Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey will be forever linked together – thanks to one show: The Office. The sitcom is celebrating its 20th anniversary. They were strangers when the show started, but soon formed a friendship that has lasted long after the show wrapped, including their podcast Office Ladies and their book The Office BFFs. They joined Bullseye to talk about seeing the show through a new lens and becoming geeks for The Office while researching their podcast.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jane Borden is a writer with bylines in Vanity Fair, the Washington Post, and the New York Times Magazine. Jane is kind of obsessed with cults. She enjoys reading books on them, watching documentaries, and vintage news pieces on the subject. Jane's obsession has become her latest book. She joins us on Bullseye to talk about Cults Like Us. The book is not just a study on the history of cults, but an examination on why they seem to be a uniquely American phenomenon.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Rapper and producer Dezzy Hollow is a master of modern day West Coast funk. Earlier this year he released an album called OCEANSIDE, which he named after his hometown. He chats with us about the record, what he hopes his music can bring to the city and much more.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Video game creator Keita Takahashi joins us to talk about how he got into designing video games and how he pitched the idea for his popular game Katamari Damacy to the folks at Namco. He also talks with us about his new game, to a T, which comes out soon. A version of this interview originally ran in April of 2024.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Lisa Kudrow's big break was on the massively successful sitcom Friends. She portrayed the street-wise, but kind of clueless Phoebe Buffay. She's one of Friends' most beloved characters. Before she broke out on that show she envisioned a very different future. Kudrow on her early career in science research, the cruelty of middle-schoolers that set her on the path to acting, and being mentored by Jon Lovitz.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jean Grae is back on the show! The multidisciplinary artist just wrote a collection of personal essays called In My Remaining Years. She joins us to talk about the new book, why she distanced herself from rapping, her upbringing and much more.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, it's Bob Mackie! Mackie has made a career out of dressing big personalities in kinetic, sparkling garb. His life and career were profiled in an incredible documentary late last year. Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion covers the era-defining design work he did and the extraordinary life he's lived. Mackie talks to Bullseye about his early affinity for performance outfits, marrying costumes and comedy, and getting started in the business working with old Hollywood legends.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Craziest Day of My Entire Career is a segment where folks join us to talk about some truly unbelievable stories. Comedian Mike Drucker has had his fair share of crazy days – he's work for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Adam Ruins Everything, and Saturday Night Live. But his craziest day? It all happened at a paintball game when he was working for a little company called Nintendo. Good Game, No Rematch by Mike Drucker is out now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Writer, director and showrunner Tony Gilroy joins us to talk about the new season of Andor and what makes the show so different than any other Star Wars program. He also shares what his plans are after the series concludes, and tells us about how he almost entered a career in music instead of film.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week on Bullseye, we talk to filmmaker Charles Burnett. His most famous film, Killer of Sheep, was part of his Masters' thesis at UCLA Film School in 1977. Now, it's in the Criterion Collection and the Library of Congress. His 1999 romance film, The Annihilation of Fish, has just been restored and set for its first theatrical release. He talks to Bullseye about representing communities authentically, the tension of studying at UCLA and living in South Central, and his regrets about the roof-jumping scene in Killer of Sheep.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy