Index Newspapers (parent company of The Stranger and Portland Mercury) and Night & Day Studios have released a Savage Love iPhone app, which provides "an interactive take on the love, sex, and relationship advice Dan Savage has been serving up for nearly 20 years," as the press release puts it. The app features a "Question of the Day" updated each afternoon, previous columns and podcasts, and exclusive text and video content. "We thought for sure that the app store would reject this but they approved in record time," Stranger publisher Tim Keck says. "I guess we've lost our touch." The app sells for $1.99, and is tagged in the iTune app store as having "Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity," "Frequent/Intense Profanity or Crude Humor," and "Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes." In other words, everything you love about Savage Love to begin with.

Continue Reading‘Savage Love’ iPhone App Released

Savage's 2000 book The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant has been turned into a musical by The New Group and will launch on Broadway in April. The Savage character will be played by Christopher Sieber, who has been nominated for Tony Awards for his performances in Monty Python's Spamalot and Shrek The Musical.

Continue ReadingMusical Theater Version of Dan Savage Book Coming to Broadway

"I hear all the time from people who are just starting out who want media careers, who want to be writers, who want to broadcast," The Stranger editor and "Savage Love" columnist says in an appearance on the Too Beautiful To Live podcast. "Then the next thing out of their mouth, when they're applying for jobs, is that they need $60,000-$70,000 a year. I laugh and look at them and say 'The first three years that I did the column I got nothing." Savage adds: "There's no job in media for anyone anymore who isn't willing to do it for free at the outset." You can listen to the entire show, where Savage discusses everything from Dr. Drew to monetizing his "Savage Love" podcast, here (Savage comes on in the second half).

Continue ReadingDan Savage: If You Want a Media Job, Be Prepared to Work for Free

The Stranger's editorial director and syndicated columnist has been in Los Angeles this month working with HBO on a "presentation pilot" for a potential TV show. The show will have a "focus on current events and cultural trends with sex as the filter," Savage writes. "Basically, my sex-advice column -- but on the teevee!" The pilot is taping on Aug. 27 -- you can sign up for tickets here. A Craigslist ad offers a glimpse into a potential topic for the pilot: men who wear chastity belts.

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In a blog post on Monday titled "I'm Running for Mayor," The Stranger's editorial director threw his hat in the mayoral ring, saying "my entire platform is this: If elected I pledge to resign the office of mayor 24 hours after I'm sworn in." Seattle officials are trying to figure out if Savage is really mounting a run or just joking around. City rules say candidates must file paperwork with the city clerk within two weeks of publicly announcing an intention to run. "We've got to figure out whether he's serious or not," Ethics and Elections Commission chairman Wayne Barnett tells the Seattle Times.

Continue ReadingIs Dan Savage Really Running for Mayor?