2020 · For Mom
American Idol, but for my mom. A homegrown singing competition during a pandemic, built from a laptop and a kitchen table, watched from a hospital bed.
The story
My mom has stage-4 metastatic breast cancer. She also has a remote for the TV and a very specific love for American Idol. So my partner and I built her one. We recruited contestants. We ran rounds. We got Ryan Seacrest to show up.
The dispatches
How the host of American Idol ended up in our living room. Sort of.
Read on Medium ↗What started for one person turned into a model for online fundraising during lockdown.
Read on Medium ↗The piece that explains why I built any of this in the first place.
Read on Medium ↗In cooperation with the American Cancer Society
The open mic ran as a fundraiser in cooperation with the American Cancer Society. It worked, and later that year I went on to take part in the Real Men Wear Pink 2021 campaign, turning a show for my mom into a fight for everyone's.
Real Men Wear Pink 2021