Zack Benz
Editor-in-chief
He | Him
Zack Benz has been a fan of the Daily Planet since he was eight years old. The Daily Planet has always been a beacon of hope for him and it’s his life’s mission to make it shine in a similar light to so many around the world. Zack graduated with a degree in journalism and art from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2019.
Brianna Taggart
Executive Editor &
Daily Planet Board Member
She | Her
Brianna Taggart gets way too emotionally invested in TV shows and loves to bring her love of stories and writing to her work in journalism. She has two degrees in journalism and communication from the University of Minnesota Duluth and works full time at a weekly newspaper in Minnesota. When she’s not covering community news, she’s covering entertainment for Bri’s Binge right here on the Daily Planet.
Ellie Gerst
Chief Business Strategist &
Daily Planet Board Member
She | Her
Ellie is an activator and a connector. She uses her love of strategy, people, and big ideas to inspire action and connect the dots for the team when it comes to brand development and business acumen. Her experience in business, communication, project management, and process engineering allows her to apply a multi-faceted perspective and extensive toolkit to establishing the building blocks for operational growth and success at The Daily Planet. She is a people-focused leader with a passion for ethical journalism.
Kasey Schlichte
Digital Content Strategist &
Daily Planet Board Member
She | Her
Kasey Schlichte has a fascination with all things social media, wether it’s following and predicting trends, creating content, or simply scrolling through hundreds of tiktoks and instagram stories. When she’s not creating content for The Daily Planet, you can usually find her making coffee, exploring the twin cities, or visiting her family back in Iowa! As a born and raised Iowan, Kasey is passionate about Minnesota news, history, culture and trying to convince everyone in her life to move to Minnesota…and maybe she can convince you too!
Abbie Wells
Columnist &
Daily Planet Board Member
She | They
Abbie is a millennial out there navigating life. She’s proudly part of the LGBTQ+ community and identifies as Asexual, Biromantic, and Nonbinary. They love to travel and is an adventurer at heart. Their anxiety will oftentimes try to get the best of them, but as an anxious adventurer, she has developed a plethora of tips and tricks for traveling. She works on having candid conversations about their mental health struggles with depression and anxiety so that maybe we can all feel a little less alone. Abbie prides themself on being kind, vulnerable, and open.
Emmalee Rabe
Editor &
Daily Planet Board Member
She | Her
Communication is an essential part of human life. It’s how we solve problems, build relationships, make discoveries, and share stories. Emmalee believes that language holds the power to connect people and, as a result, create lasting impacts on both our society and our world. Emmalee has experience in communications in a variety of industries, including publishing, news, marketing, and nonprofit fundraising. She’s a team player and a brainstormer with a B.S. in English from the University of Northwestern, St. Paul.
Rachel Frederickson
Daily Planet Board Member
She | Her
Morgan Campbell
Daily Planet Board Member
She | Her
Jonathan Quigley
Producer &
Daily Planet Board Member
He | Him
Anthony Desiato
Host of Digging for Kryptonite
He | Him
Anthony Desiato, owner and founder of Flat Squirrel Productions, is a lifelong Superman fan, documentary filmmaker, and podcast host who has been chronicling the culture of comic shops for the past decade. Projects include the films My Comic Shop Documentary and My Comic Shop Country, as well as the podcast series My Comic Shop History and Digging For Kryptonite.
Becka Kottke
Columnist & Marketing Consultant
She | Her
Becka’s an avid doodler, a pizza enthusiast, and a fan of clean lines, bright colors and plenty of naps. She really likes any time she gets to be creative and loves teaching herself new skills in order to solve visual problems. She likes expanding existing brands, or creating new ones, and enjoys working on teams of cool people who are nerdy passionate about design.
Zach Moore
Host of Always Hold On To Smallville
He | Him
Zach Moore hosts Always Hold On To Smallville, a retrospective podcast about the Superman TV series “Smallville.” Having worked as a cinematographer, editor and photojournalist in the news, entertainment and medical fields, if there’s a camera or microphone involved Zach isn’t far behind. Zach is a veteran podcaster having hosted multiple shows over the years including Fanchise Fatigue and Saswatch on the United Federation of Podcasts, and Standard Orbit on Trek.FM. He is a native Houstonian and proud Texan.
