Film: Strange Powers

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The guardrails protecting democracy may have buckled, but they are not broken. Autocratic forces are ascendant in America, but the story isn’t fully written. Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against Trump’s unrestrained exercise of power. He rails against the press as the “enemy of the people,” because he hates the scrutiny that comes from fearless investigative reporting. Our nonprofit newsroom is built for the chaos ahead. Please stand with us.

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May/June 2010 Issue

The indie pop band the Magnetic Fields is best known for 69 Love Songs, a three-disc concept album packed with addictive melodies and cheeky songwriting. Strange Powers profiles Stephin Merritt, the group’s morose mastermind, illuminating his creative process (sitting in dark gay bars with cigarettes and a snifter of brandy) and influences (Doris Day, the Great American Songbook, cowboy songs). It’s hard to resist Merritt’s eccentric charms.

Read an interview with Merritt here.