The Gaffigans have produced comedy specials, best-selling books and five children. They even survived a brain tumor. What have you done lately?
Bill McGarvey
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
‘The Shape of Water’ reveals a world ‘mediated by meaning’
The Best Picture winner is soaked in what Bernard Lonergan called ‘startling strangeness.’
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Dave Chappelle and the ‘Imperfect Allies’ the #MeToo Movement Needs
Chappelle’s two latest specials wade deeply into our national conversation.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Jann Wenner made Rolling Stone in his image. Now he doesn’t like what he sees.
The self-described “first child of the baby boom,” Jann Wenner is not happy with a new biography.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
Elegy for a Heartbreaker: Tom Petty and the simple beauty of song
Tom Petty died on Monday at age 66, and anyone who knows me well understands that it is a personal loss.
Posted inLast Take, Politics & Society
In the Trump era, music is not just a distraction. It’s a chance for communion.
Paul McCartney’s concert was a much-needed reminder that joy and beauty and love are not crushed by darkness.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
The Catholic punk rock of The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn
Finn’s songs somehow manage to avoid cheap nihilism in favor of a palpable sense of mercy.
Posted inIdeas, Politics & Society
What comedian-turned-senator Al Franken can teach us about President Trump
Who better to combat the absurd, dark joke at the heart of the rise of Trumpism than someone like Al Franken?
Posted inLast Take, Politics & Society
Are there lessons to be learned from Bernie Madoff in the Trump era?
Diana Henriques wrote the book on Madoff. She says Donald Trump is no con man.
Posted inArts & Culture, Last Take
What can WWII propaganda films teach us in the era of fake news?
The documentary series “Five Came Back” and the British film “Their Finest” have brought World War II propaganda films back into public consciousness.