Dan Turkel
Writing
I love to write. I’ve amassed a decent amount of work and I’m quite proud of much of it. Topics vary, as does length and quality. Many of the works here were written for academic assignments and are uploaded without professors’ corrections.
Works on this site are under a CC-BY-NC-SA license unless otherwise indicated. This means you may share my works or adapt them so long as you attribute me (with a link to my site preferably), do not use the work for commercial purposes, and share under a license similar to this one. I reserve the right to change this license at a future date if a permissive license leads to issues.
Print+Web Writing
The Boston Globe
- Investigating eider duck die-offs on Cape Cod - An interview with ecologist Julie Ellis regarding the unsettling eider die-offs occurring on Cape Cod beaches.
- A short history of the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year awards - A look back at Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Club and their Woman of the Year award (and associated hijinks).
The Tufts Observer
- A Web of Sex and Power: Desire, secrecy, and trust on the Internet - A multimedia piece on the peculiar power dynamics of personal ads, stemming from a particularly unusual case.
Web Writing
Death + Taxes
- Chance the Rapper: Up and coming - A thoughtful introduction to the at-the-time newcomer Chance the Rapper.
- Catching up with Krill: lo-fi, Dostoevsky, and apple cores - I did a lengthy interview with my buds Krill and managed to cut it down to less than 3000 words.
- ‘Gangnam Style’ one year later - Watching the music video for ‘Gangnam Style’ one year after its release, and I’d never seen it before.
- Dan Deacon remixes Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop’ - Way more paragraphs on Deacon’s Miley remix than anyone else wrote...
- ‘Old’: an exploration of the two sides of Danny Brown - An album review of Danny Brown’s album “Old” focusing on the split image of the artist.
- Elliott Smith and me, ten years later - A personal, reflective essay on the life and works of Elliott Smith.
- Ten spooky songs for your haunted Halloween playlist - Who says listicles can’t be well-written? Most people I guess...
- Partying with Beyoncé at Dave and Buster’s - One of my favorite pieces I’ve done for D+T. Based on a true story.
- Meet Lúnatic: The next big thing out of Mexico’s most dangerous city, Juárez - Had the fascinating opportunity to chat with a band out of Juárez and learn about life and music in a world far from anything I’ve ever known.
- Interview: Mainland on their new EP ‘Shiner’ - Chatting with the band’s Jordan Topf on the difficult circumstances from which their music sprang.
- The body electric: Tech and flesh fuse for art...and more - Musings on the intersection of technology and the human body for artistic purposes and the important anxiety it gives us.
Tufts Publications
- WMFO PizzaFest: A Tribute to Excess - A summary, review, and contemplation of WMFO’s “PizzaFest.”
- WMFO Bouncy Castles: Fun...at a Price - A (quasi-serious) review of Tufts’ WMFO “Bouncy Castles” event.
Research and Reporting
- Can there be a teardown that everybody agrees on? by Neil Swidey for The Boston Globe - I contributed research for this piece on various teardown regulations, restrictions, and statistics across the greater Boston area and accompanied the author on some of his reporting trips.
