Matt Baron
@mattbaron.bsky.social
Writer. Husband. Dad. Friend. Boston-area native, Chicagoan for nearly 40 years.
I am a boomer, music taste-wise.
December 5, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I am a boomer, music taste-wise.
I am overdue for a purge of contacts that are cluttering my phone... but where to begin? The first step is obvious, right?
My latest Substack column:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
My latest Substack column:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
Phone purge
So many names and numbers at my fingertips...but so few I’m actually in touch with. What to do next? Plus: luck's role in foiling would-be Presidential assassinations and a return to Wrigley Field.
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I am overdue for a purge of contacts that are cluttering my phone... but where to begin? The first step is obvious, right?
My latest Substack column:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
My latest Substack column:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
Northwestern University Wildcats win a Wrigley Field thriller over Minnesota today---bowl eligible now!
And our center field seats were a great spot to take in the action. Here was how the dramatic ending looked from that perch.
And our center field seats were a great spot to take in the action. Here was how the dramatic ending looked from that perch.
November 22, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Northwestern University Wildcats win a Wrigley Field thriller over Minnesota today---bowl eligible now!
And our center field seats were a great spot to take in the action. Here was how the dramatic ending looked from that perch.
And our center field seats were a great spot to take in the action. Here was how the dramatic ending looked from that perch.
Awfully nice person, this Taylor Swift.....
October 24, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Awfully nice person, this Taylor Swift.....
Highly recommend this one...very well written... the book Facebook doesn't want anyone to read.
September 5, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Highly recommend this one...very well written... the book Facebook doesn't want anyone to read.
Trump is our Truly Bananas Republican.
Our Truly Bananas Republican - by Matt Baron share.google/mBFpM5qAByof...
Our Truly Bananas Republican - by Matt Baron share.google/mBFpM5qAByof...
August 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Trump is our Truly Bananas Republican.
Our Truly Bananas Republican - by Matt Baron share.google/mBFpM5qAByof...
Our Truly Bananas Republican - by Matt Baron share.google/mBFpM5qAByof...
Anyone else see the documentary on musical legend Billy Joel? Really excellent--and reminded me just how much I've enjoyed his music over my lifetime.
43-hit wonder - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/tJnaCwhHtmlJ...
43-hit wonder - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/tJnaCwhHtmlJ...
43-hit wonder
“Billy Joel: And So It Goes” is a timely reintroduction to this musical great.
share.google
July 27, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Anyone else see the documentary on musical legend Billy Joel? Really excellent--and reminded me just how much I've enjoyed his music over my lifetime.
43-hit wonder - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/tJnaCwhHtmlJ...
43-hit wonder - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/tJnaCwhHtmlJ...
With yesterday's experience the latest reminder: Costco knows me better than I know myself sometimes.
Can I get a witness?
Costco knows best - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/oueUMbTV20Yh...
Can I get a witness?
Costco knows best - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/oueUMbTV20Yh...
Costco knows best
...even better than I know myself sometimes. Plus: the Texas floods against the backdrop of "Washed Away" and a mid-year report on the state of The Inside Edge.
share.google
July 12, 2025 at 1:04 PM
With yesterday's experience the latest reminder: Costco knows me better than I know myself sometimes.
Can I get a witness?
Costco knows best - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/oueUMbTV20Yh...
Can I get a witness?
Costco knows best - by Matt Baron - The Inside Edge share.google/oueUMbTV20Yh...
More beautiful than most anything I've seen in an art museum. [Chicago---on Wabash just north of Roosevelt.]
July 11, 2025 at 5:36 AM
More beautiful than most anything I've seen in an art museum. [Chicago---on Wabash just north of Roosevelt.]
This week, our nation's 249th birthday was marred by political cruelty and cowardice. How to respond? Our 32nd President's example is a guiding light toward becoming better, not bitter.
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
Lessons from FDR
This week, our nation's 249th birthday was marred by political cruelty and cowardice. How to respond? Our 32nd President's example is a guiding light toward becoming better, not bitter.
open.substack.com
July 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM
This week, our nation's 249th birthday was marred by political cruelty and cowardice. How to respond? Our 32nd President's example is a guiding light toward becoming better, not bitter.
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
Anyone else notice this penchant of medical providers to posture their busy-ness? Plus: rueful ruminations on my recent "impactful" usage.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/ex-squeeze...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/ex-squeeze...
Ex-squeeze me?
It's high time that medical professionals drop their `our schedule is so jammed up' posturing. Plus: rueful ruminations on last week's `impactful' lapse.
theinsideedge.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Anyone else notice this penchant of medical providers to posture their busy-ness? Plus: rueful ruminations on my recent "impactful" usage.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/ex-squeeze...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/ex-squeeze...
Loving my new Expos hat.....I've been a latent Expo logo admirer for decades and this hat brings me right back to my late 1970s Topps baseball card collecting era.
June 2, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Loving my new Expos hat.....I've been a latent Expo logo admirer for decades and this hat brings me right back to my late 1970s Topps baseball card collecting era.
A 10-minute read boiled down to its final 14 words:
"Trump is well on his way to becoming the greatest grifter of all time."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/o...
"Trump is well on his way to becoming the greatest grifter of all time."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/o...
