Nikhil Swaminathan
Reporter, Writer, Critic (and Hopefully More …)Coming Up Small
I’ve been a fan of Atlanta’s three major sports teams for as long as I can remember. For at least 25 years of support and occasional bouts of deep devotion, these franchises—the Hawks, the Falcons, and the Braves—have delivered one championship. (“The one World Series no one wanted to win,” according to Bill Simmons.) You don’t have to be a financial whiz to know that’s a garbage ROI.
A few of my friends have challenged my contention that Atlanta’s teams make it the most miserable sports city. My friend Samir cannot be convinced that Cleveland is not the rightful occupier of that throne, between Lebron’s decision, the Browns becoming the Ravens and then winning the Super Bowl, “The Drive”, “The Catch”, etc. Greg, another close homey, is from Seattle, a long suffering sports city with a paucity of titles and a former basketball team (currently named the Oklahoma City Thunder) that is probably the most fun team to watch in the NBA.
On the occasion of the Falcons unceremoniously crashing out of the playoffs this past January, we decided to blog our myriad frustrations from our hometowns. Joined, from time to time, another of my friends, Dave Zuckerman (a tortured Beltway sports fan), we’ve whined, kvetched and boohoo-ed over here, at Coming Up Small.
Take a look and let us know what you think.
Remembering JR Minkel
A charcoal drawing of JR by his Aunt Nancy.
Exactly a year ago, I lost a close friend. JR was among the most brilliant, most engaging, and most enigmatic people I’ve met in my life. Though we were friends for only four years and change, he had a profound effect on my worldview—as he did on most people who spent any time exchanging ideas with him.
I wasn’t really able to write about JR initially after he passed. In fact, it was an email from me that informed several of his friends that he’d taken his own life last winter. Obviously, losing a friend is traumatic, but being the bearer of such awful news was among one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I spent a lot of time, especially early last year thinking and talking about JR, but I couldn’t really focus my thoughts long enough to write anything about my friend.
In late-November, a colleague of mine forwarded me an email from an editor at NPR’s This American Life. The producers of the radio show were going to curate The New York Times Magazine‘s “The Lives They Lived” issue and wanted it to focus not on the most famous people who passed, but on “people who haven’t gotten a lot of press attention but have extraordinary stories nonetheless.” My colleague thought JR qualified and suggested I submit something. So, I thought about it throughout Thanksgiving and cobbled something together, largely in JR’s words (which are far superior to my own).
As it turns out, they were actually looking for well known people, just maybe not Amy Winehouse-level well known. (No matter, the piece I submitted was way too long for their purposes anyway.) Still, the exercise was greatly beneficial for me. I got to spend a lot of time thinking about my friend. I got to spend a lot of time reading his thoughts, via his brainy, extemporaneous blog A Fistful of Science. I got to know JR better.
Below is what I submitted to the editors for their consideration.
Senior Editor at Archaeology
This post is way overdue, as I’ve been working at Archaeology magazine for a while now. Anyway, yes, that happened. My former managing editor at Seed, Claudia Valentino, plucked me out of the freelance ranks (just as a lot of my regular gigs were hitting transitional moments) and brought me on staff at Archaeology, where she recently became editor in chief. (Claudia doesn’t have a website, so I’ll just link to this story she recently wrote for More.)
As an opportunity, this is huge. I haven’t been able to do a lot of magazine editing thus far in my career, given the explosion in web properties and demand for more quickly produced content. I am really excited to acquire some new skills. And I know Claudia is an ideal shepherd for me improving my craft.
An immense bonus to this new venture is that Archaeology‘s deputy editor is my close homey Samir Patel. We’ll likely hang out and talk music and sports all day. (I mean, when we’re not editing and writing archaeology pieces.)
The cover of the first issue of Archaeology that I worked on.
Education Blogging at GOOD
It’s 2010. After a year of some soul-searching, unemployment-collecting and taking every possible opportunity handed to me, I have finally put together a reasonably solid base for a freelance career. I suppose that was my 2009 accomplishment.
Moving With Heavy Heart, R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs
Tonight, in Brooklyn, friends of Jerry Fuchs are gathering to share their grief, but also to share stories and celebrate the life of an extraordinary person. I count myself as a friend of Jerry’s and am both deeply saddened by his passing, as well as the fact that I cannot attend his memorial and be a physical part of the community he built in New York City. So, I’ve decided to write my thoughts and share my stories here:
Life just isn’t fair. If it were, people like Jerry Fuchs would live forever.
Teaming Up with My Pops
So, my dad and I now have a joint web venture. It’s not going to be the next Gawker or ScienceBlogs or anything, but it’s surprisingly of-the-moment, especially for peanut butter fiends. We just launched a blog dedicated to food safety. It’s called Food Safety Policy. (Sexy, right? My dad’s a former academic, so go easy.)
Anyway, we’re combining my ability to post things to a weblog with his ability to know what he’s talking about–as long as it’s about food safety–to bring news and analysis on our increasingly worrisome food supply. (Pet food, spinach, jalapenoes, oh my!)
Back on the Blog
So, I started this site back in July, during a mental health week from Scientific American. Writing a story a day (or thereabouts) on neuroscience, stem cells, or whatever was shooting me toward burnout and I needed to clear my head. I didn’t get very far, really. (I still need to fix up the banner. It’s kind of ugly.)
Well, my dance card is suddenly wide open, and I’ve got tons of time now. GOOD, which hired me away from SciAm in September, gave me my walking papers. I’m not sure entirely what to do now–the job market is a disaster. I can take a shot at freelancing, which I guess is what I am right now if any attractive ladies are asking. (“I’m Nikhil, I’m a freelance writer. I’m waiting on checks; wanna buy me a drink?” Sexy right?)
So, if for some reason you’ve been here before, expect to see some changes over the next couple weeks.
nikhil