Academic papers:
Architecture
- Alberti - A summary and critique of Leon Battista Alberti’s De Re Aedificatoria. Alberti’s manner of placing undue importance on architecture’s utility as a way of maintaining one’s play in the social coterie compounded with his insistence in aesthetics above functionality leave his treatise dated and even harmful to today’s architects. (Fall 2011)
- Laugier - Close to as dated as Alberti’s treatise, Marc-Antoine Laugier’s An Essay on Architecture posits that an objectively high taste-level can determine a truly beautiful building because there is right and there is wrong, without room for discussion. (Fall 2011)
- Hugo - Victor Hugo discusses the fate of architecture as an expressive medium when faced with the invention of hte printing press in “This Will Kill That” from Notre-Dame in Paris. Hugo illuminates a crisis of his era and inspires his contemporaries to address the issues and further the art and science of architecture. (Fall 2011)
- Le Corbusier - One of the first modernist architects, Le Corbusier calls for a rejection of trendy aesthetics in favor of functional design. Le Corbusier’s ideas remain influential and important today, if not still in full use. Le Corbusier said that if we can engineer functional solutions to architectural problems, the beauty will follow, and it has. (Fall 2011)
- Eisenman - Peter Eisenman advocates for adding some intelligent aesthetics back into modern architecture through strong form architecture wherein the building communicates something in addition to serving its purpose. As a result, architects are challenged to use the vocabulary of buildings to communicate messages, intellectual, historical, and philisophical, through their work thus furthering the importance of architecture as not only an art but as a medium for thought and theory. (Fall 2011)
- Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston - An analysis of Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s ICA, Boston building. The unique building sacrifices neither modernist functionality nor aesthetic taste in its blend of well-planned space and visually pleasing design. The ICA works to intentionally create views for the building’s visitors and what is a gallery but a space for viewing?. (Fall 2011)
- Art Deco in New York City - An investigation into several questions regarding the Art Deco style: what does the aesthetic mean?, why is New York City so ripe with buildings of this style?, how is Art Deco related to the time period in which it was popular?, and more. Also features my own photographs taken on a day-trip to Manhattan from Tufts (image quality slightly reduced here to keep down file-size). (Fall 2011)
- Luis Barragán and the Paradox of a Mexican Modernity - An analysis of the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragán and the ways in which his ouvre reflects an attempt towards a notion of Mexican modernity, which is to say a style which is global and futuristic while still rooted in a sense of Mexican authenticity. (Fall 2013)
Art
- Surrealist Art - A short history and examination of surrealist art and its meanings. Several artists and their techniques and ideas are discussed. In addition, a number of paintings are analyzed and interpreted. (Spring 2009)
Literature, Film, and Theory
- The Failure of the American Dream in [Nathanael] West’s Hollywood - A look at the role of the American Dream in Nathanael West’s novel The Day of the Locust. (Fall 2012)
- Desire, Reality, and the Real in Memento - An analysis of Christopher Nolan’s Memento through the lens of Slavoj Žižek’s “From Reality to the Real” from Looking Awry. (Fall 2012)
- The Abject in Abre los ojos - An analysis of Alejandro Amenábar’s Abre los ojos through the lens of Julia Kristeva’s “Approaching Abjection” from Powers of Horror. (Fall 2012)
Music
- Dave Brubeck’s Time Out - A look at Dave Brubeck’s album Time Out and the artist’s masterful use of unusual time signatures. (Spring 2012)
Science
- Perceptibility of Lossy Audio Encoding as a Signal Detection Problem - A demonstration of how we can use signal detection theory to study lossy audio compression and the perceptibility of signal loss.
Sociology and History
- The Relevance of Marriage in 21st Century America - A research paper written on the changing views towards marriage and its role in the present climate, particularly in the United States. (Spring 2012)
- 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists - A look into the meaning of 9/11 conspiracy theories in the context of the early 21st century political climate. Includes both a detailed look into a number of conspiracy claims as well as an interpretation of what these claims say about those who make them. (Spring 2010)
- Reliable Market: A Space of Intersection - An analysis of the Reliable Market grocery store in Union Square, Massachusetts as a site of cultural and class intersection. The square is often portrayed as a site of duality, but Reliable Market is an exemplar of its hybridity. (Spring 2014)
- Craigslist as Boston’s Digital Supplement and Alter-Ego - Created as part of an assignment on “digital urbanism,” this piece tries to show Craigslist as a sort of second layer to Boston (or any city really) which is part underworld and part utopia. (Spring 2014)
- “Silently... but I still hear it!” (Non-)Diegetic Sound and Silence in M and Eraserhead - A discussion on the sound design of the two films and how both play with the notion of diegetic sound in order to disorient the viewer-listener.
