I Couldn't Throw It Out Blog

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…

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 …