“I was out in the woods on my own ... thinking about how good being alone feels in comparison to being around people who take energy from you. And then I’m just watching these hawks crush it. And it was like, the hawks get it, man. The hawks know what’s going on.” matternews.org/culture/musi...

Ed Plunkett at Matter in April. matternews.org/voices/essay...

“[The poems] had become very cerebral and conceptual ... and as things really kicked off in Palestine, I found I almost couldn’t have those kinds of conversations. ... No. Right now, children are dying. Full stop. What are we going to do about that? What is my poetry going to do about that?”

Will there be a plan, or more pointing of fingers?

Revisit Ed Plunkett's April essay ahead of today's planned autism announcement from Trump/RFK Jr. matternews.org/voices/essay...

“I mean, we’re all scar collectors in some way. And, God, I don’t want to spout off some cliche about how we heal and we’re better for it, but I do think we keep moving. And the scar may not make us better or stronger, but it’s the fact that we’re not done yet.” matternews.org/culture/musi...

“And now that I’m done with the book, I feel like I’ve done such a service to my child self. I’ve finally released her of the burden of holding onto secrets she was forced to keep her whole childhood. ... And I can’t quite articulate enough what a profoundly beautiful experience that has been.”

“I would start telling the story in the way I always had, or the way I had been working previously, which was with these much more cartoonish, stereotyped characters. And I realized immediately that was not the way to go, and that I needed to approach it in a much more personal way.”

“I would start telling the story in the way I always had, or the way I had been working previously, which was with these much more cartoonish, stereotyped characters. And I realized immediately that was not the way to go, and that I needed to approach it in a much more personal way.”

“There are campuses where professors are being fired for statements made in classes. And there’s this sense of am I being recorded? Are people signing up for classes simply to antagonize? And all of that does feel even more amplified now, especially in the aftermath of this killing.”

“There are campuses where professors are being fired for statements made in classes. And there’s this sense of am I being recorded? Are people signing up for classes simply to antagonize? And all of that does feel even more amplified now, especially in the aftermath of this killing.”

“The messages could get incredibly violent, saying, ‘I hope what happened to this person happens to you and your family.’” matternews.org/community/ta...

Thanks to @andydowning33.bsky.social for the interview with me and my colleague, and for taking on a topic of the Professor Watchlist that is not being fully discussed in the media today.

Important piece. Here’s @redguju.bsky.social: “what these watchlists do is they say that if you’re a professor who has certain opinions, you’re automatically indoctrinating students…implying that I’m not a good teacher, when the reality is they don’t have a clue as to what I do in my classroom.”

“The messages could get incredibly violent, saying, ‘I hope what happened to this person happens to you and your family.’” matternews.org/community/ta...

“Even when death is said to be a normal thing, it can be impossible for a young person to understand. But for people who look like me, it’s not coming in a normal way. And if it’s not coming in a normal way, then it can come from all angles.” matternews.org/culture/word...

Statehouse advocacy 101, Scioto River cleanup, Open Streets volunteer opportunity, a @matternews.bsky.social community conversation, and more in this week’s newsletter 📰 buttondown.com/goodworkscol...

“It was about trying to make something out of a place where it felt like nothing was going on. We were surrounded by people from the town and people from the college who would talk about, oh, Delaware is so boring. But we always tried to make something happen there.” matternews.org/culture/musi...

Thanks to @andydowning33.bsky.social for publishing another of my opinion pieces on the @matternews.bsky.social site -- matternews.org/voices/opini... -- To paraphrase Frank Costanza: "I've got thoughts! And now you're gonna hear them!"

UPDATE: Celebrity Etc. announced overnight that all of its Sept. Athenaeum shows have been moved, including concerts this weekend from the Waterboys and James McMurtry, both of which will now be at the Bluestone. Celebrity Etc. is still working to keep future scheduled shows at the Athenaeum.

In recent weeks, Rambling House announced it would shutter, WitchLab began to look for a new building pending an eviction, and TempleLive closed unexpectedly, throwing the future of downtown venue the Athenaeum into question. matternews.org/culture/musi...

While Planned Parenthood helms the continuing battle for reproductive rights on the legal front, grassroots organizations across the state are working to ensure that financial and logistical barriers don’t prevent people from accessing abortion. New from Jen Bryant. matternews.org/community/th...

Three years after the end of Roe, prochoice orgs are still fighting to keep abortion legal and accessible across Ohio. I spoke with a few of them for Matter News. ⬇️

While Planned Parenthood helms the continuing battle for reproductive rights on the legal front, grassroots organizations across the state are working to ensure that financial and logistical barriers don’t prevent people from accessing abortion. New from Jen Bryant. matternews.org/community/th...

In recent weeks, Rambling House announced it would shutter, WitchLab began to look for a new building pending an eviction, and TempleLive closed unexpectedly, throwing the future of downtown venue the Athenaeum into question. matternews.org/culture/musi...

Columbus artist Elizabeth Newell confronts both internal demons and fractured support systems in her awe-inspiring new exhibit, which kicks off with an opening reception at the Awesome Gallery from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13. matternews.org/culture/art/...

“David and Dana, I think, slept in the loft in the studio, since we didn’t have a place to stay,” Shannon said. “And I stayed out in the van, where it was like 100 degrees, because it was August or September and it was just outrageously hot. ... It pushed things to extremes, for sure.”

The scooter and bike companies operating in Columbus are based in California. ... Amazon’s presence exists mostly in the form of giant, ugly warehouses and traffic. The companies put little into Columbus but take a lot of profit out of it. New from Brian Williams. matternews.org/voices/on-de...

and icymi, here's the coverage from matter news that helped to spark the recent letter from the aclu matternews.org/community/du...

An executive order issued by Trump in July could affect everything from the types of programs available to the unhoused to how those experiencing homelessness are treated in their own communities. matternews.org/community/a-...

And here’s the Facebook event link: www.facebook.com/share/1Bz3G7...

An executive order issued by Trump in July could affect everything from the types of programs available to the unhoused to how those experiencing homelessness are treated in their own communities. matternews.org/community/a-...

After a one-month break we're back at @twodollarradiohq.bsky.social at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18. Hope to see you there.

Independent news is the way to go. I started paying attention to Matter News in summer 2020 and they have been a solid local news source that I love supporting.

pretty, pretty cool.

“I just want to catch the good ones now instead of trying to prove to myself I’m special all the time, because that’s what it was – a treadmill of specialness where if I stop writing, I’m just some asshole.” matternews.org/culture/musi...

“I will definitely stay in Columbus. I don’t want to go anywhere. It’s my first city in the United States. I started my life from zero. Columbus gave me a lot, and I owe Columbus.”

Employees said the months leading up to the downtown coffee shop’s "temporary" closure were marked by bounced and missed paychecks, sudden changes to the business, and increasingly poor communication. matternews.org/community/th...

Four years after Columbus welcomed thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban, Trump administration attacks on immigrants have created growing anxiety. New from Larkin Cleland. matternews.org/community/tr...

Four years after Columbus welcomed thousands of Afghans fleeing the Taliban, Trump administration attacks on immigrants have created growing anxiety. New from Larkin Cleland. matternews.org/community/tr...

Today is the official publication date for my new book Noisy Memory with @uncpress.bsky.social! To celebrate, I sat down with Andy Downing from Matter News to talk about the book. I loved his insightful questions! matternews.org/culture/word...

Pleased to share a publication day with the great Brian Harnetty!

“The work now is rooted in my own stories, my family’s stories, the region’s stories. And I think it gives me something more to offer.” Brian Harnetty traces his winding artistic path in his new memoir, which he’ll celebrate with a reading at @twodollarradiohq.bsky.social on Wednesday, Aug. 27.

“One of my mantras now is ... to change the person who changes the world,” Aich said. “If it’s a relay race, it’s like somebody gave me the baton and I need to run, but then I need to hand it off. It’s about being a light and making this world better.” matternews.org/culture/musi...

It's my great privilege to be profiled by @andydowning33.bsky.social at @matternews.bsky.social ahead of my book release Tuesday (wherever you get your books!) and Columbus launch event Wednesday (7 p.m. at Used Kids Records!)

“I think there was a moment in time when I realized how great writing about music unlocks a deeper appreciation for music in me. ... Where you can connect it to the deepest parts of life and see how the music you love intersects with the culture you live in.” matternews.org/culture/word...

“Council’s willingness to capitulate by erasing visible diversity initiatives is frightening.”

The Trump administration demanded that cities roll back decades of work aimed at offsetting a fraction of the disadvantages faced by minorities or risk losing federal money, and Columbus got right to work. New from columnist Rachel Wenning. matternews.org/voices/local...

The Trump administration demanded that cities roll back decades of work aimed at offsetting a fraction of the disadvantages faced by minorities or risk losing federal money, and Columbus got right to work. New from columnist Rachel Wenning. matternews.org/voices/local...

“There’s a certain optimism to it, along with this reality that we’re living in really fucked up times. And with that, you can either crawl in a hole or you can make art, and the five of us choose to make art.” matternews.org/culture/musi...