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Allan Ripp on Muck Rack

Allan Ripp

New York
As seen in: CNN, Medium, The New York Times, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TIME, USA Today, Washington Post Opinions, Los Angeles Times and

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Allan Ripp’s Journalist Portfolio

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An Ancient Candy Fills a Hole in My Heart

An Ancient Candy Fills a Hole in My Heart

It took me decades to find a pack of Choc-O-Mint Life Savers, like ones my mom carried in her purse. My Prous…

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A Good Husband Walks

A Good Husband Walks

My wife complained that I tended to stride ahead of her—so I changed.

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Opinion | Have you heard the Hum? You might not even know it.

Opinion | Have you heard the Hum? You might not even know it.

This mysterious sound turns Times Square into a work of art.

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Wives and Lovers, and Me

Wives and Lovers, and Me

Some wise but cringingly dated advice from songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David on keeping the spark in m…

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God and Country on the Dining Table

God and Country on the Dining Table

My1967 American Legion Medal has served my dinner table well.

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Articles

What It Takes to Make a Friendship Last

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By Allan Ripp
| Free Expression (Newsletter) Verified
By Allan Ripp Todd Brewster (left) and Allan Ripp.Photo: Allan Ripp Free Expression is a daily newsletter on American life, politics and culture from the Opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal. Sign up and start reading Free Expression today. On St. Patrick’s Day 1977 I played basketball at the Y on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with a new friend from work named Todd. Todd was a Hoosier and baseball fanatic who wore a three-piece tan herringbone suit almost daily.
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What It Takes to Make a Friendship Last

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By Allan Ripp
| The Wall Street Journal Verified
Free Expression is a daily newsletter on American life, politics and culture from the Opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal. Sign up and start reading Free Expression today. On St. Patrick’s Day 1977 I played basketball at the Y on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with a new friend from work named Todd. Todd was a Hoosier and baseball fanatic who wore a three-piece tan herringbone suit almost daily. We’d bonded over a love of jazz, Pepperidge Farm Brussels cookies and our journalistic ambitions.
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An Ancient Candy Fills a Hole in My Heart

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By Allan Ripp
| The Wall Street Journal Verified
I loved Choc-O-Mint Life Savers as a kid. They’re discontinued. Journal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Bill McGurn, Allysia Finley and Dan Henninger. Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP/Luis Santan ‘Do you know the provenance of your Life Savers?” I doubt that question was ever asked before, maybe because no one had been on a mission such as mine: to recapture a Proustian taste of childhood long since swept into the dustbin of candy history. Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

An assistant editor in 1976 at Horizon Magazine, then a, hard-cover, bi-monthly mag of culture, art and history published by McGraw-Hill.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

I took typing classes in high school and am a speed typist. Learning to type so fast initially hindered my ability to write on a computer.

How is social media changing news?

Speed at spreading wave action in big stories but frequently fanning hyperbole and misinformation.