Michelle Nugent

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Contributor

BSR Contributor Since July 15, 2019

Michelle Nugent (she/her pronouns) is a writer and educator living in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She studied Special Education at Temple University and is the cohost of the writing podcast Casual Misfit Radio.

Michelle Nugent is a writer and educator living in historic Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She studied Special Education at Temple University, and spends her days with an incredible group of students. She’s fascinated by the arts, culture, and history of Philadelphia, and considers the city and surrounding area her personal playground. She also loves astronomy, Indian food, and coffeehouses. She can almost always be found with her nose in a book, or cohosting the writing podcast Casual Misfit Radio with BSR associate editor Kyle V. Hiller.

By this Author

49 results

Page 1

Thanks for the thanks. (Photo by Alan Tennyson, via Wikimedia Commons.)

Stop calling essential workers heroes and start actually helping us

The myth of the tireless worker

Michelle Nugent is an essential worker, not a hero. For everyone who wants to thank an essential worker today, she explains who the real heroes could be, if they stepped up.

Michelle Nugent

Feb 01, 2021 Essays 5 minute read

Lesbians: they’re just like you! Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis as Abby and Harper in ‘Happiest Season.’ (Photo by Jojo Whilden/Hulu.)

Hulu presents Clea Duvall’s ‘Happiest Season'

Heteronormative happiness

It’s exciting to see mainstream platforms making and promoting Christmas romances telling queer stories, but Hulu’s ‘Happiest Season’ is run-of-the-mill holiday cheese. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Dec 14, 2020 Reviews 3 minute read

If you’re used to struggling, what would you do for a six-figure salary? (Image courtesy of Kitty Shields.)

‘Pillar of Heaven’ by Kitty Shields

What’s a paycheck worth?

Young workers trying to survive the shoals of 2020 will relate to Philly author Kitty Shields’s urban fantasy debut, ‘Pillar of Heaven,’ which considers just what a big paycheck is worth. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Nov 02, 2020 Articles 3 minute read

Educational mores continue to change, just like our schoolrooms, and we should evolve with them. (Image via Wikimedia Commons.)

Why I love it when teenagers push back: one teacher’s politics in a 2020 classroom

Classrooms change and we should change with them

Michelle Nugent absorbed a commitment to neutrality during her own education as a teacher. But here’s why she’s leaving it behind in today’s classroom.

Michelle Nugent

Oct 19, 2020 Essays 5 minute read

Offering effective care and compassion means being ready to do it again and again. (Photo by Alaina Johns.)

What being a caregiver in the pandemic taught me about real revolution

When anger isn’t enough

Before the pandemic hit, Michelle Nugent defined herself by her work as a teacher and writer. But a necessary shift to caregiving taught her more about our moment than she expected.

Michelle Nugent

Aug 18, 2020 Essays 5 minute read

A love letter to Philly in 1985? (Image via allauthor.com.)

‘PUNKS’ by Richard Cucarese

Missing Philly’s punk ethos

‘PUNKS,’ the debut novel by Richard Cucarese, visits 1980s Philadelphia without sampling the social context that would’ve been so relevant today. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Aug 17, 2020 Articles 3 minute read

Stay home and get ready to go. (Image courtesy of Yannick Trapman-O'Brien.)

SoLow Fest 2020: Yannick Trapman-O’Brien presents ‘The Telelibrary Travel Agency’

Theater, trivia, experiment

This globetrotting choose-your-own-adventure experience is interactive theater through your phone, running as part of this year’s SoLow Fest. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Jun 20, 2020 Articles 2 minute read

Who are we erasing when we focus only on famous women? (Illustration by Hannah Kaplan, for Broad Street Review.)

What happens when we appreciate women without valuing them?

Well-behaved women in the real world

We often spend Women’s History Month focusing on famous figures—but what could a more collective way of thinking bring to our sense of the value of women who aren’t making history, but who are making our society? Michelle Nugent considers.

Michelle Nugentand Illustration by Hannah Kaplan

Mar 15, 2020 Essays 5 minute read

Human cost, not politicking: Selma Bortner’s ‘Over the Border,’ from her ‘Bomber’ series. (Image courtesy of the Michener Museum.)

The Michener Art Museum presents Selma Bortner and Franz Josef Ponstingl

How others experience the world

Two artists now on display at the Michener—one well-known in her lifetime, and one who worked in obscurity—remind us to pay attention to the world through new perspectives. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Mar 09, 2020 Articles 2 minute read

From a Shakespeare wannabe to modern-day creationists: who are the frauds? (Image courtesy of the author.)

‘Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds’ by Nancy Moses

What makes a fake?

‘Fakes, Forgeries, and Frauds,’ following the long life of swindles and controversies from Shakespeare to anti-vaxxers, doesn’t draw the sharp parallels that the topic deserves in today’s world. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Feb 24, 2020 Articles 3 minute read

Need advice from Cupid? Dana Suleymanova had plenty in her ‘Dear qupid’ at the 2019 Fringe. (Photo by Alaina Johns.)

A queer girl’s guide to love…for everyone

Five tips in time for V-day

For most of her life, Michelle Nugent was still in the closet, and dated accordingly. But exploring romance in the queer community brought her new perspectives on finding love (or being happy solo) that apply to people of all orientations.

Michelle Nugent

Feb 11, 2020 Essays 5 minute read

What if the queer subtext were just text? Eric Jaffe as Smelphaba in ‘Lizard of Oz.’ (Photo by Joe Mac.)

The Painted Bride presents Eric Jaffe and Foster Longo’s ‘Lizard of Oz’

A whole new world of ‘Wizard of Oz’

‘Lizard of Oz,’ a Philly Theatre Week offering spoofing a world of ‘Wizard of Oz’ stories, brings it all home to Philly. Michell Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Feb 10, 2020 Articles 2 minute read

Philly author Eric Smith invites us into a world of gaming, geekdom, and what we do to keep afloat online and IRL. (Image courtesy of the author.)

‘Don’t Read the Comments’ by Eric Smith

Gamer girl

This story about a young person forced to commodify her every moment is an endearing and compelling window on claiming space in gamer-geek culture. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Feb 04, 2020 Articles 3 minute read

Maeve is the star of the family, but not for her own sake. (Cover art by Noah Saterstrom; image courtesy of Harper.)

‘The Dutch House’ by Ann Patchett

At home in Elkins Park

Ann Patchett’s latest novel brings the ingredients of a 20th-century fairy tale to the Philly suburb of Elkins Park. Michelle Nugent reviews.

Michelle Nugent

Dec 27, 2019 Articles 3 minute read

What do former Christians hold dear over the holidays?

Christmas and the post-Catholic atheist

Sure, there are plenty of reasons for a queer feminist atheist to look back bitterly on a Catholic upbringing—but exiting a life of faith isn’t so simple. Michelle Nugent considers.

Michelle Nugent

Dec 23, 2019 Essays 4 minute read