Michael TolanMusic I Liked in 2018Lately, at dinner parties, I’ve enjoyed asking people a question I stole from baseball writer Sam Miller: “How many songs do you like?” I…Dec 20, 2018Dec 20, 2018
Michael TolanSome Thoughts on (In)Civility“Everything in moderation, including moderation,” Aristotle once said. Unless it was Oscar Wilde. I consider myself a fairly political…Jul 2, 2018Jul 2, 2018
Michael TolanHow Does Anyone Know What They Want to do With Their Lives?Three months after I graduated from college, I went on a family vacation to Door County, Wisconsin. I had just completed a month-long bike…Mar 4, 20182Mar 4, 20182
Michael TolanUnequivocally the Top 25 Albums of 2017When I reflect back on 2017, I think there’s one moment in particular that’s going to stick with me. Maybe you’d expect it to be the…Dec 18, 2017Dec 18, 2017
Michael TolanWhat Isn’t in a Name: Navigating Names in the 21st CenturyA few weeks ago, the Hennepin County Board held a hearing about the renaming of a prominent city lake in Minneapolis, Lake Calhoun. The…Dec 1, 2017Dec 1, 2017
Michael TolanThe Definitive Ranking of The Top 25 Newspaper Names in the U.S.It is in the conflict between form and freedom that all great aesthetic achievement is born. Shakespeare would have been a trainwreck…Mar 7, 2017Mar 7, 2017
Michael TolanOn Surviving in an Autocratic Doom World(Or, Being a Citizen in 2017)Feb 17, 2017Feb 17, 2017
Michael TolanDefinitely the Best Albums of 2016, I PromiseRanking music is a futile, dumb, pointless task. Not only do you and I have different tastes, but we also have different days — days when…Dec 16, 20161Dec 16, 20161
Michael TolanHow to Whine in PublicIf you’re about the same age as me, you probably spent the majority of your time in your musical awakening parked in one of two camps…Oct 6, 2016Oct 6, 2016
Michael TolanSystems Thinking: Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, the Illuminati — And You!We’re going to remember 2016 for a lot of things. This is probably the case for most of us who have active memories, but this year it seems…Jul 24, 2016Jul 24, 2016