Bullseye With Jesse Thorn

Occasionally, we like to ask some of our favorite creators about a work of art they wish they'd created. This time, our guest is Guy Branum. When we asked Guy about the thing he wishes he had made, he picked a movie: 2017's Lady Bird, a classic coming-of-age story set in the early 2000s and directed by Greta Gerwig. Guy is a comedian who's appeared on Last Comic Standing, hosted the TV show Talk Show the Game Show, wrote and produced for The Mindy Project, and much more. He most recently appeared on the big screen in Bros.

Sudan Archives has been making music for all her life. She grew up in Ohio, where she played violin in church and school bands. When she got her high school diploma, she headed out to Los Angeles to follow her dream of making music. Sudan Archives is a violinist who breaks new ground with what the instrument can do in pop music. She combines the instrument with her voice, her beatmaking and her songwriting, creating music that is truly mesmerizing. She joins Bullseye to talk about her music and new album Natural Brown Prom Queen. She also talks about her process for creating music and performing it live. Plus, Sudan dives into some of the violinists who inspire her.

Journalist and author Shea Serrano has covered basketball and pop culture for ESPN, XXL, Grantland, the Ringer and more. His first book, The Rap Yearbook, is a New York Times bestseller and a critical favorite. When we first talked with Serrano in 2017, he'd just followed it up with Basketball and Other Things, a book that is kind of like a written version of a late night party discussion with friends - with cool illustrations. Serrano covers topics like "great basketball villains" and "which NBA players get remembered for the wrong reasons?" He's since released Movies and Other Things - a similar book with movie rankings, hot takes and more ice breakers. This past month he expanded the illustrated series with another entry: Hip-Hop and Other Things. A version of this interview originally aired in October of 2017.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the greatest basketball players of all time: an NBA Hall of Famer, six-time MVP, 19-time All-Star, the master of the skyhook shot and a key part of the Showtime era Lakers. Since retiring from basketball, Abdul-Jabbar has written books, columns and even worked as a writer for Veronica Mars. When we talked with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last year, he'd just narrated a documentary: Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America. We'll revisit our conversation with the NBA legend. Kareem discusses playing alongside Magic Johnson, his roller disco days, and so much more. Plus, he shares why he was never able to play a game of Double Dutch as a kid. A version of this interview originally aired in June of 2021

Bashir Salahuddin is a comedy actor and writer. Alongside his friend and longtime collaborator Diallo Riddle, he co-created the shows South Side and Sherman's Showcase. South Side is a very funny sitcom that follows the stories of everyday people living on Chicago's South Side. The other show they created is Sherman's Showcase. The show's sort of like a sketch show, but with a unique format that's comparable to a variety show. Bashir Salahuddin stops by Bullseye to talk about Sherman's Showcase, and shares how it draws inspiration from shows like Soul Train and The Muppet Show. He also talks about meeting Riddle while in an acapella group at Harvard. Plus, Bashir shares how casting real Chicagoans in South Side has helped make the series even more hilarious.

Bruce McCulloch is one of the founding members of the legendary Canadian sketch comedy team The Kids in the Hall. He starred in the eponymous TV show that aired for five seasons in both Canada and the U.S., and the follow-up movie Brain Candy. Earlier this year, Bruce rejoined his original KITH crew for their return to TV on Amazon Prime. Bruce also spends his time working behind the camera. He's directed sketches, music videos for bands like Tragically Hip, and his most recent project: Tallboyz. Tallboyz is a sketch comedy TV show featuring four young and talented Canadian comedians. Bruce joins Bullseye to talk about his trajectory from being a young punk in Calgary that got into bar fights to a beloved fixture in the sketch comedy world.

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. Billy Idol throws us back to 1954, to one of the first songs Elvis Presley ever recorded: That's All Right. He first heard the song at an Elvis convention with his sister in the '70s. At the time he was playing in punk rock bands and a lot of punk rockers disliked Elvis. Idol defends Elvis, and explains how the song changed how he approached his craft when he was first starting out.

"Weird Al" Yankovic is the undisputed king of parody music. He's been recording music for over 40 years and sold millions of records. He's got an iconic voice, the chops for pop and a sense of humor that's both distinct and approachable. After all this time, Weird Al is getting the biopic treatment. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story was co-written by Al himself and debuts on the Roku channel on Friday, November 4th. He joins Bullseye to talk about Weird and the creation process behind the film. He also talks about how he got into making music and learning to play the accordion at a young age. Plus, he tells us about the time he decided he could make a living out of recording parody songs about food.

We're celebrating the season with our annual Bullseye Halloween Spectacular. We kick things off with an in-depth, funny conversation with R.L. Stine, creator of the Goosebumps series. Stine talks about how he got into writing, how he comes up with titles and why he wishes he never dreamed up an evil ventriloquist dummy. We'll hear about the craziest day in the wild, storied career of drag queen Monét X Change (Ru Paul's Drag Race, Hulu's Huluween Dragstravaganza). Also, an interview with Ana Fabrega, star and co-creator of the great TV series Los Espookys.

The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives a chance for musicians and artists to tell us about the song that made them who they are. This week, we talked to Lil' Mike and Funny Bone, a rap duo from Oklahoma City. Mike and Bone are brothers who got their big break in 2013 when they made an appearance on America's Got Talent. And they are truly unique - they're both members of the Pawnee tribe, both stand a little over 4 feet tall, and they perform Christian rap. Mike and Bone are also actors who appear on FX's Reservation Dogs. When we asked about the song that changed their life, they enthusiastically agreed on a mutual favorite.