Fiction, Compositions, and Musings:
- Silly Composition - An Eggers-ian rant written for some forgotten prompt towards the end of high-school. (Spring 2011)
- Common Application Essay - An attempt at creatively showing a number of sides of myself (without getting too boring). (Fall 2009)
- Mapping Mr. Quist - A story for a creative writing class. Mr. Quist and his wife struggle as his latest project begins to absorb him. (Spring 2013)
- 3:12 at Max Goddard’s Modest Apartment - A story I wrote for a creative writing class at Tufts: Max Goddard wakes in the middle of the night to the smell of bacon and quickly finds himself in a world he doesn’t understand, without ever leaving his apartment. Published over at the lovely Words Paint Pictures. (Spring 2014)
- Transmissions from Operation Underdog - Another story for class. Transmissions... focuses on the story of a man who goes deep undercover to study a Mexican druglord, but has a little trouble getting much useful information. (Spring 2014)
Web Writing
Death + Taxes
- Chance the Rapper: Up and coming - A thoughtful introduction to the at-the-time newcomer Chance the Rapper.
- Catching up with Krill: lo-fi, Dostoevsky, and apple cores - I did a lengthy interview with my buds Krill and managed to cut it down to less than 3000 words.
- ‘Gangnam Style’ one year later - Watching the music video for ‘Gangnam Style’ one year after its release, and I’d never seen it before.
- Dan Deacon remixes Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop’ - Way more paragraphs on Deacon’s Miley remix than anyone else wrote...
- ‘Old’: an exploration of the two sides of Danny Brown - An album review of Danny Brown’s album “Old” focusing on the split image of the artist.
- Elliott Smith and me, ten years later - A personal, reflective essay on the life and works of Elliott Smith.
- Ten spooky songs for your haunted Halloween playlist - Who says listicles can’t be well-written? Most people I guess...
- Partying with Beyoncé at Dave and Buster’s - One of my favorite pieces I’ve done for D+T. Based on a true story.
- Meet Lúnatic: The next big thing out of Mexico’s most dangerous city, Juárez - Had the fascinating opportunity to chat with a band out of Juárez and learn about life and music in a world far from anything I’ve ever known.
- Interview: Mainland on their new EP ‘Shiner’ - Chatting with the band’s Jordan Topf on the difficult circumstances from which their music sprang.
- The body electric: Tech and flesh fuse for art...and more - Musings on the intersection of technology and the human body for artistic purposes and the important anxiety it gives us.
Tufts Publications
- WMFO PizzaFest: A Tribute to Excess - A summary, review, and contemplation of WMFO’s “PizzaFest.”
- WMFO Bouncy Castles: Fun...at a Price - A (quasi-serious) review of Tufts’ WMFO “Bouncy Castles” event.
Research and Reporting
- Can there be a teardown that everybody agrees on? by Neil Swidey for The Boston Globe - I contributed research for this piece on various teardown regulations, restrictions, and statistics across the greater Boston area and accompanied the author on some of his reporting trips.
Academic papers:
Architecture
- Alberti - A summary and critique of Leon Battista Alberti’s De Re Aedificatoria. Alberti’s manner of placing undue importance on architecture’s utility as a way of maintaining one’s play in the social coterie compounded with his insistence in aesthetics above functionality leave his treatise dated and even harmful to today’s architects. (Fall 2011)
- Laugier - Close to as dated as Alberti’s treatise, Marc-Antoine Laugier’s An Essay on Architecture posits that an objectively high taste-level can determine a truly beautiful building because there is right and there is wrong, without room for discussion. (Fall 2011)
- Hugo - Victor Hugo discusses the fate of architecture as an expressive medium when faced with the invention of hte printing press in “This Will Kill That” from Notre-Dame in Paris. Hugo illuminates a crisis of his era and inspires his contemporaries to address the issues and further the art and science of architecture. (Fall 2011)
- Le Corbusier - One of the first modernist architects, Le Corbusier calls for a rejection of trendy aesthetics in favor of functional design. Le Corbusier’s ideas remain influential and important today, if not still in full use. Le Corbusier said that if we can engineer functional solutions to architectural problems, the beauty will follow, and it has. (Fall 2011)
- Eisenman - Peter Eisenman advocates for adding some intelligent aesthetics back into modern architecture through strong form architecture wherein the building communicates something in addition to serving its purpose. As a result, architects are challenged to use the vocabulary of buildings to communicate messages, intellectual, historical, and philisophical, through their work thus furthering the importance of architecture as not only an art but as a medium for thought and theory. (Fall 2011)
