PinnedBuilding Provincial Rosters of NHL Players and Why ‘Sub-National’ Tournaments Would be Way More Fun than a World Cup of HockeySo the NHL wants a best-on-best tournament? Screw international hockey, lets see some intranational best-on-best. Team B.C vs. Team Ontario, Team Michigan vs. Team Westcoast…oh the possibilities… Danny Bednar is an author and professional geographer with a PhD from Western University. …Hockey13 min readHockey13 min read
Published inCurious·PinnedMetallica — The $24.95 Book (Review)What’s left to be written about the biggest metal band of all time? Seasoned writer Ben Apatoff hopes enough to justify his new book. As a Metallica die hard, I'm keen to agree, but who else should read the cheekily named $24.95 Book? Title: Metallica: The $24.95 Book Author: Ben…Metallica7 min readMetallica7 min read
Published inCurious·PinnedThe Geography of Space Exploration: For All HumankindThe following is the entire first chapter of For All Humankind by Tanya Harrison & Danny Bednar. The book is available now online and in book stores everywhere. Lying in bed staring up at the stone ceiling of the St. Ottilien Monastery, fatigued, exhausted, and still recovering from the most…20 min read20 min read
PinnedWhat if Metallica’s Load & Reload Were One Album (Part I): Why Do We Care?Twenty-five years later, why do Metallica’s Load and Reload continue to fuel so many “what if?” discussions? Danny Bednar is Canada’s second greatest geographer of outer space, an amateur heavy metal musicologist, and part-time Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at Western University. He works a…Metallica22 min readMetallica22 min read
Jun 4, 2021What if Metallica’s Load & Reload Were One Album (Part II) — The Best Possible Answer?After almost 25 years of mixing and matching Metallica’s mid-90s albums, can we use the evidence at hand to put the discussion to bed? Note: This is Part II of a discussion of Load and Reload, as part of the 25th anniversary of Load’s release. For a primer on the…Metallica23 min readMetallica23 min read
Mar 18, 2021The Geography of Space Exploration: The Search for Life on Mars (Book Review)Howell & Booth’s book serves as an anthology of personal Martian stories, revealing that behind the search for life on Mars lay entirely Earthly processes. If you’re looking to really brush up on the science of Mars and the search for life it is a must read. Danny Bednar, PhD…Mars11 min readMars11 min read
Published inGeek Culture·Mar 18, 2021The Geography of Space Exploration: Space 5.0 — The Ethics EraThe following is a discussion piece for #Space2090, an undergraduate course on Space Exploration in the Department of Geography and the Environment at Western University. It is open to others in order to collect comments below for the students and I to discuss. …7 min read7 min read
Published inCurious·Sep 12, 2020The Geography of Space Exploration: The Vinyl Frontier (Book Review)A mix-tape for all of humanity, love affairs, space probes destined for the interstellar void, and a tight deadline. …Space Exploration14 min readSpace Exploration14 min read
Published inCurious·Jul 20, 2020The Geography of Space Exploration: Apollo in the Age of Aquarius (Book Review)A revealing account of stories that have been largely washed aside in the retelling of Apollo over the last five decades. Maher’s impressive research reveals not only silenced voices in an era of social conflict comparable to our own, but also the inspiring potential for space exploration to respond to…Space12 min readSpace12 min read
May 18, 2020The Geography of Space Exploration: Britain in the Pre-Space AgeIn our book For All Humankind, Tanya Harrison and I interviewed people from around the world about their experiences watching the Apollo 11 landing. In doing research for the book we dug into the pre-space age histories of many of these countries. One of the more interesting cases was that…Space8 min readSpace8 min read