I’ve been working as a journalist ever since I realized that I was never going to earn a living as a philosopher, which was my major in college. Career highlights: Working as a labor reporter for the Star Tribune during the 1980s, I covered the Hormel meatpackers’ strike and got tear-gassed during one particularly raucous protest; then, working for U.S. News & World Report magazine in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1990s, I almost met Bill Clinton while he was on his way to the men’s room at a conference we both attended. As if these weren’t fulfilling enough, I returned to the Star Tribune in the mid-1990s to become an editorial writer and discovered to my astonishment that Minnesotans don’t always agree with our editorial page.

My wife, Therese, and I have been married since 1982 and have three kids: Alexander, 18, who can beat me in a timed mile; Eve, 14, who can beat me at tennis; and Sam, 9, who can beat me at chess. It is so rewarding to raise children.