- Institute of Contemporary Arts, Boston - An analysis of Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s ICA, Boston building. The unique building sacrifices neither modernist functionality nor aesthetic taste in its blend of well-planned space and visually pleasing design. The ICA works to intentionally create views for the building’s visitors and what is a gallery but a space for viewing?. (Fall 2011)
- Art Deco in New York City - An investigation into several questions regarding the Art Deco style: what does the aesthetic mean?, why is New York City so ripe with buildings of this style?, how is Art Deco related to the time period in which it was popular?, and more. Also features my own photographs taken on a day-trip to Manhattan from Tufts (image quality slightly reduced here to keep down file-size). (Fall 2011)
- Luis Barragán and the Paradox of a Mexican Modernity - An analysis of the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragán and the ways in which his ouvre reflects an attempt towards a notion of Mexican modernity, which is to say a style which is global and futuristic while still rooted in a sense of Mexican authenticity. (Fall 2013)
Art
- Surrealist Art - A short history and examination of surrealist art and its meanings. Several artists and their techniques and ideas are discussed. In addition, a number of paintings are analyzed and interpreted. (Spring 2009)
Literature, Film, and Theory
- The Failure of the American Dream in [Nathanael] West’s Hollywood - A look at the role of the American Dream in Nathanael West’s novel The Day of the Locust. (Fall 2012)
- Desire, Reality, and the Real in Memento - An analysis of Christopher Nolan’s Memento through the lens of Slavoj Žižek’s “From Reality to the Real” from Looking Awry. (Fall 2012)
- The Abject in Abre los ojos - An analysis of Alejandro Amenábar’s Abre los ojos through the lens of Julia Kristeva’s “Approaching Abjection” from Powers of Horror. (Fall 2012)
Music
- Dave Brubeck’s Time Out - A look at Dave Brubeck’s album Time Out and the artist’s masterful use of unusual time signatures. (Spring 2012)
Science
- Perceptibility of Lossy Audio Encoding as a Signal Detection Problem - A demonstration of how we can use signal detection theory to study lossy audio compression and the perceptibility of signal loss.
Sociology and History
- The Relevance of Marriage in 21st Century America - A research paper written on the changing views towards marriage and its role in the present climate, particularly in the United States. (Spring 2012)
- 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists - A look into the meaning of 9/11 conspiracy theories in the context of the early 21st century political climate. Includes both a detailed look into a number of conspiracy claims as well as an interpretation of what these claims say about those who make them. (Spring 2010)
- Reliable Market: A Space of Intersection - An analysis of the Reliable Market grocery store in Union Square, Massachusetts as a site of cultural and class intersection. The square is often portrayed as a site of duality, but Reliable Market is an exemplar of its hybridity. (Spring 2014)
- Craigslist as Boston’s Digital Supplement and Alter-Ego - Created as part of an assignment on “digital urbanism,” this piece tries to show Craigslist as a sort of second layer to Boston (or any city really) which is part underworld and part utopia. (Spring 2014)
- “Silently... but I still hear it!” (Non-)Diegetic Sound and Silence in M and Eraserhead - A discussion on the sound design of the two films and how both play with the notion of diegetic sound in order to disorient the viewer-listener.
Fiction, Compositions, and Musings:
- Silly Composition - An Eggers-ian rant written for some forgotten prompt towards the end of high-school. (Spring 2011)
- Common Application Essay - An attempt at creatively showing a number of sides of myself (without getting too boring). (Fall 2009)
- Mapping Mr. Quist - A story for a creative writing class. Mr. Quist and his wife struggle as his latest project begins to absorb him. (Spring 2013)
- 3:12 at Max Goddard’s Modest Apartment - A story I wrote for a creative writing class at Tufts: Max Goddard wakes in the middle of the night to the smell of bacon and quickly finds himself in a world he doesn’t understand, without ever leaving his apartment. Published over at the lovely Words Paint Pictures. (Spring 2014)
- Transmissions from Operation Underdog - Another story for class. Transmissions... focuses on the story of a man who goes deep undercover to study a Mexican druglord, but has a little trouble getting much useful information. (Spring 2014)