Beginnings

I used to do bonus episodes of the show somewhat regularly called "Field Guides" where I'd talk to people about the actual steps they took to create a project or about a specific topic around the theme of creating things for a living. Like, I talked to Abbi and Ilana about how they actually made the Broad City webseries (back before it was even a TV show!) - and the idea is to try and demystify ma...

On today's episode, I talk to stand-up and writer Bonnie McFarlane . Bonnie hails from Canada, where she grew up on a small farm in Alberta. An accomplished stand-up, she's appeared on everything from The Tonight Show to Letterman to Last Comic Standing and has her own HBO One Night Stand and Comedy Central Presents . In addition to being the director of the wonderful documentary Women Aren't Funn...

On today's episode, I talk to Peabody Award-winning and Emmy nominated stand-up and writer Josh Gondelman . Originally from Boston, Josh is currently based in New York where he previously wrote for Billy on the Street and currently writes for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver . In addition, Josh is the co-author (along with Joe Berkowitz) of the book You Blew It , and his latest comedy album Phys...

On today's episode, I talk to writer and actor Dylan Marron . Dylan is a Drama Desk-nominated writer & performer based in New York City. He is the voice of Carlos on the hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale and the co-creator and performer of Ridgefield Middle School Talent Nite , a 17-character middle school talent show, in which he and Jo Firestone play every role. Dylan's also an ensemble member o...

On today's episode, I talk to musician  Larkin Grimm . A descendent of the Brothers Grimm themselves, Larkin grew up in a monastic order called The Holy Order of MANS. Spending her childhood in rural Georgia, Larkin eventually earned a scholarship to Yale, which she attended on and off for many years, using the intervening sabbaticals to travel all over the world. At Yale, she met Dave Longstreth...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg . Scott grew up in Stockton, California where he met his childhood friend and future bandmate Stephen Malkmus. Along with drummer Gary Young, the two formed Pavement in 1989, and went on to release five albums and a number of EPs, eventually becoming one of the biggest indie rock bands of the time. After the band broke up in 199...

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer Curtis Gwinn . Originally from Chicago, Curtis grew up in the suburbs outside of New York City, eventually finding his way to UCB. There he became a teacher and performer, and co-founded the team Death by Roo Roo, one of the best improv groups to come out of the theatre. His first professional jobs included writing for The Man Show and Human Giant , and from...

On today's episode, I talk to comedian Gareth Reynolds . Gareth's parents originally hail from the UK, but Gareth was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He's co-created The Travel Channel show Mancations and the MTV show Failosophy , he's written for the Comedy Central show Idiotsitter , and nearest and dearest to my heart, he's the co-host of one of the best podcasts around The Dollop , an American...

On today's episode, I talk to stand-up and writer Jacqueline Novak . Easily one of the best and most creative stand-ups in New York, Jacqueline has been performing for over a decade. She has her own comedy album Quality Notions , she's appeared on  The Late Late Show with James Corden , and recently Three Rivers Press published her first book How to Weep In Public , a part-memoir/part-comedic guid...

On today's episode, I talk to the creators of the new HBO show Animals Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano . Phil and Mike are from New Jersey and Long Island respectively, and while working at an advertising agency together, the two created the webseries Animals , which was then shown at Channel 101 and garnered the "Best Comedy Pilot" award at the 2013 New York Television Festival. After a manager in...

On today's episode, I talk to Tony-nominated actor Geneva Carr . Geneva is a film, theater and television actor originally from Jackson, Mississippi. After studying French at Mount Holyoke, she moved to Paris and began a career in the world of business. Banking proved to be a lackluster life though, and a chance rekindling of her childhood love of acting led to her pursuing it professionally. This...

On today's episode, I talk to comedian and writer Streeter Seidell . Streeter first gained popularity as part of the cast of CollegeHumor's online videos, including the viral series  Prank Wars . This led to an MTV series with his fellow CollegeHumor colleague Amir Blumenfeld called Pranked . In 2013, Streeter wrote for the ABC sitcom Trophy Wife and a year later joined the writing staff Saturday...

On today's episode, I talk to filmmaker Alex Ross Perry . Alex was raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and attended NYU, where he graduated from their film program. In 2009, he made his first feature film Imipolex on a shoestring budget, and since then, he's made three other films: The Color Wheel in 2011, Listen Up Philip in 2014 (which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival) and his most recent...

