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Michele Weldon on Muck Rack

Michele Weldon

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Chicago
As seen in: LinkedIn, CNN, Forbes, Medium, MSN, MSN Canada, The New York Times, Yahoo Life, HuffPost, The Guardian and
Covers:  media, popular culture, politics, gender, fairness
Doesn't Cover: Science and math.See my SAT scores.
Author, journo @theopedproject @takeleadwomen, emeritaprof @MedillSchool, @TEDxspeaker, 3 sons, 7 books. Latest: The Time We Have: Essays on Pandemic Living
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Yes, women can have it all-so why can't Hollywood show working moms with happy families?

Yes, women can have it all-so why can't Hollywood show working moms with happy families?

Quartz — "I can't have two dreams?" reads the bumper sticker line in the film, Ricki and The Flash, now in theaters. It is a question that haunts working mothers everywhere. The question comes from Ricki, a daring, asymmetrically-braided rocker mom played by Meryl Streep. After her divorce, Ricki leaves three growing children in Indianapolis with their father so that she can play rock star in a honkytonk bar in the small California town of "Tarzana." Her dream: make it to the big time. Here, Ricki is the female version of the dominant Tarzan male archetype, impossible to domesticate.
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In praise of those who stay

In praise of those who stay

Chicago Tribune — Robert Holmes looks anguished in the photos - face tense, arms stiff - walking out of a Centennial, Colo., courtroom, where his son, James, is on trial for committing one of the most grisly mass shootings in American history. In a distant part of the world, another father awaits the outcome of the penalty phase of the trial for his son. No doubt Anzor Tsarnaev hopes that his son Dzhokhar - known as the Boston Marathon bomber - does not receive the death penalty.
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1 phrase can derail a career

1 phrase can derail a career

Chicago Tribune — He is not the first politician to say the wrong thing. Nor will he be the last. Missouri's beleaguered Republican Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin made - and by now most everyone on the planet likely knows - the "legitimate rape" comment. And the firestorm of push back has been relentless. What differentiates Akin's conundrum from the junkyard of canards by politicians is the triple play of the content of his statement, his cavalier dismissal of his words as a mere verbal gaffe and his complete disconnect from an elected official's irrefutable responsibility to communicate with precision.
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A Wrestling Mom Tussles with Cauliflower Ear

A Wrestling Mom Tussles with Cauliflower Ear

narrative.ly — Weldon stood in front of the bathroom mirror one morning before school in what could only be described as glee. I was mortified. I inspected it and promised I would look it up online and see how to proceed as soon as I got to my office at the university. My oldest son's ear was puffy, enlarged, crimson-swollen with blood. Mid-season of his junior year at the Chicago suburban high school on varsity and his fourth year of wrestling, he was getting it. I called Coach Mike Powell, the head varsity wrestling coach, sure that this would excuse my son from practice and upcoming matches for some time if not forever.
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Stop Saying Moms Can't Be Ambitious

Stop Saying Moms Can't Be Ambitious

Time Magazine — Michele Weldon is emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project. Her latest book, Escape Points: A Memoir is out this fall. "Having it all would cost her everything." That's the tweet-ready tagline of the 2011 remake of Mildred Pierce , this iteration an HBO series starring Kate Winslet. I never saw it. I have seen-and more than a few times-the black-and-white, over-the-top 1945 melodramatic horror show original. In it, Joan Crawford (who won the Academy Award for the role) plays Mildred, a single, working mother of two daughters.
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The Challenges of Dating as a Single Midlife Mom

The Challenges of Dating as a Single Midlife Mom

nextavenue.org — In wrestling, competitors are required to earn an escape point each match - they have to prove they can extricate themselves from tough holds. In her new book Escape Points , author and Northwestern University journalism professor Michele Weldon explores all the nuances and metaphors of that phrase. She flees an abusive relationship only to have her ex essentially abandon her three sons when he moved overseas, providing no financial support and rarely communicating. Through a cancer diagnosis, kids' injuries (all three were wrestlers) and challenging workload, she maintains her humanity and humor.
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Keeping Abreast of the News: The Body Parts in Your Face This Week

Keeping Abreast of the News: The Body Parts in Your Face This Week

Huffington Post — In the media this week were several pairs of breasts belonging to the famous and the now infamous-- Adrienne, Kate, Rihanna, Kris-- as if each set was as important as all other critical breaking news on the globe. Apparently in the triage deadline discussions of newsworthiness, these functional, admirable assets of the female physiology trumped all and became suddenly noteworthy when bared, utilized, tattooed or discussed. It seems the editors across the globe proclaimed, "Go with the boobs!" In many cases editors decided these women's breasts deserved more coverage -- OK, pun intended -- than the fallout from an irresponsible video leading to widespread violence in Libya and beyond, the upcoming election fight or the Federal Reserve's new economic stimulus plans.
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Can't We Praise Responsible Women For A Change?

