Dan Sinker/blog

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.

Getting Lost in UFO 50

Everything is kinda shitty and stressful right now, so I wrote about something that's neither: the remarkable new game UFO 50.

Published on Sep 25, 2024

Living History

The thing I love most about doing journalism is you never quite know where you're going to end up once you start digging. That's been especially true with my work on Rebel Spirit, which sits alongside the best reporting I've ever done. Today our second episode is out, and it's all about digging to expose a 70-year-old lie.

Published on Sep 10, 2024

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes. Punk Planet: Year Four

I wrote about underground art and design, a sacred assembly of men, and the year that changed everything for Punk Planet magazine as part of the fourth entry in my monthly essay series about the 13 year run of Punk Planet.

Published on Aug 31, 2024

Alone in a Crowd. Punk Planet: Year Three

The third in my monthly essay series about the 13 year run of Punk Planet. This time around, Year Three and the first cover story we ever ran, about the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in 1996, wholly relevant once again.

Published on Jul 31, 2024

Thank you, Steve Albini

In honor of Steve Albini's birthday today, here's an excerpt from an interview with him Punk Planet #26, in which he talks about how he approaches his life. Happy birthday Steve, miss you.

Published on Jul 22, 2024

Do What You Want, 'Cos This is the New Art School. Punk Planet: Year Two

I'm writing an essay a month marking the 30 year anniversary of Punk Planet. This month, Year Two. If the first year of Punk Planet was about figuring out the function of the magazine, the second year was about the form.

Published on Jun 30, 2024

Rebel Rebel

For the last year I've been working with Akilah Hughes to make Rebel Spirit, a podcast about her quest to change her high school mascot from the Rebels, named after the confederacy, to the Biscuits, a part of Southern heritage that everyone can get behind. It's been an infuriating, hilarious, and extraordinary journey and one I'm so excited to finally let you into.

Published on Jun 19, 2024

30 Years of Punk Planet: Year One

30 years ago this month the first issue of Punk Planet magazine came out. It's incredible that one issue came out let alone 80 over the following 13 years. It started so small and grew to become my whole life. In honor of the 30 year mark, I'm writing 13 essays, one of each year of the magazine, starting with Year One.

Published on May 31, 2024

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