New Year's Resolutions

And introductions

Hi! Thanks for reading my newsletter, Deborah Copperud Volunteers.

If you’re new here, you probably read my HuffPost essay about why I deleted the Target Circle App from my phone. Longtime subscribers already know that I write about books, podcasts, politics, and shopping at Target. Obviously, shopping at Target will no longer be a regular feature here. When 2025 began, I didn’t have “stop shopping at Target” as my New Year’s Resolution—my New Year’s Resolution was actually to watch the entire Fast and Furious movie franchise, with the goal of averaging about a movie a month. But now I have two totally achievable resolutions to work on, and a whole bunch of new subscribers.

So, let’s get to know each other! A bit about me: I’m a freelance writer in Minneapolis, MN, and I teach classes for Community Education. I host a podcast called It’s My Screen Time Too, where my friend Katie and I review children’s media. My newsletter is called Deborah Copperud Volunteers because I used to volunteer a lot. All the time. Too much. And I hope, someday, to publish a book of essays about volunteering.

I’m always working to downsize my carbon footprint. Recently, instead of flying somewhere for a post-Christmas trip, my family and I took the Amtrak Borealis line from St. Paul, MN, to Chicago. Here I am in front of the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.

LOL, I know it’s a Seurat.

Before the volunteering, podcasting, and writing, I used to work as a reference librarian. While that particular public service-minded career didn’t work out for me, I remain very interested in information literacy and cultivating a well-rounded information environment for myself and my family. Which makes me wonder, where do you, reader, get your news? Did you make your way here because you’re a regular HuffPost reader? Did you see my essay shared on social media? What news sources do you consume regularly? I’ll go first. I like:

• Up First podcast from NPR for a brief overview of national headlines

• The Daily Zeitgeist podcast for a radical leftie discussion of trending news and culture

• Racket website for an alt-weekly-type take on Twin Cities news and culture

• Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper for regional news and syndicated national news

• Today, Explained podcast for in-depth analysis about current events and issues

• The Story podcast from The Times for an international perspective

And if you’re not a commenting-type person, that’s totally cool. I’m not a regular commenter, either, although I’m trying to engage more here on Substack because it’s a nice little non-toxic environment and on Facebook so the algorithm will stop giving me a feed that consists only of ads and Elyse Meyers videos (nothing against Elyse Meyers, but I’ve never even liked her page!).

Thanks for reading!