Alex Lauer

Alex Lauer is the features editor at InsideHook. Since joining the company in 2016, he’s covered a wide range of topics, including cars, the environment, books and business. His reporting broke stories on the rise of Bookshop (the anti-Amazon online bookseller), the fall of Best Made Company (and sale to Duluth Trading) and the false promises of a supposedly “environmentally-friendly” NFT initiative. His hands-on methods — driving in a Sherp (of Kanye West fame) in northern Minnesota and idling in the electric Ford Mustang Mach-E for 12 hours in the middle of winter — offer a reliable and unique perspective on popular issues. Previously, he wrote for City Pages in the Twin Cities after graduating from the University of Minnesota. After starting at IH in New York City, he now lives in Minneapolis, MN. Follow him on Instagram: @alexlauer.

All Articles From Alex Lauer
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Queen Regent Míriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir, and Charlie Vickers as Halbrand in "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power"

Not a Fan of “Rings of Power”? It Could Have Been Much, Much Worse.

Keep Netflix away from the precious at all costs

A black Audi RS e-tron GT electric sedan currently being given away by charity platform Omaze

Time Is Running Out to Win One of Our Favorite Cars of the Year

The RS e-tron GT is one of Audi’s quickest cars ever, but also seats five. Go figure.

The Shinola Mechanic hand-wound watch in olive green sitting on a table. We tested and reviewed the new timepiece

Introducing the Mechanic: Shinola Releases Its First Hand-Wound Watch

By paying tribute to Detroit's sign painters, the brand finds a potent blend of form and function

The OXO 8-Cup Coffee Maker and OXO Conical Burr Grinder, both of which are on sale

Reinvigorate Your Home Coffee Setup During This OXO Sale

A better coffee maker and grinder, with some beans thrown in to get you started

A black and white photo of the 1963 Porsche 901, the prototype of the Porsche 911

Who Designed the Porsche 911? 60 Years Later, It's Still Not Clear.

The family of former chief designer Erwin Komenda would like a word

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard speaking at Tribeca X in NYC in 2019. He recently gave away the company to fight climate change.

How Does Yvon Chouinard's Climate Pledge Compare to Jeff Bezos?

The Patagonia founder's decision to give away the company has been hailed as unprecedented. Here's how the donations stack up.

A Promaster Dive Orca, Fujitsubo Automatic and Promaster Dive Automatic in green, all Citizen watches that are now for sale at Huckberry

A Japanese Watchmaking Titan Is Now Available at Huckberry

Citizen’s reliable dive watches and retro-styled curiosities are both on offer

Holding up a crispy piece of banana peel bacon. The fake meat recipe went viral, but is it any good?

Does Banana Peel Bacon Take Fake Meat a Step Too Far?

I cooked two versions of the viral, polarizing vegan recipe to find out

Three photos of lawn games, Molkyy in the upper left, kubb on the right and lawn bowling in the bottom left

How to Beat Your Friends at Every Lawn Game, According to the Pros

We asked champions in cornhole, Spikeball and more for one tip that’ll significantly improve your game

British soldiers in a trench at the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien fought in the battle but eventually contracted trench fever.

How the Horror and Fellowship of WWI Shaped "Lord of the Rings"

As Amazon rolls out "The Rings of Power," historians explain the personal experience J.R.R. Tolkien brought to Middle-earth

A pictures of a sailboat in a digital photo frame from Aura Frames

The Best Gift I Gave This Year Was This Digital Photo Frame

They’re on sale for Labor Day, so feel free to steal my idea

An Caravel 20FB travel trailer from Airstream sits on a beach with string lights behind a Ram 1500 Limited truck. Here's how to win both from Omaze.

How to Win the Airstream of Your Dreams, Plus the Truck to Tow It

The Caravel trailer is the star, but the Ram 1500 is no slouch

Errol Musk, Elon Musk's father and South African engineer

Get to Know Errol Musk, Elon's "Brilliant," "Terrible" Father

Unpacking the emerald mine, his stepdaughter and other stories

A cutting board, set of cast iron cookware and espresso machine, all of which are on sale at Sur La Table's Overstock Sale

The 6 Best Kitchen Upgrades at Sur La Table’s Overstock Sale

Including one of the best deals on cast iron cookware we’ve ever seen

A blue Volkswagen ID.4 SUV, the electric vehicle Erika Gilsdorf took on her "What Fuels You" road trip

What It’s Really Like to Road Trip in an EV Across America

Erika Gilsdorf, who has put thousands of miles on a Volkswagen ID.4 SUV, shares the highs, lows and eccentricities of the electric experience

The Stainless Sets from Made In

The 5 Best Cookware Deals From Made In's Summer Sale

Score discounts on the brand's kitchen knives, carbon-steel pans and more