Media
Book reviewers explain it all, Part 1: What's the purpose of book reviews?
Last week I had a short and soft lead-in for this week’s column, and because this subject has really been on my mind a lot lately, I want to introduce it again. It used to be that when I thought of book reviews, they were just something that magically appeared. They showed up in print, or online, hailing from the brain of all-knowing giants whose main purpose in life is telling the masses what books to read, or what books to stay away from. I imagined that the book review business as whole held authors to a social standard—a line that was dictated by the canon and always obeyed. However, as I got older and closer and closer to the literary world (I still have a long way to go), it occurred to me that I was totally wrong.MORE »
Reviewing books: How is it done?
There’s something about book reviewing that seems so easy. When I first stood across the Spyhouse Nicollet counter from Jay Gabler in December of ’09 and said, “Yeah, I write. How about some book reviews?” I was sure as hell that after writing countless criticisms and papers on books in college it was going to be the easiest thing I would ever do. But then I finished reading my solicited review copy of Hospital for Bad Poets by J.C. Hallman (Milkweed Editions), which had been nominated in 2010 for a Minnesota Book Award, and I just couldn’t do it. (Seriously though, I still haven’t written the review, and no, what I’m about to write doesn’t count.)MORE »
Sunup to sundown, Magic 1530 broadcasts a local vibe
KQSP-AM — “Magic 1530” is the Twin Cities’ first AM R&B station since 2001.
“It was a Spanish topical format,” explains Magic General Manager Rodney Smith on the station before it switched formats in June 2011. “They [the station owners] brought me in and switched it to an Adult AC [Adult Contemporary] format. It’s been going good for us.”MORE »
Writers are people, too
No one ever said being a writer was a way to make friends. In fact, if you’re one of those people that thinks, “Man, I just have way too many friends,” might I suggest a career in writing, which will inevitably lead to people you like being mad at you, and you questioning whether people are being nice to you because they like you or because they want you to write nice things about them.MORE »
Memory maps: Mona Smith finds stories about the past in order to create a better future
Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota storyteller and media artist Mona Smith is creating a memory map of the bdote area of the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers. This bdote (a place where two waters come together) is central to Dakota spirituality and history.MORE »
Love story: Young TVbyGIRLS filmmakers explore an age-old topic
Sixteen years ago, Barbara Wiener supported a friend through a grueling, 40-hour labor. When a baby girl was finally born, Wiener was inspired. "I remember holding her and promising to make growing up for her easier," Wiener recalled.MORE »
Stories and histories
There are stories everywhere. You could probably walk down the street and the first person you meet will have some fascinating story to tell. Of course, they might not reveal the story to you if you ask them.
Sometimes, I know the gist of a story, and have to track down the people who were involved in order to get the details. Sometimes, someone emails me with a story idea, and helps me to understand it, either as an anonymous source or on the record. Sometimes, I think I am writing one story and then it turns out that I was completely wrong and have to write a different story about what really happened.MORE »
How to read about hip hop
A huge part of finding success as an artist today is crafting your narrative. It isn’t enough to just be good— you need a compelling story. And if you don’t have a compelling story, you have to make one the hell up.MORE »
FREE SPEECH ZONE | Newt Gingrich is "tired of the elite media". I am tired of Newt Gingrich!
Like the newscaster in the movie Network, I am “mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” At least not with the nonsense purporting that the major media in America is some sort of liberal cabal conspiring to defeat conservative principles. Such a claim is totally without merit, and the facts speak just the opposite.MORE »
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