Tag: North Carolina

Scaling back the media buffet

November 2, 2013November 20, 2013 Brody No Comments

This column appeared in The Herald-Sun in 2013:

Click.

This week, we turned off most of our cable service. We’ve pared back to the basic broadcast network package and internet.

Part of it is simply a family cost-cutting measure – it should save our household about $1,000 during the next year to go without the full-fledged package that included the digital DVR and a few premium channels like HBO and Showtime.

But mostly it’s the result of recognizing that we simply don’t need hundreds of channels that we rarely watch.

Journalism, Non-Fiction, Sample Columns

Durham author gets worldwide recognition

November 2, 2013November 20, 2013 Brody No Comments

This column appeared in The Herald-Sun in 2013:

Mur Lafferty is a mom, a UNC grad, podcaster and inventor of “Sansaball.”

Last month, the Durham denizen also earned recognition at Worldcon, a major speculative fiction convention, where she received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

“The Campbell Award is a bit odd, since it doesn’t award any one particular story or novel, but it recognizes new writers (meaning within two years of your first professional publication) with potential,” Lafferty said. “It was a huge thrill to be nominated for an award that many of my idols have been nominated for. And an even bigger thrill to win!”

Journalism, Non-Fiction, Sample Columns

Not sold on single-gender school plan

November 2, 2013 Brody No Comments

Is it worth it? Is it wise? Can a district already so strapped for cash that it has to scrounge to keep teacher assistants on the payroll one more year afford to launch a multi-million dollar experiment to save the boys of Durham? Last week, The Herald-Sun reported about a proposed partnership between Durham Public…

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Maybe more labels are the answer

November 2, 2013 Brody No Comments

Maybe Gov. Pat McCrory and the N.C. Department of Transportation are onto something. Sure, it’s culturally and politically insensitive to start branding people with labels on their driver’s licenses. Right enough, many of the people who would receive these special provisionary licenses are Hispanic immigrants who were brought to this country as children and haven’t…

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