Beginnings
675 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 100 ratingsWe all know the stories of how creative people get into the business of creating for a living, but how did they start using their imaginations in the first place? On the Beginnings podcast, writer and performer Andy Beckerman asks well-known and on-their-way-up comedians, musicians, writers, artists and thinkers about their earliest creative acts, their formative childhood experiences, and how they've developed both creatively and emotionally over the years. Beginnings is part therapy, part philosophy and almost all fascinating (95% according to FDA studies).
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Episodes
Episode 340: Carlos Alazraqui
November 16, 2017 07:11 - 1 hour - 33.3 MBOn today's episode I talk to actor and voiceover artist Carlos Alazraqui. Carlos is probably most often recognized as Deputy James Garcia from Comedy Central’s hit show Reno 911! A standup comic for over 25 years, he is also one of LA’s top voiceover actors with hundreds of credits to his name, including The Taco Bell Chihuahua, Mr. Weed on FOX’s Family Guy, Lazlo on Cartoon Network’s Camp Lazlo, Bane in Justice League: Doom, and Mr. Crocker on Nickelodeon’s long running series Fairly OddPar...
Episode 339: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
November 09, 2017 09:27 - 1 hour - 36.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer and showrunner Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Originally from Puerto Rico, Javi earned his MFA in screenwriting from USC in the early 1990s, and soon after started his television career. He's written for a number of rad shows across many different genres including Charmed, Boomtown, Medium, Lost, Helix and The 100, and he created and showran the fantastic show The Middleman, which was based on his own comics. Javi's also the co-host with Jose Molina of the Childr...
Episode 338: Eliot Glazer
November 02, 2017 06:33 - 1 hour - 38.2 MBOn today's episode I talk to TV writer and performer Eliot Glazer. Originally from Long Island, Eliot is now based in LA and has written for or contributed to shows like Billy on the Street, Difficult People, Best Week Ever, Younger, Broad City, New Girl, and currently Teachers. He also recently developed a show for Comedy Central produced by Will Arnett. As a performer, you've seen him on plenty of shows, such as playing Ilana's brother on Broad City, or at his wonderful live show Haunting ...
Episode 337: Angelo de Augustine
October 26, 2017 07:15 - 1 hour - 31.8 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Angelo de Augustine. Angelo writes and records music in Thousand Oaks, California -- a suburb north of Los Angeles, where he grew up. His self-released debut album, Spirals of Silence, and 3-song EP follow-up, How Past Begins, earned praise from The FADER, Stereogum, Vogue, My Old Kentucky Blog, and more, and his music has been compared to Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Vashti Bunyan and Judee Sill. His latest album, Swim Inside the Moon, was released by As...
Episode 336: Inara George of The Bird and the Bee
October 19, 2017 07:01 - 1 hour - 35.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Inara George. The daughter of Lowell George, who was a member of Frank Zappa's band and the founder of rock group Little Feat, Inara grew up in Topanga Canyon, in the outskirts of Los Angeles. Since the 1990s, she has been a member of a number of bands herself including Lode, Merrick, and starting in the early 2000s, the indie pop duo The Bird and The Bee with Greg Kurstin. The duo have released a number of amazing albums and EPs, including an self-title...
Episode 335: Annie Mebane
October 12, 2017 08:18 - 1 hour - 30.4 MBOn today's episode I talk to TV writer Annie Mebane. Originally from Florida, Annie came up in comedy at iOWest and UCBLA, performing on house improv teams at both theaters. As a writer, she's worked on a number of awesome shows including Happy Endings, Breaking In, Community, The Michael J. Fox Show, The Goldbergs, and currently the new Heathers series. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.
Episode 334: Cord Jefferson
October 05, 2017 06:49 - 1 hour - 35 MBOn today's episode I talk to TV writer Cord Jefferson. Originally from Tucson, Cord began his career as a print journalist, first as senior editor at GOOD magazine and then as the west coast editor at Gawker. His reporting and writing have appeared in numerous places including National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, The Root, TheNation.com, Jezebel, The American Prospect, and many others. As a TV writer, he started off on The Nightly Show, moved to Master of None, and currently wr...
Episode 333: Wand's Cory Hanson
September 28, 2017 07:22 - 1 hour - 30.4 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Cory Hanson. Originally from Los Angeles, Cory began playing music professionally with Mikal Cronin and the bands, together PANGEA and Meatbodies. In 2014 he formed Wand with his former art school classmates Lee Landey and Evan Burrows, and they've gone on to record four albums: Ganglion Reef, Golem, 1000 Days, and their latest Plum (the last two were released on the wonderful label Drag City!). Last year, Drag City also released Cory's solo album The Un...
Episode 332: Andrew Ti
September 21, 2017 08:26 - 1 hour - 41.8 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer and podcaster Andrew Ti. Originally from Michigan, Andrew is the creator and host of the Yo, Is This Racist blog and podcast, which has been part of Earwolf for many years. In both forms, Andrew takes fan-submitted questions about whether certain cultural phenomena are racist or not. Besides Yo, Is This Racist, Andrew's also a writer, and has worked on a number of projects including Problematic with Moshe Kasher. This is the website for Beginnings, subs...
Episode 331: Eli Valley
September 14, 2017 09:27 - 1 hour - 37.5 MBOn today's episode I talk to cartoonist Eli Valley. Eli's work has been featured in The Nation, The New Republic, The Village Voice, The Nib, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Gawker among other places, and from 2011 to 2013, he was the Artist in Residence at The Forward, a progressive Jewish newspaper based in New York. His critically-acclaimed anthology Diaspora Boy: Comics on Crisis in America and Israel is available now from OR Books. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTun...
Episode 330: Latasha Alcindor
September 07, 2017 09:38 - 1 hour - 30.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to rapper Latasha Alcindor AKA LA. Originally from Flatbush, Brooklyn, Latasha made her way into hip hop in a unique way: through performance art. In only six short years, she's put out a number of great albums including The Presentation and The LA Riots in 2011, Spark in 2014, Loosies and Blunts a year later, and two this year B(LA)K and Teen Nite at Empire. All are worth your time! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.
Episode 329: Jill Eisenstadt
August 31, 2017 08:56 - 1 hour - 32.7 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer Jill Eisenstadt. Jill is the author of the novels From Rockaway, Kiss Out and Swell and with her sister, director Debra Eisenstadt, the co- writer and co-producer of the feature film, The Limbo Room. In the 1980s, she was part of the 'Literary Brat Pack' whose members included Bret Easton Ellis, Jay McInerney, and Tama Janowitz. Other work of Jill's has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Vogue, Elle, The Boston Review, ...
Episode 328: Zhubin Parang
August 24, 2017 09:01 - 1 hour - 34.8 MBOn today's episode I talk to Emmy-award winning writer and performer Zhubin Parang. Before coming to comedy, Zhubin graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and was a practicing lawyer in New York City. During this time, he studied at and eventually became a performer at UCB. In 2011, he joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a writer, and eventually Zhubin became the head writer when the show transitioned to Trevor Noah. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, ...
Episode 327: Miles Kahn
August 17, 2017 08:34 - 1 hour - 29 MBOn today's episode I talk to Peabody Award–winning writer-director-producer Miles Kahn. Miles got his start in entertainment as a writer and director, and in 2008 joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He worked his way up to Senior Producer, and during his time there, also produced a number of specials for stand-ups like Wyatt Cenac and D.L. Hughley. In 2015, Miles left the Daily Show to serve as executive producer for Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, where he's been since. This is the ...
Episode 326: Mattie Lubchansky
August 10, 2017 08:51 - 1 hour - 34.9 MBOn today's episode I talk to Queens-based cartoonist and illustrator Mattie Lubchansky. Mattie is the Associate Editor of the Nib, a daily political comics site under the First Look Media umbrella, which also houses the brilliant left-wing news site The Intercept. Mattie's work has appeared in VICE, Eater, Mad Magazine, Gothamist, The Toast, The Hairpin, Brooklyn Magazine, as well as their long-running webcomic Please Listen to Me. Additionally, they are the co-author with their wife of the ...
Episode 325: Jeremy Pikser
August 03, 2017 09:21 - 1 hour - 36.5 MBOn today's episode I talk to screenwriter and activist Jeremy Pikser. Originally on his way to be a teacher, Jeremy instead became a screenwriter after a series of events led him to be a "special consultant" and uncredited writer on the film Reds, which was nominated for an Academy Award for screenplay. He's written a number of other films as well, including The Lemon Sisters with Diane Keaton and Elliott Gould, War, Inc. with John Cusack and Bulworth with Warren Beatty. The screenplay for B...
