A few months ago, I didn't understand that Joseph Lelyveld was one of the greatest journalists of our time. Two of his books were on our shelves. But I had never read them. And even though I met Joe briefly at a party, he barely said a word to…
In the early '90s, there were so few female rappers -- you could literally talk with all of them. So I did. I interviewed 7 of hip-hop's most powerful first ladies (including Queen Latifah, above) for my 1992 book Break It Down. For instance,…
Nicolas Cage has appeared in so many movies that it's difficult for a numbers-challenged person like me to count them all. But it seems as if "The Surfer" -- released on May 2, 2025 -- is something like his 125th movie. Yikes! No wonder …
The one Keith Haring treasure I have that no one else seems to have: my People Magazine articles. So I'm posting them here for anyone who wants to read them. By the way, if you're on Facebook, be sure to check out the very active Keith …
The signed catalogue? The one-of-a-kind puzzle? The poster? The t-shirt? Tell me what should stay and what should go. Loading…
Since the 1960s, I saved every letter I received -- and any greeting card that had more than a signature inside. But here's the problem: I rarely go back and look at them. So this holiday season, I decided to sort through the 76 C…
In 2020, during Covid quarantine, director Gregg Edelman (recently starring in Broadway's Water for Elephants) gathered terrific actors for a Zoom reading of my three-act play We'll Be Fine. The first act, which I'm sharing below, focuses on a fath…
Ice-T is up to so much -- if you did a Google search, it would be overwhelming. To help you keep up, we've gathered some favorite recent links. (And if you want to know where he was at 33 years ago, check out my never-shared 1991 Ice-T interv…
Guests on the podcast Zestful Aging always sound interesting. Without fail. No matter what the topic is. Which is one reason why I'm so happy to be interviewed on the new episode, talking about the things I couldn't throw out and the one thing…
My mom Doris Small thought the greatest honor on earth was getting published. For some reason -- a lack of time, a lack of confidence -- she never tried to write a book. But when I was in college and getting published in a magazine, this inspi…
Behold the beauty of Life in a Blender, performing at Joe's Pub in NYC. I know what you're thinkin'. You're thinkin' "I love the theme song to I Couldn't Throw It Out so much that I must hear more from these musicians." Well, it's your lucky …
For our podcast tribute to Melanie, I loved listening again to her music -- finding old favorites and ones I missed until now. For those of you with Apple Music, here's a playlist of essentials. For everyone else, I've added note…
In our podcast episode about singer/songwriter Melanie, photographer Maddy Miller describes some iconic photos that she took of Melanie and shares some of the gifts she received from Melanie during their lifelong friendship. Here's where you c…
Sally and I are gazing with joy toward the Great White North because Amazon Music's podcast page in Canada has added I Couldn't Throw It Out as the first entry on their list of Hidden Gems. How could South Park blame Canada for anything? …
When I heard that Mojo Nixon died today at 66 of a "cardiac event" after performing last night on the Outlaw Country Cruise, it took me a minute to believe it. This guy -- who invented a crazy style of wild, funny, out-of-control, totally disrespec…
When Sally and I launched I Couldn't Throw It Out, we thought every episode would be about tossing the treasures I've saved for decades. Well… that didn't happen. A year and a half into our podcast, and I've thrown out -- what? -- a few…
The honor was all mine when two terrific podcasts -- Comedy History 101, and Conversations on Dance -- each invited me to join them on an episode about treasures I've saved and why I saved them. Both of these podcasts deserve a place on your favorit…
When Sally and I starting looking for information about Tupac Shakur, we were stunned by the amount we found. There's so much, we couldn't possibly get through it all. So we decided to compile a list of the best sources -- as a guide for anyone who…
In the new episode of I Couldn't Throw It Out, you can hear how our pal Tom Gammill played a key role when I nearly wrecked the 1982 opening party for the movie Tootsie. However.... this isn't Tom's greatest claim to fame. Aside from his years as a…
Flashback – November, 20 1996. That's the date when They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh joined me for one of the very first live-streaming interviews on the Internet. These days, we take it for granted that we can talk in real-ti…
While thinking about Sinead O'Connor in recent days, I remembered this photo of her -- which I've kept for 33 years in one of the many photo albums I've collected for decades. It's a reminder of a mistake I made -- and Sinead's appropriate res…
If you're new to They Might Be Giants -- or if you followed my bad example and stopped listening to them sometime in the '90s -- you've got some entertainment ahead. For your listening pleasure, I've collected about 50 of my personal favorite…
Endless creativity. Yup, that applies to John Linnell and John Flansburgh. But also to the legion of fans whose tributes and histories of They Might Be Giants aspire to the high level of intelligence and fun in the band's music. Want a…
I know I said that Season 2 of I Couldn't Throw It Out would be released by March. And we're now nearing the end of April. But I've got all kinds of excuses. For one thing, I had to prepare by sorting every card and letter I've saved si…