Brilliant. Witty. Sharp.
Just a few ways the opinion section and its dashing editor have been described (well, should be at least).
Writing opinion requires risk, the risk of having your beliefs challenged by people who may neither know you nor care about you.
But through a combination of Daily writers and guest columnists, we managed to put together a semester of lively and insightful articles, and I want to highlight some of the best.
Much of the excitement began in mid-September. The tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk sparked furious debate in the opinion section. I kicked things off with an article calling for unity. The subsequent submissions proved this to be complicated.
Our own Iowa Senator Herman Quirmbach wrote a controversial piece on Kirk’s legacy and free speech (controversial, in part, because he used AI as a source). Several responses and counter-responses followed, becoming some of the most-read articles of the semester. They revealed, among other things, some persisting disagreements in our country.
Some of our most exciting articles proved unlikely candidates. An article arguing for splitting up U.S. states and another advocating for wearing more clothes were surprise hits.
Throughout the semester, we had reviews of books, movies and even music albums. In any review, it can be hard to resist sounding like a PR team. But not for our writers. We had some of the most tremendously negative movie reviews you will find anywhere. Did you like “Sinners”? You might not after reading our review.
But which article was the best? The most nuanced, and the most profound? It was, of course, my exploration of how “Shrek” subverted the fairy tale and told a brilliant story because of it. Everyone should read it again.
A deep thank-you to all the writers and editors who make the opinion section — and the Daily as a whole — run without a hitch.
And to the readers, thank you. The goal of the opinion section is to promote the marketplace of ideas. And insofar as you read and consider our work, you are part of that effort.
