NASA crashed into an asteroid! Nerds like me are in heaven
A nerd out on the NASA's DART Mission to bump into an asteroid, published in WBUR's Cognoscenti
What Our Brains Do When We Play Wordle
A Q&A with Holly Taylor, Tufts University professor of psychology and mechanical engineering, about why that darned word game is so popular: "What Our Brains Do When We Play Wordle"
Can a 53-year-old nerd with bad-hand eye coordination excel at esports?
Can a 53-year-old nerd with bad-hand eye coordination excel at esports? My essay explores that and the whole college esports scene.
https://expmag.com/2020/01/forget-football-video-games-are-the-next-big-college-sport/
My obsession with trespassing
My essay for Northeastern University's new Experience magazine, about the pleasures of being where I'm not supposed to be.
Providence: Your New Favorite Lit Scene?
Don't mess with ... Rhode Island either! In which I make the case that Providence, RI has "emerged from the literary shadows of more established hubs New York City and Boston to hatch a burgeoning scene all its own" for the GrubStreet blog.
I celebrated the 1980s
I was thrilled to be part of NEON RetroFest in Warwick (Providence) on Aug 24.
The Providence Journal previewed the event here. 
We played Galaga and Star Castle, and drank Mountain Dew. I talked about "How D&D Changed the World." Peter Bebergal and I nerded out about the 1980s at our "INTELLI-VISION: THE PETER AND ETHAN PUBLIC ACCESS TV SHOW" event-- here's our intro video. Rad!
A visit to my nerd cave
The kind folks over at East Side Monthly came by to check out my nerd cave and chat. Here's what we talked about. They also got a shot of a nerd in his natural habitat.
I wrote about Dungeons & Dragons for the Ted Ideas site
Over at ted.ideas.com website, I wrote "How playing Dungeons & Dragons has helped me be more connected, creative and compassionate" --- in it, I talk about how agency, power, and the imagination can come from fantasy role-playing games.
Stranger Things have happened
I re-enacted a day from the 1980s, in celebration of the new season of Stranger Things. Read the story here.
Josh Reynold's photo shoot that captured my day below.
36 Hours in Cambridge in the NY Times
Here are my picks for what to do in a hypothetical (and somewhat absurd) 36 hour itinerary in Cambridge for The New York Times. Let the naysaying begin.
“Star Trek” in the age of Trump
I wrote this piece for Salon called “Star Trek” in the age of Trump: Why we need to embrace its 50-year mission now more than ever," which looks at why the doomsday pessimism and defensiveness peddled by Donald Trump could use a dose of Enterprise hope and harmony.
Nicholson Baker and “Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids”
Nicholson Baker --- “Vox,” “The Fermata,” and “Human Smoke” -- has a new book called “Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids,” which chronicles his stint substitute teaching in Maine’s elementary, middle and high schools. I get a chance to talk to Baker about his book for the Boston Globe.
The business of nerds
Fandom is big business. Boston Comic Con, one of the region’s largest gatherings of science fiction, horror, fantasy, and comic book fans, is no exception. But how much money does a convention bring to a city like Boston when it rolls into town? My story for the Boston Globe explains.
The seductive nostalgia of “Stranger Things”
Over at Salon, I wrote a piece called "Just like ’80s nerd heaven: The seductive nostalgia of “Stranger Things” — and my unexpected ambivalence" that explore how Netflix's supernatural show raids my childhood pop-culture loves, from D&D to E.T. — and I admit, I felt conflicted.
William Shatner on “fandom frenzy” and 50 years of “Star Trek
In this story and Q&A for Salon, I speak to William Shatner about being "Forever Captain Kirk"; he opens up about “fandom frenzy” and 50 years of “Star Trek."
Blue Man Group goes on ... and on ...
Blue Man Group began in New York City in 1991; four years later, Boston became the first satellite venue. Today, Blue Man Group Boston continues its astounding run, 21 years and 9,848 performances later, and counting. As the years pass, Boston’s cast and crew have played an increasingly key role in building the Blue Man Group empire. Read the rest of my story for the Boston Globe here.
NY Times doc features my 1981 D&D gang
This The New York Times documentary about D&D and the "Satanic Panic" features two tiny clips from a Super 8 movie I filmed of my old D&D group back in 1981. You'll see us at minute 00:20 and at minute 08:25. Yes, we were (as their expert says over a clip of my old gang rolling dice and goofing off) “the kind of kids and young people who didn’t go to dances or date on the weekends." But we rocked it. Also featuring npted writers Junot Díaz and Cory Doctorow, talking about how D&D was instrumental to their careers, former D&D editor Tim Kask, and private investigator William Dear, who investigated the famous disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III, supposedly caused by D&D.
Making beasts “walk like you, talk like you, ooh-bi-doo."
I talk to Jon Favreau about his new remake of The Jungle Book and how he got his beasts to “walk like you, talk like you, ooh-bi-doo.” More on that over at the Boston Globe.
You can't escape escape rooms
What is an escape room? I found out reporting on this story for the Boston Globe.