Opinion | Who’s the Greatest Grifter of Them All?
www.nytimes.com
May 8, 2025 at 2:42 AM
A 10-minute read boiled down to its final 14 words:
"Trump is well on his way to becoming the greatest grifter of all time."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/o...
"Trump is well on his way to becoming the greatest grifter of all time."
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/o...
Last night---yet another shoe flies off an NBA player. What's going on? Feels like this is an epidemic lately. Youth sports, I get it. But pros?
May 6, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Last night---yet another shoe flies off an NBA player. What's going on? Feels like this is an epidemic lately. Youth sports, I get it. But pros?
Here's the non-scoop on this doggone issue....plus some musings on AI and going down a rabbit hole on a Black American icon's extraordinary legacy.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/heres-the-...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/heres-the-...
Here's the non-scoop!
A sign of the times -- through the tale of one defiantly ignored sign. Plus: a T-shirt that I spotted this week sent me down an historical rabbit hole.
theinsideedge.substack.com
May 4, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Here's the non-scoop on this doggone issue....plus some musings on AI and going down a rabbit hole on a Black American icon's extraordinary legacy.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/heres-the-...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/heres-the-...
Here's the Celtics' Kristaps Porzingis putting his sneaker back on after it flew off the other day. Seems like this is on the rise in college and pro 🏀....what gives? Lace-tying seminars necessary?
April 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Here's the Celtics' Kristaps Porzingis putting his sneaker back on after it flew off the other day. Seems like this is on the rise in college and pro 🏀....what gives? Lace-tying seminars necessary?
As the world frays at the edges, there's comfort on skipped endings, shared ice cream scoops, and a weekly grocery store ritual with my brother:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
Everything, everywhere...except the ending
As the world frays at the edges, there’s comfort in skipped endings, shared ice cream scoops and a weekly grocery store ritual with my brother.
open.substack.com
April 19, 2025 at 5:33 PM
As the world frays at the edges, there's comfort on skipped endings, shared ice cream scoops, and a weekly grocery store ritual with my brother:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
In the wake of actor Gene Hackman’s death, my reflections on a non-profit group preserving the memory of "Hoosiers," the movie in which he played one of his most memorable roles.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/long-live-...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/long-live-...
Long live The Hoosier Gym
In the wake of actor Gene Hackman’s death, reflections on a non-profit group helping to preserve the memory of the movie in which he played one of his best roles.
theinsideedge.substack.com
March 2, 2025 at 5:39 AM
In the wake of actor Gene Hackman’s death, my reflections on a non-profit group preserving the memory of "Hoosiers," the movie in which he played one of his most memorable roles.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/long-live-...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/long-live-...
Stumbled on SCRABBLE game show last night. Who knew?
Sports Jeopardy! was a thrill in 2015 as a contestant---this would be fun [and yeah, nerdy] too.
Sports Jeopardy! was a thrill in 2015 as a contestant---this would be fun [and yeah, nerdy] too.
February 19, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Stumbled on SCRABBLE game show last night. Who knew?
Sports Jeopardy! was a thrill in 2015 as a contestant---this would be fun [and yeah, nerdy] too.
Sports Jeopardy! was a thrill in 2015 as a contestant---this would be fun [and yeah, nerdy] too.
Elon Musk's playbook was already solidified by the time this first profile was written in 1999. Some prophetic observations by journalist Mark Gimein here:
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/musks-orig...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/musks-orig...
Musk's origin story
In 1999, a Salon magazine feature profiled an emerging entrepreneur hardly anybody had heard of. Reading it today is like looking at Elon Musk's DOGE playbook.
theinsideedge.substack.com
February 17, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Elon Musk's playbook was already solidified by the time this first profile was written in 1999. Some prophetic observations by journalist Mark Gimein here:
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/musks-orig...
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/musks-orig...
Having officiated a few hundred games, this past Saturday brought an unfortunate "first"---halting a contest early after tempers flared.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/game-over
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/game-over
Game over
As a basketball referee, my approach is colored by my playing, coaching and rooting histories. Today marked a new, sobering milestone.
theinsideedge.substack.com
February 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Having officiated a few hundred games, this past Saturday brought an unfortunate "first"---halting a contest early after tempers flared.
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/game-over
theinsideedge.substack.com/p/game-over
Breaking the ice--
after coming face to face with an immigrant mom, her infant child...and my own heartlessness:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
after coming face to face with an immigrant mom, her infant child...and my own heartlessness:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
Breaking the ice
For too long, I let Donald Trump's false, harsh rhetoric sour my response to immigrants. Finally, on a bone-chilling day, I came face-to-face with a mother, her infant--and my own heartlessness.
open.substack.com
January 25, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Breaking the ice--
after coming face to face with an immigrant mom, her infant child...and my own heartlessness:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
after coming face to face with an immigrant mom, her infant child...and my own heartlessness:
open.substack.com/pub/theinsid...
Hello, Bluesky! I am about two-thirds through this memoir by Alexei Navalny. Really enjoying it. Amazing life. Who else has read it?
January 25, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Hello, Bluesky! I am about two-thirds through this memoir by Alexei Navalny. Really enjoying it. Amazing life. Who else has read it?