Category: Interviews

Meghan Daum takes aim at the culture wars in “The Problem with Everything” By Christina Campodonico In her breakout 1999 essay “My Misspent Youth,” Meghan Daum stared into the face of her mounting debt — “There are days when my debt seems to be at the center of my being, a cancer that must be treated with the morphine of excuses and rationales and promises to myself that I’m going to come up with the big score,” she wrote in her twenties — and emerged a shrewd cultural observer of both Generation X and the American cultural landscape at...

LMU’s Shonda Buchanan tells truer tales of American history By Carolyn Neuhausen Loyola Marymount University writing instructor and rhetorical arts fellow Shonda Buchanan understands how abuse and self-hatred — the kind that ripples through families for generations — can set the tone for interpersonal relationships for decades, if not centuries. In her new memoir “Black Indian,” Buchanan tells the story of her family’s African-American, American Indian and European heritage, tracing their migration from the Carolinas to Michigan, where they often faces the question “What are you?” in a world that could only separate Americans into white or black. There’s...

“Seinfeld” writer Peter Mehlman takes on the culture war in “#MeAsWell” By Danny Karel Peter Mehlman’s particular form of satire — playful, a touch neurotic — has earned him a successful career. He was a writer and executive producer on the iconic TV show “Seinfeld,” responsible for some of the show’s most memorable bits and phrases including “double-dipping,” “shrinkage” and “yada yada.” He has contributed humor pieces to The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Esquire. He’s a stand-up comedian. But, as Mehlman observes — and Arnie Pepper, the Pulitzer-prize winning sports journalist and protagonist of Mehlman’s...

Athlete turned rock star Niall Breslin puts mental health on the agenda for Ireland Week By Joe Piasecki Niall Breslin is the kind of guy so many guys want to be. He’s been a professional athlete, chart-topping musician and TV star, yet remains courteous and humble. He’s also struggled for years with generalized anxiety disorder and depression, and in sharing his story through a bestselling book, popular podcast and the nonprofit “Lust for Life,” Breslin has become Ireland’s leading public advocate for mental health and emotional wellbeing — especially for men. But “Bressie,” 39, is most definitely not a...

We’re back on the record, starting with mental illness and drug abuse in encampments By Joe Piasecki The Argonaut’s extended interview of Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin about the homeless crisis continues this week amid some new revelations. On Monday, the Los Angeles Times published its own analysis of Homeless Count data and a UCLA study suggesting that more than two-thirds of L.A.’s homeless struggle with mental illness and/or substance abuse — that’s more than double the 29% figure reported by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which relied on a much stricter definition for reporting. Nonetheless, the...