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Hamburg 1982. Andreas, in the family bathroom, spies his mother’s stockings, pulls one over his head breathing in deeply. His mother, still in a dressing gown, calls him to breakfast. As she makes him cheese on toast, he oggles her breasts.

Cut to the present. Andreas lives in a deeply religious Bavarian hamlet with Claudia, his besotted, church-frequenting, apron dress wearing wife. But he sinks into sexual reverie and perversion, unable to escape the distant past. Tragedy ensues, near inevitably, it could be argued.

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, helmer of the Oscar-nominated “Downfall,” “The Diver” is one of six episodes in anthology series “The Punishment,” in which six of Germany’s most exciting directors, established and up-and-coming, adapt six short stories by Ferdinand von Schirach collected in his latest anthology, “Punishment” (“Strafe”).

Few writers have plumbed with such terse and knowing nuance the distinction of public and private guild and punishment than von Schirach,...

Luke Laird, the Nashville songwriting ace behind songs like the Grammy-winning “Space Cowboy” for Kacey Musgraves, Eric Church’s “Talladega,” and Miranda Lambert’s “Baggage Claim,” will release his debut album as a solo artist on September 18th. Appropriately titled Music Row, the LP features 10 songs, including the title track, premiering Wednesday.

“Music Row” is an autobiographical story-song, chock full of references to Nashville landmarks, from the affordable tourist motel the Fiddler’s Inn and historic Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop to the old homes on 16th Avenue and the venerable Bluebird Cafe.