RiYL

The first Wolfie's Just Fine album arrived in 2016. I Remembered, But Then I Forgot marked a major shift in Jon Lajoie’s music, toward more earnest songwriting.He admits to an initial hesitation. After all, Lajoie built a career around comedy songs, going on to star as Taco in FX’s beloved series, The League. The move worked. An EP arrived in 2018, followed by Everyone Is Dead Except Us, which arrived this summer. Lajoie joins us from a truck to discuss his unique trajectory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Soundtracking a movie was a perfect opportunity to flex new songwriting muscles. As is often the case in life, however, things went nowhere near according to plan. There's not a lot you can do when you and the director don't see eye to eye. But Alejandro Rose-Garcia found opportunity amid frustration. Movie of the Week finds Shakey Graves embarking on his own imaginary film soundtrack, courtesy of AI and endless remixing. It's a perfect outlet for an artist who is every bit as restless as his fans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play children’s music long enough and something peculiar starts to happen: your fans start having kids of their own. A quarter century after releasing her album, Laurie Berkner is a veritable music institution. She’s racked up more than one million streams and 350 YouTube videos – but most importantly, her work has engaged multiple generations. Berkner joins us to discuss her start and musical growth over the decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Set during the first year of the Great Depression, The Man in the McIntosh Suit is a classic noir meets immigrant story. The book follows one-time lawyer from the Philippines, who finds employment as a migrant work, before heading to San Francisco to track down his missing wife. The book is Rina Ayuyang’s third. The Pittsburgh born, Oakland, CA-based cartoonist also runs comics publisher, Yam Books, and cohosts The Comix Claptrap. Word of warning to comics fans: there's some sports talk at the beginning. Proceed with caution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Released on YouTube earlier this year, Shocks & Struts finds Kyle Kinane in top form. The comedian may have intentionally slowed down his breakneck touring schedule, but he remains one of the consistently funny standups in the business. In addition to touring, Kinane also co-hosts the podcasts, The Boogie Monster amd No Accounting for Taste. He joins us to talk about not talking about politics and  competing with Fast & Furious films. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s a sense of optimism that breaks through on Messages to God. It’s marked change from the darkest moments of its predecessor. Consistent across all of Sarah Mary Chadwick’s songs, however, is a sense of honesty – however brutal or funny (or both) it might be. Honesty is a trait, thankfully, that is also on full display in Chadwick’s interviews. The musician joins of to discuss her songwriting and life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Few things in this life make one rethink the state of the world quiet like parenthood. It’s a subject Hari Kondabolu knows well. The comedian’s dives into the topic on his latest standup album, Vacation Baby – though the subject of social consciousness is never too far behind. That’s something that has permeated his career from the beginning, including Politically Re-Active, a podcast cohosted with W. Kamau Bell, and 2017’s The Trouble With Apu. Kondabolu joins us to discuss his journey through comedy and politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Invisible Ink, the floodgates opened. Since the book's publication, Bill Griffith has been a graphical novel producing machine. In fact, he's working on one right know, as I write this. Nobody's Fool followed in 2015, painting a three-dimensional picture of Freaks star, Schlitzie. A few weeks back, Three Rocks hit shelves, doing the same for Nancy artist, Ernie Bushmiller. All the while, the cartoonist has continued to produce the beloved strip, Zippy the Pinhead, as he has for the last 37 years. We discuss those works and pay tribute to his late-wife, the pioneering cartoonist, Diane Noomin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tits & Clits changed the underground comics scene forever. Over its 15-year-long existence, the anthology published such now legendary cartoonists as Mary Fleener, Roberta Gregory and Trina Robbins. The series tackled then-verboten topics like female sexuality, abortion and more, driven by cocreators Lyn Chevli and Joyce Farmer. Both artists continued to have impacts on comics and social movements, though Chevli passed in 2016. In 2010, Farmer released Special Exits, a powerful and touching based on her parents’ final years.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Many of us yearn for stillness and peace, as an escape from the movement all around us,” Heather Woods Broderick says of her latest LP. “Yet movement is perpetual, happening all the time on some level.” But Labyrinths was conceived at the stillest moment for many: March 2020. It was a moment to improve her home production and build from scratch. The album arrived in an entirely different world, after things had reopened and musicians returned to their lifeblood of touring. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.