RaveHippocampus MagazineOriginally written for The Times during an era of across-the-aisle appeals between friends and family, many of the essays are so brief they could fit in a well-articulated longform social media post. This brevity makes them especially shareable among loved ones and serves to combat the information fatigue so many readers experience when keeping up with the news ... These distinct topics cross-pollinate wonderfully, setting the reader up to witness the connections between each subject ... In a time when objective truths are questioned and even talking about the weather can become politicized, Renkl’s writing works to defy polarity. Love, grief, curiosity and other universal emotions ground the lofty topics of these essays ... From a craft perspective, her choice to write to the emotional heart of these stories is transformative. By choosing a first-person narrative over an unbiased journalistic tone, she removes the scaffolding of political rhetoric to reveal the relatable. It’s pure alchemy.
