For two years I was a writer on Garrison Keillor's radio show. Then Robert Altman came to town to film "PHC" -- and I became an extra in the story of my own life.

Kelly Link, author of "Stranger Things Happen," talks about the inspiration for her unsettling tales.

French cabaret punk Serge Gainsbourg doesn't just romanticize American outlaws on his posthumously re-released "Comic Strip" -- he emulates them.

Tenured professors who can't be fired: they're just like us!

One of the best shows on network TV also espouses some of television's most conservative ideas

Not that we're complaining

The second season of HBO's quirky series acts as a respite from the Trump era, without ignoring it

The conservative co-author of a book on partisan science answers his critic from Pacific Standard

Let's just say I learned the hard way that the basic laws of physics are in place for a reason

Many commentators, notably feminists, dismiss stories about the sex life of President Clinton as irrelevant to his public role. But this drawing of a line between public and private lives, says a homosexual writer, cannot work.

An empty swimming pool shows how far Walt may fall on "Breaking Bad" -- but how will he get there?

Red state voters don't hate the actual elites — just ask the Trump family! It's the intellectual mind they loathe

Pro-anorexia article is irresponsible journalism Plus: Lay off teen sex, you baby boomer hypocrites! Mary Kay Letourneau is a rapist, not a victim

Showtime's "Californication," Bravo's "Flipping Out" and CBS' "Big Brother 8" demonstrate why hedonism and self-indulgence are no shortcut to happiness.

Notoriously terse Stephin Merritt talks to Salon about his new record, bad techno -- and his sunny attitude