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Michael G. Glab

Michael G. Glab

Michael G. Glab has been an independent writer since 1983 when he wrote his first article for the Chicago Reader about professional wrestlers. His in-depth personality profiles became a staple in the Reader over the next two decades. Today, he hosts a WFHB radio interview feature called “Big Talk” and is the brain behind the blog, The Electron Pencil. WFIU’s David Brent Johnson has described Big Mike as “a hip town crier” who writes “in a colorful, intelligent working class vernacular.”

Posts by this contributor 31 results
The Writers Guild at Bloomington is hosting the inaugural Local Authors Book Fair on November 2 at the Monroe County History Center. Readers can talk with 30 authors who have published in a number of genres and formats. Michael G. Glab interviewed several of the participants for this preview.

Writers Guild Bloomington Hosting Local Authors at Inaugural Book Fair Book lovers can meet 30 authors at Monroe County History Center in November
Michael G. Glab
The Writers Guild at Bloomington is hosting the inaugural Local Authors Book Fair on November 2 at the Monroe County History Center. Readers and aspiring writers can talk with 30 authors who have published in a number of genres and formats. Michael G. Glab interviewed several of the participants for this preview. Read the writeup here.
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Monroe Lake is “the source of our drinking water, a destination for many outdoor activities, and home to a wide variety of critters and flora,” writes Michael G. Glab. This year marks the 60th anniversary of its dedication, and many events are planned to commemorate it. Above, swimmers enjoy the beach at Fairfax State Recreation Area. | Limestone Post

Celebrating Monroe Lake’s 60th Anniversary Series of events and programs planned for lead-up to October reception
Michael G. Glab
We couldn’t imagine living without Monroe Lake, writes Michael G. Glab. The reservoir is “the source of our drinking water, a destination for many outdoor activities, and home to a wide variety of critters and flora.” This year marks the 60th anniversary of its dedication, with many events planned to commemorate it. Read Glab’s article, featuring Interpretive Naturalist Jill Vance.
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The primary reason Salt Creek was dammed in the 1960s was to control floodwaters downstream. While the Monroe Lake Control Tower (above) regulates water flow from the reservoir through the dam, the rest of Lake Monroe has become a valuable resource for drinking water, recreation, industry, wild habitat, and other uses well beyond its watershed. | Photo by Anna Powell Denton

How Healthy Is Lake Monroe — and How Long Will It Survive? Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate
Michael G. Glab, Anna Powell Denton
“Lake Monroe is a reservoir, and all reservoirs eventually fill up,” says Michelle Cohen, executive director of Lake Monroe Water Fund. But, she adds, those who rely on the lake for drinking water, recreation, and other uses have the power to extend its life as long as possible. Writer Michael G. Glab takes a deep dive into the health of Lake Monroe. Click here for his report for Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate.
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Writer Michael G. Glab says team nicknames and mascots adopted by Indiana’s high schools tell the stories of this 'high school hoops mad' Hoosier state. This 1905 photo shows the Peru High School girls team. Peru would later adopt the nickname the Tigers, as their town was the winter home to many circuses. | Photo courtesy of

Hoosier High School Mascots Tell the Stories of Our State
Michael G. Glab
As Indiana high schools enter basketball tourney season, writer Michael G. Glab looks at some of the unusual and interesting nicknames and mascots teams have had over the years, as told in the book Hoosiers All by Emerson Houck. From Aces to Zebras, Glab writes, these nicknames tell the stories of this “high school hoops mad” Hoosier state. Click here to read the article.
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Adam Nahas in Burl and Ingot Tool Library showing a piece of armor that he made. The Tool Library is part of Artisan Alley, the collective art space, studio, workshop, computer lab, gallery, and other projects that began in Nahas’s basement more than a decade ago. | Limestone Post

Big Mike’s B-town: Adam Nahas, Artist’s Artist
Michael G. Glab
The concept of Artisan Alley — the collective art space, studio, workshop, computer lab, gallery, and other projects — began in Adam Nahas’s basement more than a decade ago. But the path from home workshop to one of Bloomington’s largest art collectives was not a straight line. Writer Michael G. Glab maps out Nahas’s journey. Click here for the story.
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Zaineb Istrabadi (center), pictured here in Bloomington in 1974 with her father, Rasoul (right), and cousins, calls herself “a Baghdadi. Hoosier” Writer Michael G. Glab calls her the apotheosis of a Midwesterner in his profile of the longtime senior lecturer in IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures. | Courtesy photo

Big Mike’s B-town: Zaineb Istrabadi, Baghdadi Hoosier
Michael G. Glab
Zaineb Istrabadi calls herself “a Baghdadi Hoosier.” Writer Michael G. Glab calls her the apotheosis of a Midwesterner in his profile of the longtime senior lecturer in IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures. He also calls her “a woman of the world” and a member of one of Bloomington’s most storied families. Click here to read the full story.
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Big Mike’s B-town: Vauhxx Booker, ‘Fortune Favors the Bold’
Michael G. Glab
“Everything inside me — starting with my name, Vauhxx — spoke to me and said I had to speak up,” says Vauhxx Booker, spokesperson for Bloomington’s Black Lives Matter. He also spoke with writer Michael G. Glab about his family’s deep-rooted American history, his shy childhood, and his potential plans for public office in Bloomington. Click here to read the full story.
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The Bloomington Cohousing Project is planning a collaborative housing community on the south side of Bloomington, where homeowners will live in individual houses but share other common amenities. Writer Michael Glab talks to co-founder Marion Sinclair and builder Loren Wood in his latest Big Mike's B-town. This early rendering shows individual homes designed to foster community, with shared green space, gardens, buildings, and other features. | Courtesy image

Big Mike’s B-town: Cohousing Project with Marion Sinclair and Loren Wood
Michael G. Glab
The term “building community” is rarely taken literally, but a fledgling project in town is doing just that. The Bloomington Cohousing Project is planning a collaborative housing community on the south side of Bloomington, where homeowners will live in individual houses but share other common amenities. Writer Michael Glab talks to co-founder Marion Sinclair and builder Loren Wood in his latest Big Mike's B-town. Click here to read the full story.
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Cristian Medina, a poet, cook, IU researcher, and chess leader from Arica, Chile, moved to Bloomington in the mid-2000s. Pictured here, Medina sits at his desk at the Indiana Geological and Water Survey. | Photo by Chaz Mottinger

Big Mike’s B-town: Cristian Medina, Scientist, Poet, Chess Leader
Michael G. Glab
Cristian Medina, a poet, cook, IU researcher, and chess leader from Arica, Chile, has found plenty to keep him busy since moving to Bloomington in the mid-2000s. LP columnist Michael G. Glab talks to Medina about his hometown — bordered by ocean, mountains, and desert — geology and climate change, his work founding Cardboard House Press, and more in the latest Big-Mike’s B-town. Click here to read the full story.
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Hoagy Carmichael holds son Hoagy Bix in the early 1940s. More recently, Hoagy Bix was in town for IU Theatre’s production of "Stardust Road: A Hoagy Carmichael Musical Journey," and he talked with writer Michael G. Glab about growing up in Hollywood, his famous namesakes (Hoagy and Bix), and the musical that is premiering in Bloomington. | HC Series 3, Box 3, item 33. Hoagy Carmichael Collection, Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University

Big Mike’s B-town: Hoagy Bix Carmichael
Michael G. Glab
While Hoagy Bix Carmichael was in town for IU Theatre’s production of Stardust Road: A Hoagy Carmichael Musical Journey, he talked with writer Michael G. Glab about growing up in Hollywood, his famous namesakes (Hoagy and Bix), and the musical that is premiering in Bloomington. They even squeezed in some talk about fly-fishing. Click here to read the full story.
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Creating a community of misfits isn’t what music entertainer Darran Mosley intended or expected. After growing up in a “super-rough” neighborhood in Indianapolis, then working in computer systems in Chicago, he landed in Bloomington, where he works in IT by day and in music by night. | Courtesy photo

Big Mike’s B-town: Darran Mosley, Misfit
Michael G. Glab
Creating a community of misfits isn’t what Darran Mosley intended or expected. After growing up in a “super-rough” neighborhood in Indianapolis, then working in computer systems in Chicago, he landed in Bloomington, where he works in IT by day and in music entertainment by night. Here, Michael G. Glab profiles this karaoke host, DJ, and vocalist. Click here to read the full story.
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