Episode 324: Sam Sinyangwe
July 27, 2017 09:42 - 1 hour - 36.1 MBOn today's episode I talk to policy analyst and data scientist Sam Sinyangwe. Sam grew up in Orlando, FL, and has been involved in organizing and advocacy since he was in high school. He's worked at PolicyLink helping to support a national network of 61 "Promise Neighborhoods" with the goal of building cradle-to-career systems of support for low-income families. He created the "Mapping Police Violence" project, which collects and uses data as a tool for fighting police violence. And most rec...
Episode 323: Isaac Oliver
July 20, 2017 08:35 - 1 hour - 38.4 MBOn today's episode I talk to award-winning playwright, author, and performer Isaac Oliver. His debut collection of essays, Intimacy Idiot, was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2015. His plays include Electra in a One-Piece, and the ten-minute plays “3, 2, 1,” “Film Forum,” and “Come Here”, which won the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Short Script. Additionally, he's written for The New York Times, W Magazine, Time Out New York, Out, and HBO's High Maintenance. ...
Episode 322: Aye Nako's Jade Payne and Mars Ganito
July 13, 2017 08:25 - 1 hour - 33.9 MBOn today's episode I talk to Jade Payne and Mars Ganito of the indie rock band Aye Nako. Formed in 2010, Aye Nako is a New York-based queer punk band who make dissonant and melodic punk music. In 2013, they self-released their first album Unleash Yourself, and in 2015, Don Giovanni Records released their EP THe Blackest Eye. The album saw the band explore personal themes such as abuse and racism, and it garnered a great deal of critical acclaim, ending up on several "best of" lists including...
Bonus Episode 35: A Beginnings Live Music Mixtape
July 06, 2017 07:13 - 1 hour - 26.4 MBI'm moving to LA this week, so I wanted to take a break from producing an episode to settle into the new digs and recover from having to take two cats on a cross-country flight. And while I was getting ready for the move, I was cleaning up my hard drive and found some of the music from when Beginnings was a monthly live show at UCB East (every month we'd have a musical guest perform and then be interviewed). These performances are really fantastic, and I don't know how many people have heard...
Episode 321: Jen Goma of A Sunny Day in Glasgow
June 29, 2017 06:51 - 1 hour - 38.8 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Jen Goma. Based in New York City, Jen writes and produces music, comedy and videos. She is a member of the bands A Sunny Day in Glasgow and Roman à Clef and has collaborated with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Jherek Bischoff. Her first solo album Smiley Face, recorded under the name Showtime Goma was just released, and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.
Episode 320: Joseph Kertes
June 22, 2017 07:58 - 1 hour - 32.3 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer Joseph Kertes. Joe was born in Hungary but escaped with his family to Canada after the revolution of 1956. He studied English at York University and the University of Toronto and founded Humber College's distinguished creative writing and comedy programs. As an author, he's written a number of books including Winter Tulips and Boardwalk. His third book Gratitude won the Canadian National Jewish Book Award and the U.S. National Jewish Book Award for Fiction...
Episode 319: Bill Scheft
June 15, 2017 06:32 - 1 hour - 37.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to novelist, columnist, and Emmy-nominated television writer Bill Scheft. Bill started his career as a sportswriter and as a stand-up. After twelve years touring, he was hired as a monologue writer for Late Night with David Letterman where he remained for 24 years until the show's conclusion in 2015. In addition to writing for Letterman, Bill also wrote for the Oscars, ESPYs and almost every other major awards show, and he also contributed a popular weekly humor col...
Episode 318: Stephen Falk
June 08, 2017 08:23 - 59 minutes - 25.5 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer and showrunner Stephen Falk. Born in Berkeley, CA, Stephen has been working in television for a number of years, starting off on the Showtime series Weeds. He then created the NBC show Next Caller, and went on to write for Orange is the New Black. In 2014, he created the wonderful FX series You're the Worst, whose 4th season will air sometime later this year. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.
Episode 317: Joel Church-Cooper
June 01, 2017 05:20 - 1 hour - 35.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer and showrunner Joel Church-Cooper. Born in Sacramento, Joel grew up in Santa Cruz, and eventually made his way down to LA where he started taking classes and performing at UCB and IO West. As a TV writer, he started on shows like The Onion SportsDome, as well as Up All Night, Ground Floor and Undateable, among many others. Most recently, he created and showruns Brockmire on IFC, which is based on a Funny or Die webseries he made. This is the website for...
Episode 316: Damon Lindelof
May 25, 2017 05:49 - 1 hour - 31.8 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer and showrunner Damon Lindelof. Originally from Teaneck, NJ, Damon has been a successful television and screenwriter for almost two decades. He started on shows like MTV's Undressed and Nash Bridges, and in 2004 co-created Lost, the show that revitalized the possibility that network TV could be weird and labyrinthine. He's written many of the best studio sci-fi films of the last decade including World War Z, Prometheus and Star Trek Into Darkness, and most ...
Episode 315: Patrick Adams
May 18, 2017 05:47 - 1 hour - 40.1 MBOn today's episode I talk to songwriter, arranger and record producer Patrick Adams. Originally from Harlem, Patrick has applied his magic touch to more than four decades of music, earning thousands of credits for contributions to disco, boogie, soul and hip-hop releases both genre-defining and criminally underrated. In addition to mentoring Leroy Burgess and his seminal soul group Black Ivory, Patrick was a key contributor to innumerable disco LPs and hits like Musique’s “In The Bush,” and ...
Episode 314: Chris Leo of The Van Pelt
May 11, 2017 05:01 - 1 hour - 33.4 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Chris Leo. Originally from New Jersey, Chris started playing music in the early 1990s with his brother Danny in the groundbreaking hardcore band Native Nod. When they broke up, Chris formed the post-rock band The Van Pelt, whose two albums - Stealing From Our Favorite Thieves and Sultans Of Sentiment - were released by NJ indie record label Gern Blandsten. Chris then formed The Lapse with Van Pelt member Toko Yasuda (also of Enon and Blonde Redhead) and ...
Episode 313: Ronny Chieng
May 04, 2017 08:05 - 1 hour - 34.4 MBOn today's episode I talk to comedian Ronny Chieng. Born in Malaysia, Ronny was raised in New Hampshire and Singapore and graduated from the University of Melbourne in Australia with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce. That same year, he started performing stand-up, and since then he has toured four sold out global stand up comedy theater tours in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Canada and London and recorded four award winning comedy specials. In Au...
Episode 312: Nathan Lee Graham
April 27, 2017 06:38 - 1 hour - 32.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to Grammy Award winning cabaret artist and actor Nathan Lee Graham. Originally from St. Louis, Nathan's notable film roles include Todd in Zoolander and Zoolander 2, Frederick Montana in Sweet Home Alabama and Geoff in Hitch and on TV has appeared as Peter in The Comeback, and had guest starring roles on Scrubs, Absolutely Fabulous and Law & Order SVU. His stage appearances include Phil D'Armano in the original Broadway cast of the Tony and Grammy Award nominated Th...
Episode 311: Negin Farsad
April 20, 2017 05:53 - 1 hour - 37.9 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer, comedian and podcast host Negin Farsad. Originally from Palm Springs by-way-of Virginia, Negin is highly accomplished in many domains. She's the director, writer and star of the romantic comedy 3rd Street Blackout, which starred Janeane Garofalo, Ed Weeks, and John Hodgman, as well as the director and producer of the feature film The Muslims Are Coming! which starred Jon Stewart and David Cross. Negin is also the host of a political comedy round-table pod...
Episode 310: Caissie St. Onge
April 13, 2017 07:20 - 1 hour - 30.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to Emmy nominated comedy writer Caissie St. Onge. Originally from Fitchberg, MA, Caissie is a prolific comedy writer. She’s worked for The Late Show with David Letterman, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, VH1’s Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins, The Grammy Awards, The Tony Awards, and regularly wrote material for Joan Rivers. She's also a YA author having penned the novel Jane Jones: Worst. Vampire. Ever. and is currently a Supervising Producer on Bravo's Watch What Happ...
Episode 309: Amy Hoggart
April 06, 2017 04:43 - 1 hour - 32.3 MBOn today's episode I talk to actor and comedian Amy Hoggart. Amy grew up in the suburbs of London, and though she received an advanced degree in clinical psychology, she ended up pursuing a career in comedy. She started in the famous Cambridge sketch group The Footlights and the London stand-up scene, and in 2014 was cast in the BBC America show Almost Royal. And in 2016, Amy became a correspondent on the weekly late night show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. This is the website for Begin...
Bonus Episode 34: Naomi Ekperigin asks Is Showbiz a Meritocracy?
March 30, 2017 04:47 - 31 minutes - 13.6 MBEvery so often I do these "bonus episodes" where I talk to a showbiz professional about the actual nuts and bolts of different topics in the Entertainment Industry in an attempt to demystify these things. And on today's episode, I talk to the love of my life Naomi Ekperigin (former writer for Broad City, you may have heard her on 2 Dope Queens or on her own Comedy Central Half Hour), and we talk today about a topic that's been bothering me for a while: The Myth of the Meritocracy. I pose the...
Episode 308: Tim Kasher of Cursive
March 23, 2017 05:14 - 1 hour - 32 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Tim Kasher. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Tim has been playing music since he was young. One of Tim's first bands, Slowdown Virginia was shortlived though they inspired other bands to form like The Faint and Bright Eyes, and Lumberjack Records, the record label that put out their one album, became Saddle Creek, one of the biggest indie labels around. In 1995, Tim formed Cursive, which in their 20 years together have released numerous EPs and seven alb...
Episode 307: NE-HI
March 20, 2017 04:11 - 1 hour - 31 MBOn today's episode I talk to Jason Balla and Mikey Wells of the indie rock band NE-HI. Based in Chicago, NE-HI originally formed in 2013 to score a friend's film. But when the four of them realized they had a lot of chemistry together, they decided to make the band official. Their first self-titled album was released on Manic Static in 2014 and their latest album Offers was released earlier this year on Grand Jury Music. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me o...
Episode 306: Jason Narducy of Split Single
March 16, 2017 06:53 - 1 hour - 29.4 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Jason Narducy. Jason began his rock career at the age of ten when he co-founded the band Verböten – one of the seminal acts in the Chicago punk scene. He then went on to become frontman/songwriter/guitarist for Verbow, another beloved Windy City outfit who signed a major-label deal with Epic/Sony during the ‘90s alt-rock bubble and followed that up with an ongoing, nearly decade-long run as indie-rock’s secret weapon – serving as bassist and backing voca...
Episode 305: David Harrington of Kronos Quartet
March 09, 2017 07:48 - 1 hour - 27.8 MBOn today's episode I talk to violinist David Harrington. Originally from Seattle, David is the founder of the renowned contemporary classical group Kronos Quartet. The group was established in 1973, and since then, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 50 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world's most intriguing and accomplished composers...
Episode 304: Mara Wilson
March 02, 2017 06:12 - 1 hour - 26.8 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer and actor Mara Wilson. Mara started off in showbiz as a child actor in such films as Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street and Matilda. After her mother passed away when she was 8 though, she lost some of her passion for acting, and eventually left that side of the business. While she infrequently acts now, appearing on shows like Broad City or BoJack Horseman, Mara is much more of a writer and storyteller. Her first book, Where Am I Now?, was just publis...
Bonus Episode 33: Jesse David Fox of Vulture.com on Comedy Journalism
February 23, 2017 05:54 - 1 hour - 48.4 MBEvery so often I do these "bonus episodes" where I talk to a showbiz professional about the actual nuts and bolts of different topics in the Entertainment Industry in an attempt to demystify these things. And on today's episode, I have a wide-ranging and frank talk about comedy journalism with Vulture.com Senior Editor and host of the new Good One Podcast Jesse David Fox. The conversation starts out with how his new podcast is really about the phenomenology of stand-up, and from there we get...
Episode 303: Tim Kinsella of Joan of Arc and Cap'n Jazz
February 16, 2017 07:07 - 1 hour - 29.3 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Tim Kinsella. Originally from Chicago, Tim has been part of some of the best indie rock bands of the last quarter-century. In 1989, he formed Cap'n Jazz along with his brother Mike, who would go on to become a frequent collaborator with Tim and a well-know artist in his own right in bands like American Football and Owen. Even though Cap'n Jazz only put out one album - and later an anthology on Jade Tree Records - they became a cult band and helped define...
Episode 302: Nadia Sirota
February 09, 2017 07:16 - 1 hour - 33.4 MBOn today's episode I talk to violist Nadia Sirota. Based in New York, Nadia is a Juilliard-trained violist best known for her singular sound and expressive execution and she's worked with a number of amazing contemporary composers like Nico Muhly, Judd Greenstein, and Missy Mazzoli. Her debut album First Things First was released in 2009 on New Amsterdam Records and was cited as a record of the year by The New York Times. In addition to her work as a soloist, Nadia is a member of yMusic, ACM...
Episode 301: Sammus
February 02, 2017 07:06 - 1 hour - 43 MBOn today's episode I talk to rapper and academic Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo AKA Sammus. Originally from upstate New York, Enongo currently lives in Ithaca where she is attending Cornell to pursue her PhD in Science and Technology Studies. Parallel to her academic work, Enongo is a rising star in the indie hip hop scene. She released her first EP Fly Nerd in 2010, and since then has released numerous albums and EPs, some on her own, some through the NuBlack Music Group and her latest Pieces in Sp...
Episode 300: Chris Claremont
January 26, 2017 08:33 - 1 hour - 42.1 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer Chris Claremont. Born in London, Chris' family moved to the States when he was a child, and though he originally studied acting and political theory, he eventually started writing comics after taking a job as a gofer/editorial assistant at Marvel while in college. Chris was originally given the low-selling series X-Men to write, which he did for the next 16 years, turning it into both a groundbreaking and best-selling series and revolutionizing the ways st...
Episode 299: Joel Kim Booster
January 19, 2017 05:49 - 1 hour - 35.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to stand-up and writer Joel Kim Booster. Originally from South Korea, Joel was adopted at a young age and moved to the southwest suburbs of Chicago. He's written for Billy on the Street and Moshe Kasher's new Comedy Central show, and was one of the New Faces at the Just for Laughs Festival last year. He's also performed on Comedy Knockout, The Meltdown, and Conan, and recently sold a show to Fox based on his life called Birthright! This is the website for Beginni...
Episode 298: Matt Pond PA
January 12, 2017 05:53 - 1 hour - 34.6 MBOn today's episode I talk to musician Matt Pond. Originally from New Hampshire, Matt began writing and releasing music in 1998 as Matt Pond PA. Debuting with the album Deer Apartments, the band quickly gained momentum after claiming top honors in an unsigned bands competition sponsored by CDNOW. Since then, Matt - along with a rotating cast of musical collaborators - has released almost two dozen albums and EPs on labels like Polyvinyl and BMG. His latest, Winter Lives, was just released lat...
Episode 297: Amber Ruffin
January 05, 2017 07:37 - 1 hour - 33.9 MBOn today's episode I talk to writer and performer Amber Ruffin. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Amber began her comedy career studying at iO in Chicago. From there she moved to Amsterdam, where she performed with Boom Chicago all over Europe, eventually ending up at the Second City Mainstage back in the States. In 2014, she became a writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers - the first black, female writer in late night history - and she often performs on the show, most notably in the recurring...
Episode 296: Josie Long
December 29, 2016 06:10 - 1 hour - 36.5 MBOn today's episode I talk to comedian Josie Long. Josie's originally from Sidcup, but grew up in Orpington, London. She began stand-up when she was 14, and since then has created or been part of an innumerable amount of cool projects. This includes numerous performances at the Edinburgh Fringe - where she was nominated for "Best Show" scads of times and won "Best Newcomer" in 2006 - as well as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs and more. Josie wrote for the awesome ...
Episode 295: Roy Wood Jr.
December 22, 2016 07:41 - 1 hour - 36.3 MBOn today's episode I talk to comedian Roy Wood Jr. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Roy began his comedy career in 1998 at the age of 19 while attending Florida A&M University. In 2006, he was named one of the New Faces at the Just for Laughs Festival and made his television debut that year on The Late Show with David Letterman. Roy's also performed on Conan, Def Comedy Jam, Craig Ferguson, and he finished third in the 2010 season of Last Comic Standing. Even with all this success, 2016 migh...
Episode 294: Baron Vaughn
December 15, 2016 07:57 - 1 hour - 39.3 MBOn today's episode I talk to actor and comedian Baron Vaughn. As a stand-up, Baron’s performed on Conan (twice), Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and he has his own Comedy Central Half Hour. As well, AST Records released his album Blaxistential Crisis earlier this year. As an actor, he's been featured in movies like Black Dynamite and Cloverfield, and is currently a series regular on the Netflix show Grace and Frankie. Baron will also be part of the Mystery S...