Public Affairs

Nerd Night at UMD: "Out of our parents' basement"

The North 103.3 | By Lisa Johnson

Published February 13, 2017 at 2:05 PM CST

Pre-stressing concrete, the films of Michael Bay and StarCraft 2

Perhaps a nerd is nothing more than someone who is really, really passionate and excited about something.

Like, concrete. Or the films of Michael Bay. Or StarCraft 2.

But the deeper and more significant question becomes: if you or the thing you're most nerdy about take hold of the public imagination, does that mean you (or it) are now cool? And if so, can you still be called a nerd?

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Lisa Johnson

Lisa Johnson started her broadcast career anchoring the television news at her high school and spinning country music at KWWK/KOLM Radio in Rochester, Minnesota. She was a reporter and news anchor at KTHI in Fargo, ND (not to mention the host of a children's program called "Lisa's Lane") and a radio reporter and anchor in Moorhead, Bismarck, Wahpeton and Fergus Falls.Since 1991, she has hosted Northland Morning on KUMD. One of the best parts of her job includes "paying it forward" by mentoring upcoming journalists and broadcasters on the student news team that helps produce Northland Morning. She also loves introducing the different people she meets in her job to one another, helping to forge new "community connections" and partnerships.Lisa has amassed a book collection weighing over two tons, and she enjoys reading, photography, volunteering with Animal Allies Humane Society and fantasizing about farmland. She goes to bed at 8pm, long before her daughter, two cats, or three dogs.

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