Meet Regan Detwiler!
Regan Detwiler has been interning with us since April. She's a total rockstar. This fall, she will be returning to Ann Arbor to complete her Bachelor's Degree at (t)he University of Michigan, but for now, she's here in Columbus kickin' it with the cool kids. The following is an interview with Regan herself:
Q: How did you first hear about Two Dollar Radio?
I was in the woods of New Hampshire reading Emerson, Thoreau, Dickinson, Douglass, Whitman, and other authors from the northeast U.S. when I first heard about Two Dollar Radio. I was out there with a bunch of other students and teachers doing this awesome literature program through the Department of English (I go to the University of Michigan, where I'll be a fourth year in the fall). I needed a book recommendation, and one of my teachers happened to have with her I'm Trying to Reach You by Barbara Browning. I sat in one of the small cabins on the campground where we were staying, and flipped the book over in my hands, admiring the awesome cover, complete with plastic-model people wearing sweat bands and an eye-catching, electric blue serif font. On the back, I saw the teeny little radio icon with "Two Dollar Radio" and "Columbus, Ohio" written below. I was surprised because I'm from Columbus and had been looking for a publishing internship there, but I'd never heard of this place! So I found their website and emailed Eric and here I am today.
Q: What are some of your interests/background?
As I mentioned, I'm from Columbus, Ohio. I went to Columbus Montessori Education Center (or, affectionately, CMEC) for most of my childhood, which is a Very Awesome Place. Then I switched to Bexley schools, where I had lots of wonderful teachers who helped me get to the University of Michigan. I've always been into reading, writing, music, photography, and art generally.
Now, I'm getting ready to start my senior thesis, which will be a lot of pages of literary criticism. I'm interested in the nature/technology "divide" and regionalism, to use really general terms. Lately I've been pursuing my passion for both writing (check out my column at The Michigan Daily!) and for film photography (I'm working on getting this stuff online — stay tuned). On the music side, being close to Detroit for school has exposed me to more jazz, soul, rap, and electronic stuff I never would have encountered otherwise. I feel super lucky for that!
Q: What’s your favorite Two Dollar Radio title?
I'm currently obsessed with Scott McClanahan's Crapalachia and am *pumped* for Hanif Abdurraqib's They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us—give a music nerd who's into regionalism a book of essays, a lot of them about music, about the city where she's from, and WOW!
Q: If you were to open a food truck, what would it sell and what would it be called?
It would sell vegan stuff that's delicious, affordable, and un-intimidating. Ingredients would be locally sourced, and all serving utensils would be reusable or otherwise compostable. We would have compost, recycling, and a teeny tiny trash can outside. Customers who bring their own reusable containers for their food and drinks would get a discount. The truck itself would run on excess cooking oil from the truck and other local restaurants. Maybe it would be called, Vegan Stuff: Delicious, Affordable, Earth-Friendly, and Un-intimidating.
I can never get away from that rivalry, even at an indie publisher based in Clintonville. Sigh...
I can't stop listening to SZA's new album, Ctrl. "Love Galore" has been in my head for the past month. I've also just been listening to the first three songs of Humanz by Gorillaz over and over again, in order. I switched my robot off, and I know more, but retain less, less, less, less... into Vince Staples then Peven Everett. That sequence is unbelievable.
I don't know about brave, but I know about scary! I've been writing a column at the school paper showing my process of looking more critically at Columbus and all its disparities. Putting my perspective out there and showcasing my process of learning about the past and present, especially as it pertains to race, can be nerve-wracking.
Q: What do you think about Lana del Rey?
She validated my most intense feelings of angst and just, ya know, general teen sadness in high school when her first album came out. I was hypnotized, mesmerized by the ode to nostalgia that is the Video Games video. My feelings about her as an artist were ambivalent until my friend, Emma, made me read this Rolling Stone interview with her. I think the interview just mystified me even more, to a point where now I think I respect her.
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