Jainam Turakhia
Contributing Writer
He | Him
Jainam Turakhia has been a fan of DC for as long as he can remember, but what really tickles his inner creativity is Zack Snyder’s vision for the DC Universe. From there Turakhia has traveled to a lot of destinations exploring works of other artists who make movies or write books/comics. Zack Snyder however, is always his hometown. He loves watching, and analyzing, anything and everything. Still a student from India studying Chartered Accountancy, Turakhia’s passion for stories doesn’t seem to end.
Brendan Rooney
Contributing Writer
He | Him
Brendan Rooney has always been full of creativity and enthusiasm toward the world of widespread media. He is also a passionate comic book fan along with a die-hard sports pedigree. Brendan has written various articles covering all topics and dreams of forging a long-lasting legacy by bringing respect to the Rooney name as either a teacher, journalist, or whatever else the future holds. His work has been featured on Google, Quoted by Marvel Games, Reshared by Movie Trades, Broken exclusives, Spoke and presented at syndicated academic conferences as well.
Jimmy Reno
Contributing Writer
He | Him
Jimmy Reno has always had a passion for the creative arts. Singing and writing have been at the forefront of his career. A professional Christian country singer and songwriter, he discovered his love for writing and journalism later on. Working as a freelance journalist in addition to his music, he contributes to the Daily Planet. An avid, life-long Superman fan, discovering the Daily Planet and contributing to it, was a dream come true.
Daniel Sanchez
Contributing Writer
He | Him
Daniel has been an award-winning magazine art director for “Boy’s Life” and multiple major metropolitan city magazines, a writer for a Dallas newspaper, contributed to the book “Superman: The Richard Donner Years” by Jim Bowers and Brian McKernan, is an official researcher and designer for The Caped Wonder Network, and could not be more proud to have grown up to be an actual reporter for the Daily Planet.
Brian Adigwu
Contributing Writer & Podcaster
He | Him
Brian Adigwu is a podcaster for the Geek Talk with Brian of Earth-16 and a contributing writer/journalist for the Daily Planet. You can also hear Brian on the DC Comics Geeks Nation podcast. When not writing, Brian enjoys going to the world of comic books, TV shows, video games, and pro-wrestling. He also loves listening to other podcasts and having a philosophical conversation.
Jonathan Tyler Patrick
Host of Krypton Report
He | Him
Tyler, as he is known, has been a life long Superman fan since the dawn of his arrival on this planet. With that as a compass, he has always found that being a voice of reason was important. Tyler graduated in 2010 with a degree in Psychology and Counseling. He has worked with troubled teens in different capacities as well as his local paper. Currently, Tyler is pursuing his masters in screen writing along side teaching English and working in the local schools. The Krypton Report is a podcast Tyler runs as part of the Press Play Podcast Network. He has two children and a beautiful amazing wife, whom he has been married to for ten years.
Rob O’Connor
Host of All Star Superfan
He | Him
By day, Rob O’Connor is a TV producer working in Ireland on a number of successful series. By night, Rob keeps his horizons broadened with a steady diet of 90s teen dramas, videogames and superhero comics. The phone won’t stop ringing.
Alan Burke
Host of All Star Superfan
He | Him
Alan Burke is a husband and father in his mid 30s and a police officer by profession. Alan has an extensive knowledge and passion for the history and legacy of the Superman character and the fictional world in which he inhabits and is a collector of Superman artifacts. Alan believes that fictional comic book characters, such as Superman, represent the modern day equivalent to the Gods of ancient mythology.
Luke Bugg
Geek of Steel
He | Him
Luke is a podcast host, proud Superman fan/ambassador, reviewer, positivity producer, and overall geek from the United Kingdom.
Grant Richter
Host of Truth, Justice and Hope
He | Him
Grant has been an avid superhero enthusiast since his early childhood; from watching the Super Friends cartoon on Saturday mornings to hitting the convenience store spinner rack on with his grandfather. Grant came into his Superman fandom late in life, but since then has adopted an ethical philosophy based on the example of Superman, a philosophy of Truth, Justice, and Hope. Grant worked for many years in public service, before retiring to dedicate his life and service full time to his family.
