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…

While I was editing our podcast episode about my family's surprising immigrant story, I remembered many funny and useful expressions that were constantly repeated by my 4'8" grandmother Clara Levitt. She was - as my cousin Jim puts it -- the Yogi Be…

Music was always important to Cindy Ruskin and me, before, during and after all the challenges and triumphs of her three kidney transplants (which we share in two podcast episodes of I Couldn't Throw It Out). At times, it felt as if we were living …

Without dialysis, Cindy Ruskin wouldn't be here. She wouldn't have lived to survive all the challenges we describe in two episodes of our podcast. She wouldn't be in her studio at this very moment, making beautiful art -- like her new series that pu…

Friends!  Your name could be chosen at random to receive a free copy of my 1992 paperback book, Break It Down: The Inside Story of the New Leaders of Rap.  The book includes more than 60 candid interviews with the original creators of hip-…

Is it truly possible that you October ghouls never heard the all-time rocking-est, scariest, catchiest, funniest Halloween song? Oh, come on! Extract your fist out from that candy corn bag, and click the button below to GET DOWN WITH THE DEAD.&nbs…

A few friends who listened to the latest episode of our podcast told me that they weren't familiar with Donna Murphy - the friend who joined us to read poems from our high school literary magazine.  (Hear the episode here.). So I decided to ta…

After Jennifer Beals made it big with Flashdance, you probably saw her name on the credits for movies and TV shows.  But did you notice the amount?  46 movies and 39 TV shows.  Yikes!  No wonder she never had time to invite us fo…

If you know Joni Mitchell's early songs, you're lucky.  But if you also know her later songs -- the ones you don't really hear anywhere -- you're even luckier.   Until 2007, Joni kept releasing albums of intricate, poignant and brill…

Hello all! In case you're wondering about the future, Sally and I will be releasing new episodes of I Couldn't Throw It Out on Fridays during the summer of 2022. That way,  you can listen over the weekend while hanging in a hammock or shvitzi…