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Clevelander David Giffels wears The Rust Belt well

headshot of David Giffels

headshot of David GiffelsJournalist and essayist David Giffels has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street JournalGrantland, and Redbook among others. His most recent book is The Hard Way on Purpose, a collection of essays about growing up near Akron and Cleveland, an area he sees as embodying a sense of place, but “a weird, surreal place,” The Rust Belt.

We discussed our Rust Belt, shared stories of destroyed places from our youth (his in Cleveland, mine in Toledo), and ended with a look at his experiences writing for Beavis and Butthead and a book on Devo.

Descended from the giant sloths of the Ohio plains, Doug Dangler has spent his life pursuing Yeti and the perfect walnut-crusted cheeseball. He survives on twigs and berries in the wilds of Columbus, occasionally surfacing to conduct interviews with musicians, authors, and other creative types through a system of idiosyncratic grunts and whistles. But seriously, he’s a real person whose hobby is finding interesting people and having them talk about creativity. Dangler attended the University of Toledo, earning a BA in chemistry and biology. For nearly two decades, he’s managed the College of Arts and Sciences Digital Media Studio at The Ohio State University.
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