Bullseye With Jesse Thorn

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Hayden Pedigo writes sprawling, beautiful songs around the acoustic guitar. Hayden just put out a new record called I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away. He stopped by the studio to talk about his songwriting process and even brought his guitar by the studio for a live performance.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week's guest is Richard Kind. He is not a star. He does not want to be a star. He is perfectly fine with that. Richard loves to be the kind of character actor that shows up, lays down four pages of unforgettable dialogue... and goes on with his day. We share some laughs with Richard Kind. He gets into working with John Mulaney on Everybody's Live and the career he almost had instead of acting. Plus, what it was like to work with Martin Short on the cult-comedy Clifford.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're joined by music historian and professor Rickey Vincent to talk about the legacy of Sly Stone. He talks to us about what made the funk icon so special and why there'll never be another like Sly again.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week on Bullseye, George Takei returns to talk about his new graphic-memoir: It Rhymes with Takei. His memoir focuses on his personal journey through discovering his identity as a gay man, hiding it, and how it felt to finally come out publicly. Takei talks to Bullseye about this, as well as his experience living in incarceration camps, and his roots in Los Angeles.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Being able to make light of extremely heavy topics is what makes Atsuko Okatsuka a brilliant comedian. Her new comedy special Father aired on Hulu last month. Atsuko chatted with us about how recording videos on social media with her family brought them closer together, what it was like bringing her grandma on her honeymoon and much more!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Actor and comedian Cole Escola has written and starred in some of the funniest TV comedies: Difficult People, Hacks, and At Home with Amy Sedaris. Cole recently took their writing from the small screen to the stage with Oh, Mary!, a one act play that examines the forgotten life and dreams of Mary Todd Lincoln. Cole joins Bullseye to talk about Oh, Mary!, gender, and all things Mary Todd Lincoln.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The one and only Mark Hamill joins us this week. He chats with us about his latest role in the epic, life-affirming drama The Life of Chuck. He also tells us about what inspired him to take his acting skills to Broadway after Star Wars. Plus, he shares what got him into voice acting and does his iconic voice as the Joker from the animated Batman series for us.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What was it like to work with Paul Reubens? The man behind Pee-wee Herman. Pee-wee as Himself is a beautiful, touching documentary about one of the most talented and unique voices of our time. He died in 2023. We're joined by filmmaker Matt Wolf. He talks about what made Paul Reubens a dream subject for a documentary and how he got Paul to open up about difficult topics. Plus, Jesse talks about his own experience working with Paul on the Pee-wee Herman Radio Hour for KCRW.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week on Bullseye, we talk to Ego Nwodim! She just wrapped up her seventh season as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. She talks with us about her roundabout path to comedy, including nods to her hometown in sketches, and a whole lot about her incredible SNL character: Lisa from Temecula.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mary Randolph Carter is an expert on all things junk. She's written many books on the topic including her latest called Live With the Things You Love: And You'll Live Happily Ever After. We asked Carter if there was ever one piece of junk she acquired over the years that stuck with her so much and lived inside her head rent free for so long that she wishes she made it. The object that came to mind was a very peculiar clock.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Questlove, drummer and bandleader for The Roots joins us on the latest episode. The legend. Lately, he's been working on music documentaries: Sly Lives! and Summer of Soul were both fantastic. He joins us to talk at length about Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music. Questlove gets into his early memories of Saturday Night Live as a kid and gets into how he's been involved with the show over the years. We also get into the forthcoming album from The Roots.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week on Bullseye, we talk to Carson Lund, director of the new slice-of-life baseball film, Eephus. The movie is about two rec league baseball teams meeting to play their final game on a field, which will be torn down the next day to make way for a middle school. Lund talks to Bullseye about representing downtime in baseball, and rejecting the grand finale you might expect in a movie about a sport.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Alexander Skarsgård joins us to talk about the new Apple TV + sci-fi series Murderbot. He also gets into his upbringing and what it was like growing up around different artists and performers. Plus, he'll chat with us about some of his most memorable red carpet outfits.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey will be forever linked together – thanks to one show: The Office. The sitcom is celebrating its 20th anniversary. They were strangers when the show started, but soon formed a friendship that has lasted long after the show wrapped, including their podcast Office Ladies and their book The Office BFFs. They joined Bullseye to talk about seeing the show through a new lens and becoming geeks for The Office while researching their podcast.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jane Borden is a writer with bylines in Vanity Fair, the Washington Post, and the New York Times Magazine. Jane is kind of obsessed with cults. She enjoys reading books on them, watching documentaries, and vintage news pieces on the subject. Jane's obsession has become her latest book. She joins us on Bullseye to talk about Cults Like Us. The book is not just a study on the history of cults, but an examination on why they seem to be a uniquely American phenomenon.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Rapper and producer Dezzy Hollow is a master of modern day West Coast funk. Earlier this year he released an album called OCEANSIDE, which he named after his hometown. He chats with us about the record, what he hopes his music can bring to the city and much more.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Video game creator Keita Takahashi joins us to talk about how he got into designing video games and how he pitched the idea for his popular game Katamari Damacy to the folks at Namco. He also talks with us about his new game, to a T, which comes out soon. A version of this interview originally ran in April of 2024.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Lisa Kudrow's big break was on the massively successful sitcom Friends. She portrayed the street-wise, but kind of clueless Phoebe Buffay. She's one of Friends' most beloved characters. Before she broke out on that show she envisioned a very different future. Kudrow on her early career in science research, the cruelty of middle-schoolers that set her on the path to acting, and being mentored by Jon Lovitz.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Jean Grae is back on the show! The interdisciplinary artist just wrote a collection of personal essays called In My Remaining Years. She joins us to talk about the new book, why she distanced herself from rapping, her upbringing and much more.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy