Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Comedian Jemaine Clement tells Jesse about growing up in New Zealand, being mixed race, and his time as a member of Flight of the Conchords, the hit HBO comedy duo. Then, TV writer and novelist Jonathan Ames joins the show. Ames is the mind behind the new Starz' series Blunt Talk and HBO's Bored to Death.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Actor Willem Dafoe and writer / director Paul Schrader tell Jesse about their new movie, the gritty and wild Dog Eat Dog. Then, Jesse talks with the legendary singer songwriter David Crosby, of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash. He'll talk about dating Joni Mitchell and turning his life around after prison.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Comedian Patton Oswalt tells Jesse about the years he spent almost completely indoors - pitching failed sketches in writers rooms, going to the movies, and standing on stage every night. Later, Randall Park and Nahnatchka Khan, from ABC's Fresh Off the Boat talk about how the hit sitcom about a first generation Taiwanese American family came to be. Plus, Jesse talks about the Sly and the Family Stone record you absolutely need to hear.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Norman Lear, the Godfather of American sitcom, tells Jesse why he decided to make All In The Family and how he drew stories from his own life and those of his writers to bring real issues to TV comedy shows. Later, the star of HBO's The Night Of and the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue One, Riz Ahmed explains why the British Asian experience made hip-hop so important to him as a kid and we hear some of his new Swet Shop Boys album, Cashmere. Plus Jesse explains why Blunt Talk his his favorite weird show on TV right now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Interviews with Veep creator Armando Iannucci and the writer behind Sarah Jessica Parker's new HBO show, Sharon Horgan. Plus stand-up comedy from Josie Long and live music from Romare. Recorded live at the London Podcast Festival.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butler met at a comedy night in Chicago five years ago. Rhea was new to comedy and still had a day job. Cameron had been a working comedian for almost a decade. They hit it off, fell in love, moved to LA, got married and started a stand up night called "Put Your Hands Together". Last year they were asked by the Seeso network to make a stand up series based on "Put Your Hands together". It ended up morphing into the show they made, a sitcom called "Take My Wife". The show mirrors their lives in almost every way. Cameron and Rhea sit down with Jesse to talk about the good and bad of making a show based on your lives and marriage. Although he is probably best known for his role on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Jeff Garlin has a very prolific career. He came in to tell us about the craziest night of his career for our new segment "The craziest @#$% day of your career". Jesse tells us about a movie with a beautiful lack of ambition. The taking of Pelham 123.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Kaitlin Olson plays Sweet Dee on the long-running sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Dee is the only female member of "The Gang", a bunch of depraved, self-centered pals who run a bar. The Gang is constantly looking for ways to get rich quick, humiliate their enemies, get out of work, and prove once and for all the talent, charisma and brilliance they hold to be self-evident. In an unusual move for a solo female character, Dee doesn't serve to counterbalance the guys' bad behavior — she absolutely matches their pace. Olson talks to us about creating a more fully-fleshed character for Dee, how she came to comedy, and how she ended up dating (and marrying) her showrunner. Jeff Chang talks to us about what diversity means to us today, the struggle for artists to defy racial categorization, and how and why corporations embraced multiculturalism. Chang's newest book- We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation- is an exploration of the current unrest abound in the United States through a series of essays. Jesse also tells us about the life and legend of Andre the Giant.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Danny Fields is a music manager and publicist who was instrumental in signing and promoting some of the biggest names in Punk Rock history. This week, he and Jesse discuss his decision to leave the ivy league tract, his time in Andy Warhol's Factory, and what it was like managing The Ramones. Judith Light has had an almost 40 year acting career in which she's played strong female characters on shows like One LIfe To Live and Who's The Boss?. She is now continuing in this motif with her tenure on Broadway, winning two Tony Awards for her performances in the last 5 years, starring in a one woman show, and of course her groundbreaking performance in Transparent. Judith sits down with guest correspondent Keith Powell to discuss her work on Transparent, the cast's relationship with Jill Soloway, and the famous courtroom scene on One Life to LIve that launched her career. Jesse talks about Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some as a reflection of the necessity for people to fall into spells of nostalgia, even if just for 90 minutes.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, Jesse sits down with Hasan Minhaj, comedian and Senior Correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. They discuss stand up comedy in other countries, the current political climate in the United States, and his one man show Homecoming King. He also talks to Margaret Wappler, a journalist, columnist, pop culture critic, short story writer, podcast host , teacher, and now novelist. Margaret and Jesse talk about her new novel Neon Green, how she took care of her ill father as a teenager, the writing process, and the 1990's. And Jesse talks about the look on former NFL star and current analyst Randy Moss' face while his colleague Trent Dilfer gave his thoughts on the player protests going on in the NFL right now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jesse sits down with acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee. He tells us about how addiction is made explicit in his movie, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, how he really feels about Larry Bird and about his own very serious addiction.... to Air Jordans. Jesse also talks to Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair. Katja is a casting director who previously won an Emmy for her work on 30 Rock; Ben Sinclair is an actor. The two are a married couple, and created the webseries High Maintenance. The show follows a New York City marijuana delivery guy as he visits his various clients. MTV2's Wonder Showzen looked like a kids' show. But it wasn't. It really, really, wasn't. Jesse tells us why Wonder Showzen is his favorite TV satire of the past decade.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy