Stephen Thompson (journalist)

Stephen Thompson (born August 1, 1972) is a host, commentator, writer, and editor for NPR and NPR Music. He is a regular on the NPR podcasts ''Pop Culture Happy Hour'' and ''All Songs Considered'', a recurring guest host of NPR's New Music Friday, and also serves as an occasional music commentator for ''Morning Edition''. He created NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts with Bob Boilen in 2008.

Biography

Stephen Thompson was born to news editors Don and Maggie Thompson and raised in Iola, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994, where he helped found student-run radio station WSUM. He joined ''The Onion'' as an entertainment writer in November 1992. In the summer of 1993, he founded and became editor of the paper’s entertainment section, which was dubbed ''The A.V. Club'' in 1995. Thompson served as copy editor for ''The Onion''’s comedy section and first six humor books, from 1999's #1 ''New York Times'' best-seller ''Our Dumb Century'' through 2004's ''The Onion Ad Nauseam, Vol. 15''. In December 2004, Thompson was fired one week before publication of ''The Tenacity Of The Cockroach: Conversations With Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders'', a book which he edited.

When Lady Gaga allegedly refused to allow "Weird Al" Yankovic to parody her single " Born This Way," Thompson broke the news that it was Gaga's manager who had denied the request without her knowledge. Once brought to her attention, Lady Gaga approved Yankovic's parody.

In 2017, the Green Bay Packers made a 22-minute documentary on Thompson's love for the team as part of its "Packers Life" series on Spectrum Sports.

As a freelance entertainment and humor writer, Thompson has been published in '' Paste'' magazine, ''The Washington Post'', ''The Guardian'', and '' McSweeney’s''. In 1999, he also co-founded ''The Onion''’s softball team, the haplessness of which he chronicled in loving but often grisly detail at www.teamonion.com. Thompson lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, and has two children.

Edited works

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References

''Stephen Thompson''

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Stephen
The Onion people
American music journalists
American online publication editors
American magazine editors
American book editors
Living people
1972 births
Journalists from Wisconsin