Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

[r] First, an interview with the rapper and author Prodigy, one-half of the seminal hardcore hip hop duo Mobb Deep. He'll talk about why his naturally shy demeanor was taken for weakness, selling crack cocaine when he was barely in middle school, and the jail time that turned his life around. Plus, Carolyn Kellogg from the Los Angeles Times shares some of her all-time favorite books and Jesse explains why you've been underappreciating Randy Newman all these years.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hear Jesse's interview with one of comedy's greatest grumps: Lewis Black. He didn't become a stand-up until his mid-thirties. Find out why he left the theater for comedy and why he actually considers himself a family comic. The answer will surprise you. Then later, Jesse talks with Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer. They just started their second season hosting a talk show for MTV. They've both worked a lot of comedy clubs and comedy theaters for audiences of slightly drunk twenty- and thirty-somethings, so performing for a younger, MTV demographic is a new experience. Plus, Davy Rothbart of Found Magazine shares some of his newest discoveries, and Jesse reveals the TV food show that he actually really likes.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

First up on the show is an interview with Kumail Nanjiani. He has come a long way since we had him do stand up on our show a few years ago. He just put out his first comedy special, Beta Male. He just got a role in Mike Judge's new HBO show. He's co-hosting a new show on Comedy Central next year and he soaks up his free time with a hit video game podcast called The Indoor Kids. Then, Jesse Talks to Lake Bell. She's the writer, director and the star of a funny new movie called In A World. It's about a woman trying to make it in the voiceover business. We'll talk about her new movie, and about some her favorite accents and vocal exercises, and how she handled the transition from being an actress to a director. Plus, Andrew Noz recommends some new rap music for you to check out, Sergio Dias from the Brazilian psych rock group Os Mutantes talks about how Elvis changed his life, and Jesse opens a window into the crazy world of the Confidence Man.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

If a director is looking for the perfect guy to play an oblivious, cocky buffoon then Fred Willard is their man. Jesse talks to Fred about his entire career, and finds out why he turned down the lead in the movie Airplane! Then later Jesse talks to David Gordon Green. He's directed everything from pensive, dramatic movies like All The Real Girls to huge stoner-action comedies like Pineapple Express. His new movie, Prince Avalanche exists somewhere in between. Plus, Pitchfork's Ian Cohen recommends a couple of great new heavy rock records, we share an episode from Nate DiMeo's The Memory Palace, and Jesse talks about his favorite Robin Thicke record. Yes. He has a favorite Robin Thicke record. It's great, too.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

A lawyer, a writer, a psychiatrist, and a theater professor got together to write a humor book about earning your MBA on the toilet. The group is called Kasper Hauser. Rob Baedeker and James Reichmuth talk about how they balance comedy with full-time jobs, how they pick their jokes democratically, and why they haven't left the Bay Area. And then a look back at the life of David Rakoff. His new novel was published posthumously this month. To reflect, hear a couple of David and Jesse's past conversations. Plus, the editors from the new film site The Dissolve recommend Blue Jasmine and The Act of Killing. Then Jesse talks about Elliott Gould's turn as a 50s noir hero adrift in 70s LA, in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Rick Moranis was a movie star. Strange Brew, Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, Honey I Shrunk the Kids. And then he quit. We'll talk about why he doesn't regret leaving show business to raise his children. And find out why he's returning to the public eye with an album of Jewish songs called My Mother's Brisket & Other Love Songs. Then, hear Jesse's interview with a true soul music icon — Booker T Jones. Plus, Carolyn Kellogg offers up a couple of great new books you should read this summer, we play a little bit from Doug Benson's new comedy album, and Jesse talks about Chance The Rapper's free mixtape Acid Rap. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You'd be hard pressed to find two music groups with more divergent sounds than the jam band Phish and the horrorcore rap duo Insane Clown Posse. But they've got something in common. Each of them has a deeply passionate following, and each of them has deeply, deeply passionate haters. When Nathan Rabin tried to write a critic's look at these bands' worlds, he found himself sucked in. Then later Jesse talks to Benjamin Nugent about another group of American sub-culture. D&D players, historical reenactors, ham radio enthusiasts. You know, nerds. Ben is the author of American Nerd: The Story of My People. His 2007 book looks at what the word actually means.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Delve into the culture of pickup basketball this week, and find out why each of the hundreds of courts in New York City is a unique experience. Jesse will talk with Bobbito Garcia and his co-director Kevin Couliau about their new documentary 'Doin' It In The Park'. Then writer Mary Roach, author of the new book 'Gulp', takes us on a rollicking tour of the human digestive system. [The podcast version of this interview is featured UNCUT and UNCENSORED] Plus Sean O'Neal and Alex Dowd from the A.V. Club suggest a couple of new releases worth checking out, Jesse talks about the album where Prince really became Prince, and gospel singer Shirley Caesar shares the song that changed her life.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

[r] Who is Lemmy? Well he's the singer for Motörhead and he's revered by metal fans around the globe. Jesse talked to Lemmy in person a couple of years ago at SxSW and you'll hear that amazing conversation later in the show. But first we revisit Jesse's conversation with Jackson Publick, the co-creator of The Venture Bros. The show has just returned for a fifth season after a long hiatus. Plus, a couple of Jason Kottke's all time picks for the best stuff on the web, and the hosts of My Brother My Brother and Me offer up answers to listeners' pop culture quandaries.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Director Paul Feig talks about being a child magician, an actor and stand-up, and what finally drove him behind the camera to direct film and television. Plus, he'll talk about his new movie The Heat, his last movie Bridesmaids, and why he likes watching women be funny. Then Ophira Eisenberg talks about why she used to date so much and so often. She's the host of NPR's Ask Me Another, and her memoir is called Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy. Plus, the New Yorker's TV critic Emily Nussbaum talks about a couple of her favorite new shows, and why you ought to check them out.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy