Beginnings

On today's episode I talk to actress Becky Thyre. Originally from Louisiana, Becky got her real start in theater in Chicago. Eventually moving to Los Angeles, she's acted and lent her vocal talents to a number of amazing shows and films including PCU, The Oblongs, Six Feet Under, The Sarah Silverman Program, Parks and Rec, Weeds, Arrested Development, Transparent, and nearest and dearest to my own heart Mr. Show. Most recently, Becky has performed roles on shows like New Girl and Modern Family. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Maria Taylor. Originally from Birmingham, AL, Maria's been playing music for a majority of her life. Her first band, Little Red Rocket, which she formed with Orenda Fink as a teenager, was signed to Geffen in the mid-'90s and eventually morphed into Azure Ray. As Azure Ray, Maria and Orenda released four albums and numerous EPs, mostly on Saddle Creek Records. On her own, Maria has released seven solo albums, both on Saddle Creek and her own label Flower Moon Records, she's contributed music to numerous television soundtracks, and she's collaborated with everyone from Bright Eyes to Moby to Michael Stipe to Daniel Johnston. At the end of October, Azure Ray released Waves, their first new music in over half-a-decade. And it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to stand-up and actress Amber Nelson. Born in Saudi Arabia and raised mostly in Louisiana, Amber has been performing comedy for many years, as both a stand-up and a sketch performer on numerous house teams at UCB as well as as a member of one of the best sketch groups of the last decade Murderfist. In addition to all this, Amber's appeared on Netflix's The Characters, Guy Code as well as Almost Genius on TruTV, and she co-hosts the wonderful podcast The Brighter Side on the Last Podcast Network. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to cartoonist, illustrator and author Tony Millionaire. Originally from Gloucester, MA, Tony's been drawing for most of his life, but it was his early-1990s comic strip Maakies that really put him in the public eye. Starting in the New York Press, Maakies was soon syndicated and became one of the most popular weekly comic strips in America, running in many of the largest U.S. weekly newspapers, including the Village Voice, the L.A. Weekly, the Chicago Reader and Seattle’s The Stranger. He has won numerous Eisner and Harvey Awards, including “Best Syndicated Strip” in 2004 and “Best Writer/Artist — Humor” in 2007. Maakies was even turned into a wonderful show on Adult Swim called The Drinky Crow Show. In addition to all of this, Tony created the Sock Monkey books, illustrates for The Believer, and Fantagraphics has published a number of his collections. And this is but a small sampling of his credits and accomplishments! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts

On today's episode I talk to Howard Feibusch of the band Howard. Howie is a composer, producer and engineer and has produced, mixed, and engineered records for many artists as well as composing for film and television, where his work has been featured on networks like CBS, MTV, A&E, and more! As the band Howard, Howie's recorded three albums and his latest Together Alone was released earlier this fall, and it is just lovely! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart of the band Ohmme. Based in Chicago - where they've been hailed as "the heart of Chicago's music community" - Sima and Macie are both classically trained musicians and established players within the Chicago music scene who have collaborated with everyone from Richard Thompson to Jeff Tweedy to Chance the Rapper to Ken Vandermark. Though they have collaborated together for many years, Ohmme is their first rock band, and their debut album Parts was just released this summer by Joyful Noise Recordings, and it's wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer and performer Cirocco Dunlap. Originally from San Francisco, Cirocco was a child actor for a short time, most notably in the movie James and the Giant Peach. As a writer, she's written a number of humor essays for places like the New Yorker, as well as a children's book and also for a number of TV shows including Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Tick, and Man Seeking Woman. Currently she writes for Netflix's Big Mouth and TBS's upcoming show Miracle Workers. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Allison Crutchfield. Originally from Birmingham, AL, Allison first started playing music with her sister Katie in the bands The Ackleys and then later P.S. Eliot. Eventually, the two felt the need to work on their own personal musical projects. Katie created Waxahatchee and Allison co-founded the wonderful indie rock band Swearin'. Allison has also recorded a self-released solo EP Lean In To It and her debut full-length Tourist in this Town was released on Merge last year. Recently, Allison's been part of the Waxahatchee live band, and Swearin's new album Fall into the Sun will be released by Merge in October. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

I am traveling this week and weak from my Yom Kippur fast, so I thought I'd put up an old episode that people periodically ask about, my talk with musician Mitski Miyawaki from 2016. Originally from Japan, Mitski grew up all over the world, eventually settling in New York. Mitski has recorded five albums: Lush, Retired from Sad, New Career in Business, Bury Me at Makeout Creek, Puberty 2 and her latest Be the Cowboy, which was released by Dead Oceans in mid-August to great acclaim! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to actor Johnathan Fernandez. Originally from the Poconos, Johnathan eventually moved to New York where he performed for many years at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre on numerous sketch and digital teams. As an actor, he's appeared on a number of shows including Adam Ruins Everything, @midnight, GIRLS, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Younger and many more, and currently, Johnathan is a series regular playing the character Scorsese on Fox's Lethal Weapon, which is now entering its third season! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to actress and musician Aleksa Palladino. Originally form New York, Aleksa got her start acting as a teenager, performing opposite Scarlett Johansson in the movie Manny and Lo. Since then, she's acted in numerous films, most notably Storytelling, Mona Lisa Smile, and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Sidney Lumet's last film, as well as a ton of TV shows, which includes regular roles in Boardwalk Empire, Rogue, and Halt and Catch Fire, as well as the new CBS All Access show One Dollar which just premiered. Aleksa is also one-half of the band Exitmusic, and their latest album The Recognitions was released earlier this year on Secretly Canadian. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to actor and author Keiko Agena. Keiko is best known for the TV show Gilmore Girls, where she played Lane Kim for seven seasons and reprised the role in 2016 for the Netflix series. As a guest star, she has appeared on such shows as Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, Shameless, Scandal, House, ER, Better Call Saul and many others, and recently she has been recurring on Sweet/Vicious, Colony, the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why and the upcoming Hulu series The First. Keiko is also a improviser, having studied at UCB, iO and the Groundlings, and she performs in and produces the UCB show Asian AF. In addition to all this, she recently wrote an artists workbook entitled No Mistakes, which was published by the Penguin/Random House imprint TarcherPerigee earlier this month! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to actor, writer and filmmaker Todd Berger. Originally from New Orleans, Todd has been making movies since he was a teenager. Professionally, he's acted in numerous TV shows and films including Parks and Rec, Maron, and Southland Tales, and has written and/or directed dozens of shorts, shows and films including the wonderful 2012 film It's a Disaster and his latest film, the puppet noir The Happytime Murders, which stars Melissa McCarthy, was directed by Brian Henson and which opens this Friday! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to author Brian Evenson. Based in Los Angels, Brian teaches in the Critical Studies Program at CalArts and is the author of a dozen books of fiction, most recently the story collection A Collapse of Horses and the novella The Warren. Brian's work has garnered many nominations and awards. Two of his recent books, Windeye and Immobility, were both finalists for a Shirley Jackson Award. His novel Last Days won the American Library Association's award for Best Horror Novel of 2009, and his novel The Open Curtain was a finalist for an Edgar Award and an International Horror Guild Award. Other books of his include The Wavering Knife (which won the IHG Award for best story collection), Dark Property, and Altmann's Tongue. Additionally, Brian is the recipient of three O. Henry Prizes as well as an NEA fellowship.  This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to comedian Jon Gabrus. Originally from Long Island, Jon has been acting and podcasting for over a decade. He's been featured on MTV2’s hit shows Guy Code, Girl Code, and Wild N Out, and recurs as Gabe on TVLand’s Younger. He has also appeared on 30 Rock and one of the silent writers and has guest starred on numerous shows including Happy Endings, Workaholics, NewsReaders, and Comedy Bang Bang. Jon also hosted MTV’s The Substitute for two seasons, TruTV’s Hairjacked, and his own show, Gabrus on Rugby for BBC-America. In addition to all this, Jon also plays the popular character Gino Lambardo on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast, and hosts or co-hosts three podcasts of his own: High and Mighty, Action Boyz and Raised by TV. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Matt Pryor. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Matt has been playing music professionally for over two decades. First with The Get Up Kids, who are generally thought of as one of the quintessential bands of the second-wave emo movement. They've toured the world and released five critically and commercially successful albums over their career: Four Minute Mile, Something to Write Home About, On a Wire, Guilt Show and There Are Rules. Matt has also released seven albums as The New Amsterdams, which began as his solo project before blossoming into a full band of its own, and two albums for kids as The Terrible Twos. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Liz Stokes. Based in New Zealand, Liz is the lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band The Beths. While a relatively new group - their debut EP Warm Blood was released in 2016 - they have a sense of self and chemistry that is utterly apparent from even a casual listen. Their first album Future Me Hates Me will be released on August 10th on Carpark Records, and it is truly delightful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musicians Colin Newman and Malka Spigel. Married since 1986, Colin and Malka are a post-punk power couple. Colin is a member of the seminal post-punk band Wire, whose early albums Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154 were the blueprints for decades of music. And Colin continues to be a vibrant creative voice with his solo albums, and his work with his wife Malka in Githead and Immersion. Before her collaborations with Colin, Malka was a member of the influential European rock band Minimal Compact, who released numerous albums in the 1980s on Crammed Discs. Immersion's latest album Sleepless was just released, and it is wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

This week my new podcast Couples Therapy debuts, so I thought I'd give y'all a taste of that! If you like it, subscribe and follow us on social media! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer Glen David Gold. Glen is the author of the bestselling novels Sunnyside and Carter Beats the Devil, and his essays, memoir, journalism and short fiction have appeared in McSweeney's, Playboy, Wired, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the Guardian UK and London Independent. He has written The Spirit for DC comics and The Escapist for Dark Horse and recently he has co-written episodes of The Thrilling Adventure Hour and Welcome to Nightvale. His three-part memoir I Will Be Complete is available now!  This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.