About Turning Out
First thing: Whenever I’m asked to explain why I’ve built a life around film, TV, comics, music, and the like, I say that pop culture taught me how to be a person. (I’m only asked this when I apply for jobs I don’t get.) It’s a hyperbolic thing to say, but there’s a sticky truth it.
Second thing: Often, I’ll blindfold myself with feelings and become convinced that there’s nothing more to see in life. Wherever I’ve found myself, I goofily believe, that’s the last stop. During one of these little melodramas in the past, I said that I didn’t like how my life had turned out. A wise woman (my friend Ciara) replied, “Life is still turning out.”
So: Turning Out is a place to talk about how pop culture — movies, songs, TikToks that I refer to as “something I read” during therapy — keeps us alive.
Also: Turning Out sounded gay, and I liked that.
About Eric Webb
I’m an Austin, Texas, native and a national award-winning pop culture critic, arts & entertainment journalist, editor, and film programmer. My work has appeared in Backstage, Eater, Austin American-Statesman, USA Today, Business Insider, Texas Highways, The Barbed Wire, and more publications. I served as a programming associate for the 2024 SXSW Film and TV Festival. I can’t parallel park on the first try, and I was on “Jeopardy!” when I was 12 years old.
You can find more of my work here and you can talk to me here.
Why subscribe?
If you like what I’m writing and want to see where it goes, please subscribe! Turning Out will deliver a new post to your inbox every week.
Weekly issues of Turning Out are free to read. If you’d like to help a freelance writer out, you can become a paid subscriber for just $5 a month. You’ll get occasional exclusive posts and a special “thank you” at the end of the year.
Also … tell a friend.
