If you’ve always thought of jazz dance as a bit too, shall we say, jazzily mainstream, then you haven’t seen Danny Buraczeski. Steeped in dance history, he has been called “the thinking man’s jazzman.” His desire to share that history and his many years as a teacher bring a distinctive character to his choreography and … Read more
The 1992 telling of this anti-holiday tale on National Public Radio launched the career of author and commentator David Sedaris. His look at Christmas from the perspective of a verbally abused adult, one wearing the curly-toed shoes and green tights of a Macy’s Christmas Elf in New York City, is hilarious and uniquely Sedaris. Bryant-Lake … Read more
I was sorting through an old box of videotapes the other night and came across an unmarked VHS cassette with no case. I popped it in the VCR, hit play, and for the next half hour, marveled at the human animal’s capacity for selective memory. 1993. I was a barista in an espresso bar downtown. … Read more
When I was in the throes of young motherhood, raising three little kids and editing a parenting magazine from home, I signed up for a bunch of email groups for moms. I wanted to tune into what parents were talking about and arguing about. I wanted to know which issues packed the most punch among … Read more
I am not a sex-advice guy, nor am I an expert on intimate relations. I’m just a regular married guy, trying to tell it like it is from my point of view. I’ve got to get something out in the open, though, and it’s going to sound kind of obnoxious. OK, I’ll just say it: … Read more
Europe changes you. No one can deny that. You may go the first time with a young, cynical it-can’t-be-that-big-of-a-deal complex. They have churches. So what. You’ve seen churches. Stuff is really old, you get that, but what does Europe have that we don’t in the U.S.? And then it sinks in. Maybe while drinking your … Read more
For many years, country music was one of the shibboleths of the alternative nation: If you were born after 1950, lived in a city, and considered yourself smart and hip, you’d say you liked “all kinds of music”—pause—“except country.” There were almost as many “Country and Western” jokes as knock-knock jokes. And the folk revolution … Read more
• Shared bathroom with Bill O’Reilly • “Mission Accomplished” branded into flesh • Kidneys pecked out by Lee Atwater • Daily brunch with Dick Cheney • What’s left of hair pulled out by mixed-race love children • Steady audio feed from the Hillary Clinton Presidential Library
After Richard Avedon, the famous portraitist and New Yorker staff photographer, died on October 1, the owners of the Black Forest Inn in South Minneapolis draped their notorious Avedon print in black chiffon. The colossal photograph—a black and white portrait of eleven members of the Daughters of the American Revolution—covers a wall in their backroom … Read more
American solipsism is a funny thing. Each of us tends to believe two contradictory destinies await us: On the one hand, incredible luck and wealth will eventually be ours. On the other hand, violent tragedy is one terrorist strike away. This is the American Dream gone to seed and become a psychosis. We each believe … Read more