Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Director and writer Alan Yang is probably best known for co-creatoring the hit Netflix series "Master of None" and his impressive comedy writing credits on shows like Parks and Recreation. But his newest endeavor, Tigertail – a film he wrote and directed that's loosely based on his family's immigrant experience – breaks from comedy. Alan joins us to talk about "Tigertail," about his childhood growing up in Southern California, and how finding the Harvard Lampoon changed his life.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite artists about the music that made them who they are today. We're joined by DJ and master of the turntable Cut Chemist. Born Lucas McFadden, Cut Chemist is best known for co-founding the iconic underground hip-hop group Jurassic 5. He'll tell us about "Park Bench People" by Freestyle Fellowship. The Fellowship was a boundary-defying underground crew fronted by MC's Myka 9 and Aceyalone. Find out how the song changed Cut Chemist's idea of what hip-hop could be. When he joined us in 2018, he had just released his first record in over a decade. Die Cut is available now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Missing basketball? Today, we're looking back on our conversation with NBA All-Star Metta World Peace! His larger than life personality often precedes him and has made him one of the most polarizing players in the history of the game. The Queensbridge, New York native talks to Jesse about how his upbringing shaped him as a person and how it impacted the way he raises his own children, what he regrets from his stint playing with the Indiana Pacers and how downsizing his world rescued him. Plus, he'll discuss the infamous NBA brawl dubbed the "Malice at the Palace."Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Comedian Tom Papa wants you to focus on the small victories. The little triumphs in everyday life that add up to winning the war against cynicism. His new Netflix special, You're Doing Great! sums up his philosophy perfectly. So you're not killing it like everyone else on Instagram. That's fine! They're not really killing it either. You finally made it out of the house to run that errand you've been putting off all week? Now THAT'S killing it! That approach to comedy seems increasingly rare but Tom has made a nearly 30 year career on it. Tom joins us to talk about the moment when he decided to become a comedian, his familial take on comedy, and the resilience of his Nana.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Maybe you're stuck at home, like the rest us. Maybe you're looking for something to binge, like the rest of us. May we suggest Brooklyn Nine-Nine? You've seen the premise of the police procedural on network television countless times. The cops are good at their jobs. They're quick and witty when it comes to solving crime. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has some of that – but subverts the genre through comedy. It's a deeply warm, deeply funny office sitcom. The police at the precinct care about their jobs, they care about each other. The show was created by Dan Goor, along with Mike Schur. These days, Dan's the showrunner of the show. We talk with Dan about the latest season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Plus, why he left working for Conan to work on Parks and Recreation – and why the shift was a struggle at first. You can stream all seven seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, including the new episodes on Hulu.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We revisit our conversation with the writer-director and rapper Boots Riley. He's a founding member of the legendary hip hop group The Coup. The band's sound is politically-charged with a laid-back funk and has that classic Bay area cadence. His rhymes tell a story of his own life and deal with elements of social justice, poverty, racism. He's more than an artist. He's a long-time activist who uses his talents as a story-teller to move the needle forward in the world. In 2018 he made his directorial debut with the film Sorry to Bother You. It's a dark comedy that takes on late-stage capitalism, among other issues, head-on. Bootsy returns to Bullseye to talk about Sorry to Bother You, trying to find his style early on as both an individual and as a band member and how the narrative style of his song "Fat Cats, Bigga Fish" inspired his film career. Plus, he'll talk to us about how the very personal song "Underdog" helped him deal with the grief of losing a long-lost friend.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

TV writer and producer David Simon is our guest this week. Simon is the force behind some of television's most compelling and critically acclaimed series such as The Wire, Treme and The Deuce. He joins us to talk about his new HBO series, The Plot Against America.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jason Segel has had a lot of interesting roles over the years. He got his start on screen in his late teens on the short-lived cult tv show Freaks and Geeks. From there he starred in a bunch of other comedic roles including: How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up, and Bad Teacher. His writing debut was Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In 2011, he revived The Muppets for a new generation. His latest show is kind of a departure from all that. AMC's Dispatches from Elsewhere follows the lives of a group of regular people who discover a hidden world. It's mysterious and strange – kinda silly, too. We'll talk with Jason about how he works humor into the tone of a show like Dispatches from Elsewhere. Plus, plenty of chat about Freak and Geeks, and what makes the Dracula song in Forgetting Sarah Marshall work.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're joined by the talented and captivating Annette Bening! She stars alongside Bill Nighy in the new film "Hope Gap." In it, she plays a woman dealing with the wreckage after being blindsided by the sudden end of her thirty year marriage. She'll talk to us about her approach to playing English characters, how she tapped into her "Hope Gap" character to work on her own issues with confrontation avoidance and how motherhood offered a welcome respite to the sometimes alienating life of show business. Plus, we ask her about playing a baddie on "Miami Vice!"Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

At long last: Will Forte! The actor, writer, comedian joins us to talk about his new film, Extra Ordinary. In it, Will plays Christian Winter, a washed up American one-hit-wonder living in Ireland who makes a deal with the literal devil for another shot at fame. Rose, played by the hilarious Maeve Higgins, is a driving instructor and a reluctant medium who just might be the only one who can keep their small Irish town safe. Will also chats about what it's like to be both star and showrunner of your own TV series and his self-described "weird" brand of comedy. All that and more on the next Bullseye!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy