Beginnings

On 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...

On 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 yea...

On 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 C omedy Knockout , The Meltdown , and Conan , a...

On 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 doze...

On 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, femal...

On 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 th...

On 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 ,...

On 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 curre...

On today's episode I talk to musician Mitski Miyawaki . Originally from Japan, Mitski grew up all over the world, eventually settling in New York. While studying at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, Mitski self-released her first and second albums, Lush and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business . Her third album Bury Me at Makeout Creek was released by Double Double Whammy in 2014, and i...

On today's episode I talk to writer and actor Azie Dungey . Azie grew up in Philly and the DC area. After graduating as a drama major from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, she performed the role of a slave as part of an ongoing historical reenactment of life at George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation in Virginia. This was the basis for her acclaimed webseries Ask a Slave . In 2015, Azie wa...

Hey y'all! Happy Thanksgiving! With everything going on in the news lately (ahem, neo-nazis, ahem), I thought I'd take the chance to re-post a conversation I had with Andrew Ti of the Yo, Is This Racist? podcast. This was part of an episode I had to take down from a couple years ago, and it seems like an apt time to repost the Andrew Ti part of that episode because we talk a lot about irony and pr...

On today's episode I talk to free jazz pianist Matthew Shipp . Originally from Delaware, Matt moved to New York in 1984 and quickly became one of the leading lights in the New York jazz scene. He was a sideman in the David S. Ware quartet and also for Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory before making the decision to concentrate on his own music. Since then, dozens of his albums have been released, most...

Well. If you're anything like me and my almost-wife Naomi Ekperigin (Broad City, 2 Dope Queens, Comedy Central Half Hour), you spent Tuesday the 8th into the 9th depressed, nauseous, crying, in a fitful and restless sleep, and generally trying to come to terms with the phrase "President Trump" and with the nightmare that was just unleashed. I was not in the mood to return to business as usual, so...

On today's episode I talk to writer and director Chioke Nassor . Chioke's previous work includes writing and directing short films for NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers , the feature film How to Follow Strangers , the TV on the Radio documentary Minor/Major , and his web series Storytime . Most recently, Chioke wrote and directed episodes of the MTV show Loosely Exactly Nicole starring Nicole Byer...

On today's episode I talk to Peabody-award winning writer and animator Tom Snyder . Tom is a writer and director well known in the world of animation for creating the animation technique known as Squigglevision. His first Squigglevision success came with the Emmy winning show, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist , which aired on Comedy Central. Tom later founded Soup 2 Nuts, an award-winning animatio...

On today's episode I talk to author Affinity Konar . Affinity studied writing at SFSU and received her MFA from Columbia, and is the author of two books, The Illustrated Version of Things , which was published by Fiction Collective 2 in 2009, and her latest Mischling , which was published by the Hachette imprint Lee Boudreaux Books earlier this year. Mischling is the story of twins, Dr. Mengele, a...

On today's episode I talk to comedian and actor Anthony Atamanuik . Over the last year, Tony has received a great deal of deserved acclaim for his accurately debauched Donald Trump impression, travelling the world with James Adomian in the Trump vs. Bernie Debate Tour. The two appeared on a special @Midnight episode and had two specials on Fusion. But before that, Tony was a house performer at UCB...

On today's episode I talk to actor and comedian Sasheer Zamata . Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Sasheer moved to New York after college and began taking classes at UCB, eventually becoming a house sketch actor and improviser at the theatre. She was a cast-member of the short-lived MTV sketch show Hey Girl,  and she created the webseries Pursuit of Sexiness with Nicole Byer. In 2014, Sashee...

On today's episode I talk to musician Paul Hammer. Paul is main singer/songwriter of the indie pop band Savoir Adore . Originally a duo with Deidre Muro - who left the band in 2014 - Savoir Adore began playing sometime in the mid-2000s. They released their first EP T he Adventures of Mr. Pumpernickel and the Girl with Animals in her Throat in 2008, and since then have released three other albums:...

On today's episode I talk to comedy writer Jen Spyra . Originally from Pittsburgh, Jen was a senior writer for The Onion  for many years. There she also headed the editorial video department as a writer, director and producer. Beyond The Onion , her humor writing has appeared in numerous places including The New Yorker and McSweeney's , and currently, she is a staff writer on The Late Show with St...

On today's episode I talk to writer and performer Sarah Pappalardo . Based in New York City, Sarah is an improviser, playwright, and documentation whose short Reverence will be featured during IFC's DOC NYC Festival later this year. She's also one of the founders and editors of the satirical women's magazine Reductress . In the three short years since its inception, Reductress has become it's own...

On today's episode I talk to writer Beth Newell . Originally from Lynnfield, MA, Beth has been writing, performing and teaching sketch at The Magnet Theater for many years. She's also one of the founders and editors of the satirical women's magazine Reductress . In the three short years since its inception, Reductress has become it's own cottage industry. Besides the online magazine, it's also spa...

On today's episode I talk to the founder of Jacobin Magazine Bhaskar Sunkara . Bhaskar is the son of immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago, and has written for a number of publications including Vice magazine, the Washington Post and The Nation. However, he is most well-known for being the founder, editor and publisher of Jacobin Magazine , which in its six short years of existence has become one of...

On today's episode I talk to writer, stand-up and union organizer Nato Green . Nato lives and was raised in San Francisco, and the city's progressive atmosphere pervades everything he does. Nato wrote for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell on FX and toured nationally with Kamau & Janine Brito as "Laughter Against the Machine". He's the creator of Iron Comic , the Iron Chef -spoofing comedy game sho...

On today's episode I talk to musician Elaiza Santos . Originally from Queens, Elaiza is the lead singer of the amazing chiptunes pop band Crying , who have two EPs out on Run For Cover Records, both of which are very much worth your time. Elaiza also records music on her own - originally under the name Whatever, Dad -  and currently as 100% , which is wonderful bedroom pop in the K records traditi...