Press & Speaking

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  Ed Andrieski/Associated Press

  I’ve discussed my work on venues ranging from Colorado Public Television to Wired magazine’s Storyboard Audio Podcast to BBC Radio.

  By far the most wide-ranging and colorful media response came thanks to my approach to covering Colorado’s medical marijuana boom. In the summer of 2009, I created the country’s first medical-marijuana newspaper critic position at Westword – and, since I was the only one on staff with a medical marijuana ID card (which I obtained as part of an exposé on how easy it is to score one), I became the first pot critic.

  As it turned out, I wasn’t the man for the job. I was too poor, busy and nervous to actually sample the product. So, a few weeks into the job, I posted an ad on westword.com for a suitable replacement – a development that generated headlines worldwide.

  Some of my favorites:

  Journalism’s New Beat: Marijuana Critic The Wall Street Journal

  Wanted: Pot Critic With Shrewd Taste and Medical Need The New York Times

  A four-star review? More like four bongs The Associated Press

   

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  I’ve also been tapped as a guest speaker for a variety of events, including the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Boulder Startup Week, the “LOL” mixed-media event at the Denver Art Museum and several Association of Alternative Newsmedia writers conventions.

  Here I am tangling with comics as part of the “Humor Code” panel at the 2012 Bridgetown Comedy Festival: