Bob Collins
What would happen if a male tennis player removed his shirt because he had it on backwards?
It’s a question that’s fair to ask because we now know what happens if a woman should. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bob Collins
Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.
Thomas Prado’s heroism has us considering to what extent we’re willing to risk our own lives to help someone else. Read more →
Brianna Wu, best known for calling attention to misogyny in the gaming industry — and being crucified for it — has a new campaign. She’s running for Congress and today she’s calling out the misogyny of the media, specifically the Boston Globe. Read more →
Poof! Just like that, health care became affordable for Drew Calver. He’s the guy who had a heart attack and got a bill for $164,941, $109,000 after insurance, an amount so outrageous that NPR and Kaiser Health News reported his story. Read more →
We’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the Founding Fathers never envisioned a country where a wizard could print a musket out of thin air. Read more →
We need to give some equal time to cats in this space so here’s the story of Nighty, the black cat owned by Corey Jacob, who lives out of a van, the
Rochester Post Bulletin writes today.
Read more →
Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
The St. Louis Federal Reserve isn’t exactly Dr. Spock but you’ll not likely find more proof of the value of parents spending time with kids than its study in this quarter’s Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review. Read more →
‘Pavel’ is the owner of the ‘Ravenchamps’ ID on Reddit, an ID that is close to the ‘Ravens2012champs’ ID that allegedly was used by David Katz, who killed two people and himself, and wounded 10 others at a Madden tournament in Florida.
Close enough, according to some far-right web sites and the usual suspects like commentator Mike Cernovich and Daily Caller reporter Ian Miles Cheong who identified Pavel’s account as that of the shooter Read more →
After every suicide of a high-profile person, the single piece of advice rises to an almost unimaginable decibel: Just ask for help.
That can get you tossed out of college. Read more →
Among the many mysteries on this planet is this one: how does a tortoise run away from its owner? Read more →
There’s a homeless encampment in Minneapolis and if there’s one thing politicians don’t want, it’s evidence of an epidemic. Read more →
Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
I took note of a particular passage in Sen. John McCain’s farewell message and wondered whether it was really true.
‘We have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement.’
Do we? ‘Like what?’ I thought. Read more →