FRESH AIR: After the sudden death of his wife, Michelle McNamara, in April of 2016, comedian Patton Oswalt felt himself falling apart. He began drinking and eating bad food and he struggled with insomnia. “I was beginning to kind of kiss the edge during those months,” he says. “I felt like I was fading out of the world … just sort of treating myself like I had already died.” But Oswalt also knew that he had to pull himself together — if not for his own sake, then for the sake of his young daughter, Alice. He turned to […]
BOOKS: ‘I Believe Anita Hill’
[Illustrations by ALEX FINE] EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview originally published on December 7th, 2011. We are re-posting it now, for obvious reasons. BY JONATHAN VALANIA In advance of her reading at the Free Library tonight to promote her new book Reimagining Equality: Stories Of Race, Gender And Finding A Home, we present a conversation with Anita Hill, professor of social policy, law, and women’s studies at Brandeis University. Discussed: The fantasia of a Post-Racial America; the mendacity, narcissism and hypocrisy of Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain; the right wing’s racializing the blame for the 2008 financial crisis; how she passed […]
BOOKS: Q&A With John Waters, Lord Of The Trash
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] BY JONATHAN VALANIA This conversation with celluloid-transgressor-turned-authority-on-all-things-wicked John Waters originally ran back in 2010 upon the publication of his book Role Models. We are re-running it today to mark the auspicious return of his beloved one-man Christmas show at Union Transfer on December 9th. DISCUSSED: LSD, outsider porn, fuzzy sweaters, uptight gay bars, Charlie Manson, Johnny Mathis, censorship, why the Chipmunks are far superior to the Beatles, and why he hasn’t made a film in years. *** PHAWKER: Before we get started, I want to enter this little fanboy anecdote into the record: My first real […]
REST IN PIECES: Charles Manson Dead @ 83
ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: Manson, Charles: aka Charlie, aka The Wizard. Known aliases: Jesus H. Christ and The Devil Himself. Manson was sort of the Hannibal Lecter of the flower-power era: witty and charismatic; disarmingly charming when he wanted to be; and supremely, psychopathically evil. He remains a cultural bogeyman, and in the minds of most, the most despicable super-criminal since Hitler. And even though the body count ascribed to him has been overshadowed by a long list of serial killers, terrorists and dictators, it is Manson’s gory hippie-Armageddon myth that still resonates the loudest. He is an enduring totem […]
CINEMA: Little Women
LADYBIRD (Directed by Greta Gerwig, 94 minutes, 2017, USA) BY CHRISTOPHER MALENEY FILM CRITIC Coming of age stories, or bildungsroman for those who know your literary terms, represent a foundational storytelling archetype of the western world. We love bildungsroman, from Greek myths and fairy tales through Harry Potter and the whole Young Adult canon, for a number of reasons. These stories allow older readers to re-live their formative years and experiences and younger readers to find characters and experiences that instruct them in their own life-choices. Most importantly, though, bildungsroman explore the central question of any society by asking […]
GEEK SQUAD: Dept. Of Justice
BY RICHARD SUPLEE GEEK SPACE CORRESPONDENT For years fans have been calling for a live action Justice League movie and director Zack Snyder finally delivered. And the good news is Justice League is a superhero film that doesn’t require a “ultimate super duper secret Blu Ray exclusive if you turn your TV upside down directors cut” to be watchable. But the real reason to watch Justice League is these pop culture gods finally share the screen together. And it pays off. Ben Affleck’s Batman feels more complete than the last time we saw the character. Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
Via PINTEREST FRESH AIR: Actress Greta Gerwig has made a career starring in movies about quirky women. She played a driftless dancer in Frances Ha and a punk photographer in 20th Century Women. Now she’s written and directed her first film, an exploration of mother-daughter relationships called Lady Bird. “I don’t know any woman who has a simple relationship with their mother or with their daughter,” Gerwig says. “It has a tremendous amount of love — and a tremendous amount of angst.” Gerwig felt Hollywood wasn’t giving mothers and daughters the screen time they deserved, so she set out to […]
