Last week, I gave you a heaping helping of great articles from our two-and-a-half-year history. Today, I’d like to share a few of the articles that were the most fun for me to write, either because the subject matter was challenging, because I got to be a little goofy, or because the person I interviewed is an inspiring figure for me personally. If you missed any of these, please take a look:
- Our Parallel Universe – March/April 2008 — I took a look at the Christian subculture online and interviewed GodTube’s CEO (at the time) Chris Wyatt. I wasn’t trying to offend anybody … but I might have. A few months later, Wyatt was let go (and I hope to God it was unrelated to the article).
- Is Christian Music Dying? – July/August 2008 — Some people got mad about this one, too. But you can probably guess what industry they work in. This one was so hard to write … I’m stressing out just thinking about it.
- The Christian’s Guide to the Galaxy: Culture Making – Jan/Feb 2009 — Andy Crouch is a great writer and thinker, so it was an honor to interview him before he spoke at Catalyst in 2008.
- The Church in 2034 – May/June 2009 — It was so much fun to think about what the Church will look like in 25 years. If I had the time and energy, I’d constantly amend this article.
- The Seven Twitterers You Meet in the Twitterverse – May/June 2009 — This article struck a chord with a lot of people, and I’m glad. Maybe I can create a graduate degree that focuses on anthropology and Twitter.
- Criticism Under Review – July/August 2009 — In this article I finally had an excuse to interview the great Jeffrey Overstreet. He’s sharp.
- The Youth Pastor’s Utility Belt – July/August 2009 — The illustrations (by our own Ashton Lloyd) make this one of my favorites.
- Antiheroes Welcome – July/August 2009 — I’m not sure I effectively communicated my thoughts on this topic, but I’m reminded of it every time I watch House or Mad Men.
- Typography 101 (with Ryan Jarrell) – Sep/Oct 2009 — I don’t have a design background, so it was fun to learn a lot in preparation for this article.
- Jeff Jensen Gets LOST – Sep/Oct 2009 — I love Lost and I love Jeff Jensen, who covers the show for EW. It was surreal to chat with him for a bit.
- Donald Miller: Storyteller – Sep/Oct 2009 — Donald Miller is the best. His new book is moving and potentially life-changing. Enough said.
- How to FAIL @ Social Media – Nov/Dec 2009 — This article was adapted from my breakout session at Echo 2009. The kind folks in the audience were my unwitting guinea pigs for what I thought was an interesting concept: a backward approach to social media.
Thanks for all the support over the last 2+ years! Hopefully, there’s at least one thing in there that you consider “not horrible.”
