Hugh Ryan

Freelance writer

Steve Grand’s ‘All-American Boy’ and the End of the Gay-Panic Defense.

First published in The Daily Beast, July 10, 2013. Read the original (with comments) here.
Just in time for July Fourth, Steve Grand—a singer-songwriter who hopes to become the first gay male country icon—released his debut video on YouTube. “All-American Boy” is a paean to everything country: bonfires, whisky, pickup trucks, the American flag, skinny-dipping, and [...]

“Red Dawn”: Dumbest ’80s remake ever?

First published in Salon, November 20, 2012. Read the original here.
If I told you I was making a movie about a small group of child soldiers, who use IEDs and scavenged weapons to fight a guerrilla war against a larger occupying force, what would you picture? The war-torn sands of Gaza? The refugee camps of [...]

Making history cool: The Pop-up Museum of Queer History

First published in History@Work, July 29, 2013. Read the original here.
I founded the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History by accident. Originally, the idea was for a one-night party in my apartment in January of 2011, designed to create a for-us, by-us space where queer people could join together to celebrate ourselves as a valid public, [...]

HuffPost Live Discussion: Giving Men A Voice In The Abortion Debate

Originally aired on HuffPost Live on July 22, 2013.

I was invited to be part of a discussion about the role of men in the abortion debate on HuffPost Live. Watch the full segment below.

Who Says Machines Must Be Useful?

First published in The New York Times on January 6, 2012. Read the original (with videos!) here.
ON the roof of a small row house in Brooklyn, a black powder fuse flared brightly against the gray sky. Hissing and sparking, it burned through a platform installed inside a repurposed Ikea bookshelf, sending four [...]

The Boy in the Suitcase

First published on The Daily Beast on January 4 2012. Read the original here.
Until recently, the term “Scandinavian import” evoked blond wood and incomprehensible instructions, not tightly packed and darkly intricate crime novels. Stieg Larsson’s Swedish shockwave The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo changed that, making northern Europe a hotspot for mystery—and [...]

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