For over twenty years, Steve-O has performed on Jackass in all its iterations. He's done stunts on the original TV show, the movies and the spinoffs. He's risked life and limb, suffered countless serious injuries and in doing so made millions of people laugh and gasp. Recently, he's reunited with the Jackass crew for their latest film: Jackass Forever. He also has a new memoir out called: A Hard Kick in the Nuts: What I've Learned From a Lifetime of Terrible Decisions. Steve-O joins the show to chat about his new memoir and his work in Jackass over the years. He also talks about whether or not going sober has affected the work he does on screen with Jackass. Plus, he shares what it was like performing in a circus on a cruise ship.

Tom Scott is a rapper from New Zealand's underground hip-hop scene. He's been rapping for over a decade now. He grew up in Auckland – the biggest city in a very small country. In 2018, Tom released an amazing, beautiful album under the name Avantdale Bowling Club. On the record, he reflects on his roots. His childhood. The friendships he's lost. The places he's been. His family. It's an intimate hip hop record with jazz instrumentation. Tom recently released Trees, a follow up to the self-titled debut album. We're taking a moment to revisit our conversation with Tom from 2019. Tom explains what it's like to write an album that brings back somber memories, and why he felt it was important to use original jazz songs, rather than jazz samples.

Before John David Washington was an actor, he was lacing up the pads every week for a career in professional football. It seems fitting, then, that when he took up acting, his breakthrough role was the portrayal of an NFL player on HBO's Ballers . Washington has since gone onto play a bunch of other big parts since Ballers. He has since had a lead part in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman and a role in the brand new mystery comedy Amsterdam, which just hit theaters. In 2019, he joined us to chat about the many times he had to audition for his role on Ballers. Plus, what it was like to get a stunning offer for his role in BlacKkKlansman in a text message from Spike Lee.

Hua Hsu is a staff writer for The New Yorker. He's written profiles and reviews of artists like Bjork, bell hooks, and Sandra Oh. He's also a professor of English at Bard College, with a passion for elevating underappreciated talent in literature. His new book, Stay True, is an intimate and probing memoir. In Stay True, Hsu looks back on his early twenties, when he was an undergrad at University of California, Berkeley. Stay True is about the most intimate relationships that defined his adolescence and young adulthood. Hua Hsu shares how writing this book reflected and refracted his relationship with his own American-ness.

Bonnie Raitt is a legend. Now in her 70's she's still touring, still shredding and still writing songs. She's been recording music for over 50 years and she's won ten Grammys. Bonnie's also been in the rock and roll hall of fame for over two decades. Earlier this year she released Just Like That. Her eighteenth full length studio album. Our correspondent Ray Suarez talked with Bonnie about the new album. She gets into coming into her own as an artist, playing through the pandemic and getting back on the road. Plus, she'll talk about her longtime friend and collaborator John Prine, and what it was like performing his music after his death in 2020.

Michael R. Jackson is the creator of A Strange Loop. The groundbreaking show won the honor for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical at the most recent Tony Awards. Recently our correspondent Julie Klausner caught the show on Broadway, and she fell in love right away. Klausner and Jackson talked about writing the musical, showing it to his family, and so much more.

Billy Eichner was already a working comedian when he rose to fame as the host of Billy on the Street - a bonkers game show where he runs up and down the streets of Manhattan shouting questions at strangers. Now, he's written and starred in his first movie. Bros is a romantic comedy, produced by Judd Apatow, about a same-sex relationship. Bros features an entirely LGBTQ+ cast - the first of its kind from a major studio.

Chris Estrada is a stand-up comedian and co-creator of the new TV comedy, This Fool. Estrada also stars as the show's main character: Julio. Julio lives in South Central Los Angeles, where Chris grew up, but the show isn't autobiographical. Julio works at a local nonprofit that helps former gang members adjust to life on the outside. The show follows the misadventures of Julio and his cousin Luis who has finished up a lengthy prison sentence. The show is funny, human, unexpected and at times, surprisingly sweet. We talk with Chris about co-creating This Fool, his love of punk music and his late start as a stand-up comedian.

Bobby Moynihan first appeared on SNL in 2008, and starred on the show for nearly a decade. He did a few impressions, but his strength was portraying offbeat characters. When Bobby left SNL in 2017, he began to appear in a variety of projects; shows like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and movies like The Secret Life of Pets. In his free time in-between projects, Bobby began writing. He created Loafy, the series of shorts about a cartoon, drug-dealing manatee of the same name. Lightning Wolves, an adult send-up of late 20th century animated shows like Captain Planet, came next. Bobby recently transferred that same passion for writing into the book world. He just published his first children's book, Not All Sheep are Boring. It follows the adventures of sheep who actually lead rich, interesting lives and have hobbies like drinking coffee, metal detecting, and eating pasta. Bobby sat down with Bullseye to discuss his latest venture.

Loudon Wainwright III is a singer and songwriter. He began his folk career in the late 60s, and released his self-titled debut in 1970. He's occasionally referred to as a novelty singer, but his broad musical catalog has proven that to be untrue. Loudon has recorded 26 studio albums, six compilations, and four live albums. His album High Wide and Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project brought him his first Grammy in 2010 for Best Traditional Folk Album. He recently turned 75 and commemorated this milestone with his newest album called Lifetime Achievement. He stops by to chat about the album and plays some music.