Can't We Praise Responsible Women For A Change?

Slate — Lindsay Lohan is by all accounts a very responsible, demure young woman I can't wait until women like me are in style, except I know it will never happen. Toasting the train wrecks is too much fun. There has been a steady diet of crazy girls and women in the headlines for the last few years. We've got Lindsay Lohan in and out of court and Elizabeth Wurtzel on the page. On the small screen there is Chelsea Handler and Whitney Cummings, whose " Crazy Bitches " Youtube clip has nearly 550,000 hits.
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Crossing The Stage:

Crossing The Stage:

medium.com — I cried when I read his email. It was 4 a.m., I couldn't sleep, so I grabbed my cell phone and starting clicking through my inbox. Forty two emails. The only one I chose to open was from a former student telling me he would not be attending the university's graduation later that morning. He wanted me to know how much I helped him, inspired him, made him feel he was talented at a time when he felt little that was good about himself. I had him in a class a year ago; he was smart, tentative, soft-spoken, polite.
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One Mom's Effort to Dampen Down the Media's Empty Nest Hysteria

One Mom's Effort to Dampen Down the Media's Empty Nest Hysteria

AlterNet — My three sons are happy to leave home -- and I'm fine with that.
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Your Brain On Story

Your Brain On Story

psmag.com —
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Single mothers, stand proud - CNN.com

Single mothers, stand proud - CNN.com

CNN — Editor's note: Michele Weldon is an author and an assistant professor of journalism at the Medill School, Northwestern University. She is a seminar leader with The OpEd Project. She recently completed a memoir about raising her sons alone, their high school wrestling careers, and her recovery from cancer. (CNN) -- It is Mother's Day, and let us celebrate single-mother households -- not as half empty, but as half full of strong women. It is a good time to encourage children raised by women to see themselves as resilient, not doomed. And it is time, today and every day, for our culture to stop assigning blame and start offering help.
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Lessons From Nora

Lessons From Nora

Huffington Post — Unlike most of my peers in journalism school in the Watergate Era of the 1970s, I did not want to be like Carl Bernstein or Bob Woodward -- even though he was much better looking. I wanted to be like Carl Bernstein's wife. I did not want to uncover wrongs, chase fires, topple governments or even stay up all night waiting for a secret call. I wanted to write essays, columns, features, profiles, trend stories and books, digging into popular culture and honoring the sanctity of individual stories -- even my own.
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If We Can Take Children to Work, Why Not Have a Stay at Home and Care For Elders Day?

If We Can Take Children to Work, Why Not Have a Stay at Home and Care For Elders Day?

Huffington Post — One day a year, the children of working parents are publicly acknowledged and officially welcomed in the workplace with activities, speakers and sometimes a boxed lunch. But what about launching a similar effort acknowledging the obligations of workers with elder parents and allowing them a day with pay to stay home to care for them? The 20-year anniversary of Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day this Thursday encourages parents to include their school-aged children in their daily work lives.
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It's more than not cool: Young men should speak out against rape

It's more than not cool: Young men should speak out against rape

Al Jazeera — Michele Weldon is an author and assistant professor of journalism at The Medill School of Northwestern University and a fellowship leader with the OpEd Project. "What is wrong with you?" another young man asks moments later. A 12-minute video released last week drew international attention and more than 100,000 views featuring Michael Nodianos, a former Steubenville High School baseball player with a cherubic face wearing an Ohio State t-shirt. With the camera rolling, Nodianos rattles off vile, inhumane jokes about raping an unconscious girl he calls "dead".
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On Mother's Day and every day: Scary mommies are no joke

On Mother's Day and every day: Scary mommies are no joke

www.aljazeera.com — I wager few mothers in my age bracket (54) can look at a wire hanger without cringing. That is because the demon gaze of Faye Dunaway transformed into the cold creamed, screeching Joan Crawford in in the 1981 American mommy horror show, Mommie Dearest , still makes me shudder. We would never grow up to be such a mom. We would be more careful with a child's daily personal safety, heck, his/her feelings. We would be kinder, gentler, less nuts and less selfish. We knew we would not be perfect, but we would try not to be scary at the very least.
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When Children Are Better Off Fatherless

