Dispatches Archives - Page 4 of 21

April 18, 2020March 9, 2023

Thoughts on a bread baking renaissance in the pandemic

Bread seems to be having a renaissance: amid the coronavirus pandemic, people seem to be buying bread (if they can find it), flour, and yeast at unprecedented rates. I’ve been a bread baking and journalism evangelist for a good while, and I was honored to talk little about my journey so far, and about home bread baking on the radio recently.

I was a guest (not the host!) on the Sound of Ideas with my friend Mike McIntyre. I transcribed some of my bread thoughts for you, in case you missed the show. If you have any other ideas, please get in touch!

Also, please check out my book: Kneading Journalism: Essays on baking bread and breaking down the news!

Continue reading “Thoughts on a bread baking renaissance in the pandemic”

April 8, 2020

The Baking Journalist in Edible Cleveland!

In a month that brought some pretty serious lows, I’m really honored to have The Baking Journalist project featured in Northeast Ohio’s preeminent food magazine Edible Cleveland!

Lisa Sands and photographer Laura Watilo Blake stopped by my humble abode while talking, baking, and (hopefully) enjoying some of my basic breads. It really was a pleasure to share this project with them and their readers.

I was a little apprehensive that my breads wouldn’t be good enough, or my kitchen wasn’t big enough, or whatever. But Lisa said Edible Cleveland likes to talk to real people, creating and enjoying food. I definitely qualified!

Laura Watilo Blake makes my bread look better than ever before!

It may be a little while before I can bake like I had been doing, but I’ll keep trying. This experience has definitely put some wind in my sails. Continue reading “The Baking Journalist in Edible Cleveland!”

April 5, 2020September 18, 2022

Battered not broken: reflections from a scooter crash

There is a split-second for your body to prepare for the trauma before the car slams into your left side, and a leisurely ride into work on a sunny day becomes an exhausting and painful day at the hospital.

Your fight-or-flight instinct is sparked by the adrenaline pumping through your vulnerable shell: your heart pounds; your muscles tense; your awareness is heightened, just as the worst of your situation becomes the prime object of your focus.

The hood of the car is, all at once, a white blur streaking toward you, and also a crystal clear threat to your existence.

As the collision strips from you the handlebars–and with them your ability to control your destination–you hold out your hands to catch yourself from a fall that you won’t be able to avoid.

September 21, 2019January 6, 2024

Journalists should stop subsidizing the pundit class

[An expanded version of this essay appears in my book Kneading Journalism]

It seems to be its own past-time to ask John Kasich whether he’s going to run again for president, perhaps even challenging the incumbent Donald Trump.

CNN is especially interested in Kasich’s plans, and the network invited the two-term Ohio Governor to let viewers see into a crystal ball, and know if he sees a way to the White House.

“Right now, I don’t see it,” Kasich told the network, surely dashing the hopes of keen political observers wanting another narrative arc to follow.

“That doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be a path down the road,” he said, maintaining the possibility of a plot twist later.

I wasn’t surprised by Kasich saying this to CNN in August 2019, not only because I’m a journalist in Ohio and generally feel there would be more buzz before such a move.

The main reason I wasn’t surprised to read about Kasich on CNN is because Kasich is on CNN’s payroll as a Sr. Political Commentator, and pundit.

September 1, 2019May 29, 2023

Baking Vlog: Egyptian Fino Bread

In this episode, I tell the story of what happened trying to report at the pyramids a year after the revolution, and a story of charity right after we left. I also try to make Egyptian Fino bread, which I ate nearly every morning in Cairo. And thank you to all of the wonderful Egyptians who told me the proper pronunciation is “fee-no” not “fine-oh!” I hope you like it. A longer essay about Egypt, Egyptian bread being life, and about reporting in the country can be found in my book: Kneading Journalism.

Please subscribe on YouTube, and to my e-mail list.

I didn’t want to leave my recording gear in a public bathroom by the pyramids, but I didn’t think I had a choice. After a chance encounter with a Swiss-Egyptian man in Zurich, I ended up on a week-long reporting trip in Cairo in 2012. Hamid was going to show me his Cairo, and talk about how his native country had changed since the revolution that led to the exit of Hosni Mubarak, and a new chapter in Egypt’s rich history. We traveled to Giza for an interview, and security wouldn’t let me through with my gear. They thought I was a TV guy, and thus needed an expensive permit.

July 30, 2019July 30, 2019

The time I interviewed John Kasich in Davos

John Kasich interviewed by Tony Ganzer for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. (Jump to transcript)

I recognized John Kasich more from his days at Fox News than as a politician as I searched through the Davos Congress Centre for potential interview partners.

My bureau chief from Zurich and I made up a two-person team for twice daily reports from the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, and we took turns hopping from web feeds, to live events, to demonstrations, and sometimes just walking through a convention center looking for interviews.

June 2, 2019October 16, 2020

Preview: Egyptian Fino Bread

It’s been a little while since my last Baking Journalist video, but that doesn’t mean I’m not working on the next one–Egyptian Fino bread!

(If you’re looking for the recipe I end up using, click here!!)

I hope you like it, and please subscribe on YouTube, and to my e-mail list.

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After the Irish Gingerbread video with a story from my reporting in Ireland, I really wanted to offer a story from my brief time in Cairo in 2012, one that isn’t in the reporting itself. In short, I’ll explain why I ended up leaving my audio equipment with a bathroom attendant at the pyramids. (Interested to hear more, right?!)

Continue reading “Preview: Egyptian Fino Bread”