Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Lynda Barry is a legend of alternative comics. She's also one of the latest recipients of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. She's written over a dozen books. These days, she's been busy teaching. She's an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. We'll welcome her back on Bullseye to talk about her latest book: Making Comics . The book is sort of an illustrated guide on ho...

Comedian Maria Bamford is back! We are thrilled as always to welcome her for another conversation with Bullseye. The stand-up, writer and actor joins us to talk about her two newest projects: the hour-long comedy special, Weakness Is The Brand and talk show, What's Your Ailment?! where she talks with fellow comedians and entertainers like Tig Notaro, Baron Vaughn and Rachel Bloom about how mental...

It's Zach Woods! You may know him best from NBC's The Office where he played the truly dreadful Gabe for three seasons. You've also seen his work as Jared Dunn on the HBO series Silicon Valley . He currently stars alongside Hugh Laurie on the TV show Avenue 5 . It's airing now on HBO. Zach talks to Bullseye about what initially drew him to acting, his secret comedy life as a teen taking the train...

Parks and Recreation 's Jean-Ralphio! Star Wars ' BB-8! And, now the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog! We're joined by Ben Schwartz. Ben's big break came in 2010 with a small recurring role on Parks and Recreation . Jean-Ralphio was a character who only showed up a few times a year – but he was one of the most memorable characters on the show. We'll chat at length about his role on the show. You can he...

The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite artists about the music that made them who they are today. This time around, we're joined by a true legend – Huey Lewis. In an era dominated by new wave, glam rock and hair metal Huey Lewis stood out with his bluesy pub-rock. He helped define pop music in the 80's. Huey Lewis and the News had a ru...

Steve Buscemi! The best ever. Steve joins us to talk about the latest season of his hit TBS show Miracle Workers , now in its second season. The anthology series steps back into the Dark Ages for season 2 with Steve playing a peasant with a name we can't say on NPR. Let's just say he's a guy named after his occupation and he makes his living shoveling the kind of stuff that usually rolls down hill...

We're replaying Jesse's 2010 interview with Jim Lehrer, who died last month at 85. He was a giant in the world of journalism – particularly in the world of public broadcasting. Jim hosted PBS' NewsHour . He was an anchor in public broadcasting for well over 35 years. He moderated a dozen presidential debates. When we spoke to Jim in 2010, he shared stories about juggling his job at a bus depot whi...

We're revisiting our conversation with the great Randy Newman. He's just been nominated for two Academy Awards, one for the score he composed for Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story , and another for the original song he composed for Toy Story 4 . It's called "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away." Randy's songbook is a part of the fabric of modern pop culture. He writes pop songs, catchy tunes that can...

Joe is the creator and star of Adult Swim's Joe Pera Talks with You, one of our favorite new shows TV. In it, Joe plays a version of himself living in small-town Michigan as a middle-school choir teacher. The show is like nothing else you've seen on television before: brilliant, weird and heart warming. Cross our hearts, hope to die. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use...

The brilliant Greta Gerwig joins us for the third time! We'll welcome back Greta to talk about her latest film. It's an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women . It's up for six Academy Awards this year, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. Greta talks about her casting choices in Little Women including her surprising choice of Bob Odenk...

This past week, we lost a talented comic genius: Terry Jones. He was one of the founding members of the legendary British sketch comedy group Monty Python. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail , and directed both Monty Python's Life of Brian and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life . Terry was also a well respected medieval historian – in fact, he wrote two books on poet Geoffrey Chaucer....

We're taking a look back at some of our favorite moments from over two decades worth of Bullseye episodes. In 2018, we caught up with journalist and author Susan Orlean. Susan's an accomplished author who's written for The New Yorker for thirty years. Her work has also appeared in Esquire and Vogue. She's the author of 8 books including; Saturday Night, My Kind of Place and The Orchid Thief . Susa...

Now that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is in its third season, we're revisiting our interview with actor Tony Shalhoub. He talks about how he loves acting in Mrs. Maisel 's low-tech world and how he relates to his character Abe as a father himself. Jeese also chatted, of course, about the show he played an OCD detective on for seven years, the award-winning series Monk . Plus, Tony talks about the fil...

