Q + A

By Joel Stein

Natalie Merchant, the former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs, is releasing her second solo album, Ophelia, this week.

Q: You were part of the Allen Ginsberg tribute they had in New York on Thursday. That was the last night of Seinfeld.

A: I've never seen an episode of Seinfeld. I'm one of that tiny percentile of Americans who grew up not allowed to watch television, so I never developed the habit. I'm sure there are lots of fascinating things on television, but I've lived my life living in my environment.

Q: And I read that your favorite magazine is the Nation. Come on, nobody reads the Nation.

A: Come on, 100,000 people read the Nation. It's been around for 130 years.

Q: You're doing the Lilith Fair this year. A: Yeah, Sarah [McLachlan] and I will get together and make literary allusions and laugh in a self-satisfied fashion. And I'll share my issues of the Nation with her.

Q: You're also involved in the Humanitarian Reform Movement.

A: I see that you scanned my website. You worked really hard. Did you listen to the record too?

Q: Yeah. And I watched the short film you made to accompany Ophelia, in which you speak, like, four languages.

A: Five. Six, if you include English.

Q: Six languages? Are you showing off?

A: Oy vay!

Q: That's, like, a seventh language.

A: You're annoying me. It's like being interviewed by the biggest snotty bullyboy in the world.

Q: It's just that you seem kind of serious. What do you do for fun?

A: I don't really have wacky moments. It's just more of finding humor in people and situations. I don't wake up in the morning and say, I'll be wacky today. What do you do to be wacky, Joel?

Q: Ask annoying questions of female vocalists.

--By Joel Stein