by Shuja Haider

The Ambien Diaries
The first thing I always notice, after the mild cottonmouth that serves as the universal announcement of a chemical taking effect on the body, is that I’m not alone.

How to Suck at Business Without Really Trying
I didn’t know the term then, but I had become a toiler on a content farm.

Song for My Father
Where words fail, there is music.

Canon Fodder
Where’s the country music on Pitchfork’s Best Albums of the 1980s?

A style of music played on the guitar that pretty much no one listens to except guitar players
So my agenda was to inspire myself to start playing again.

Ajooba, or That Emotion Which is Excited by Novelty
The Hindi film Ajooba is something like a cross between Robin Hood and Batman.

Somebody Had to Set a Bad Example
The return of the Pistol Annies calls attention to a troubling gender imbalance in the country music industry.

How I Invented a Cocktail
Eventually, someone threw up. It might have been me.

Sweet Leaf
Paan is a substance that occupies a space somewhere between a snack and a drug — a space left vacant in the West.

Eli Valley is Not Sorry
“When you’re in such a warped mindset, it’s natural you’re going to call a piece of Jewish art antisemitic.”

I Call it Just the Beginning
The DJ’s job is to ensure the music doesn’t stop, allowing listeners to get from Point A to Point B without having to stop dancing.

One Weird Trick to Get Red Wine Stains Out of Clothing That Doesn’t Actually Work
I spilled red wine on my pants. What happened next will shock you.

Life at the Village Vanguard
I knew what it sounded like to be in there before I ever had a chance to go there myself.

Good Mental Health
On Frasier, an argument over opera or wine can become as much a plot point as a farcical mistaken identity.

NYT Fact Check: David Brooks
You are in the business of forgetting, so in the end I have nothing much to offer you.