When Children Are Better Off Fatherless

New York Times — The 24 million American sons and daughters growing up without fathers are not all doomed. Nor are the children of lesbian parents. Nor the children whose fathers were killed in the line of duty as policemen, firemen, soldiers. Nor the children who have lost fathers to disease, accidents or suicide. Our society must be careful not to assume these sons and daughters are damned. In the cases where the father is far from heroic - even abusive - his absence is also the absence of the chaos, anger, pain and disruption he would bring to his family.
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News

News

www.northwestern.edu — This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post on June 15, 2013. By Michele Weldon My middle son, Brendan, graduated from The Ohio State University last month with an undergraduate degree in four years. He was the only one of his close high school friends not on the five- or six-year plan, the only one of his roommates in the house on Chittenden Street to earn a diploma on time. I drove from Chicago to Columbus in my sister's blue Toyota van with the seats removed and 130,000 miles on the odometer to be in the Horseshoe stadium all Buckeyes call The Shoe.
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News

News

www.northwestern.edu — This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post on June 15, 2013. By Michele Weldon My middle son, Brendan, graduated from The Ohio State University last month with an undergraduate degree in four years. He was the only one of his close high school friends not on the five- or six-year plan, the only one of his roommates in the house on Chittenden Street to earn a diploma on time. I drove from Chicago to Columbus in my sister's blue Toyota van with the seats removed and 130,000 miles on the odometer to be in the Horseshoe stadium all Buckeyes call The Shoe.
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My Kids' Father Abandoned Them... But They Don't Need Your Pity

My Kids' Father Abandoned Them... But They Don't Need Your Pity

Huffington Post — My middle son, Brendan, graduated from The Ohio State University last month with an undergraduate degree in four years. He was the only one of his close high school friends not on the five- or six-year plan, the only one of his roommates in the house on Chittenden Street to earn a diploma on time. I drove from Chicago to Columbus in my sister's blue Toyota van with the seats removed and 130,000 miles on the odometer to be in the Horseshoe stadium all Buckeyes call The Shoe.
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Opinion: The rich and famous are not immune to domestic abuse

Opinion: The rich and famous are not immune to domestic abuse

CNN — Editor's note: Michele Weldon is an author, assistant professor of journalism at Northwestern University and a leader with The OpEd Project. (CNN) -- Believing that celebrity and success -- even attractiveness -- guarantee immunity from domestic violence is like believing famous people are magically protected from the dangers of other drivers on the road, airborne pathogens from a stranger's sneeze, or the path of a wild fire. Domestic violence knows no boundaries, affecting women - and some men - who meet every descriptor of race, age, socioeconomic or educational status, sexual orientation, demography, geography, ideology, disability or theology.
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Michele Weldon: Capturing authentic narratives

Michele Weldon: Capturing authentic narratives

ed.ted.com — Journalism can be much more than reporting. An authentic, human narrative touches audiences and keeps them reading. Learn how to shape a human-centered news story, and the importance of facts, context and heart.
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Lean into this: Why the gap of women in media is critical to the planet

Lean into this: Why the gap of women in media is critical to the planet

Al Jazeera — Michele Weldon is an author and assistant professor of journalism at The Medill School of Northwestern University and a fellowship leader with the OpEd Project. The bad news is I will be 126 years old when women reach parity in government, politics, business and non-profit leadership in the United States, according to a distressing and depressing report that came out last week from the Women's Media Centre. "The Status of Women in the US Media" states fairness will arrive in 2085 if we continue at this rate of change. More bad news is I will never see it.
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Fallout from Olympic wrestling takedown - a mother's protest

Fallout from Olympic wrestling takedown - a mother's protest

Christian Science Monitor — There's been a furor over the decision not to guarantee wrestling a spot in the 2020 Olympics. Rightly so. I know first-hand what the sport does for young men (including my three sons) and an increasing number of young women. Fortunately, the decision is not final. It's time to speak out. I'm the mom of a wrestling family. Last August, two of my sons - both former high school wrestlers - went to the London Olympics to root for our local star, Ellis Coleman, a.k.a., the "flying squirrel," who wrestled Greco Roman. He didn't win - in fact, he lost early in the match.
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