Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson (born August 1, 1972) is an online music producer for NPR and editor of several music-related columns for NPR.org, including Song Of The Day and Shadow Classics. He also serves as an occasional guest music commentator for "Morning Edition".

The son of editor Don and Maggie Thompson, Thompson is a 1994 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison -- 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 Onion A.V. Club" in 1995. By the time Thompson left "The Onion" in December 2004, the section had spawned its own website and book, "The Tenacity Of The Cockroach: Conversations With Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders", which he edited. In addition, 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".

As a freelance entertainment and humor writer, Thompson has been published in "Paste" magazine, "The Washington Post", "The London 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 Takoma Park, Maryland, with his wife and two children.