Recommend me some interesting single author blogs.

June 29, 2012 1:25 AM

Recommendations for interesting single author blogs? I am in interested in reading more "interesting people" who blog. I am looking for blogs written either exclusively or predominantly by a single author, regardless of topic - provided they are accesible to the general intelligent reader (so sadly that probably rules out mathematics blogs). Who should I be reading and why are they worth my time?

I much prefer blogs that emphasise "quality" over "quantity" and which are not polemical. Essentially I would like to read more libertarians like Tyler Cowen. More marxists like Chris Dillow more technologists like danah boyd, more composers like Nico Muhly and more sf/f criticism like Abigail Nussbaum (and their equivalents in other fields). Any recommendations eagerly received.

posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory to computers & internet (14 answers total)

Nate Silver offers excellent stats-based analysis of US politics at FiveThirtyEight; he correctly surmised the odds of the Supreme Court striking down healthcare reform were much lower than the conventional wisdom assumed, for instance, and his 2008 polling forecast called every state right but one.

Also, Now I Know (RSS feed) recently hit 500 posts -- here's a Reddit Q&A with author Dan Lewis.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:44 AM on June 29, 2012

Scott Adams, the Dilbert guy. Waxy. Kottke. Jessamyn West.
posted by Blake at 4:19 AM on June 29, 2012

The Age of Uncertainty is a delight, and I also like reading film reviewer/occasional scriptwriter Andrew Collins' blog. Both of them are I suppose general interest in tone, but the former has wry observations in spades and the latter often talks politics or the state of film, and both are excellent writers.
posted by mippy at 4:46 AM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Not as personal as a typical blog, but if you dont know 'In Our Time' by Melvyn Bragg then you should!
posted by BadMiker at 4:51 AM on June 29, 2012

I'm an avid reader of Tom Shone's blog. He writes about movies in an incredibly thoughtful way. He also writes the best profiles around, usually for The Guardian I believe.
posted by fso at 5:05 AM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thank you for asking this question! I love these sorts of blogs and will be watching the thread with interest.

Somewhat similar to Abigail Nassbaum is author Adam Roberts, who reviews novels, often but not always with a SF/F bent, at Punkadiddle.

Paul Ford's personal essays at Ftrain.

Rebecca's Fosterhood is, by turns, an amusing and heartbreaking look at being a young foster parent.

Movin' Meat is an anonymous blog by an American ER doctor. It's been a focused on the American heath care reforms of late, but there's some excellent posts in the archives about life in the ER.
posted by Georgina at 5:09 AM on June 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

How about Mefi's own John Scalzi.
posted by COD at 5:13 AM on June 29, 2012

Aporia is "writing and lesser things" by Mills Baker. He writes about art, philosophy, mental illness, and more. Good stuff.
posted by griseus at 5:55 AM on June 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm still thinking, but in the meantime, have you seen this?
posted by segatakai at 6:19 AM on June 29, 2012

Abu Muqawama is a blog covering the middle east that I thoroughly enjoy.
Stephen Few has a great blog on the visual display of information.
posted by bfranklin at 6:39 AM on June 29, 2012

Intensive Thinking (Constructing a Speculative Philosophy of Media) by Jon Lindblom
posted by perhapses at 10:00 AM on June 29, 2012

Just here to to second Mills Baker. So good.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 10:08 AM on June 29, 2012

Schneier on security. Kim Cameron's identity blog. And Philip Sandifer on Doctor Who, of course.
posted by rjs at 10:50 AM on June 29, 2012

Sex-positive feminist/educator Clarisse Thorn's blog is excellent, though probably NSFW.
posted by the essence of class and fanciness at 4:12 PM on June 29, 2012