Who can forget that unprecedented World Series from a decade ago? You know, the one with the alien invasion that made Wrigley all wriggly? — To mark the occasion of the 2022 World Series, we present a science-fiction baseball story originally published in December 2009. But first, a little context. I lived in Chicago from 2007 to 2013, and this story was solicited in support of the city’s bid to host the 2012 World Science…

Yes, the controversial music video defaces sacred LDS symbols, but in doing so it brings to visceral life the nightmare journey of the apostate. — This essay was written in 2016. Watching Tyler Glenn’s video for his new solo single, “Trash,” the anger is palpable and inescapable. But it also brims with pain and grief. “Trash” exploded across the online Mormon world last week, causing the faithful to recoil and apostates to jump up and…

On September 11th, 2001, I responded the best way I knew how — by building a website. But what gave solace to some brought only false hope to others. — In September 2001, I was invited to contribute an essay to ON Magazine (previously TIME Digital, a monthly supplement to TIME), for their front-of-book column “Unavoidable Encounters with Technology.” …

In her raucous debut novel, Eden Robins takes us back to the Chicago comedy scene of the early ’50s, where women work magic through a microphone. — When Franny Stands Up by Eden Robins 400 pp. Sourcebooks Landmark November 1, 2022 A caveat before I get to When Franny Stands Up, the debut fantasy novel by Chicago writer Eden Robins. Eden is a friend of mine. I met her something like twelve years ago, when I still…

A recent television series brings a grisly Mormon murder case to life, though questionable renditions of history overshadow its more thoughtful aspects. — In 1998 I was amusingly reminded that Latter-day Saints are, as they like to put it, a “peculiar people.” At the Brooklyn bar I frequented, another regular — a cigarette-smoking, whiskey-pounding, foul-mouthed Orthodox Jew — had just learned that I was a Mormon.

Just when you think you’ve found a spot where you can pass for normal, along comes someone who reminds you that everything’s relative. — In June of 1998 I received a startling lesson in perspective. It happened during the NBA Finals, a hard-fought grudge match between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. …

Leave it to me to celebrate the occasion of my thirtieth birthday with inappropriate remarks to a coworker. — Since I turn 55 today, please indulge me in a brief birthday reminiscence. On August 14, 1997, I had a lot to celebrate. I’d been living in New York City for nearly two years, I had a reasonably popular site on the burgeoning World Wide Web, I was making a…

Sometimes another person’s life offers a glimpse down the corridors of an alternate life avoided. That’s the case for me with convicted traitor Christopher Boyce. — This essay was written in 2015. In 1985, I was a far bigger fan of jazz guitarist Pat Metheny than just about any other musician. The album that infected me was 1982’s Offramp, which sounded unlike anything else I’d ever heard. I became a hardcore consumer of any and all…

When the expenses are all logged and revenue is tallied, how does the self-published author decide whether or not the outcome was worth the cost? — In previous installments of this series, I tallied up the seven different categories of expenses I incurred publishing my 2015 memoir, The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary. This week we stack these up against our revenue to find out whether or not we’re still swimming in red ink.