Blog Posts

I called Abbi as I stepped from the fluorescent hum of the office into the neon buzz of Times Square. It was nearly nine o’clock. “I just don’t think I can make it over tonight. I’m plum exhausted. Plus, the guys are delivering a new fridge at eight tomorrow morning.” The MTV was a blur.…

My father recently asked me how The Nadas were doing. “You don’t write about them so much anymore,” he said. True enough. Six months ago, a friend emailed me, “If you blog one more time about The Nadas, I’m never visiting your site again.” She was kidding, I assume. But it’s true; six months ago…

“Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Benjamin found the moon!” It was Family Weekend here at Benjamin Wagner Dot Com. Abbi and I hopped an an early Amtrak out of the city Friday. One frosty cold Sam Adams and a bag of pretzels later, we pulled into Wilmington, where we were greeted by her parents, and whisked away…

“Don’t feel guilty,” he said. “Feel motivated.” It’s January. I’m in Park City, Utah, covering the Sundance Film Festival for MTV News. I interview three Iraq War veterans on a snowy rooftop in the center of town. One, Paul Rieckhoff, is clearly more of a media-savvy sound bite generator than the others. This becomes especially…

I grew up outdoors. As a kid, we played kick the can, whiffle ball, and tag with the neighborhood kids. We drafted touch football teams — complete with uniforms crafted from t-shirts and magic markers — and faced off against rival blocks (“Woodbine Street vs. Forest Avenue!”). For vacation, mom and dad took us fishing…

“I don’t know of any great secret films, do you?” That’s Steven Soderbergh speaking. He looks exactly as I suspected: bald, bespectacled, black t-shirt and jeans; a hip Freddy Krueger sans burn scars. And he’s speaks as I’d suspected: clever, dry, smart. I like him immediately. But I always have. “Sex, Lies and Video Tape”…