
Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for , where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on . Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the ½ûÂþÌìÌà roundtable podcast , which he created and developed with ½ûÂþÌìÌà correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Music video series , in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)
In 1993, Thompson founded The Onion's entertainment section, The A.V. Club, which he edited until December 2004. In the years since, he has provided music-themed commentaries for ½ûÂþÌìÌà programs such as Weekend Edition, All Things Considered and Morning Edition, on which he earned the distinction of becoming the first member of the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Music staff ever to . (Later, transformed him from a 12th-rate David Archuleta into a fourth-rate Cher.) Thompson's entertainment writing has also run in Paste magazine, The Washington Post and The London Guardian.
During his tenure at The Onion, Thompson edited the 2002 book The Tenacity Of The Cockroach: Conversations With Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders (Crown) and copy-edited six best-selling comedy books. While there, he also coached to a sizzling 21-42 record, and was once outscored 72-0 in a span of 10 innings. Later in life, Thompson redeemed himself by teaming up with the small gaggle of fleet-footed twentysomethings who won the 2008 ½ûÂþÌìÌà Relay Race, a triumph he documents in a hard-hitting essay for the book This Is ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ: The First Forty Years (Chronicle).
A 1994 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Thompson now lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his girlfriend, his daughter, their three cats and a room full of vintage arcade machines. (He also has a large adult son who has headed off to college but still calls once in a while.) Thompson's hobbies include watching reality television without shame, eating Pringles until his hand has involuntarily twisted itself into a gnarled claw, using the size of to assess his self-worth, touting the immutable moral superiority of the Green Bay Packers (who returned the favor by making a) and maintaining a fierce rivalry with all Midwestern states other than Wisconsin.
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This week on the pop music charts, a film soundtrack has done something that no other soundtrack had done in nearly 30 years.
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The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack just placed three songs in the top 10 of the Hot 100 charts simultaneously — a feat not many movie soundtracks have accomplished.
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Nearly every week this summer, there's been an immovable object at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart: It's "Ordinary" by the singer Alex Warren. That changed this week.
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The members of HUNTR/X — the fictional K-pop group made up of nonfictional singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI — have just become the first women K-pop artists ever to hit No. 1.
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Stephen Thompson breaks down the few songs of the summer contenders in a year of musical stagnancy.
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The idea that each year produces a few unofficial "songs of the summer" has been rattling around for ages. But do we have a strong contender this year?
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Emily Hines introduces herself. The Armed rage against the machine. Mal Devisa makes a triumphant return. Read our list of the best albums out this week.
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The death of a beloved musician often reverberates across the pop charts, as fans turn to streaming services, retailers and request lines to pay tribute. That's what's happening with Ozzy Osbourne.
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With the release of sequels to "The Naked Gun" and "Happy Gilmore," the Pop Culture Happy Hour team has been considering the successes and pitfalls of reviving decades-old franchises.
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This week on the Billboard albums chart, Tyler, The Creator's Don't Tap the Glass charts at No. 1 and Ozzy Osbourne's The Essential Ozzy Osbourne races to No. 7 in the aftermath of the singer's death.