North of Center (Free North Side community newspaper founded by Danny Mayer) was a heterotopian moment/space of critical, independent, media reporting in Lexington, KY and it generously provided dissident writers a space to provide insights & critiques ignored in Lexington's broader print/visual media. For me, in writing for NOC, it provided the opportunity to reflect on what I was seeing in the world, yet rarely heard reported. Below is an example of a 3 part report on a trip to protest the 2009 G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA. Re-reading this article I remember how pivotal this experience was in my political thinking and how I was irrevocably changed by participating in this protest. North of Center provided me with the space to reflect and come-to-terms with what we experienced/witnessed. Most importantly, NOC was a vital source of in-depth, long form, critical, local/regional reporting - a style of reporting virtually non-existent in our current media environment. I thank everyone that was involved with producing and distributing NOC - you made a difference!
Benton, Michael Dean. "What I Learned in Pittsburgh: The 2009 G20 Summit and Protests (Part 1)." North of Center (October 7, 2009): 1, 3.
---. "A Different Hope: What I Learned in Pittsburgh (Part 2)." North of Center (October 21, 2009): 1, 3.
---. "Letter to the Editor." North of Center (November 4, 2009): 7.
Bordwell, David. "New colors to sing: Damien Chazelle on films and filmmaking." Observations on Film Art (March 6, 2018)
Bursztynski, Maurice and Shannon Harley. "The Police's Synchronicity." Love That Album #109 (February 26, 2018) ["If we’re discussing an album with songs about stalking, emotional control of another human being, Carl Jung, the Loch Ness Monster appearing as a result of a suburbanite’s frustration with life and Oedipus, you’d probably surmise Love That Album podcast is focusing on the Synchronicity by The Police….and you’d be right. For LTA episode 109, I am joined by songwriter and singer Shannon Hurley (aka Numbers Girl on All Time Top Ten Podcast) to talk about the final studio album released in 1983 by Gordon Sumner, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland. Synchronicity was hugely popular in its day, but for some reason, the band’s detractors have seen them as a singles band at best and pretend-punk at worst. Yes, their singles were hugely popular on the radio (a cardinal sin for the cool kids), and yes, their albums did contain filler. However, many of the deeper cuts on all 5 albums revealed some gems played by 3 fantastic musicians who knew the dynamics of how to play as a band, not just 3 excellent musicians trying to outdo each other. All 3 wrote songs, some blackly comical, some too earnest, but none of it seemingly the sort of material that would be of interest to the teenagers who were buying the records. Shannon and I delve into Synchronicity track by track (a rare return to an earlier LTA format) to discuss the album’s themes, musicianship, and whether it’s dated."]
Cole, Matthew, et al. "The Lyin', The Rich, and the Warmongers." The Intercepted (March 14, 2018) ["This week on Intercepted: Exxon Mobil is out at the State Department. A radical Christian ideologue is in. And a veteran CIA officer who tortured detainees and set up the CIA black sites after 9/11 is slated to take the helm at Langley. And all of this happened in one fell swoop on Tuesday morning. The Intercept’s Matthew Cole and Jeremy analyze the major re-shuffle in Trumpland and what it means for the future of the planet. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who led the investigation of Erik Prince and Blackwater for years in Congress, analyzes the ongoing scandal over his alleged role in the Trump era and explains why she had her house swept for surveillance when she was investigating Prince. Musical artists Ana Tijoux and Lila Downs talk about the politics of colonialism, neoliberalism, and revolution and their new collaboration on the song, “Tinta Roja.” And, fresh off her stellar debut on 60 Minutes, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stars in “Kindergarten Cop.”"]
"March For Our Lives Special Broadcast." Democracy Now (March 24, 2018) ["Democracy Now! was on the ground broadcasting live from the March For Our Lives in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2018, a historic event created, inspired and led by students. The four-hour special program featured the voices of students and people of all ages who converged on the capital and over 800 other cities around the world to demand action on gun control."]
Pinkerton, Nick. "Interview: Ashley McKenzie." Film Comment (March 7, 2018)
Sanders, Bernie. "Talk About Inequality." Deconstructed (March 23, 2018) ["The Intercept’s Mehdi Hasan sits down with former presidential candidate and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to talk poverty, inequality, media bias, and the 2020 presidential election."]
Sheehan, Helena and Sheamus Sweeney. "The Wire and the World." Jacobin (March 10, 2018) ["No other program has ever done anything remotely like what this one does, namely to portray the social, political, and economic life of an American city with the scope, observational precision, and moral vision of great literature. . . . The drama repeatedly cuts from the top of Baltimore’s social structure to its bottom, from political fund-raisers in the white suburbs to the subterranean squat of a homeless junkie. . . . The Wire’s political science is as brilliant as its sociology. It leaves The West Wing, and everything else television has tried to do on this subject, in the dust."]
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