Archive - Can't Be Helped

On My Plastic People Collection

At 1:12 Scale, Life Can Feel Under Control -- I bought most of my action figures during a time when I was temporarily insane.

Jun 5 •

Brendan McGuirk

April 2025

Only in Contrast Pt. 4

Some Kind of Approval - All my life, because of my life, I’ve wanted to be a meaningful contributor to conversations about race, because that would feel…

Apr 21 •

Brendan McGuirk

Only in Contrast Pt.3

It was the role-reversal of a lifetime: now, thanks to the good luck of friendly access, the suburban white kid was spending weeknights hanging out in…

Apr 18 •

Brendan McGuirk

Only In Contrast Pt. 2

Contact and Conflict - I bought a pair of socks once. I’d trekked into this streetwear shop in Cambridge’s Central Square, Expressions, because I…

Apr 15 •

Brendan McGuirk

Only in Contrast Pt. 1

Confessions of a Well-Meaning White Boy -- I don't know what a racially well-adjusted white person looks like, but I know that I am not them.

Apr 11 •

Brendan McGuirk

August 2024

Memories of My Uncle, Mike McGuirk “Are you ready to win it all?” It was early 2004 when Manny Ramirez asked my uncle, Michael, the question. The…

Aug 1, 2024 •

Brendan McGuirk

February 2024

January 2024

On Things What Can't Be Helped

Welcome to Can’t Be Helped, my new storytelling newsletter wherein every so often I’ll aim to entertain you with diatribes, tales of the past from the…

Jan 29, 2024 •

Brendan McGuirk

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