Academia Is Engagement, Not Indoctrination
Sean MurphyI remember first learning I wasn’t white my second year of college. Well, not really white. By...
Wayne Shorter on Thelonious Monk & More…
Insights into music, mental illness, iconoclasm, and a particular American Genius i. First off, if...
When Bruce Became Boss: Born To Run at 50
In a rather counterintuitive turn of events, the fact that the first two albums didn’t...
Big Shot: Making a Case for Billy Joel
Five hours is a lot of time to spend with Billy Joel. But it’s worth...
Why We Keep Returning to Stories: A Conversation with The Atlantic’s Emma Sarappo
If you’re a writer, editor, teacher, critic — or just a serious reader — you...
Never Say Die: Ozzy into the Void
He accomplished everything he was put here to do. And more. He didn’t merely change...
F with the Formula: Brian Wilson as Antidote for Cynicism
Brian Wilson could hear everything. The miraculous sounds in his mind. The sound of history...
Ennio Morricone, The Master
Certain things are anathema to the mature writer: hyperbole, cliché, groupthink, money—just kidding, (mostly). Sometimes,...
St. Elmo’s: Where Every Day is 1985
Forty years ago, this week, a movie that in many ways belongs on the Mt....
Lalo Schifrin: Sound & Vision
When one of the best albums of the ’90s dropped, pretty much out of nowhere,...