By Ben OlsonReader Staff Occasionally, amid the constant drumbeat of negative stories about our crumbling world, the spotlight shines on something truly absurd to provide much-needed comic relief. Enter McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski. It...
By Soncirey MitchellReader Staff Spring is painting North Idaho green, with grass and buds popping up alongside the first crocuses, violets and Idaho trillium sprouts. Still, it hasn’t exactly been a white winter, and...
By Zach HagadoneReader Staff Against my better judgement, I’ve been using ChatGPT, but not to write emails faster or distill complex data that I can’t be bothered to think about myself, nor serve as...
By Ben OlsonReader Staff The Winter Olympics is more than just a collection of elite athletes competing for medals. It’s a salve that soothes skin rubbed raw from political divisions that have sharply divided...
By Soncirey MitchellReader Staff At this time of year, the world is abuzz with thoughts of love. Young and old couples turn their minds to chocolates and romantic dinners, and schoolchildren cut out paper...
Contemplations on safe spaces — both public and private — and defending your peace By Zach HagadoneReader Staff It’s been hard to feel good about much over the past few weeks; and, like many,...
By Ben OlsonReader Staff In the Jan. 22 edition of the Reader, I used my Bouquets and Barb column to wonder about the seemingly incongruous nature of the Republican party since President Donald Trump’s...
How to keep your plants alive over the winter By Soncirey MitchellReader Staff Winter is peak mortality season for desk cactuses and bathroom ferns, which suddenly seem to brown and wilt when the weather...
By Zach HagadoneReader Staff The first 12 months of Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. president have been a bonanza for historians. Comparisons and analogies abound, and the “history repeats itself” cliche is doing...
By Ben OlsonReader Staff With the publication of our fifth annual 208 Fiction winners and honorable mentions in this edition (see Pages 14-16), I thought I’d share one of my own short stories. I...
