Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Dev Hynes, the recording artist behind Blood Orange, joins Bullseye to talk about his music career. Being born in a place called Essex, approximately 30 miles outside London, was kind of the ideal place for a future critically acclaimed songwriter. Close enough to the big city to make it out to the cool shows and record stores. Far enough away that you can have like... a band. Hynes talks to us about his early love of soccer, how his creative process differs when collaborating with other artists and creating his own work and why he sees the similarities between his hometown and a certain Jersey Shore cast. Plus, he'll tell us what it's like to wake up to 4 missed calls from Diddy!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Craziest Day of my Entire Career is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite people about some truly unbelievable stories. This time around, we're joined by the great comedian and podcaster Matt Braunger.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Stop what you're doing, turn off the kitchen sink, pull over the car... our guest is Jay Leno! He'll look back on a comedy career that's stretched almost 45 years. Jay's one of the biggest TV hosts in the history of TV hosts. A guy who, by his own admission, never got much love from critics. He got cast, more or less, as the villain in the late night battles with Letterman and Conan. He'll open up about those late night wars in this in-depth interview. He'll also reflect on his childhood and how that's influenced his comedy. From sleeping in alleys on the streets of New York, to hosting The Tonight Show for decades. It's a remarkable story, and we hope you'll join us.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Since their debut, Belle and Sebastian records have made it on literally hundreds of top ten lists.Their second album, 1996's "If You're Feeling Sinister," is routinely called one of the best albums of the 90s. Founder, Stuart Murdoch joins Bullseye to talk about retro pop music, how meditation changed his music and songwriting. Plus, Jesse and Stuart talk about the great game of baseball. If you didn't know, Stuart's a Mets fan.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

David Oyelowo is an incredibly versatile actor. Classically-trained, he got his start at the Royal Shakespeare company in London. From there, he took parts on British TV and in movies like The Help and Jack Reacher. But, his breakthrough role was his work as the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Ava DuVernay's 2014 film Selma. David's latest movie is Don't Let Go which was just released. It's a supernatural thriller that melds elements of murder-mystery with that of a police procedural. The film premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. In it, David plays a man in a rush against time to save his family. He's quite good in it. But, then again, David's good in everything. Catch our chat with the acclaimed actor!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Artists, musicians, and filmmakers are often inspired by what they see or hear. Sometimes that thing is so great, they tell us they wish they made it themselves. It happens so often we made a segment about it called I Wish I'd Made That. Nick Offerman joins us this time around. Nick's probably best known as Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation. When we asked him if there was any TV show, movie or album he wish he made, Nick said he leaves all that to the professionals. Instead, Nick tell us about the greatest guitar he ever held in his hands: The Gibson J-200.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Julio Torres has created some of our favorite sketches for Saturday Night Live in recent memory. His sketches on the show are a little different than standard SNL fare. It's not the in-your-face humor about politics or the need for cowbell, but it's a little dreamy and magical. Julio recently released his first comedy special on HBO, 'My Favorite Shapes.' It's a little sideways from what you'd expect from a comedy special. Julio talks about ... his favorite shapes. The shapes have lived lives you'd never quite expect, but really, the shapes help us learn more about Julio. He's also one of the creators of the new HBO show, Los Espookys. In the show, a group of friends who turn their love of horror films into a business. Think the gig economy for spooky events. We're big fans of Julio, and we're thrilled to share this conversation about Julio's recent success!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Justin Simien is a writer and director to watch out for in the next decade, but maybe you should pay attention to his work this decade, too. His breakthrough film, "Dear White People," came onto the scene and made space for black voices, unapologetically. His Netflix series of the same name is in its third season and is streaming now. Justin Simien joins us to talk about his experience navigating college life as a black queer kid and how that experience helped shape some of the characters on "Dear White People." Plus, we'll talk to Justin about his new horror movie that just wrapped as well as his self-described obsession with the genre of musicals.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Amy Sherman-Palladino has worked on some of the most unique programs to be ever greenlit for the TV screen. You've seen her work on Gilmore Girls. For three seasons, she was a writer on Roseanne, and wrote some really iconic episodes. Her latest work can be seen on Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Amy Sherman-Palladino joins us to talk about what she learned working on Roseanne in her early 20's, and how that experience helped her create Gilmore Girls. Plus, did you know the Gilmore Girls pitch kind of happened by chance? Of course, we'll take some time to talk about Mrs. Maisel , too!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We'll chat with the one and only Egyptian Lover. Born Greg Broussard – he's a DJ, a producer, a rapper sometimes, too. He came up with Uncle Jamm's Army, a hip-hop crew that featured promoter and DJ Rodger Clayton, Ice-T, and has shared the bill with acts as big as Run-DMC back in the day. As a solo artist he's released 10 albums, mixing Kraftwerk, Prince, a little bit of G-Funk every now and then, too. He talks with Jesse about the early days of LA hip-hop and electro, what a 10,000 person dance party looks like and how he bonded with his future wife over a Kraftwerk record. The ultimate meet cute! This interview originally aired in January of 2018.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy