DISGRACELAND

This week in the After Party, Jake talks about the artists who have faced challenges to their mental health and wonders if they actually have a truer perception of reality beyond what the rest of us can see. Jake takes your emails, texts, and voicemails, and explains the origins of his unique accent. Plus, we want to know: who is your favorite female singer from the 21st century, and what makes he...

Donny Hathaway was a singer, songwriter, and performer so inspiring that he compelled Stevie Wonder to change the way he sang, got Amy Winehouse to name-check him in her lyrics, and made musical giants like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin stand up and take notice. But he was as troubled as he was talented. He suffered from hallucinations and paranoia, and was haunted in the recording studio just h...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks about the unique social conditions that created the vibrant 1970s NYC music scene that birthed Talking Heads, the subject of this week's episode. Crime, grime, sanitation strikes, baseball, blackouts - Jake covers it all, plus your emails texts, and voicemails. What are the best books and films about 1970s New York? Where were you when the lights went out?...

From 1976 to 1977, unsuspecting young people in New York City were snuck up on in the darkness and shot in cold blood. Six dead, murdered by David Berkowitz, AKA the Son of Sam, a serial killer who held all five boroughs in the grip of fear for one year. A year in which punk rock and new wave took hold, the Yankees went on a tear, a garbage strike left trash rotting in the heat, a blackout plunged...

Gianni Versace was a runway iconoclast who outfitted the likes of Madonna, Demi Moore, Prince, Sylvester Stallone, and Don Johnson. He lived like Louis XIV and counted Princess Di and Elton John among his friends. He was plagued by rumors of ties to the Calabrian mafia and a secret health diagnosis. Those rumors continued to persist long after he was gunned down by a serial killer who had been on...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks different music scenes, balancing points of view, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Bobby Brown, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. What is the greatest music scene of all time? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638,  disgracelandpod@gmail.com , or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To cop some new merch, head to disgr...

Waylon Jennings’ musical career began with tragedy. On tour as the bass player for his friend Buddy Holly, Waylon gave up his seat on the tiny plane that, just hours later, crashed, killing Buddy and three others. That experience alone nearly put an end to Waylon’s musical dreams. But he continued, persevering by doing only the things he wanted to do – which included hiding...

Bobby Brown thrusted and gyrated his way to the top of the charts with  Don’t Be Cruel , one of the biggest records of the late 1980s and an album that brought hip-hop’s hard-knock sensibilities to R&B. But fame did not change the Boston bad boy. At the height of his superstardom, Bobby Brown was arrested onstage for violating a lewd act law. He claimed to have a sexual encoun...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks boring versus exciting news, charitable organizations, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on OJ Simpson, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. What charitable organization benefiting victims of drunk driving should Jake donate to? Which three disgraced athletes would you team up with for your fantasy charity golf tournament? Where were you wh...

This is not the O.J. Simpson story you were expecting. This is the story of what happened  after  the former running back was acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife and her friend. It’s an insane story that involves sports memorabilia, ex-cons, a gun, a simple plan gone horribly wrong, and one of the most unbelievable armed robberies in Las Vegas’s sordid history. This episode contains themes that...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the super-fame of José Canseco, the exploits of Dock Ellis, performance... altering? drugs, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on José Canseco, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. What athletes embody the rock star vibe? Get in touch at 617-906-6638,  disgracelandpod@gmail.com , or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party....

Jose Canseco was a big league slugger who gave the people what they wanted. Not just massive home runs and a whole lot of stolen bases. He provided entertainment. And his audience, not just baseball fans but the world, ate it up. The private encounter with Madonna in her apartment that nearly cost him a spot on the roster. The obsession with performance enhancing drugs that made him the self-procl...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the nefarious nature of social media, the public's denial of obvious horrors, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on R. Kelly, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. Is R. Kelly the most evil villain in music history? Drop a line at 617-906-6638,  disgracelandpod@gmail.com , or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear...

R. Kelly openly groomed teenage victims while on trial for child pornography – a trial based on sex tapes that were once sold at Tower Records. He wrote a song designed to help Michael Jackson turn attention away from his own troubling allegations, and he wrote that song while he was illegally married to a 15-year old. That marriage eventually brought about his downfall. But not before R. Kelly we...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks trusting our institutions, myths and conspiracies, the new Disgo Book Club, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Bob Dylan, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. What story from pop culture do you call BS on? Get in touch at 617-906-6638,  disgracelandpod@gmail.com , or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come join the After Party. To hear an e...

Bob Dylan was booed at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival – but not for the reason you’ve been led to believe. He went from Folk Music Jesus to Rock ‘n Roll Judas, alienating thousands of fans with ear-splitting, confrontational music. Many of those fans heckled him. One even tried to attack him on stage with a knife. He returned home from a European tour that nearly killed him….only to get into a mot...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the recent Sean Combs developments, the new Disgo Book Club, this week's DISGRACELAND second-part episode on Marilyn Monroe, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. Which explanation of Marilyn Monroe's death do you think is most plausible? Let Jake know at 617-906-6638,  disgracelandpod@gmail.com , or on socials @disgracelandpod, and come jo...

As a teenager, Chris Cornell was traumatized by a bad PCP trip that turned him into a recluse for years. Music pulled him out of the darkness when he discovered his four-octave voice by accident – A voice he used to incredible effect as the frontman for both Soundgarden and Audioslave. But the darkness never really went away – it was there in his hometown of Seattle, where tragedies closed the cha...

The conspiracy theories surrounding Marilyn Monroe’s death in 1962 continue to entertain the imaginations of those obsessed with celebrity and scandal. The stories, many of them fantastical and one of them true, feature cameos by the likes of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford. Somewhere in the pile of cou...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the impact of departing icons, jealous exes, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Marilyn Monroe, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. Which celebrity death affected you the most? Is Marilyn Monroe the biggest icon in entertainment history? Has anyone else captured the public’s imagination for such a long period of time? Does the mystery ar...

Marilyn Monroe is one if not the greatest Hollywood stars of all time. She rose from orphan to icon by creating an on screen character America could not peel their eyes away from. And she did it all while battling anxiety, depression and addiction. Along the way she bedded, married and otherwise conquered America’s most impressive men; Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, Frank Sinatra and President John...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks the uncanny fascination with Beat poets, their numerous run-ins with musical icons, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on William S. Burroughs, and of course your emails, texts, DMs, and voicemails. Which icons, living or dead, do you think are overrated? What are your thoughts on Burroughs and his place among the Beats? Drop a line at 617-906-6638,  disgrace...

William S. Burroughs was a literary icon whose novel Naked Lunch , one of the signature works of the Beat Generation, was banned and went on trial for obscenity. His writing inspired generations of musicians, from the Rolling Stones and Patti Smith to Nirvana and Sonic Youth. But long before all that, in 1951, when he was an unknown and mostly failed writer, William S. Burroughs made the most fate...

This week in the After Party, Jake talks humans' fascination with true crime, crossing the line, this week's DISGRACELAND episode on Garth Brooks, and of course your emails, texts, DMS, and voicemails. What artist would you be least surprised to find out is a serial killer? What do the real Garth Brooks fans feel about all this? Get in touch at 617-906-6638,  disgracelandpod@gmail.com , or on soci...

Garth Brooks has more albums that have sold over 10 million copies than any other artist in history. He cut one of the biggest record deals in history – bigger than Madonna or Prince, a deal matched at the time only by Michael Jackson. His live shows are just as big, like when he triggered an actual earthquake in Baton Rouge. But it was along Garth Brooks’ seismic tour route that online detectives...