I am Megan Giles Cooney, a Philadelphia-and Northern Michigan-based journalist. Meet me in the middle as I explore today’s events using curiosity, empathy, and fair-mindedness. My newspaper columns, syndicated in over 70 local newspapers, are factual, informative, and authentic opinion pieces. I cover everything from 2024: national issues, local issues, pop culture, emptying the nest, grief, and often asking how we can all get along better.
Focusing on our differences has yet to get us very far. In fact, divisions now threaten our very democracy. Perhaps the best way forward is to identify the human values, hopes, and dreams we all share and then build anew on this common ground.
Must Alabama Regulate Everything?
Once in a while, something in the news fires me up. I remain centrist on most issues, trying to find…
The unexplainable explained
When a school shooting happens in America, we cry for the deaths of the little kindergarteners, the high schoolers just…
No matter what Oscar thinks, Barbie is the star
I bet the Board of Governors of the Academy Awards – whoever they are – are getting the side eye…
If Only Pets Could Talk
During our Christmas Eve service many years ago, the minister spoke to the congregation’s children and said the animals would…
54 Reasons We can do Better
There is no way to ease into the topic of homeless children in our community. You can only be blunt;…
The Terror Seems Unfortunately not Relatable
I lived abroad in Asia for many years while my husband worked for General Motors. I have written about some…
Sept. 11, 2001: Anniversary of clarity
My parents’ apartment is a time capsule. After my dad’s death in August, my brothers and I started sorting and…
Thank you, Barbie
I saw the movie Barbie when my dad lay dying in hospice. I went because I had promised my daughter,…
What Would Jesus Say?
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, describes itself as a place of “Love.…
TV News Method Acting Shouldn’t Fool Us Anymore
The neat thing about movie rolls staring method actors is we know their motivations and reasons for their dramatic transformations…
A Ticker to Tally the Violence, but Consider the Details
April is bringing more mayhem. More vile, ugly gun violence and more deaths of American children. A sentence that is…
We Sanction Gun Violence; When Will We Say “Enough?”
Have you watched the body camera footage from the Metro Nashville Police Department showing raw video of this week’s school…