Inside the Box

January 20th, 2013 | Featured, Inside the Box | Read More

Christmas Gift Guide: For a Real Foodie

I love food, and I love to cook. That is about the only “expertise” that I will claim in sharing this list. Over the past several years, as I have learned more about our food system’s impact on our environment and on our health, I have grown increasingly committed to using food as a...

November 23rd, 2012 | Food and Drink | Read More

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November 22nd, 2012 | Food and Drink | Read More

Cross Talk: The Presidential Townhall Debate

In this column, we’ll discuss important current event topics with two Burnside writers who disagree on the issues. One leans left, the other right. Their faith is what helps them to meet in the middle. Usually. Emily: I’m looking forward to this! So James, I’m assuming by now you’ve caught...

October 25th, 2012 | Columns, Cross Talk, Culture, Democracy, Featured | Read More

KC Can’t Skate

I had never ice-skated before, only roller-bladed. My younger brother Rocky and I would spend countless hours on the back patio pretending to be Wayne Gretzky and Jurri Kurri. KC would sometimes play goalie, but not with roller blades. He was older than us, but KC couldn’t skate. My dad decided...

October 9th, 2012 | Essays, Sports | Read More

Things Not To Say To Someone Who Has Cancer – The Book

It’s been a little while since I wrote for Burnside. I’ve been busy writing a book, and now that the book is finished and published, I’d like to tell you a little bit about it. A few years ago I had cancer. It took me seven months from the time I started becoming unwell until I was finally diagnosed...

October 3rd, 2012 | Blog, Books, Culture, Essays | Read More

The Gospel Shell Game

Have you ever known anyone imprisoned by a cell of their own making? Perhaps we all do it to some degree, but some do it to the extent that their lives are an ever-shrinking, imploding world of self-absorption. Indignation can be addictive, and some seem to have been seduced by it entirely. I know...

August 23rd, 2012 | Blog, Culture, Democracy, Essays | Read More

Who Fights for the Fighters? What We Can Learn from the NHL’s Rick Rypien and Derek Boogaard

The death of two National Hockey League tough guys last summer—who both participated in the league’s substance abuse and behavioral health program—has sent shock waves throughout the hockey community. Rick Rypien had just signed with the Winnipeg Jets, and Derek Boogaard was the New York...

July 9th, 2012 | Essays, Sports | Read More

Bobby Hurley and Me

If he passed you on the street, you probably wouldn’t have looked twice at him as he was such an average-looking kid. Pale, thin, with somewhat sunken eyes, he was listed as being 6’0” and 150 pounds, though there are those who would have would say that was being generous. Yet, the moment he stepped...

July 4th, 2012 | Essays, Sports | Read More

The Cook Book

The red and white checkered cookbook splays on the table between us. The book bears evidence of sixty years of careful use. Red electrical tape binds the cover together, and sections of the book turn freely from the binding. The pages, while worn, appear well-preserved — lacking the glued together...

July 2nd, 2012 | Essays, Food and Drink | Read More

Culture