Writers
- Joe Posnanski - the best sports writer in the world. KC Royals fans love him maybe more than anyone else, but trust me, if you like sports at all, you'll love his stuff.
- Yael Abouhalka - a local writer who speaks truth to power.
- Tim Urban - author of the Wait But Why blog, source of many deep dive posts on many fascinating topics.
- Orson Scott Card - a novelist whose sci-fi books dig deep into many topics. I've loved introducing both of my daughters to his work, specifically the Enderverse.
- Randall Munroe - author of the xkcd web comic, the "What If?" series, and the "Thing Explainer" book. Such simple drawings, such great subject matter.
- Ellis Morning - an indie author who is great about bringing together unlikely subjects for an entertaining story. She's also very open about her writing process and (at least for now) responds personally if you write to her.
Musicians
- Metallica - my first introduction to metal has (finally!) put out a new album and I'm really liking it.
- Bruno Mars - pop music is not usually my go-to option, but his stuff never fails to get my spirits up.
- Bob Dylan - truthfully I'm not too familiar with the bulk of his material, but I know enough to know that giving him the Nobel Prize for Literature wasn't wrong.
- MC Frontalot, MC Lars, Mega Ran, Dual Core, Schaffer the Darklord, and the dozens of other nerdcore hip-hop artists - they speak to my nerdy self in a way nobody else does, and they pulled off a master work this fall when they responded to Alex Trebek belittling their genre.
Podcasts
- Stuff You Missed In History - a great source of information about events and people who are often overlooked, often shedding a light on things happening today.
- Hello Internet - this robot and caveman are the reason I have a category of podcasts called Two Dudes Talking. Their funny and insightful commentary on many topics, and their odd combination of personality traits, make this one of the podcasts I enjoy most.
- Worst. Comic. Podcast. Ever! - three friends of mine talking about comics and related topics. I'm not very well versed in actual comic books, but these guys cover the recent movies and TV shows too, which I love, and they always find new and fun ways to present their content.
- Honorable mentions: You Are Not So Smart, Freakonomics, Radiolab, 99 Percent Invisible, This American Life, Serial (whenever it comes back), Epic Piecast
People
- Ruth Harder - pastor of Rainbow Mennonite Church, she always has something timely and challenging to say. She is the right person to lead our church in our mission to advocate for greater acceptance of and outreach to marginalized people, which looks to be ever more important in these times. Also, her husband Jesse Graber is one amazing artist and musician.
- My teammates at work - I'm truly blessed to work with such a talented, friendly and diverse group. If they're reading, you guys, you mean so much to me. Thanks for making our team so great and making me a part of it.
- The many sides of my family - we're pretty spread out over the country, and we don't see eye to eye on everything, but we do a pretty good job of remembering that we are family and we love each other no matter what.
- My lovely wife - you're the best match for me and you do such a great job of keeping this production together. I love you!
- My kids - you two keep me laughing and always make me proud. I love you!
- Barack Obama - really gonna miss this guy.
