I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the respective leaders of two of America’s greatest bands.

First, I interviewed Jay Farrar, of Son Volt, about their protest record, Union. My essay relays Farrar’s insights, and takes a broader look at the importance of socially conscious songwriting.

A few weeks later, I spoke with Warren Haynes, the lead singer and guitarist of Gov’t Mule, a band I have previously called “the world’s best band.” Haynes and I discussed Mule’s upcoming concert film, and in the conversation, he provided fascinating thoughts on the spontaneous, but thoughtful magic of jam music. Read the essay.

My new essay at Salon combines political commentary with personal reflection. I look back on my flirtation with libertarian ideology, and draw insights that apply to the 2020 race, “cancel culture,” and political tribalism.

More personally reflective than most of my political essays, it is not only an indictment of the impracticality and insidiousness of libertarian movements, but also a call for more patience and understanding with political opponents, or even political allies who have previously believed or uttered positions that have aged poorly.

My two most recent political essay at Salon complement each other as an exhibition of alarming trends in American political culture.

The first focuses on the mainstream media’s characteristically meek response to Trump’s increasingly fascist and violent rhetoric. I make the president’s recent remarks about how he would like to “turn the military loose” on refugees seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border the illustrative example of the anti-social and criminal designs of the American right, and how American culture is failing to react with adequate vigilance.

My next essay deals with the ubiquity of The Punisher skull – a popular symbol from the Marvel comic book that conservative men have adopted to symbolize their support of police and US aggression overseas. The celebration of the icon of death and murder – something to which the comic book creators object – demonstrates a dark impulse at the heart of American culture.