Twyla Tharp has moved her whole life. She dances - she's danced and choreographed professionally for 55 years now. She exercises. And now, she has a book. "Keep it Moving" is a manifesto on living your life with purpose and vigor, which Tharp has in spades. Seriously, she's one of the most insightful, hilarious, brilliant and sassy guests we've ever had on the show. She's a legend in the world of...

Rob Huebel joins us to talk about his new series Medical Police - the spin-off of his old show Children's Hospital , which ran for seven seasons on Adult Swim. He's a talented comic actor who has appeared on MTV's Human Giant and on Amazon's critically-acclaimed series Transparent . Rob sits down with Jesse to talk about where he gets his sense of humor from, what it's like playing jerks with a he...

In Fabric 's Marianne Jean-Baptiste joins us to talk about her role in Peter Strickland's bizarre thriller. Marianne is an acting veteran. She's starred in varied works, from acclaimed dramas like Secrets & Lies, to long-running FBI shows like Without a Trace . Marianne chats with us about the difference between feature and series acting, and how her role in In Fabric reconnected her with her pass...

Tanya Tucker is an award-winning country star who has been making music since she was just a kid! She rose to fame in the 70s with hits like "Love's the Answer" and her debut single "Delta Dawn." Her latest album is titled "While I'm Livin" and it's her first collection of original music in over 15 years. It's a lot more personal than some of her previous records with songs written that reflect he...

We lost an incredibly talented cartoonist last year, Gahan Wilson. For more than 50 years, his twisted single-panel cartoons have appeared in magazines like Playboy and The New Yorker. His work always had this really distinct tone. Wilson's take on the macabre is loopy, dark and strange. There were monsters. Sometimes aliens. Maybe a pirate. To remember his life, his work and his impact we are rev...

We're taking a moment to look back at a past Bullseye guests we lost this year, Caroll Spinney. He was Big Bird's puppeteer for 50 years, but he was so much more than the literal man inside the costume. Caroll was the voice and spirit of the iconic character many of us grew up watching. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage...

It's our favorite time of the year: the end of it! We're celebrating 2019 with excerpts from some of the best stand up comedy records of 2019. You'll hear material from Roy Wood Jr, Pete Holmes, Cristela Alonzo, Sara Schaefer, so many more. Enjoy, and Seasons Greetings from all of us at Bullseye! See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and...

Get ready for a bonanza of holiday cheer! This week, we're listening back on the Bullseye holiday special from last year. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees talks about the band's album Christmas Party . The group recorded it with a cavalcade of hit-makers like Rivers Cuomo, Peter Buck of REM and more. And that's not all! We also get some advice from the McElroy Brothers (hosts of My Brother, My Brother...

Imelda Marcos is one of the most notorious figures in recent history, and she's the subject of Lauren Greenfield's new documentary The Kingmaker . It's an intimate profile of the former Philippine first lady as well as a critique on plutocracy. Lauren tells us how she got access to interview Marcos and about her other films: Generation Wealth and the brilliant Queen of Versailles. See pcm.adswizz....

Hey! It's the brilliant animator, writer and songwriter Rebecca Sugar! Creator of the wildly popular Steven Universe . She's earned six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the series and is the first non-binary woman to independently create a series for Cartoon Network. Rebecca discusses the inspiration behind the show, creating femme characters and dealing with fan feedback. Plus, Jesse and Rebe...

Join us as we dig in the archives and revisit our conversation with Kathryn Hahn. You've seen her in comedy films like Step Brothers , the Anchorman movies, and many more. These days you can catch her on HBO's Mrs. Fletcher . But when Hahn joined us a couple years ago she starred in Amazon's I Love Dick , based on the Chris Klaus book by the same name. Hahn and Jesse talk about the inherently femi...

Dig into the archives with us as we revisit our conversation with the great actor Tim Blake Nelson! Currently, he's starring in the brand new, critically acclaimed HBO show Watchmen. On Bullseye, he talks to us about growing up in Tulsa (where Watchmen is set), working with the Coen brothers and the time he got into acting because his mom yelled at him. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about ou...