Punkast

“It doesn't matter where you're from, like you can still be a part of our quote-unquote alliance, you know?” Closing Punkast's guest-hosted series celebrating Indigenous creativity and Native American Heritage Month, Kristy Martinez , UCLA PhD candidate, musician, and archivist, reunites with Scottie Noline and Isaiah Patterson of Alliance , the Apache metal band from San Carlos, Arizo...

“Few shows I've been to, like in East LA Boyle Heights, same thing. You have a taqueria right there. It could be somebody's tía or tío making food for the community. They're not charging, but, like, you know, people still show love.” Continuing Punkast's guest-hosted conversations celebrating Indigenous creativity and looking ahead to Native American Heritage Month, Kristy Martinez...

“If someone in the sweat goes down, you pick them up. Well, then I'd go to these punk shows ... you're shoulder to shoulder with your people.” “So us walking into clubs with like hats and braids and stuff and everyone's just like, where's your mohawk, bro? And like, I don't, I don't, I have braids dog.” Continuing Punkast's guest-hosted conversations highlighting Indige...

“And she wore this Iron Maiden T-shirt and she wore these Navajo moccasins. And I was like, wow, that's like the coolest picture to this day that I think I've ever taken.” In recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day and the upcoming Native American Heritage Month, Punkast welcomes Kristy Martinez , UCLA PhD candidate and researcher, as guest host and producer for conversations with Indig...

“Because it was a do-it-yourself thing where we just rejected the norm and did our own thing.” In Part 2 of the Women in Punk panel, recorded live at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles as part of Alle gegen Alles. Punk@50 , Jessica Schwartz continues the conversation with Pleasant Gehman, Jula Bell Liebi, and Tequila Mockingbird, with additional contributions from Cloudia Wintermute of Die Schlaflose...

“It changed everything. All sorts of different art came out of it—the people that made the flyers, the people that wrote the fanzines, not just the bands.” Recorded live at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles as part of Alle gegen Alles. Punk@50 , Jessica Schwartz moderates a Women in Punk conversation with Jula Bell Liebi, Pleasant Gehman, and Tequila Mockingbird. Following an introduction by Goethe-...

“Sometimes it’s actually quite okay to let go of this control … and to trust in the process and to trust in the people that you’re working with.” Jessica Schwartz speaks with Goethe-Institut Los Angeles director Luisa Rath-John and Ilka Erren Pardiñas about the making of Alle gegen Alles. Punk@50 , a transatlantic collaborative project exploring punk’s continuing relationships to subculture, prote...

“For me, it’s always going to be about making sure that our legacies are honored and protected.” Tequila Mockingbird joins Jessica Schwartz for a conversation about bringing her Punk Museum into the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles as part of Alle gegen Alles. Punk@50 . Tequila traces the relationships that brought the collaboration into being and reflects on what institutional recognition means for a...

In this episode: “Radio…really is a labor of love.” Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird sit down with Stella of KXLU’s Stray Pop for a conversation spanning nearly five decades of independent radio, punk, and underground music in Los Angeles. Stella traces her beginnings at Loyola Marymount University in 1977 and the launch of Stray Pop in 1980, when playing punk and new wave on KXLU could st...

In this episode: We need to respect the scene and shine a spotlight on folks who were, in fact, laying the foundation. Jessica Schwartz speaks with art historians Marie Arleth Skov and Maria Buszek about Unruly: The Body in Punk , curated by Marie and currently on view at ARoS in Aarhus, Denmark. Taking the exhibition and its catalogue as a starting point, they ask what becomes visible when the bo...

In this episode: “A big part of finding your voice is being willing to be vulnerable and honest.” Jessica Schwartz speaks with filmmaker, artist, and writer James Spooner about Black punk, belonging, vulnerability, and the complicated work of finding—and trusting—one’s own voice. Beginning with Spooner’s experiences as one of few Black punks in the Southern California desert and later within New Y...

In this episode: “We’ve turned out something I think that’s even stronger than what we did when we were younger.” In Part 2 of this conversation, Chris Desjardins (Chris D.) joins Jessica Schwartz and Tequila Mockingbird to reflect on creativity across a lifetime—moving among music, poetry, politics, film, recovery, and the ongoing work of making meaning through art. Chris discusses his relationsh...

In this episode: “The punk stuff that was coming out of England really excited me.” In Part 1 of this conversation, Chris Desjardins (Chris D.) traces the evolution of the Flesh Eaters from the earliest days of Los Angeles punk through the band’s many incarnations. Moving through his encounters with the Stooges, MC5, British punk, blues and R&B, poetry, surrealism, genre film, and other musica...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “It’s an interdisciplinary space where we all get together and talk about a variety of experiences within punk.” Jessica Schwartz and Ellen Bernhard discuss punk scholarship, popu...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: Jessica Schwartz speaks with writer Caroline Collett about the ways lived experience, memory, and writing shape how punk becomes cultural history. Drawing from Caroline's teenage...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: "To me, punk isn't just about a specific style. It's about a way of being." Jessica Schwartz is joined by Tequila Mockingbird for a conversation exploring punk as a creative pract...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: "I used to think that saying 'I don't have it' was a sign of weakness. When in reality, the weakness was not having it and thinking you do." Jessica Schwartz is joined by Jack Gri...

Editor's Note (July 2026) Today we learned of the passing of Jennifer Finch. Rather than simply share the news, I wanted to make this conversation available again. Recorded live at the Punk Rock Museum during the 2025 Punk Scholars Network US conference, it captures Jennifer exactly as I remember her: generous, thoughtful, funny, and deeply curious. Throughout our conversation, she challenged assu...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: "There is this specter of demolition that, in some ways, haunts the American city." Jessica Schwartz is joined by urban historian and geographer Peter Ekman for a conversation exp...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: "I make zines and jokes and have thoughts." Jessica Schwartz is joined by zinester, archivist, and independent scholar Liz Mason for a conversation exploring DIY publishing, archi...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: "Fulfill your purpose, do what you love…" Jessica Schwartz and co-host Tequila Mockingbird are joined by Johnny Indovina, singer, songwriter, and founder of Human Drama, in a conv...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: Experimental composer, improviser, and educator Si Paton joins Jessica Schwartz for a live conversation with UCLA students exploring listening, neurodivergence, improvisation, and...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: ICE OUT OF LOS ANGELES 'Fear literally controls people. It ruins ...it runs people's lives...the stuff of nightmares.' 'We can't really make progress without solidarity from men,...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: ‘There's no future unless you try and change it.’ Jessica Schwartz is joined by Sex Pistols bassist and songwriter Glen Matlock in a conversation recorded in London at Oxford Circ...

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration. >>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday. In this episode: “I didn’t feel judgment. I felt more acceptance that I could be my strange self.” Jessica Schwartz is joined by filmmaker Corbett Redford and professor John Goshert to reflect on...