I am a freelance cultural critic, writer, editor, and speaker based in Toronto. My primary gig is as the Music Critic at Slate, where I am a frequent guest on the Culture Gabfest podcast, but I contribute to a wide range of other publications and media. My book Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste is an established part of the music-book canon; another book about the writer-musician David Berman is in progress for WW Norton. Since 2020, I've helped organize the Popular Music Books in Process online series of author talks about music books. Previously I worked for 15 years at The Globe and Mail as a senior features editor and sometime columnist. My literary agent is Jim Rutman at Sterling Lord Literistic in New York, https://www.sll.com. I have also taught writing at the University of Victoria and in private classes, been on the organizing committee of the Pop Conference and the advisory board of the Ralph J. Gleason Book Prize, and have often appeared as a commentator and panelist in live events and other media.