The final days of our mother's life.

Twenty-five years of writing about music! A selection of 17 essays and reviews of music from all over the world.

Is the Objectivist concept of self-esteem partly to blame for the current wave of narcissism?

We usually know what we're going to say before we say it. It's not so obvious how that works..

When does a fun song about a bad man celebrate wickedness? And is this OK in the name of fun?

The story you didn't know of the classic hymn and how it has been a prolific meme in American culture.

Songs about home: what can we say about them and what do they say about us?

Dr. Thomas Szasz was a staunch opponent of involuntary psychiatric treatment, but there is much more to his thinking.

John Singer Sargent's Madame X was not only a bold artistic statement but a pivotal point in the invention of the modern woman.