what have you been up to, lapin?

I've been busy for the last three months. In addition to my work with the Chicago International Film Festival, I've been churning out stories for several places: some old haunts of mine, some brand-new. Consider this my most up-to-date work portfolio.

national geographic doc talks

I've started a new regular series for NatGeo where I interview documentary filmmakers. Below, Q&As with:

• Gurukulam directors Jillian Elizabeth and Neil Dalal, on life in an Indian ashram (7/8/16)
•  Nuts! director Penny Lane, on that time a fake doctor got a nation hooked on goat gonads (7/15/16)
• Indian Point director Ivy Meeropol, on the likelihood of a Fukushima-like nuclear disaster unfolding in New York (7/29/16)
• The Eagle Huntress director Otto Bell, on a teenage girl who became a champion eagle hunter in Mongolia (8/4/16)
• Garnet's Gold director Edward Perkins, on following an eccentric adventurer into the Scottish Highlands in a search for buried treasure (8/15/16)

A mandolin at the minnesota state fair

For Current, I profiled Chris Thile, the bluegrass prodigy and new host of A Prairie Home Companion, as he made his pilgrimage to the Land of the Butter Queen to assure Minnesotans he would do right by their public radio institution. (9/13/16)

Truly inconvenient truths

For Oscilloscope Musings, I take a deep dive into Jon Shenk's 2011 climate-change documentary The Island President and consider the most effective way to make an "issue doc." (8/3/16)

reviews, reviews

In August I was inducted into the Chicago Film Critics Association, a tremendous honor. I hope to make my fellow critics proud. Below, I keep up with the current culture:

Movies

• Under the Shadow: The superior Babadook. (NPR, 10/6/16)
• The Dressmaker: A confused dark comedy with pretty costumes. (NPR, 9/22/16)
• Operation Avalanche: Hidden-camera moon goof. (NPR, 9/15/16)
• The Light Between Oceans: Beauty in a moral dilemma. (NPR, 9/1/16)
• Southside With You: The movie version of a plaque. (NPR, 8/25/16)
• Morris From America: An African American in Heidelberg. (NPR, 8/25/16)
• Sausage Party: A filthy Pixar parody, but a surprisingly funny one. (NPR, 8/11/16)
• The Tenth Man: An enticing little nugget from Jewish Buenos Aires. (NPR, 8/4/16)
• Equity: Wall Street equality with Wall Street morality. (NPR, 7/28/16)
• Don't Think Twice: Fake scenes, genuine emotion. (NPR, 7/21/16)
• Ghostbusters: A sharp rebuke to the Slimers of the world. (NPR, 7/14/16)
• Equals: Dystopian YA come to sterilized life. (Uproxx, 7/13/16)
• Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You: Are there still too many Archie Bunkers? (NPR, 7/7/16)
• ​The Purge: Election Year: All concept, no execution. (7/1/16)
• Hunt for the Wilderpeople: Mild, not wild, Kiwi hijinks. (NPR, 6/23/16)

TV

• Vice Principals: Dull, mostly mirthless little-boy humor. (Vulture, 7/17/16)