Talkhouse Podcast

Jenny Lewis—she of Rilo Kiley, The Postal Service, and numerous excellent solo albums—met Chicago rapper Serengeti when they were both performers at the PEOPLE Festival in Berlin, back in 2018. They struck up a fast friendship that led to Serengeti asking Lewis to provide some music—a very specific amount of music—for him to rhyme over. They’ve since released two excellent songs together via Lewis’ Love’s Way label, “Unblu” and “Vroom Vroom,” and there are more on the way, as you’ll hear in their conversation. There’s also a mysterious appearance by Mr. Peanut.This episode was produced by Kevin O’Connell. The Talkhouse theme was composed and performed by The Range.

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, the iconic actor Viggo Mortensen sits down with his longtime friend and fellow filmmaker Alix Lambert. The occasion for their talk is the release of Falling, Mortensen’s debut as writer-director, an intense family drama starring Lance Henriksen, Laura Linney and Mortensen himself. In a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation, Mortensen and Lambert discuss not only Falling and the pandemic, but also Viggo’s musical collaborations with the guitarist Buckethead, the various cinematic exploits of Mortensen’s son Henry, Lambert’s current non-fiction project, the shared love that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Mortensen have for a very surprising TV show, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Sometimes Talkhouse Podcast participants have never met, sometimes they’re acquainted, and on rare occasions, they know each other really well. For this week’s chat, it became clear pretty quickly that Sasha Spielberg—a.k.a. Buzzy Lee—and Alana Haim already spoke the same language. As it turns out, and you’ll hear this in the conversation, they’re close enough to share a Hulu account.The occasion for this conversation is the debut full-length from Buzzy Lee, the excellent Spoiled Love, which is out this week. And of course, it’s not too late to enjoy the latest album from HAIM, Women In Music Pt. III, which came out last year. The two old friends talk about young love, bat mitzvahs, “cozy boys,” and songwriting. It’s charming as hell.

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we bring together a pair of singer-songwriters who share a love of intimate, thoughtful compositions and recordings. Robin Pecknold has been the chief creative mind behind Fleet Foxes since the band’s beginnings back in 2005; the latest Fleet Foxes album was surprise-released in September of 2020, and Shore was met with lots of well-deserved love. Elijah Wolf is just starting out on his career. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter was raised in upstate New York, and was a fan of Fleet Foxes before a chance meeting with Pecknold in a New York guitar shop. Wolf, who was working at Crandall Guitars, was playing music by a band called Holy Hive in the store, and it turned out that both Pecknold and Wolf were friends with that band. They got to know each other and started sharing works-in-progress with each other during the pandemic. Pecknold’s songs would end up on Shore, and Wolf’s would become his first album, Brighter Lighting, which is due out February 26 on Trash Casual Records. Both records, funnily enough, feature drummer Josh Jaeger—it’s a small world after all. The two songwriters get into a great chat about their process, their pandemic work strategies, and the idea of what defines an album. Enjoy the talk, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes. This week’s episode was produced by Kevin O’Connell, and the Talkhouse Podcast theme is composed and performed by The Range.

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, actress Robin Tunney chats with multihyphenate extraordinaire Alexi Pappas, the filmmaker and Olympic athlete whose excellent new memoir, Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain and Other Big Ideas, is out now through Random House. Tunney, most recently seen in ABC’s The Fix and best known for her roles in Empire Records, The Craft and TV’s The Mentalist, is not only one of Pappas’ mentors, but she’s also her cousin by marriage, and their familial ease with each other is evident in a very open, insightful and sometimes funny conversation that takes in such topics as the shadow of mental illness, the challenges of finding the balance between career and family, bonding with others over trauma, how the thing we’re best at may still give us discomfort or pain, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

On this week's Talkhouse Podcast, we bring together a pair of legends from different generations: Bootsy Collins and Mix Master Mike. Collins is of course best known for his long stints with Parliament-Funkadelic and James Brown's band, and Mike for his unstoppable contributions to the Beastie Boys. But each musician has spread his wings much farther than those Hall Of Fame acts, up to an including powerful new music. For Bootsy, it's The Power of the One, and for Mix Master Mike, it's Beat Odyssey 2020—what those albums share, beyond a spiritual connection to creativity itself, is a long list of collaborators, because these guys love to find new connections. This chat is one of those connections: Mike is clearly a fan of Bootsy's, and they get deep into conversation about history, music, and—eventually—some more cosmic topics. I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if this meeting leads to a collaboration between the two in the future. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes. This week's episode was produced by Kevin O'Connell, and the Talkhouse Podcast theme is composed and performed by The Range. —Josh Modell, Executive Editor

This week’s show is presented in collaboration with The Hideout and Seminary Co-op Bookstore. Big thanks and love to both of those Chicago institutions! To celebrate the release of his new book How To Write One Song: Loving The Things We Create and How They Love Us Back, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) caught up with his friend and collaborator, comedian Nick Offerman. Their funny and illuminating conversation is followed by an audience Q&A, and an exclusive solo performance by Jeff. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. Plus be sure to check our Soundcloud archives for recent shows featuring Tame Impala with Caribou, Carly Rae Jepsen with mxmtoon, Diplo with Charlie Crockett, and Jeff Tweedy with Norah Jones. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer For this week’s episode, Nick recorded himself and Jeff was recorded in Chicago by Mark Greenberg. Our producer is Mark Yoshizumi. The researcher for this episode was Reese Higgins. The Talkhouse Podcast theme song was composed and performed by The Range. PEEEEEAAAACE!

