Keep Singing
Making sounds in unison tells the world we are united; it reminds us of what we share, not where we differ. It also releases enough endorphins to smooth over any doubts.
Jeannette Cooperman
A member of the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame, Jeannette Cooperman was the staff writer at St. Louis Magazine for twelve years. Her work was cited as Notable in Best American Essays 2021 and Best American Essays 2023; she received the Writer of the Year award at the 2019 City & Regional Magazine Awards; and she was named to the 2017 FOLIO: 100 list of “the best and brightest” in the magazine industry nationwide. Cooperman spent a decade doing investigative reporting for Riverfront Times, where her work was recognized by the National Education Writers Association, the National Mental Health Association, the National Black Journalists Association, the National Gay and Lesbian Journalism Association, and the Society of Environmental Journalists. She holds degrees in philosophy and communication and a Ph.D. in American studies, and she has written seven books—six nonfiction, biography or cultural history, and a murder mystery. She and her husband, a historian, live with Willie, a goofy but sweet standard poodle, in a century-old farmhouse in Waterloo, Illinois.
By Jeannette Cooperman
Fredrik Backman Foils the Critics (and Me)
He understands “the impossible human experience of just trying to get through the day with everyone you love being somewhat OK at the end of it.”
Record an Audiobook? It Sounded So Easy….
There is one blissfully egocentric, thrilling moment: I am introduced as “the talent.” Granted, I ruin the moment by snorting and warning the sound studio team that I have never recorded anything before, let alone an entire audiobook. They nod; they are already braced for an amateur. “The talent” is…
Fighting with the Buddha
Why would I not desire a good Camembert, or a sweater soft as a lamb?
The Call of the Wild
More than ten thousand species are now critically endangered. Humans have clear-cut forests, paved grassland, overharvested, overfished, and overhunted. Much of the existing ground is being strangled by honeysuckle, kudzu, vetch, cheatgrass, and various exotics. Can we get a second chance?
Cast Your Fate to the Wind
Wind itself can drive you crazy. Sometimes there is a hysteria to it, a shrill tirade that goes on for days, relentless, unappeasable. Sometimes it is angry, as though Zeus sucked in his breath to roar at us. Invisible and unpredictable, wind can stroke us with a lover’s tenderness in the morning and topple our home that afternoon.
The Lie I Tell Myself Daily
It is the most underrated virtue in this culture....
Dig Out Your Crystal Ball
My friend is a little witchy, a little woowoo. She gets “feelings” before something happens.... Does precognition exist?
Are Flash Mobs Over or Just Ruined?
I fall for these every time. Did we really have to commodify spontaneous joy?
Anselm Kiefer: Becoming the Sea
Anselm Kiefer begged SLAM not to dust, fuss, or try to explain his work. Then he handed them five new canvases created just for this extraordinary exhibition.
My Mother the Griefbot
Do we want to bring our loved ones back?
Your Therapist Could Use Some Help
And our choice of words reveals us.