I know it's really hard for musicians to make a living these days, but setting up a merch table at a relative's funeral is a bit much.

New Substack post about the time I started Austin Freecycle. weseichenwald.substack.com/p/memories-o...

Just leaving this here. @theprochoicewitch.bsky.social

We so need a new episode

You are cordially invited to read my new blog post. weseichenwald.substack.com/p/please-joi...

I'm convinced that Jeffrey Epstein was Anthony Bourdain's evil twin.

This Substack post is about the strangest conversation I ever had, with a brief diversion about the Queen of Vaudeville. weseichenwald.substack.com/p/talking-ab...

New blog post, on the mysteries of (artistic) creation. Link in bio.

I've always thought "Idlewild" is a GREAT name for an airport. It's a shame it's no longer in use. If you have to idle, do it wildly!

There's a lot to be said for blocking out the surface noise and tending your own garden.

weseichenwald.substack.com/p/how-to-tal... New blog post, about Long Island's favorite son and whether he can ever be considered "punk rock." Seriously. Or maybe not so much. #billyjoel

Certain people sure pivoted quickly from "Gun control NOW!" to "Shoot all the millionaires and CEOs, it's a cool thing! Free Luigi! Oh, and globalize the intifada!"

There ought to be more regular-person superheroes. What’s wrong with the Adequate Four, the Acceptable Legion of People, the Credible Hulk, Community College Woman, or Captain Passable?

Did anyone who watched the last episode of The Gilded Age catch that nod to the Godfather movies in the final scene?

I'd like to see Mel Brooks rewrite The Producers, only this time the poison-pill musical is about Hamas and Gaza. Call it Springtime for Sinwar!

New Substack (by me) just dropped weseichenwald.substack.com/p/and-someti...

Globalize the intimate wedding venue 🥂

New Substack this morning, about songs, songwriters, fans and such, ranging from Ljubljana to Seattle to the West Village with a cameo appearance by Johnstown, Pennsylvania. weseichenwald.substack.com

There should be an Irish punk band called Saoirse and the Banshees of Inisherin.

Exene Cervenka is the Patti LuPone of punk rock.

We lost a great one today; love and mercy, Brian Wilson. Here's an interview (of sorts) I did with the man a decade ago. His music was and is so much a part of our lives. theoddinterview.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/t...

All those re-releases of classic old LPs prove that every record that goes around, comes around.

2001 was a heck of a year for me personally. This is the most remarkable story I've ever told about my life, involving Kirsty MacColl, meeting my first wife, saying goodbye to Slovenia, and a letter from Christy McWilson. pogoer.wordpress.com/2008/03/24/h...

There ought to be a Broadway musical about a young Sherpa who doesn't want to follow in his family tradition of guiding rich people up mountains, but instead desires to move to Hawaii to become a pro surfer. Call the show "Waves! Goodbye."

New blog post for anyone who wants to learn more about what I did on my recent vacation. weseichenwald.substack.com/p/what-i-saw...

A good way for a rock star to go incognito in public is to wear a T-shirt with the name of his/her own name or band's name on it. People will just think they're an obsessive fan who wants to look like their hero.

I was there and recorded this sweet thing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAgo...

Some Americans have always been pope haters, regardless of who the pope happened to be. To them he was always an out of touch old man. How will they deal with a relatable Boomer pope from the Chicago suburbs, kindly, soft-spoken, trilingual, worldly Father Bob? This should be interesting to watch.

They should have held the conclave at the Met Gala, just for kicks.

Philomena Cunk > Borat

I for one think it was highly disrespectful for Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán to wear a tie-dyed T-shirt, jean cutoffs and Birkenstock sandals to the Pope's funeral, and toke on a bong throughout the service. Where have standards gone?

...Or how about... MAKE KAMALA THE BISHOP OF ROME-A-LA as a consolation prize?

‪Wes Eichenwald‬ Hear me out: Pope Bernie. He would finally get a chance to deliver his vision on an international stage, piss off the president to no end, and finally get the Bernie bros off of everyone's backs. There would have to be some minor theological adjustments on his end, but no big deal.

Why do celebrities think they have to say something every time another celebrity dies, even if they didn't know them?

He would be a really good choice.

SONGS FOR SENIOR PUNKS (sung in a Johnny Rotten affect) (1/2) 1. I Forgot Why I Came Into This Bloody Roooooom 2. Organizing My Pill Organizer Sucks 3. (He's A) Replacement Hip Man About Town 4. Fuck the AARP (It's a Fascist Regime) 5. Where's My Senior Discount, Jack?

Since Blondie has been in the news lately (for a very bad reason, RIP Clem), I thought I'd post a link to a 2011 interview I did with Chris Stein in advance of the band's stop at ACL Live in Austin. I hope you can access it. www.statesman.com/story/entert...

Some long overdue attention is being paid to the '80s Boston indie band Salem 66, a group I knew well & sometimes wrote about. This video was made in '88, lost for decades & just recently rediscovered. You can find their entire discography on Bandcamp now. www.youtube.com/watch?v=j46r...

Cooks who can follow a recipe vs. cooks who invent recipes is analogous to musicians who can play music vs. musicians who can compose music. Both are useful skill sets, but use quite different areas of the brain. (Of course, if you can do the second thing you can almost certainly do the first.)

My new blog post is a "backstage bible" of a bunch of cartoon characters I invented, as one does. Read at weseichenwald.substack.com

Basically, the lyrics of "My Funny Valentine" amount to "My beloved person is kind of ugly, but I love them anyway." And yet it's considered a classic and nobody seems to have a problem with it.

I'm done with the Apple TV show Shrinking. A little vulgarity and cynicism is fine, but this thing has gone way over the line lately. The constant barrage of cruel behavior, crude language, and negative vibes got me to the point of "Why am I wasting my time on this?" and I turned it off.

Does anyone else half-think of Waffle House as a branch of the military? The Waffle Force? Whenever I leave there I'm tempted to shout to the staff, "Thank you for your service!"

I say the Academy should throw up a big middle finger to all the social media critics of the Oscar Memorial Reel by staging it next year as a satirical musical number featuring skeletons dancing in a graveyard to "Hell" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

The Hackman investigation is starting to seem very much like the opening minutes of an episode of Elsbeth.

People on the left have generally blamed the FBI & especially the CIA for all sorts of evil things for decades. So when someone finally moves against them, is the left happy about it even though it's being done for the wrong reasons by an idiot sociopath dictator? Just asking.

Andie MacDowell, Mary McDonnell, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Mary Steenburgen need to play sisters in a movie directed by Greta Gerwig.

How come there have been 13 popes named Innocent but not one has been Guilty?

From now on I'm calling the Adriatic Sea the Gulf of Slovenia.

Wondering if Edward Hopper ever did a painting of a crowded party where everyone was having a good time.