Countervailing Forces
Sean MurphySince there are no coincidences (but maybe Fate, Irony, & Karma high-five at times) this poem, written a while back (during—without putting too fine a point on it—a time when…
Q&A: How Sean Murphy Sees Story
It was my extreme pleasure to chat with Sarah Trembath for Some Things Considered (Season 1, Episode 5), as she and I have been in conversation on a number of…
Annual Labor Day Rant: Unpaid Internships are Evil
i. First off, with very few exceptions, unpaid internships are immoral and disgusting. Any business, especially a multi-million-dollar tech behemoth, that justifies not paying interns is evil. But because the “good guys”…
On Broken Heels (x 2)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 04: Muscian Sonny Rollins arrives at the 34th Kennedy Center Honors held at the Kennedy Center Hall of States on December 4, 2011 in Washington, DC.…
On This Day, 1979
Chicago police disperse crowd in center field of Chicago's White Sox Park after hundreds of disco records were blown up between games of a double-header between the White Sox and…
Shelley Duvall, Sui Generis
It's going to be all The Shining all the time, but the lead sentence of Shelley Duvall's obit should be that she appeared in 3 Women and Annie Hall *in…
Original Poem: Gen X Exegesis
Where are my #GenX at? This one's for you. It's also for those older and younger than us, who are either confused or impressed or, hopefully, inspired by our resilience…
HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME: CELTICS/LAKERS ’84 at 40
Forty years ago. Officially a classic. But, of course, it was a classic even as it was being played. Sports writers and fans can be forgiven, in this one instance,…
Rebel’s Rebel: Anthony Bourdain, Six Years Gone
Here's what I wrote, the moment I read --with the same shock and sadness most of the planet shared-- Bourdain not only was gone, but had taken his life, in…
Born in the U.S.A. at 40: The Boss Before, During, After
i. Before Deliver Me From Nowhere Perhaps because of what followed—the next album, the acclaim—Springsteen’s decision to make the ultimate lo-fi album seems even more prescient, appropriate, and perfect. If Darkness…