The poor little hippie boy who swapped the Byrds’ folk-rock for country

How TV’s Mr. Squaresville built a deathless archive

Eminent film historian David Thomson fears that the medium has tricked him

Quickie bios, hitched wagons, bottomless lists, and that Atlantic City premonition...

Eminent film historian David Thomson fears that the medium has finally tricked him.

Kristin Hersh’s Throwing Muses, how tart flavors last longer

A new biography of Howard Zinn functions less as a detailed portrait of a man than as an inspirational manual for contemporary endurance.

Historian Howard Zinn: Still Gaining Acceptance

Facing down my own late-20s intimidation in this 1988 review of Joy Division's Substance.

Songs of Sahm elevates the notion of a tribute album with rare conceit: humbling an exceptional band to even better material

A new biography of Garry Trudeau offers a wealth of detail but fails to come to grips with the limits of his comic strip’s satire.

Beloved political cartoonist gets his "unopposed" biography, retires

Cold War fizzle taints Tom Petty’s softcore summer of 1989

Producer Jack Douglas (1945-2026) Goes Off-Script

And: the New York Times' 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters eats its tail

Lennon' 1972's MSG set conjurs a newly beleaguered manifesto

How "Mystery Girl," his posthumous 1989 comeback album, canonized his mysterious sound...

From Denmark’s ghosts to Deep Space flashbacks

Some soundtracks wag their movies, some just sit there.

How Los Lobos’ The Neighborhood Predicted Bad Bunny’s “Nuevayol”