"Every single frame of this gorgeous film is seared into my brain forever. Tarkovsky’s Stalker urges us to take notice of the ever-changing environments surrounding us. What is our purpose in this natural world and how do we not destroy it all during our journey here on earth? I constantly return to this film as a meditation on time and life, and it always makes me re-examine my true desires and goals. I guess you could say that I am forever searching for the Zone"

‘No man is an island.’ The tide that fills every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. And [Donne] goes on toward the end to say, ‘any man’s death diminishes me because I’m involved in mankind. Therefore, it’s not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.’ Somehow we must come to see that in this pluralistic, interrelated society we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.

"A total earworm. It’s a guy called Alexander Brettin from Los Angeles. He has to his credit so far one single, two tracks. Wire are taking him on the West Coast leg of our American tour. It lives in a similar world to certain tracks on the last couple of Wire albums, and also Malka [Spigel, Newman’s wife]’s solo album. It’s an assemblage of harpsichord, flute, organ – it’s got a bit of Todd Rundgren, a bit of ’60s psychedelia, a bit of Sébastien Tellier."

"I’ve heard the opinion that Criterion releases too many Rainer Werner Fassbinder movies, which is madness, because the best one, In a Year of 13 Moons, isn’t among them yet. But I think Criterion should release every single one, including those that no one’s ever heard of, like Bremen Freedom and Das kaffeehaus, and once those are out they should delve into the R. W. F. Extended Cinematic Universe until they’ve exhausted every last Ulli Lommel direct-to-video true-crime movie, culminating in DC Sniper (2010)."

"My brother had that record and it was one of the first I heard outside of what my parents were listening to and I just couldn’t believe how great it was. If you’ve ever listened to that record, every single song is a smash. It has groove, it has colour, it has melody and there’s so much dimension and depth to it. I don’t recall the last time I listened to it but after talking to you I might just go and do it..."

"Possibly the first film I rented only because it was on Criterion, without ever having heard a single thing about it. Now it is one of my favorite films of all time. Beautiful example of the company putting support behind a film and elevating it from “cult” to “canon.” I wonder how many fewer people would know about this film if it, like many others, had not been given a proper home video release by the most reputable of companies at exactly the right time."

"The Kid saved my sanity while I waited for my kid. I’m 32, I’ve had a home visit, I’ve filled out the paperwork, and now I’m waiting and waiting to be picked by a birth mother to adopt her baby. Through it all, I keep on my person a tattered copy of this Dan Savage book. How the story of a white gay couple adopting a baby boy feels like exactly the same journey as a single black woman adopting a baby girl is its magic."