Most of the time my thoughts aren't long enough for a blog post. My shortform notes get posted on Mastodon and Bluesky, and also wind up here.
Today on Rebel Spirit, Akilah and I look at Denver's South High School, a school that moveed away from the Rebel name thanks to an NFL star's support. A story of hope & change! Listen on Apple or wherever. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...
posted at 12:59PM on October 15, 2024
I can't stop watching Cabel Sasser's talk from the XOXO conference this year.
Read "Appreciate Everything Endlessly" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-10-13-sasser/
posted at 7:00PM on October 14, 2024
In the latest installment of my series reflecting on Punk Planet's legacy, I focus on the magazine's fifth year, when it shifted significantly toward political issues, particularly anti-war coverage, culminating in the "Murder of Iraq" cover story.
Read "Weapons and Motives. Punk Planet: Year Five" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-09-28-ppy5/
posted at 7:00PM on September 28, 2024
Everything is kinda shitty and stressful right now, so I wrote about something that's neither: the remarkable new game UFO 50.
Read "Getting Lost in UFO 50" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-09-25-ufo50/
posted at 7:00PM on September 24, 2024
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.
Read "Living History" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-09-10-history-lessons/
posted at 7:00PM on September 9, 2024
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.
Read "Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes. Punk Planet: Year Four" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-08-31-ppy4/
posted at 7:00PM on August 30, 2024
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.
Read "Alone in a Crowd. Punk Planet: Year Three" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-07-31-ppy3/
posted at 7:00PM on July 30, 2024
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.
Read "Thank you, Steve Albini" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-07-22-albini/
posted at 7:00PM on July 21, 2024
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.
Read "Do What You Want, 'Cos This is the New Art School. Punk Planet: Year Two" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-06-30-ppy2/
posted at 7:00PM on June 29, 2024
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.
Read "Rebel Rebel" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-06-19-rebelsprit/
posted at 7:00PM on June 18, 2024
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.
Read "30 Years of Punk Planet: Year One" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-05-31-ppy1/
posted at 7:00PM on May 30, 2024
This week I gave a talk at the 11ty International Symposium on Making the Web Real Good. It was about Question Mark, Ohio and about how the web is still a place of endless possibility. I've adapted the talk into a blog post for you.
Read "Building a Town that Doesn't Exist" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-05-10-doesntexist/
posted at 7:00PM on May 9, 2024
I ended the indictment.fyi newsletter tonight and I feel a little guilty about it, so as penance, maybe, or out of a feeling that if I've taken something out of the world maybe I should also put something back in, here's three things I've been particularly excited about lately. Here's three for flinching.
Read "Three For Flinching" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2024-04-14-three-for-flinching/
posted at 7:00PM on April 13, 2024
Fresh out of college and in need of a job I landed in the production department of the Chicago Reader. Now, 30 years later, I'm back to help rebuild its legacy on the web.
Read "I'm Back with Scars to Show" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/reader/
posted at 6:00PM on February 27, 2024
I've loved the typeface Cooper Black long before I knew what it was. Big, bold, and forever it's over 100 years old and still makes me so happy every time I see it. I made a simple patch to celebrate Cooper Black, the greatest of typefaces.
Read "Cooper Black, A Love Story & A Patch" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/cooperblack/
posted at 6:00PM on January 7, 2024
I'm quitting 2023. After 364 days, today will be my last day. My tenure here has not been a good one and I requested an exit interview with HR so that 2023 can understand why I'm leaving and perhaps, how it might do better in the future.
Read "2023, The Exit Interview" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/2023exit/
posted at 6:00PM on December 30, 2023
2023 was a lot of hard things, but losing Sinead O'Connor and Pee-Wee Herman within a few days of each other felt especially cruel. At the tail end of a difficult year I wrote a small offering to the mystic and man-child that meant so much to those of us that grew up different.
Read "Feel So Different, Remembering Sinead O'Connor and Pee-Wee Herman" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/peeweesinead/
posted at 6:00PM on December 27, 2023
I thought Shane MacGowan was unkillable. If he hadn't died by now, the logic went, with all the drinking and drugs and living harder than most, maybe he never would. HBut, of course, he did.
Read "A Man You Don't Meet Every Day, Remembering Shane MacGowan" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/shane/
posted at 6:00PM on November 29, 2023
When I was younger I tried to build artist/musician/weirdo Laurie Anderson's tape-bow violin from a single sentence description. While I never got it to work quite right, it taught me everything I know about asking "why."
Read "Let X Equal X" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/tapeloop/
posted at 7:00PM on November 2, 2023
I wrote some thoughts on the lonely year that has transpired since Elon Musk took over Twitter.
Read "Year of the Living Dead" on my blog: https://dansinker.com//posts/twitter365/
posted at 7:00PM on October 25, 2023