An American Franksgiving
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November 16, 2019
The Time FDR moved Thanksgiving for fun and profit
The Weight Loss Benefits of an All-Brain Diet
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October 29, 2019
The apocalypse is here for North American cervids. It arrived no fewer than five decades ago and its progress has been… slow. Make no mistake, the zombie deer are here. As their range extends throughout North America, it’s become increasingly likely that you’ve heard something about them. It’s 2019, though, and evidence of impending doom …
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The Case for a Bigger House
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October 25, 2019
The United States House of Representatives is a cornerstone of the American Democratic system, a piece of living history, and a real shitshow.
A Brief History of “In God We Trust”
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July 26, 2019
South Dakota’s getting ornery again. A new Rushmore State law mandates the display of the United States motto, “In God We Trust” in every one of the state’s 697 public schools. Displaying the motto is required by law, but, schools are allowed to get fun creative with the new rule, which gives school principals the …
Minnesota’s Flag is Bad. Let’s Change it.
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July 23, 2019
Minnesota’s state flag is bad. It’s simultaneously unremarkable and cluttered, ridiculously complex and altogether unrecognizable. It’s an unwanted china plate on a blue tablecloth, a design well-known to all the flagbois out there as the “seal on a bedsheet”, a design schema shared by 25 state flags all proudly flown by no one. Above all, …
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A Tale of Two States
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July 3, 2019
On November 2nd, 1889, Benjamin Harrison, ranked #30 in C-SPAN’s ranking of US Presidents, probably sneered as he drove a knife into the heart of Dakota Territory, dividing it forever along an East-West meridian. When he signed the documents formally creating two new states, the President famously (and cutely) shuffled them, preventing onlookers from knowing …
Bde Maka Ska: My Stupid Opinion
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June 17, 2019
In 2017, the City of Minneapolis changed its map forever (maybe — facts disputed) by renaming its largest lake. Overnight, Lake Calhoun, as it’s long been known, became Bde Maka Ska, a name previously attributed to the body of water by the native Dakota people. This change resulted in fairly immediate controversy between advocates for …
Game of Thrones: A Personal Postmortem
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June 13, 2019
Since my freshman year of college, I’ve been a big fan of both A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. Against all the anti-hype, I still hold that Game of Thrones is one of the best television shows of all time. This season had some flaws, but I’m still a big fan. …
Game of Thrones: Unpredicting My Predictions
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May 25, 2019
About a month ago, I published a set of predictions for the final season of Game of Thrones. Last weekend, the series finale aired, and looks like I’ve got some explaining to do. In this piece, I’ll be self-congratulating over the predictions that proved accurate, qualifying those which were here and there, and unpredicting anything …
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Game of Thrones: Reconciling Reactions to “The Long Night”
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May 5, 2019
Warning: The following piece includes heavy spoilers from Season 8 of Game of Thrones. It’s also a lengthy, mostly-unedited three-page rant about a TV show. Proceed with caution.