Ren Brabenec | Author

Local Environmental Work in Limbo

June 21, 2025

Michigan’s natural beauty is no mystery to anyone who’s put their feet in our sand, their hands on our lake stones, or turned their face up toward the summer sunshine that brings it all together. Across the state, several nonprofits operate in quiet reverence of the landscapes w… Read More >>

Packing Your Backpacking Pack

June 21, 2025

Humans have grown accustomed to the comforts of home. As much as we romanticize “roughing it” and “living off the land,” getting away from civilization and going back to where the wild things are can get a little hairy (sometimes literally).

But according to … Read More >>

What Does Pride Month Look Like in 2025?

May 31, 2025

The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) ranks Michigan in the top 20 U.S. states for policies supporting LGBTQ+ residents’ lives, experiences, and equality. Michigan is an island in this category because, without going to either the East or West Coast, the only states in the U.S. with … Read More >>

Recreate Responsibly at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

May 24, 2025

With summer around the corner, locals and visitors alike are turning their attention to one of just three National Lakeshores in the United States: Sleeping Bear Dunes.

What can visitors expect at the park in 2025? And how should they prepare? Whether your adventure involves a day h… Read More >>

U.P. Forests and Parks Hit by Federal Budget Cuts and Layoffs

May 17, 2025

Most Michiganders have a favorite seven-word phrase, and it goes something like this: “I’m heading Up North for the weekend.” If they could say that phrase 52 times per year, they would.

No matter where in the mitten our residents live, the consensus is that somewh… Read More >>

Getting Real About the End

April 19, 2025

A recent fad is going viral on TikTok: Short, humorous videos racking up millions of views depict millennials buying plots of vacant land and zoning them for cemetery use.

Why the quirky new business trend? Predictions vary, but according to the Census Bureau, U.S. deaths per year a… Read More >>

The Legacy of Student Activism

April 12, 2025

“It’s a physical letter to your representative,” Alex Tank says when asked to define the word “protest.”

As the director of the Traverse City International Affairs Forum (IAF), Tank and a group of students on the IAF Student Leadership Team have been wo… Read More >>

Fighting Forever Chemicals

April 5, 2025

No state is completely safe from pollution-related health risks. However, Michigan, surrounded by water and boasting some 11,000 inland lakes, thousands of miles of rivers and streams, and hundreds of billions of gallons of groundwater, is unique in its risk factors.

That’s wh… Read More >>

Fly Fishing in the Mitten

April 5, 2025

The Au Sable and Manistee rivers are known for their high water quality, beautiful scenery, and superb cold-water fisheries. The Au Sable is also home to an annual canoe marathon that has earned international acclaim, while the Manistee attracts anglers and landscape photographers alike to … Read More >>

Two Brothers, Two Worlds

Jan. 25, 2025

American history books are filled with the names of people who won battles, invented things, advanced society (or impeded it), and otherwise did something notable to earn their place in the historical record. Unfortunately, less attention is paid to the everyday folks of decades and centuri… Read More >>

Finding Mental Health Support This Winter

Jan. 4, 2025

Just about everyone who’s grown up in northern Michigan has uttered this refrain at least once: “You like it here now, but wait until you experience our winters.”

It’s not just a Midwestern joke or colloquial quip. It’s real advice, because most people … Read More >>

Raising Deaf Dogs

Dec. 7, 2024

When I slammed the door of my Jeep and stepped onto the path leading to my friend’s house, the first thing I noticed was that the dogs on her porch didn’t wake at the sound of my car door.

Then I remembered. Katie’s dogs are deaf.

Katie Bott, who lives with… Read More >>

When to Listen to Your Inner Voice

Nov. 9, 2024

We all have a voice in our heads. The one that tells us right from wrong. That cheers us on…or puts us down. That remembers (and replays) the good and the bad. Sometimes that voice helps, and sometimes it hurts.

Dr. Ethan Kross, an award-winning psychologist and the director … Read More >>

We're Here to Deliver Democracy

Oct. 19, 2024

The first Tuesday of November is an important day: Election Day.

Yet, despite the cultural significance Americans attach to the day, voter turnout in even the nation’s most-attended elections (presidential elections) hovered between 49-57 percent from the 1970s through the 201… Read More >>

Drag Is a "Celebration of Being"

Sept. 21, 2024

Drag shows have become a central feature in modern discourse, but most Americans would be hard-pressed if asked to define the term. According to celebrated drag queen Jay Jackson (stage name: Laganja Estranja), “Drag stands for ‘Dressing-as-a-girl.’ That’s where the … Read More >>

We Speak for the Water

Aug. 17, 2024

One need only glance at a map to understand Michigan’s unique connection to water. The state’s legal boundaries extend far into Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior, giving the Great Lakes State 40,000 square miles of water, 40 percent of the state’s total “land&rdquo… Read More >>

Mashup Rock & Roll Musical Wants to "Celebrate and Question" Society

Aug. 3, 2024

Weird, wacky, inclusive, creative, committed, and collaborative. Describing Mashup Rock & Roll Musical in a sentence is no small feat, as the organization has created a unique and irreverent theater experience that would leave even the most conservative Broadway critic super-glued to hi… Read More >>

The Women Rangers of Isle Royale

June 22, 2024

John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt. Everett Townsend and Walter Fry. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Richard Proenneke, and Ansel Adams. Since the inception of the national parks in the late 1800s, the men who carried the banner of wilderness preservation also wrote the history of their movement, … Read More >>

Free Books for Every Child

June 22, 2024

Dolly Parton has enjoyed the title “The Queen of Country Music” for decades, but she also goes by another name. Young people worldwide know her as “The Book Lady” because Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) has mailed free books to millions of children ov… Read More >>

Supporting Small and Doing Right

June 1, 2024

May 18, 2024, marked the 10th anniversary of the opening of My Secret Stash, Traverse City’s retail hub for all things Pride. We caught up with Karen Roofe, owner and founder of My Secret Stash (MSS), to talk about the last 10 years, the next 10 years, and what it means to create a sa… Read More >>