Michael Downing

Health-Care Wars: Embedded Reporter

Michael Downing — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:45:59 +0000

I have a confession to make: I sort of like my insurance company. In the last five years, it has shelled out a lot of money to save my life, which has endeared it to me.
Also, unlike a number of the other major players in the current health-care wars, my insurance company didn’t do anything to threaten my life. . . .

You can read the rest of the post at Huffington Post–Health-Care Wars.

RACHEL MADDOW LOVES DAYLIGHT SAVING

Michael Downing — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:11:51 +0000

Who knew? During an appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC to unscramble some of the persistent myths about Daylight Saving, I found out that Rachel Maddow is a devoted fan of long, sunny evenings. But the false claims about the clock change saving energy—well, not so much.

And she’s not alone. In a blog I did for Huffington Post called Beat the Clock on the topic, I stirred up a lot of comments from lovers of daylight saving—and even more confusion.

Now, how to shed some light on the need for health-care reform.

Huffington Post Health Care Post

Michael Downing — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:57:54 +0000

The Huffington Post book page has a great review of Life with Sudden Death by the great writer Elizabeth Benedict. She is the editor of a terrific new collection of essays by contemporary writers, Mentors, Muses, and Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed their Lives.

Porter Square Books Reading

Michael Downing — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:39:21 +0000

I will be reading from Life with Sudden Death at Porter Square Books in Cambridge on Thursday, 29 October, at 7 p.m.

Shelf Awareness

Michael Downing — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:55:46 +0000

An interview I did for the Book Brahmin feature of the great book site Shelf Awareness was posted this week.

Signs of Life

Michael Downing — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:35:24 +0000

An essay I wrote for the “Lives”column—the last page of The New York Times Magazine—is in this week’s Sunday Times (4 October 2009). If you missed the Sunday paper, you can click here for “Sudden Death, or Breeze.” It’s the story of my return to teaching after the first life-saving defibrillator implanted in my chest had nearly killed me.

MOVIE NEWS

Michael Downing — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:54:19 +0000

If it has been reported in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, then it must be true. The movie of my novel Breakfast with Scot will be playing in a theater near you in October—this fall. The U.S. distributors for the movie have an updated web site at BreakfastwithScotMovie.com, and you can also download press material and updates from the Regent Releasing site. This news broke as the movie opened the ongoing 2008 Outfest in Los Angeles and a few days after it closed the Frameline festival in San Francisco.
I’ve been having way too much fun reading other blogs written by people who have seen the movie at one of the many festivals where it has played since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival–which means it is time I started saying more here, I know.

So, more later.

Toothpaste + Snake Oil = Daylight Saving

Michael Downing — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:04:35 +0000

This year, the absurd history of Congress’s attempt to squeeze an energy savings out of our clocks is more pertinent than ever. The recent Indiana study, which proves that daylight saving wastes energy, might occasion another costly round of confusion. We could be in for a repeat of the 2007 unilateral time change that messed up everyone’s PDA and computer clock—not to mention the schedule of every American airline. Congress is late with its promised analysis and (by its own mandate) could decide to change the dates for daylight saving again next year.

In a new essay, Toothpaste Plus Snake Oil Equals Daylight Saving, which I’ve put up on the Huffington Post, I’m proposing we ask Congress not to write a new report. Instead, I’m hoping somebody in Congress will read the record of its own 1919 Hearings. It features a genuinely dazzling performance by the toothpaste magnate Sidney Colgate, which I excerpt in my essay for your reading pleasure.

Help Wanted

Michael Downing — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:48:42 +0000

First thought: I have a blog.

Second thought: I have a blog?

Vague recollection: André Gide: “Everything has already been said, but since no one listens, it is always necessary to begin again.”

Resolve: To begin. Coming soon—a blog.

Invitation: Tell me anything. This is a genuine request. Send reading and movie tips, recipes (I’m omnivorous), and advice (I believe everything).

Nagging worry: A blog is a dog you have to write.