The second life of stuff: An interview with journalist Adam Minter
One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Not really, says Adam Minter in his book, Secondhand: Travels in the new global garage sale.
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This week — something different! A real, true-blue feature article from yours truly. This article was originally written for a Malaysian national daily. However, they never did publish it, which is a shame. I’ve published it here because Adam Minter’s message deserves to be heard.
Adam Minter grew up with junk.
In fact, it was a family business. A calling, even.
He spent his childhood exploring the family-owned junkyard in Minneapolis and going antique hunting with his grandmother at garage sales.
So, it’s unsurprising that Minter ended writing about junk – or rather, turning trash into useful things.
Minter, a veteran journalist who writes for Bloomberg Opinion, has written a number of articles on the subject, becoming something of an expert in the field. His book, Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion Dollar Trash Trade, lovingly details his adventures at the junkyard and the industry that revolves around it.
So, when Minter started writing Secondhand: Travels in the new global garage sale in 2015, it was with the idea that it’ll be a follow up of sorts to Junkyard Planet.
But the journey turned out quite different from expected.