Aaron Brown
Editorial Columnist
Iron RangeAaron Brown is a columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Board. He’s based on the Iron Range but focuses on the affairs of the entire state. He was raised in a trailer house on a local junkyard and is the first in five generations of his family to never work in an iron mine. He lives down a dirt road on the western Mesabi. His past writing can be found at MinnesotaBrown.com.
Contact
Advertisement
Latest from Aaron Brown
Brown: What a 1921 Ford Model T can teach us about today’s tech
It helps explain why everything, and everyone, seems off these days.
February 19, 2026
Brown: Betsy-Tacy books show the humanity in our immigration story
Maud Hart Lovelace’s books extolled curiosity and kindness, two traits we could use a little more of today.
February 12, 2026
Brown: When betting is everywhere, we gamble with our future
No one stays lucky forever.
February 5, 2026
Brown: Ojibwe-language hockey announcers bring new cultural life to the sport
It takes more than words to describe a hockey game in Ojibwe. To hear the game in “the language of the people” is a fully immersive experience.
February 3, 2026
Advertisement
Brown: Arrest of journalists escalates the constitutional crisis in Minnesota
This is a red line that must not be crossed.
January 30, 2026
Brown: As freedom is tested in Minnesota, the world watches
For some in Russia, the authoritarianism beginning to rear its head in the U.S. seems all too familiar.
January 27, 2026
Brown: Under the bright lights of Walmart, an economic story unfolds
Discount retailers are a safe harbor in hard economic times.
January 19, 2026
Brown: Our weary state must find shared reality amid chaos and fear
The 1916 miners’ strike showed the depths of division a community can sink to — and yet recover.
January 18, 2026
Advertisement
Brown: Trump’s child care funding freeze harms working people. Is anyone surprised?
Mistakes that allowed fraud merit correction, not destruction.
January 12, 2026
Brown: High costs? Budget cuts? Even more reason to protect public libraries.
If they’re allowed to fail, don’t expect the private sector to step up.
January 5, 2026
Brown: Tragic death highlights security challenges at Minnesota hospitals
The Christmas Day incident reminds of the importance of security officers — and the risks they take to protect patients and medical staff.
December 30, 2025
Brown: Despite arguments and heartbreak, a bipartisan friendship shows the way
After 40 years, what they had left was not disagreement but devotion.
December 24, 2025
Advertisement