Beginnings

On today's episode I talk to artist Ian Davis . Born in Indianapolis in 1972, Ian now lives in Los Angeles, after a long stint in New York. He has participated in exhibitions at museums and galleries throughout the U.S. including a solo exhibition in 2010 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City. Ian's works are in the collections of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland...

On today's episode I talk to Rachel Browne . Rachel is a musician, writer and visual artist living in Philadelphia, PA. She earned a Bachelor of Music with a concentration in studio composition from Purchase College and has been writing and performing in the band Field Mouse since its formation in 2009. The band self-released their first album You Are Here in 2010, and Topshelf Records released th...

On today's episode I talk to actress DeWanda Wise . Originally from Maryland, DeWanda graduated from the Tisch School at NYU in 2006, and began her professional acting career soon after with small roles on shows like Law and Order: SVU and The Good Wife. This led to larger parts on Underground and Shots Fired, and in 2017, she was the lead in Spike Lee's Netflix remake of his seminal film She's Go...

On today's episode I talk to musician Dean Wareham . Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Dean's family moved to New York in 1977 when he  was a teenager. In college at Harvard, he formed the seminal indie rock band Galaxie 500 with Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang. They recorded three albums - Today, On Fire and This Is Our Music, which were released on Rough Trade - but broke up in 1991, when...

On today's episode I talk to comedian and writer Jo Firestone . Originally from St. Louis, Jo is a stand-up and the creator of dozens of live shows, including the pun competition Punderdome, the Inner Beauty Pageant, and the Unexpectashow at UCB. As an actor, Jo's been in everything from Broad City to Search Party to the Mike Birbiglia film Don't Think Twice, and as a stand-up, she's performed on...

On today's episode I talk to actor and comedian Griffin Newman . Raised in New York, Griff has been writing and performing for a lion's share of his life. In 2007, he started college, but left in his first year to pursue acting, and since then has appeared in a number of films and TV shows including Law and Order, Blue Bloods, Fort Tilden, Vinyl, Cop Show, Difficult People, Draft Day, Search Party...

On today's episode I talk to composer and musician Ryan Lott . Born in Denver, CO, Ryan began playing music when he was relatively young. His first album as Son Lux,  At War with Walls & Mazes, was released by Anticon in 2008, and since then they've recorded three other albums, We Are Rising in 2011, Lanterns in 2013, and Bones in 2015. In 2014, Ryan collaborated with Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti...

On today's episode I talk to TV writer Amy Hubbs . Originally from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Amy began her TV career as a writers' assistant on the original run of NBC's Will & Grace, and since then has worked on numerous shows including Raising Hope, The Crazy Ones, Ugly Betty, and Great News. Currently she is a writer and producer on the new Freeform show Alone Together, which stars Esther Povits...

On today's episode I talk to comedian and musician Tawny Newsome . Originally from California, Tawny got her start in comedy in Chicago, where she was part of the Second City Mainstage, as well as the Second City National Touring Company. More recently, she was one of the stars of the wonderful Seeso show Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ and is a recurring character on BET's The Comedy Get Down. In add...

On today's episode I talk to painter and illustrator Brandon Bird . Originally from Sacramento, CA, Brandon paints pop culture figures in absurd situations, like Christopher Walken building a Transformer in his garage or the cast of Frasier in a 1970s pulp fantasy series. He's organized a number of arts shows around these ideas and created a Law and Order coloring book called Law & Order: An Adven...

On today's episode I talk to actor James Urbaniak . Originally from Bayonne, New Jersey, James was part of the flourishing 1990s New York theater scene. It was there he met Hal Hartley who cast him as Simon Grim in the wonderful film Henry Fool. Since then, James has been part of Hartley's unofficial repertory, acting in a number of his other films. Outside of these, James has also acted in dozens...

On today's episode I talk to stand-up and writer Dana Gould . Originally from Hopedale, MA, Dana started performing stand-up at the tender age of 17, and since then has taped numerous late night appearances, specials (including an HBO Half-Hour), and four albums: Funhouse, I Know It's Wrong, Let Me Put My Thoughts in Your, and his latest Mr. Funny Man, which was just released earlier this year on...

We're stuck between Christmas and New Year's Eve, folks, so I thought I'd drop a bonus episode this week! What's a "bonus episode" of Beginnings? These are episodes that deviate from "let's talk to a creator I admire about their childhoods" and instead take a peek behind the curtain of showbiz. As I get deeper into the business part of this industry, I learn so much more about the real structures...

On today's episode I talk to TV writer and showrunner Karl Schaefer . Originally from Downey, CA, Karl has been working in TV since the late 1980s, where he started off as the creator and showrunner of TV 101. In the '90s, he created and showran two supernatural programs Eerie, Indiana and Strange Luck, and then spent time writing on a number of different shows including Monk, The Dead Zone, Eurek...

On today's episode I talk to TV writer Jessica Gao . Originally from Los Angeles, Jessica began her TV writing career in the world of animation, working on shows like Nickelodeon's The Mighty B and Kung Fu Panda, as well as live action shows for both Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. In 2014, Jessica wrote for Silicon Valley on HBO, followed by the wonderful Seeso (RIP) show Bajillion Dollar Pro...

On today's episode I talk to comics writer and artist Sina Grace . Based in Los Angeles, Sina is the author and illustrator of a number of books for Image Comics including Self-Obsessed, Not My Bag, and Nothing Lasts Forever. He acts as the artist for Shaun Steven Struble's cult hit, The Li'l Depressed Boy, and handles art chores along with co-writing the Image Comics hit series, Burn the Orphanag...

On today's episode I talk to writer and painter Steve Dildarian . Originally from New Jersey, Steve spent many years as an advertising executive and created a number of well-known campaigns including the "Budweiser Lizards". In 2006, Steve created an animated short film called Angry Unpaid Hooker, which won the best animated short at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, which led to his show on HBO. The...

It's almost Thanksgiving, folks! So I thought I'd drop a bonus episode early so you could listen while you're traveling for the holidays. What's a "bonus episode" of Beginnings? These are episodes that deviate from "let's talk to a creator I admire about their childhoods" and instead take a peek behind the curtain of showbiz. As I get deeper into the business part of this industry, I learn so much...

On 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,...

On 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 Mid...

On 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...

On 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, Elliot...

On 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 wit...

On 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 ,  s...

On 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 othe...