Metro isn’t known for its consistency. Riders can never be sure whether an escalator will be working, or how long they’ll have to wait for a train, or what the temperature...

In a TV world where everyone wants to push the envelope, HBO is amping it down. “Family Tree” (Sun., 10:30 p.m.) is a gentle and effortlessly charming mockumentary from Ch...

Kyle Kinane is the voice of Comedy Central — he tells you what’s on the network during its promos — so you’d think he’d have no trouble landing his own show on the c...

“How Soon is Now?” The Smiths cryptically wondered on their self-titled 1984 debut. I can name that tune in one shimmering, echo-pedaled guitar note. So when ex-Smiths gui...

Ms. X and I were good work friends — ate lunch together and once in a while had coffee or went to a museum. She shared a lot about her life with me, but I never did. There�...

Our long national nightmare is over! And by “long” I mean four months, and by “national” I mean “personal,” and by “nightmare” I mean “not having anything go...

Ryan Lochte, the haters mock you and your new reality show, “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?” (10 p.m. Sundays on E!). Google the show’s title and the word “stupid,” and ...

I know enough about comedian Marc Maron to be classified as a stalker. I know where he lives, how many cats he has and why his two marriages failed. I know his biggest fears, ...

Sonic Youth was born in 1981, three years after I was. We did not grow up together, however: While I was learning to walk and read, they were recording album after album of dr...

No one is allowed to say anything negative, ever, about my husband’s cooking. He’s such a perfectionist and prides himself on doing everything just right, and once it’s ...

I thought I was pretty good at riding the Metro — until I met Carlos Pena. I was on a Yellow Line train with the 22-year-old last week when he indicated that we should turn ...

As the tens of longtime readers of this column know, I keep track of the movies I see each year using my office wall and Post-it notes. The Movie-Ranking Wall of Stickies (mot...

I’m not the target audience for PBS’ “Rough Cut: Woodworking with Tommy Mac” (locally at noon Fridays on WHUT). In seventh grade, I broke the saw blade so often in woo...

Someone get Michael Shannon a Webby — or whatever it is people get for outstanding achievements in Internet videos. The “Boardwalk Empire” actor’s reading of the insan...

My partner, Jaime, lost her dad on Holy Thursday. Her family lives in Los Angeles, and I’m writing this riding down the Pacific Coast Highway so we can put his ashes in the ...