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Sun shines on Iron Range solar prospects
The Minnesota Reformer published my latest essay today, the first of the new year. This one is entitled “Solar energy shines on the Iron Range; will politics throw shade.” In the past ten years or so, the Iron Range’s relationship with the solar energy industry has been something of a roller coaster. In 2011, Silicon…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 8: ‘Blanket’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. ‘Blanket’ (Original…
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MinnesotaBrown: Top Posts of 2023
If a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? That old philosophical query runs through my mind as I pose a new question: if a writer stops tracking his web traffic, does anyone read what he wrote? Of course, the answer is that I think so, but can’t…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 7: ‘Linda’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. ‘Linda’ When…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 6: ‘The Tender Trap’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. The Tender…
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The end of U.S. Steel and the triumph of the corporation
This morning we learned that Nippon Steel of Japan will purchase U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion as part of a deal approved by both companies’ boards over the weekend. My latest for the Minnesota Reformer explores the deal and its historic implications. U.S. Steel owns or has a stake in three mines on the Mesabi…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 5: ‘The Tiger’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. ‘The Tiger’…
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The power dynamics at the root of Iron Range history
Last week, I gave a talk about race and power in the immigrant dynamic of the Mesabi Iron Range. It was a challenging topic, but I like to think I approached it in a non-dogmatic way. I realized after it was done that I didn’t finish one of the stories I started in the Q&A.…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 4: ‘Insolubilia’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. ‘Insolubilia’ (Original…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 3: ‘The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. ‘The Paradox…
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Notions of race in an immigrant culture
In almost eight years of research, writing and editing on my current book, I’ve learned a few things. One is that our views of history are shaped by our preexisting knowledge of how it turns out. We become enamored with alternate outcomes or unusual events that seem to have shaped fate. However, the people of…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 2: ‘Trials and Tribulations’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. ‘Trials and…
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In da club, ya
Some might remember the night my friend and podcasting partner Karl Jacob and I co-hosted a Roaring ’20s 100th birthday party for the Hibbing High School auditorium last month. It was a lovely evening of storytelling, sketch comedy, jazz and old time music in one of the great cathedrals of Iron Range education. What you…
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FARGO, Season 5, Episode 1: ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’
Northern Minnesota author Aaron J. Brown reviews each episode of “Fargo” with an eye for unique details from the place where the show is set. The ratings range from INTERESTING (bad), to COULD BE WORSE (not so good) to PRETTY GOOD (not so bad), and OH, YA! (real good then). Beware the spoilers. ‘The Tragedy…
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Ironweed
Today the Minnesota Reformer published my latest essay about about the new $68 million cannabis facility proposed for a shuttered Grand Rapids factory. The short version is that I’m skeptical. The long version gets to the root of that issue. The title of this post refers to the notion of commercial weed on the Iron…