The Forgotten Tale of How Black Psychiatrists Helped Make ‘Sesame Street’ by Anne Harrington I’m bound to be enthralled by any smart story that digs into the earliest days of Sesame Street, the PBS program of my youth that was … Continue reading Outside Reading — Sweepin’ the Clouds Away edition
I’ve noticed that a lot of the music I’ve clung to like a life preserver these past couple years has been animated by a sense of enduring hope and camaraderie, seeking out the remaining shafts of light while storm clouds … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Ezra Furman,”Calm Down aka I Should Not Be Alone”
These posts are about great acting performances sustained across the full run of a television series. Kaley Cuoco as Penny in The Big Bang Theory (2007 – 2019) Before Penny, there was Katie. Well ahead of the time The Big … Continue reading The Long Haul — Kaley Cuoco in The Big Bang Theory
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. As someone who experience formative years during the nineteen-eighties, culturally guided by Steven Spielberg’s films and Stephen … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Stranger Things and New Coke
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. The Larry Sanders Show debuted on … Continue reading Golden Words – The Larry Sanders Show, “Flip”
“‘But thank God for Walter Winchell. Without him we’d be lost. He’s the last person on the radio to speak out against these dirty dogs. It’s disgusting. It’s worse than disgusting. Slowly but surely, there’s nobody in America willing to … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature
720. The Fall, The Domesday Pay-Off Triad Plus (1987) Nothing about the Fall is particularly easy, and so it is with detailing the origins of the 1987 album The Domesday Pay-Off Triad Plus. To begin, let’s establish that the group … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #720 to #717
On the occasion of the announcement of the second season premiere date for David Letterman’s Netflix program, I luckily have this archival piece loaded up and ready to go. Written for the “Flashback Fridays” feature I mounted at my former … Continue reading From the Archive — Late Night with David Letterman
I’m well aware that I tend to lean on cockeyed comparisons when describing music I like, but I can’t help it. That’s simply how I wrap my understanding around songs that tickle their fingers merrily across buttons I didn’t even … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Hatchie, “Obsessed”
It’s not easy to like Vampire Weekend. I carry enough vaporous remainders of my bygone college radio posturing against bands that didn’t conform to my peer group’s preference for vagabond scruff, all battered sneakers, faulty gear, and romanticized disenfranchisement. From … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Father of the Bride
Coffee for Two 