Outside the Beltway

The great director and actor was killed, along with his wife, apparently by their son.

They were looking for a show to steal. They were fine with contracts that bind. And they were willing to make a deal

As well as the politics that have followed.

Because of course.

Democrats are mostly condemning it and Republicans are divided.

Being nice at dinner is easy.

The Nerd Prom chickens out.

There are 800 or so of them in the United States alone. Where the hell did they come from?

For want of an apostrophe . . .

The MSG rally.

The legendary comedian is gone at 94.

The President’s demand that Democrats shut up and rally behind him is going unheeded.

It depends.

Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and MAGA.

Great comics combine social commentary with humor. Increasingly, they’ve skipping the latter.

A joke(?) gone a-rye.

Hasan Minhaj is a serial liar. Does it matter?

France shines new light on an old problem.

The stand-up comic is gone at 76.

Stuff from last week and over the weekend that might be of interest.

What are the limits of representation?

Is the creepy comic’s comeback complete?

A Black columnist argues that Will Smith set back a whole race.

Thomas gets the ball rolling, and I take off from there.

Addressing an analytical pet peeve (and, more importantly, correcting a mistake).

Musings about US politics and culture.

Out of a sense of fairness, I gave a listen.

Since when is it a crime to say stupid things on “The View”?

The industry is changing rapidly.

The beloved comedian and actor is gone at 65.

The first modern stand-up comedian has died at 94.

Our brains are wired to seek approval but may not be equipped to handle our modern existence.

The SNL comic has died of cancer at 61.

Rural-urban is now a bigger divide than North-South.

With an appearance by Caitlyn Jenner’s choice of party.

His stale jokes about eating dog have drawn fire for years.

The quasi-monopoly power of the world’s largest bookstore is problematic. Maybe.

Not of governance.

A quadrennial tradition.

A legendary comic is gone.

Another bow to the inevitable.

Arguably the best comedian of his generation is not kidding around.

Another controversy amid a reality show State of the Union address.

One side is arguing over rules while the other is focused on consequences.

Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Trying to nail down some basics about a very complicated situation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky finds himself in he middle of an historic American scandal, and with a new nickname.

Just days before he repeatedly pressured the President of Ukraine to reopen a closed investigation involving the son of former Vice-President Biden, President Trump suspended military aid that had been authorized by Congress.