Unfinished Business,
a weblog
This is a place where I can think out loud, work through ideas, and talk about stuff that doesn't fit cleanly into the type of freelance writing I do. Some ideas will be fully formed, others, as the title implies, will be unfinished.
The Zombie Revival of Dead Confederates
The Confederacy is everywhere right now, including in the new season of Rebel Spirit, out today.
Published on May 19, 2026
A pep talk in the face of despair (or: trying redux)
Everything sucks right now, but things can *always* get better, but it doesn't happen via inertia. It happens because a lot of people tried.
Published on May 14, 2026
Foundational Texts: Forks and Branches
The fourth installment in the monthly Foundational Texts series looks at the first book in the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series, and how new choices are always possible.
Published on April 30, 2026
A Short Post In Defense of Libraries
What it says on the tin. Libraries are amazing. Never ever forget.
Published on April 24, 2026
A Well-Aimed Potato: The Klan, Notre Dame, and Today
With the Trump administration embracing anti-Catholic rhetoric, I wrote about a time a hundred years ago when Catholic students from Notre Dame beat the shit out of the Klan. A feel good story for the ages.
Published on April 17, 2026
Foundational Texts: Raised by the Channel Five News Team
The third installment in the monthly Foundational Texts series looks at the iconic 1980s Channel 5 News Team, and the things they taught me when I was young and now that I am old.
Published on March 31, 2026
Porous Barriers That Divide Then From Now
I came to Muncie, Indiana this week for this moment: March 24th, the night that George Dale's life changed forever. Even 104 years later, the reverberations of history stay close.
Published on March 24, 2026
Record for tomorrow the stories that today's victors would prefer we forget
A former student of mine ended up spending six months in a Malaysian prison. He's told his story in an incredible web comic.
Published on March 15, 2026
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Want to read a few popular pieces? Here are a some of my most-read posts:
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The Who Cares Era
We're living through the Who Cares Era, where completely disposable things are shoddily produced for people to mostly ignore, while the government stomps its uncaring boot on our necks.
Published on May 23, 2025
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What Felt Impossible Became Possible
A post about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails.
Published on Feb 23, 2025
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What I Need You To Understand, Notes from Chicago in Late October
ICE has been cracking down on Chicago, and I wrote a little bit about what you need to understand about what it's like here in late October. Plus, I compiled some resources for alerts and whistles.
Published on Oct 24, 2025
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Whistle Up
In Chicago, whistles proved to be a super effective alert system when ICE is near. With these goons spreading out across the country, I wanted to put together a resource guide for buying, printing, and distributing whistles. I wrote as full a brain dump as I could muster. Whistle up.
Published on Nov 21, 2025
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The Amazing Art of the Video Game Marquee
During this long, hot, difficult summer I took a trip to a huge video game arcade and ended up completely in love with the art of the game marquee.
Published on Aug 1, 2025