Overheard and Overheated

One less charming quirk of New York is that, but for the newest, most garish and expensive buildings, our apartment thermostats seem to be set by clocks and calendars, with little regard to the actual temperature. At a certain point in, let’s say October if you’re lucky, our radiators hiss and pound to life and … Continue reading →

Workable Solutions

People don’t like gun control because they don’t like the idea of feeling helpless in the face of someone with a gun (guns seem to introduce problems that only guns can solve), and also because they think they might need to rise up against the government. These two problems are why (we’re told) people need … Continue reading →

Ben and Nigel Listen to 2018

One year older and a lifetime crankier. Continue reading →

Let Us Not Praise Famous Men

After an article by Woody Allen’s son made it impossible to ignore that they’re a community of harassers, rapists and enablers, Hollywood gathered to congratulate themselves for being so progressive.   Frances McDormand won the Best Actress Award for a movie about how craven poor Midwesterners are. She is celebrated for solemnly intoning the words … Continue reading →

Post Nostalgia

I was listening to a new artist like I try to do, and it was fine but I kept thinking “it’s kind of like a flatter, less dynamic…M Ward.” Remember that guy? He’s probably best known as the guy from those Zooey Deschanel albums, or to Oberst-aficionadoes, the guy on that Monsters of Folk album … Continue reading →