This week's show is presented in collaboration with Murmrr and Community Bookstore. We give big thanks and love to those two Brooklyn institutions! To celebrate the release of his new book How To Write One Song: Loving The Things We Create and How They Love Us Back, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) sat down with his friend and collaborator Norah Jones for a deep dive into the creative process. Their warm and insightful conversation is followed by an audience Q&A, and an exclusive solo performance by Jeff. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including Jeff Tweedy again(!), this time with comedian Nick Offerman, and Bootsy Collins (it's Bootsy, baby!) with Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys). Plus be sure to check our Soundcloud archives for recent shows featuring Tame Impala with Caribou, Carly Rae Jepsen with mxmtoon, Diplo with Charlie Crockett, and loads more. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer For this week’s episode, Norah recorded herself, and Jeff was recorded in Chicago by Mark Greenberg. Our patient producer is Mark Yoshizumi. The researcher for this episode was Reese Higgins. The Talkhouse Podcast theme song was composed and performed by The Range. Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com. I adore hearing from you guys. And, I mean, how long do we all stay in the same place, right? Who knows where I'll be, come 2021...

On this week's episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we share a deep-diving conversation about the idea of space for BIPOC folks in indie rock venues — a discussion with the explicit intent "to talk about brown voices, and to talk about how we can uplift them." Black Belt Eagle Scout — real name Katherine Paul — is a self-described “radical indigenous queer feminist” who grew up on the Swinomish Indian Reservation in Northwest Washington state. KP, as she's known, is Swinomish and Iñupiaq (a Native community in Alaska). Here, she speaks with Sasami Ashworth, aka SASAMI, a Korean-American singer/songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles. Sasami made her name playing synth in Cherry Glazerr before going solo in 2018. Our special guest-host is Vagabon, or Lætitia Tamko, a Cameroonian-born singer/songwriter/producer. This episode was inspired by the Twitter backlash after a conversation Black Belt Eagle Scout had with Ailsa Chang on the NPR show All Things Considered. With Chang, KP discussed feeling uncomfortable with so many white people at her shows, as her music is intended for BIPOC folks, and stated: "It's for people of color, for indigenous people, for queer people, and white men are so fragile when I say stuff like that. It's because of white privilege and they don't often get told that." KP was obviously not advocating for banning white men from her shows, but for there to be more room at each performance for her community. Still, of course, a number of fragile white men took to Twitter calling KP racist, and hating on the show for having her on. I saw Lætitia and Sasami tweeting support for KP, with Sasami doing full on UFC-style e-battle with some trolls! I reached out the next day to offer the platform of the Talkhouse Podcast for an extended convo on the topic, one without journalists or "fragile white men" involved. This talk was recorded back in March, just before Covid-19 slammed the States, and before the Black Lives Matter movement's incredible recent strides. Keep it locked to hear about issues of safety and space in DIY touring, the importance of land acknowledgments, and actionable things that bands and fans can do. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer For this week’s episode, Sasami Ashworth was recorded by Eric Rennaker at bedrock.LA; Katherine Paul, Lætitia Tamko and I each recorded ourselves. Our producer extraordinaire is Mark Yoshizumi. The Talkhouse Podcast theme song was composed and performed by The Range. Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com.

On this week's show, we pair in conversation the artists behind two of 2020's best albums: soul and blues legend Bettye LaVette and indie wunderkind Phoebe Bridgers. Though separated by five decades in age, when the two met backstage at a Tibet House US benefit at Carnegie Hall earlier this year, they immediately developed a mutual friend crush. Now that we've gotten them reconnected here, it appears something very dope is on the horizon... but more on that in the talk! Their warm, freewheeling convo takes in a lot, including: a wonderful overview of a career Bettye calls “tenuous at best”; the unexpected benefits of promoting a new album during the pandemic; and privilege in the music industry. We also get to hear about making Pete Townshend cry, quirky Little Stevie Wonder, and learn the answer to Bettye's query "What is a Princess Nokia?" Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast, including Norah Jones with Jeff Tweedy, and then Jeff again(!) with comedian Nick Offerman, and Bootsy Collins (Bootzilla, baby!) with Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys). Plus be sure to check our Soundcloud archives for recent shows featuring Tame Impala with Caribou, Carly Rae Jepsen with mxmtoon, Diplo with Charlie Crockett, and loads more. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer For this week’s episode, Bettye LaVette was recorded by her adoring hubby Kevin Kiley, and Phoebe Bridgers by her pal Marshall Vore. Our long-suffering producer is Mark Yoshizumi. The Talkhouse Podcast theme song was composed and performed by The Range. Dude released gorgeous new music this year — check it out! Please direct all podcast-related ideas, vitriol, and compliments to elia@thetalkhouse.com. Seriously, I love hearing from you guys. And if we're honest with ourselves, isn't the end always sneaking up on us?