On today's episode - the sixth anniversary of Beginnings - I talk to writer Rick Moody . Rick was born in New York City, and attended Brown and Columbia universities. His first novel, Garden State , was the winner of the 1991 Editor’s Choice Award from the Pushcart Press and his next novel, The Ice Storm , was published in May 1994 by Little, Brown and Company. The film version, directed by Ang Le...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Andrew Keoghan . Originally from New Zealand, Andrew is a Brooklyn-based indie pop/folk artist. His first album Arctic Tales Divide was released in 2011, and was short-listed for a Taite Music Prize, which is an annual prize awarded for the best album from New Zealand. His latest album Every Orchid Offering will be out later this year. This is  the website  f...

On today's episode, I talk to New York-based country music artist Laura Cantrell . Born in Nashville, TN, she came to New York to attend Columbia, and found that her abiding interest in country music helped her stay connected with her family roots. That interest was the motivation behind her long-running radio program The Radio Thrift Shop , which was on WFMU for thirteen years. She began her care...

On today's episode, I talk to Brooklyn-based singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist Xenia Rubinos . Originally from Hartford, CT, Xenia was raised in a multicultural household by a Cuban father and a Puerto Rican mother. And bits and pieces of her heritage show up in her music, along with everything from Deerhoof-inspired riffs to Caribbean rhythms to math rock like Hella and everything in-betw...

Happy New Year's Eve, friends! Instead of a new guest this week - I didn't want them to get lost in the holiday shuffle - I thought I'd try something I haven't done in a few years. I used to do bonus episodes of the show called "Field Guides" where I'd talk to people about the actual steps they took to create a project. Like, I talked to Abbi and Ilana about how they actually made the Broad City w...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Gabby Smith, the woman behind the band Eskimeaux . As Gabby puts it in an interview with Stereogum, Eskimeaux began slightly to spite an ex-boyfriend that accused her of not doing anything. So overnight in 2007, she recorded her first album. Since then she's released a number of records, and her latest is the beautiful Two Mountains , which is available from...

On today's episode, I talk to comedy writer Daniel Kibblesmith . Originally from Chicago, Daniel has has done many cool comedy things in his career. This includes being a contributing writer for The Onion News Network, writing for Buzzfeed and ClickHole, producing exclusive videos for Funny or Die and The Best Show, co-authoring the humor book How to Win at Everything , and writing the amazing Twi...

On today's episode, I talk to painter and singer-songwriter  Ed Askew . Born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1940, Ed left in the early '60s to attend Yale Art School. In 1967, he moved to New York in the middle of the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk scene, and met Bernard Stollman, the founder of the ESP-Disk label, which was dedicated to releasing uncommercial acts, which included Albert Ayler, Or...

On today's episode, I talk to comedian Mehran Khaghani . Born in London to Iranian parents, Mehran grew up partly in Iran and mostly in the suburbs of Boston. In 2007, he began pursuing stand-up as a career and quickly became a Boston favorite, prompting his move to New York. And not only was Mehran on the latest season of Last Comic Standing , but he can now be seen performing regularly at the ci...

On today's episode, I talk to musician  Kevin Barker . From 1995 to 2002, Kevin was a member of the wonderful indie rock band Aden, whose four albums were released on the fantastic label TeenBeat. At the same time, Kevin had his own solo-ish project called Currituck Co. In addition to these groups, he's played with Antony and the Johnsons, The Essex Green, Hercules and Love Affair, The Ladybug Tra...

On today's episode, I talk to actor Aya Cash . The daughter of a poet and a Buddhist teacher, Aya grew up in San Francisco. After moving to New York, she was cast in a number of plays, films and TV shows, including Zoe Kazan's play Trudy and Max In Love, Law and Order: SVU, and The Good Wife. Currently Aya plays Gretchen, one of the lead roles, in the fantastic FX series You're the Worst. This is ...

On today's episode, I talk to musician Kurt Heasley . A Floridian by birth, Kurt spent his early years in Hopatcong, NJ and in Virginia Beach. In 1988, he recorded a demo tape which he gave to Slumberland Records boss Mike Schulman. Schulman was so impressed with the demo that he released Kurt's first records, which were recorded under the name The Lilys. Between 1992 and 2006, Kurt would go on to...