On the allure of Arthur Russell, The New Yorker
On Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Millions
On Iowan labor rights/labor history (with Emmett Rensin), The New Republic
[Major oldie!] On San Francisco, The Rumpus
***It was also a major pleasure/honor to write the album bio for the Arthur Russell album Iowa Dream. You can read the bio at the following link to the album’s first single.***
INTERVIEWS
I’ve done a good number of interviews with people including Matt Christman, Lucy Sante, Rick Prelinger, and more.