Q&A: Journey To The Center Of Mike Birbiglia
EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview originally published back in 2014. On the occasion of comedian Mike Birbiglia’s two night stand at Merriam Theater on Friday and Saturday, we present this encore edition. Enjoy. BY JONATHAN VALANIA Welcome to another round of Stupid Answers To Stupid Questions. Actually, that’s only half true. Comedian Mike Birbiglia, of Sleepwalk With Me fame, provided pretty smart answers to our stupid questions. DISCUSSED: Getting bladder cancer at 19; what he and Terry Gross talk about when they are not robbing banks; the strangest place he ever rubbed one out; whether the rumors are true that while […]
EARWORM: Trout Mask Replica For Dummies
Captain Beefheart was an enigma wrapped in a riddle: a blues-braying Tasmanian Devil, industrial-strength surrealist, poet, painter, visionary, and charlatan. Stirring together the primal, blacksnake moan of Delta trance-blues and the free-jazz headfuck of John Coltrane and Charles Mingus in the burbling psychedelic cauldron of ’60s West Coast pop experimentalism, Beefheart’s music was the stuff of spells and incantations, fire-walking and levitation. Safe as Milk, from 1967, remains the ideal starting point for Beefheart beginners, with all the trademarks of his sound pitched in perfect tandem: proto-garage snarl, menacing blues, Martian poetry, exotic rhythms and extraterrestrial sound effects. Purists point […]
Q&A With David Thomas, Pere Ubu’s Prime Mover
David Thomas of Pere Ubu by Melanie Nissen from the cover of Slash volume two #8, September 1979 BY DAVID R. STAMPONE Among the things that have remained consistent about Pere Ubu over the course of the seminal “avant garage” rock group’s 40+ years: making good music; being unpredictable; not sounding like anybody else. Nor do their records sound alike, starting with a brace of landmark art-punk albums released in 1978, The Modern Dance and Dub Housing. This applies through to the latest Pere Ubu album, 20 Years In A Montana Missile Silo, released in September. David Thomas is the […]
BEING THERE: RL Grime @ The Electric Factory
Photo by DYLAN LONG Last night, Henry Steinway, AKA RL Grime, dropped in at the Electric Factory to spin a set of dark, high-energy bangers, dreamy interludes and catchy sing-a-longs galore. Joining him were Blood Company’s Graves and Fool’s Gold label mate Kittens, the former who is known across the EDM spectrum for his groundbreaking Diplo & Friends mix from earlier this year. The Nova Tour comes as RL is fresh off of his sixth annual Halloween Mixtape, an annual mix produced by RL consisting of the most sinister and spooky tracks that the community has offered up that year. […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR: Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis knew Velvet Underground co-founder Lou Reed and considered him a friend. So when it came time to write a biography of the late singer-songwriter, DeCurtis knew exactly what kind of book he would pen. “I wanted to write a book that took Lou… seriously,” DeCurtis says. “The kind of book that I was going to write about Lou was the kind of book he deserved.” As part of his research, DeCurtis interviewed many people Reed knew, including his first two wives. His biography, Lou Reed: A Life, paints a portrait of […]
I MUST NOT THINK BAD THOUGHTS: Talking Comedy, Mental Illness And Outrageously Large Glasses With Lady Dynamite‘s Maria Bamford
BY JONATHAN VALANIA Don’t let the corn-silk blonde bouffant, ski-jump nose, and you betcha! patois fool you, Maria Bamford is the Van Gogh’s ear of comedy. The bi-polarity of her stand-up work is Minnesota Nice meets the shower scene in Psycho, sort of like the first season of Fargo, but with pugs. And she knows of where I speak, having struggled with mental health issues most of her life. Some people might consider that an impediment to a successful show biz career. Not Maria Bamford. When life hands her crazy lemons, she makes crazy lemonade. Case in point: Lady […]