CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Thing a Week

album by Jonathan Coulton

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ7784328
Source-derived summary

Thing a Week (sometimes as Thing-a-Week) is a series of albums released by the American musician Jonathan Coulton in 2006. He compiled these albums from his weekly podcast, in which he challenged himself to write, record, and produce a new song within a week, every week, for an entire year. He wanted to prove that he was capable of consistently meeting a deadline.

The folk rock series was recorded at Coulton's home in Brooklyn after he quit his computer programming job to spend more time with his wife and baby daughter. His podcast picked up many thousands of followers who praised the few novelty songs he posted before 2006, inspiring him to remake himself as an online musician.

After Thing a Week, Coulton wrote "Still Alive" for the video game Portal in 2007. He sang his songs in concert, and a 2008 performance was captured on video to become the 2009 DVD Best. Concert. Ever. Many of the songs came from the Thing a Week series.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Thing a Week” as album by Jonathan Coulton. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Thing, Week and album.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2006, 2007, 2008, 2009—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2006. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Thing, Week and album providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Thing a Week”, the useful work is to connect “album by Jonathan Coulton” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7784328. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Thing a Week”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Thing a Week primary sources, Thing a Week archive and Thing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Thing a Week”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Thing a Week” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.