The Horn Clips

All of my clips for The Horn can be found here.

News Articles:

Music Articles:

  • “Talking Songs with Joe Purdy (INTERVIEW)” – “Fresh off the release of his latest album, ‘Eagle Rock Fire’, singer-songwriter Joe Purdy will be performing in Austin on September 13th at The Parish. Recently Mac McCann caught up with Purdy.”
  • “Blue, The Misfit Finds Passion In Hip-Hop” – ““I need love like Austin loves weirdos,” raps Blue, The Misfit in his song “Love (ft. Snow Tha Product).” And when Blue performs at Nook Amphitheater on Friday night for Free Week, Austin will definitely be showing him some of the love that the Dallas-based artist deserves.”
  • “10 Hip-hop Acts to Catch at SXSW 2015” – First off, the SXSW hip-hop lineup is crazy dope and crazy deep. Making this list, I almost feel bad for how many artists I had to exclude. Still, I tried to narrow the lineup down to the ten artists that I’d most like to see.”
  • “Dallas Rapper Stays on ‘-topic’” – “Despite the progress he has made so far, -topic still wants to keep growing. Over the next few months, he’s hoping to travel and perform while collaborating with artists across the country, especially in New York and California. While he seems to enjoy his increasing popularity, it’s clear that –topic wasn’t just after the money or the fame that can come with music”
  • “Josh Ritter at ACL Live (REVIEW/PHOTOS)” – “At the Moody Theater Josh Ritter and his current group demonstrated that they are not afraid to cut loose and have some fun, despite all wearing suits. When Ritter wasn’t singing and playing guitar, he was cracking jokes, dancing and laughing. One crowd member summed it up when he said, “He just looks so happy,” and that was happiness was definitely contagious.”
  • “Catching up with Josh Ritter” – My interview and profile of singer-songwriter Josh Ritter.
  • “Joe Purdy at the Parish (SHOW REVIEW)” – “On Saturday singer-songwriter Joe Purdy played an intimate and passionate show at the Parish.”
  • “Sage Francis Slays Red 7 (SHOW REVIEW/PHOTOS)” – “On Thursday night, Sage rocked Red 7 for an intimate and dedicated crowd – and on his own terms. Despite the brutal heat, Sage performed non-stop, constantly switching between his new songs and his older staples – with the crowd embracing the MC’s every word.”
  • “Psyching Out With TOMA” – “The band has already introduced itself to the local scene, having performed at the 21st Street Co-op, Mohawk, and the Empire Control Room. But Toma’s local connections go back much further than that.”

Opinion Columns:

  • “Put the brakes on texting bans” – “Undoubtedly, texting while driving needs to stop. But we can’t focus on one single distraction while driving when there are endless sources of distractions.”
  • “Stand for the Forgotten: In Honor of the Tank Man” – “He didn’t overthrow the government. He didn’t defeat any armies. He didn’t find fame. But his stand was not in vain. He stood up for what he believed in, despite standing alone—and that’s what life’s all about.”
  • “Gun Rights and Race” – “I’m not arguing for or against gun control. But I don’t think any serious conversations can be had on the topic until we openly and honestly examine the history of gun rights and race.”
  • “Stand-up comedy is the most essentially human art form” – “So when you hear someone discussing Van Gogh, Shakespeare, Emerson, Dickinson or any other artists, don’t hesitate to mention comics like Lenny Bruce or George Carlin.”
  • “Socialism isn’t as horrible as it sounds” – “One’s political ideology – socialist or otherwise – should not be grounds to dismiss all of their actions or ideas. We should examine, contemplate and debate ideas from around the political spectrum.”
  • “Objective journalism doesn’t exist and that’s okay.” – “By recognizing and admitting biases, we can stop pursuing the mythical objective journalism, and hopefully people will realize the importance, not of finding one “objective” source, but of reading multiple points of view from multiple sources.”
  • “An Attempt at Saying Thank You” – “Family is important. And I know that that might sound pretty obvious and cliché and all that, but hear me out.”
  • “An Op-Ed in Opposition to Editorials” – “Because of this, we want to give our columnists credit for their individual opinions. Furthermore, we also want to hold specific writers accountable for their own opinions. We don’t want our writers to hide behind the “editorial board” and avoid responsibility, nor do we want our writers to have their opinions put upon the pedestal of claiming to speak for our entire publication.”
  • “God bless Joel Osteen” – “Osteen understands that people are already aware of their shortcomings, so he doesn’t waste time beating them down. Perhaps he is more of a motivational speaker than a preacher, but what’s wrong with that?”
  • “Will the real patriots please stand up?” – “Far too often, disagreement, disapproval and dissent are mistaken for disloyalty or betrayal. But rather than being un-American, nothing is more American than dissent.”
  • “Accidentally revealing how racist we are” – “As an anti-racist, I’m appalled that such stupidity exists in the 21st century. But, to be honest, as a privileged Southern white male, I’m almost sympathetic.”
  • “Millennials are Individuals and So Can You” – (A version of this column appeared in The Dallas Morning News.) “Like American Transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau (See, people? We actually do respect some of our elders), Millennials value individualism as a means to virtues like tolerance, creativity and freedom.”
  • “Support our troops” – “It’s far too often ignored that we can support our troops without supporting our wars. In fact, if we truly support our troops, we should bring them home safely.”
  • “Mac McCann with more random recommended readings” – “Below, I briefly introduce and then quote my recommendations, which can be read in full via the hyperlinked titles.”
  • “More of Mac McCann’s Reading Recommendations“
  • “F*ck C*ns*rsh*p” – “To limit our speech is to limit our mind, because freedom of speech is the foundation of freedom of the mind. If you and I are to be truly free, so must our speech, no matter how vulgar.”
  • “There’s only one Austin, Texas” – “Texas is one of a kind, and even within the state, Austin is different. It’s special. It’s, well, weird – and in the best way.”
  • “Is suicide morally permissible?” – “Although suicide is a tragedy that should be avoided, the right to end one’s own life is the most basic right of all.”
  • “It’s not just gay marriage. Why regulate love?” – “Sure, most people disagree with it. Sure, most people find it weird (very, very weird). But why should the government be able to forbid voluntary relationships between consenting adults, regardless of how widely accepted it is?”
  • “The good and bad of a tobacco-free UT” – “UT will become a tobacco-free campus on Thursday, a move that will unnecessarily restrict some freedoms, while restricting others for the better.”
  • “Why mock progress?” – “I hope we can agree that a ‘divided’ GOP that’s increasingly embracing marriage equality is much better than a united GOP that unanimously opposes marriage equality. Unquestionably, the GOP doesn’t have the best record on the issue. But why criticize and mock them for making progress? Rather than targeting the CR debaters for not toeing the party line, we should appreciate their embrace of equality – better late than never.”
  • “All politicians should be as transparent as Justin Amash” – “Love or hate his beliefs, Rep. Amash’s transparency is something to be admired by all Americans – and something that should be mimicked by all politicians.”
  • “The rant that revealed what’s wrong with education” – “The secret of education lies in respecting yourself. After all, when it comes down to it, self-education is the only kind of education; no one can force you to learn.”
  • “What I learned my freshman year at UT” – My advice for incoming freshmen.
  • “Why it’s okay to (sometimes) give up” – “Sometimes giving up is important, not because something is inherently bad for you (like smoking), but because it’s not the best use of your time.”
  • “Welcome back intelligent rap” – “With the release of Kanye West’s Yeezus, J. Cole’s Born Sinner and Mac Miller’s Watching Movies with the Sound Off, June 18th will be a special day for hip-hop. This upcoming Tuesday will bring back an intelligence that is too often absent in rap music, especially among mainstream rappers.”
  • “Got a message to spread? Bathroom graffiti is the answer” – “In today’s shocking, busy world, even the most obscene statements just don’t have the same staying power that they did only decades ago. However, a bathroom wall seems to be one stronghold where these statements can still resonate in the mind of an observer, a phenomenon that makes the bathroom wall a valid venue for expression.”
  • “For once, let’s not allow history to repeat itself” – “Always be cautious when the politicians start beating the war drums; we cannot let the costs of ignorance become the costs of war.”
  • “Term limits limit democracy” – “If voters really want term limits, why don’t they enforce them through their ballots? Every two, four or six years voters have the power to limit any politician’s tenure, locally or nationally, without having to amend any constitution.”
  • “I hate ‘hate crimes’ but I hate ‘hate crime’ laws too” – “The beliefs and motivations of murderers, no matter how irrationally and disgustingly vile they may be, should be irrelevant to their punishment.”
  • “President Obama, race & the ‘War on Drugs'” – “Obama has achieved one of equality’s greatest victories by overcoming racism and winning the presidency twice, and he deserves a great deal of respect and admiration for that. However, we cannot allow that to excuse his harmful policies, especially policies that are as discriminate as the ‘War on Drugs.'”
  • “We should take the sexism out of chivalry” – “We can kill chivalry without hurting kindness. Women should not be degraded as inferiors to men. And, women should not be exalted above men either. We are all humans, regardless of sex.”
  • “Stop treating science like science fiction” – “With international competition growing more and more intense, Americans must stop ignoring, rejecting and attacking science, if we hope to keep making progress.”
  • “Separation of church and state shouldn’t mean separation of churches and us” – (A version of this column also appeared in The Dallas Morning News) “People of all religions (as well as people of no religion) could benefit from occasionally attending services at churches that they don’t usually attend.”
  • “Let’s face it: the University of Texas at Austin’s campus is racist” – “Racism can be erased – even if it’s written in stone (or sculpted in bronze). Removing the South Mall’s Confederate statues would be a great step towards equality on campus. If what starts here really does change the world, it’s time for the monuments of racism to crumble.”
  • “Eating (like) animals” – “While we do sometimes think of the public opinion, the consequences, the alternatives for our actions, we, as a society, rarely think of the actual morality of our actions.”
  • “Support equality, end affirmative action” – (A version of this column also appeared in the Huffington Post) “Diversity is one the many things that makes America so great. More than a nationality, being American is an idea.”
  • “My full-time, unpaid internship” – (A version of this column also appeared in the Austin American-Statesman and The Dallas Morning News) “By no means is it the experience that I wanted, but it’s an experience that everyone needs. I’ll be learning one of the most common and most important skills of all: how to deal with rejection.”
  • “Legalize steroids. No, seriously.” – “Rather than protecting fairness, the ineffective bans [against performance-enhancing drugs] have hurt those who follow the rules much more than they’ve punished those who don’t.”
  • “Mac McCann with random reading recommendations“
  • “The costly hypocrisy of the United States” – “Not only is it financially irresponsible, it’s morally irresponsible to continue to take taxpayers’ money in order to fund governments and organizations that are morally bankrupt.”
  • “Rand Paul and Millennials” 
  • “It’s time to finish final exams, permanently.” – (A version of this column also appeared in The Dallas Morning News) “In the real world, we should take advantage of how many available resources exist and learn how to use them, rather than focusing on memorizing a limited amount of information. After all, life is one long open-book test, rather than a short final exam.”
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