Ruminations | September 2026.
"Literary innovation feels like a pipe dream when your biggest competitor is an AI slop machine that plagiarizes your favorite author and churns out bullshit for the cost of a Netflix subscription."
Essays & Commentary
Award-winning independent journalist, Mel Buer
Reflections on industry recognition, journalism, and if it matters in the first place.
Notes from a recent visit to New Orleans
Reflections on life, memory, and journalism.
Kill your heroes. Uplift the movement.
Some thoughts on the recent New York Times investigation into Cesar Chavez.
I would like to get off this ride
On taking your rest and finding joy
Reflections on cultivating radical joy in this current moment.
A look back at 2025
Good fucking riddance
It was never about the numbers
On trying to work in the dying American news industry
We gave them flowers; they sent in the horses.
Reflections on No Kings Day 2 in Los Angeles.
Unemployed in America: My Own Story
There's a critical shortage of journalists in the American news industry, with many talented reporters experiencing layoffs just like mine. What can be done about it?