The Buckeyes lose another bowl game Read more

Programming note: The podcast will be taking the week off. Instead, you can look forward to 2 (yes 2!) retroposts this week. One today and one thursday. Read more

Fans of Sufjan Stevens or incredible hip-hop simply must check out the Metermaids’ “Nightlife in Illinoise“. It’s available free for download and defies all expectations. So you need to get it. Read more

Here’s an interesting twist on the Christmas debates we’ve been having recently: a self-proclaimed “skeptic” celebrates the mixed sacred and secular nature of the holiday, comparing it to Lewis’s Narnia. Laura Miller writes in the New York Times: “That I’m not a Christian doesn’t much hinder my enjoyment of either the holiday or the book, but the presence of Father Christmas bothered many of Lewis’s friends, including J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien, whose Middle-earth was free of the legends and religions of... Read more

For the first time in, well, a long time, the next presidential inauguration will feature a poet, reading. No, I’m not talking about Rick Warren. Yale professor and writer Elizabeth Alexander will follow in the tradition of Robert Frost and Maya Angelou, composing a poem specifically for the occasion. If you’re curious, here are some of her poems. Read more