Insert Foot vs. “Let Them Play.” I involuntarily cringe every time I see something on social media about the “Let Them Play” movement. It seems we’ve become big-picture immune. Perhaps not enough people know someone dead from COVID. Suffering is somehow still an abstract notion that’s someone’s else’s problem.…

Insert Foot Vs. the mob in the U.S. Capitol. Original photo: Supporters of President Donald Trump roam under the Capitol Rotunda after invading the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Saul LOEB / AFP via Getty Images. Anyone else wonder why so many of the…

Insert Foot and his new, imaginary “dog” vs. 2021 resolutions. They were totally right: Everything immediately changed in 2021! I woke up New Year’s Day four inches taller, with body fat down to three percent, next to an intelligently hilarious and gorgeous woman/scholar who loved my scent. Two snuggly…

Insert Foot is ready for 2021 with a little help from John Wooden. I usually hate optimists; maybe out of jealousy. Maybe because they always seem to have better teeth than me. I also hate packaged inspiration–memes, office posters, smiley faces, etc. I believe life is gray, one size…

Rendering: Adam Pardee/STAFF. Lauren Kwei is a 23-year-old paramedic in New York City. Lauren Kwei is a 23-year-old sex worker in New York City (technically, she has an OnlyFans account, which makes people money through posting content to subscribers–in many cases, with naked photos). So, fine, let’s call her…

It’s usually too much to ask for: a legitimately good new chunk of music standing on merit alone from the guy who could’ve retired 40 years ago and still been called the world’s greatest living songwriter today. Paul McCartney is 78 years old. He doesn’t have to make records anymore.…

Insert Foot vs. Bob Dylan haters and “The Rise of Skywalker.” Was there any better feeling this past week than knowing you’re in Bob Dylan’s will? OK, that’s cynical. Sorry. But, really … being on his Christmas list this year has to not really suck at all, either. Some…

Dolly Parton circa 1976. Courtesy: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images. There’s Dolly Parton. Then there’s the rest of us. Before joining the media pile-up pledging eternal love for one of history’s greatest country singer-songwriters—deserved without saying she’s a better human than us—I’ll start with “the rest of us.” It’s sort…

Insert Foot vs. the COVID test and conspiracy theories. Smell that? We have to get the cat fixed. I don’t get where an animal not smart enough to wear clothes in November gets such a sense of entitlement. The cat just peed in a no-urine zone again, my daughter says.…

Insert Foot vs. the Best of 2020. We’re starting the process of creating our year-end best-of lists at RIFF, which, for concerts at least, should be the easiest year-end list in human history. The process for this one goes something like this: Did you go to a concert in…