Neil Heinen's career in words
Heinen retires Sept. 15 after 20 years working with the magazine.
This marks Neil Heinen's final “For the Record” column, capping 20 years of monthly column writing for Madison Magazine.
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This marks Neil Heinen's final “For the Record” column, capping 20 years of monthly column writing for Madison Magazine.
"One of the many difficult and vexing ramifications of living in a pandemic is the forced separation from one another. But the truth is we’ve been moving further apart for awhile now."
COVID-19 opened our eyes to stresses too long obscured by a distracted society.
Local news gathering is a responsibility and a privilege and those of us who do it take it seriously.
Working from home was never something to which I aspired.
Someone I know and trust recently posited we’ve become the United States of Anxiety.
The change in our relationship to our civic institutions has been one of the most important issues of the last 30 years and one of the biggest challenges we face as a civil society.
To say finding a career in journalism saved my life sounds a tad dramatic.
A lot of people who care about this city and region have been anticipating 2020 for what feels like a long time.
Strong cities have strong community centers. Because they are so deeply connected, community centers are also places where city issues plays out in real time. Housing, transportation, employment, education...real issues for real people in real places.
I have always enjoyed the reflection that accompanies the end of a year.
Vacations are tricky in the news business. News doesn’t take a vacation, so inevitably events occur while you’re gone causing you to regret not being able to respond until optimal timeliness has long passed.
The constancy of change as a theme in the reality of life can seem cliché. Life is change.
I’ve long known that words have a uniquely powerful ability to shape how we view our lives and the world in which we live.
My appreciation for Cheatham is similarly broad in scope, certainly much broader than the typical public perceptions portrayed in the media.
For the most part, I have no idea how old I am.
I’ll never think of living and working in Madison without thinking of Hizzoner Paul Soglin.
The recent incidents in our schools has further revealed the racism — both latent and blatant — in our society as a whole.
Former Gov. Scott Walker did a lot of damage to this state.
Heading into the recent elections, I’d been doing a fair amount of thinking about civil society, shared concerns, listening to each other and problem solving.
Localism is about problem solving, and cities are increasingly best situated to address the concerns we share as citizens.
One City rocks at nurturing kids and families. Its success in just three years is remarkable.
I think sometimes that foreign travel provides those “kindness of strangers” experiences that make us appreciate the connection we have to one another in this world despite differences of language and culture.
To all you one-hit wonders out there, I am in awe of your talent and your courage.
From July 3-8, we’re putting a spotlight on Madison’s Asian community during the inaugural Very Asian Week, presented by Madison Magazine and Very Asian Foundation.
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