Above Average: Minnesota's Economy, Past and Present

Join me for a weekly glimpse into the history of this place where my great-grandparents homesteaded on Ojibway land near Lake of the Woods on the Canadian border.

A fun and interesting pathway into that Big River called jazz. See Spotify Playlist: From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra

Commentary, columns, cartoons, and more...

One of the best ways to learn to make sense of money, work, communication, production, distribution, and more. Betting that in the course of human things the future must resemble even if it does not reflect the past, people being much the same over time.

Science is under attack. It's not a new situation. We can learn from the past.

Occasional comics about everyday life.

We are small group of academics who live and work in the Avon Hills–a tract of hills, woods, lakes, marshes, and oak savanna in central Minnesota, roughly contiguous with Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegon --sharing an interest in writing and public life.

Essays on the emotional and physical consequences of work, and how they are portrayed in literary fiction.