My Review of Paul Simon's 'A Quiet Celebration' Tour

The first concert I ever attended was for Paul Simon. On Saturday, I saw him for the fourth time, and perhaps the last time. Over at InsideHook, I wrote about an emotional evening filled with thoughts about death, God and the afterlife. (It also gave me a chance to muse on his 2023 album Seven Psalms.) Hope you enjoy. 

My Review of Bono's 'Surrender'

Bono's memoir is a hefty tome. It's fascinating, frustrating and often quite moving, just like U2's music. I dove into Surrender over at InsideHook.

My Interview With Steven Hyden, Author of 'Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation'

Steven Hyden is a music critic I really enjoying reading, so I was happy to spend some time chatting with him about his latest book, which investigates why Pearl Jam still matters. Over at InsideHook, we had a long talk about nostalgia, bands that aren't cool, and what it says about both of us that we love No Code. Hope you enjoy.

Why I Love Bob Dylan's Singing Voice

Bob Dylan turned 80 yesterday. Over at InsideHook, they're spending all week running pieces about the man and his music. My contribution was writing about Dylan's singing voice, which is an underrated weapon in his arsenal. This was a lot of fun.

The Least-Listened-To Songs on Great Albums

Recently, Spotify changed its layout, allowing you to see the play counts of every song on every album. For InsideHook, I checked out a bunch of classic albums to see which track was played least. Some of these songs are actually great -- I can't believe more folks don't listen to 'em. Here's my tribute to some underloved songs.

My Interview With Victor Kossakovsky, Director of 'Gunda'

Victor Kossakovsky makes documentaries about nature. His previous film, Aquarela, was about water, and now he's back with a black-and-white study of some barnyard animals. For InsideHook, I spoke to the director about animal rights ... and why he chose to keep a scene in which the film's main character, a pig, kills one of her children (off screen). Hope you enjoy.

'Chad' Review

I always liked Nasim Pedrad on Saturday Night Live, so I was curious to check out Chad, in which she plays a 14-year-old boy obsessed with being popular. It's a new vision of boyhood that I found touching. My review is up at InsideHook.

'WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn' Review

Adam Neumann didn't just want to start a new company. He wanted to change the world. The documentary WeWork explores how successful he was in both ventures. My review is up at InsideHook.