Andrei Codrescu

Commentator Andrei Codrescu offers his memory of actor Al Lewis, who has died at age 82. Lewis played Grandpa on the 1960s TV comedy The Munsters. Codrescu says that Lewis gained fame in the Spanish-speaking world in dubbed versions of the show.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu reflects on facial hair. When he was young, he had a mustache. Now, everything has changed and he advocates shaving.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu feels we've lost the ability to modulate our voices to suit frustrating circumstances. The reason: We deal with mechanical voices on the phone all day. He says the only real people we talk to anymore are family members

During this holiday season, debts have been on the mind of commentator Andrei Codrescu. He's been thinking about all kinds of debts, good debt, bad debt, public and private — debt is all around us.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu wonders why there wasn't more outrage by American consumers when gas prices soared to their highest levels this summer. He says "Big Oil" is not a friend of the people, and that the public has been numbed to the oil companies' abuse.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu remembers time spent with writer Hunter S. Thompson, who committed suicide earlier this week. He remarks on the honesty and brilliance of the unique journalist's writings.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu used to be philosophically opposed to golf, but now he is thinking of taking it up. The Kabul Golf Club formally reopens next year, and then there's the thrill of the Prison View golf course, near Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu tells about an opera called Violet Fire, based on the life of pioneering inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla lived from 1856 to 1943. While he has been relegated to obscurity, Tesla helped create the bedrock of modern technology.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu describes discovering a new sound called "Mesh Music" in New York. It's a combination of Balkan and Gypsy melodies, and he thinks it will be the big thing later this year.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu recalls his meeting with George Plimpton, who died last week. As a novice writer in the 1960s, newly arrived on these shores, Codrescu sent a long manuscript to The Paris Review. At first he was told that Plimpton, the editor, loved it but thought it too long. Codrescu convinced Plimpton to come downtown and meet him in a bar. They hit it off, and the whole novella was published uncut.