Beginnings

On today's episode I talk to writer and performer Amber Ruffin. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Amber began her comedy career studying at iO in Chicago. From there she moved to Amsterdam, where she performed with Boom Chicago all over Europe, eventually ending up at the Second City Mainstage back in the States. In 2014, she became a writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers - the first black, female writer in late night history - and she often performs on the show, most notably in the recurring segment "Jokes Seth Can't Tell".  This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to comedian Josie Long. Josie's originally from Sidcup, but grew up in Orpington, London. She began stand-up when she was 14, and since then has created or been part of an innumerable amount of cool projects. This includes numerous performances at the Edinburgh Fringe - where she was nominated for "Best Show" scads of times and won "Best Newcomer" in 2006 - as well as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs and more. Josie wrote for the awesome Channel 4 teen dramedy Skins, she's appeared on a number of panel shows like 8 out of 10 Cats, and her 2009 BBC Radio series All of the Planet's Wonders is absolutely wonderful, as is her literary podcast Book Shambles, which she co-hosts with The Infinite Monkey Cage's Robin Ince. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to comedian Roy Wood Jr. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Roy began his comedy career in 1998 at the age of 19 while attending Florida A&M University. In 2006, he was named one of the New Faces at the Just for Laughs Festival and made his television debut that year on The Late Show with David Letterman. Roy's also performed on Conan, Def Comedy Jam, Craig Ferguson, and he finished third in the 2010 season of Last Comic Standing. Even with all this success, 2016 might be called his breakout year. He was named one of Variety's "10 Comics to Watch" and has been a correspondent on The Daily Show since Trevor Noah took over. Stay tuned for future episodes with Josie Long, Amber Ruffin, Joel Kim Booster and a special 300th episode coming up soon! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to actor and comedian Baron Vaughn. As a stand-up, Baron’s performed on Conan (twice), Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and he has his own Comedy Central Half Hour. As well, AST Records released his album Blaxistential Crisis earlier this year. As an actor, he's been featured in movies like Black Dynamite and Cloverfield, and is currently a series regular on the Netflix show Grace and Frankie. Baron will also be part of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 reboot, playing the part of Tom Servo! Stay tuned for future episodes with Roy Wood Jr., Josie Long, Amber Ruffin and a special 300th episode coming up soon! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Mitski Miyawaki. Originally from Japan, Mitski grew up all over the world, eventually settling in New York. While studying at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, Mitski self-released her first and second albums, Lush and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business. Her third album Bury Me at Makeout Creek was released by Double Double Whammy in 2014, and it caught the eye of everyone from Pitchfork to Rolling Stone to The New York Times. Mitski's latest, Puberty 2, was released by Dead Oceans earlier this year. Stay tuned for future episodes with Roy Wood Jr., Josie Long, Baron Vaughn, Amber Ruffin and a special 300th episode coming up soon! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer and actor Azie Dungey. Azie grew up in Philly and the DC area. After graduating as a drama major from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, she performed the role of a slave as part of an ongoing historical reenactment of life at George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation in Virginia. This was the basis for her acclaimed webseries Ask a Slave. In 2015, Azie was hired as a writer on the Tina Fey Netflix show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Stay tuned for future episodes with Mitski, Roy Wood Jr., Josie Long, Baron Vaughn and a special 300th episode coming up soon! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

Hey y'all! Happy Thanksgiving! With everything going on in the news lately (ahem, neo-nazis, ahem), I thought I'd take the chance to re-post a conversation I had with Andrew Ti of the Yo, Is This Racist? podcast. This was part of an episode I had to take down from a couple years ago, and it seems like an apt time to repost the Andrew Ti part of that episode because we talk a lot about irony and privilege - and since the alt-right nazi shitbags are so into irony, I thought it was a timely discussion to revisit. Enjoy, and stay tuned for future episodes with Mitski, Roy Wood Jr., Josie Long, Baron Vaughn and a special 300th episode coming up soon! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to free jazz pianist Matthew Shipp. Originally from Delaware, Matt moved to New York in 1984 and quickly became one of the leading lights in the New York jazz scene. He was a sideman in the David S. Ware quartet and also for Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory before making the decision to concentrate on his own music. Since then, dozens of his albums have been released, mostly on the labels Hatology and Thirsty Ear. His latest album Cactus, recorded with drummer Bobby Kapp, is available now from Northern Spy. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

Well. If you're anything like me and my almost-wife Naomi Ekperigin (Broad City, 2 Dope Queens, Comedy Central Half Hour), you spent Tuesday the 8th into the 9th depressed, nauseous, crying, in a fitful and restless sleep, and generally trying to come to terms with the phrase "President Trump" and with the nightmare that was just unleashed. I was not in the mood to return to business as usual, so I thought maybe Naomi and I could - in the spirit of beginnings - record a bonus episode talking about the origins of the shit soup from which President Trump has emerged from. It felt good to talk out some of this stuff - hopefully it'll feel good to listen to it. Back to regular episodes next week. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer and director Chioke Nassor. Chioke's previous work includes writing and directing short films for NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, the feature film How to Follow Strangers, the TV on the Radio documentary Minor/Major, and his web series Storytime. Most recently, Chioke wrote and directed episodes of the MTV show Loosely Exactly Nicole starring Nicole Byer, and currently, he is producing a pilot for Comedy Central. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to Peabody-award winning writer and animator Tom Snyder. Tom is a writer and director well known in the world of animation for creating the animation technique known as Squigglevision. His first Squigglevision success came with the Emmy winning show, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, which aired on Comedy Central. Tom later founded Soup 2 Nuts, an award-winning animation studio that produced a series of critically acclaimed shows, including Home Movies and Science Court. Tom continued his collaboration with Jonathan Katz with their show Explosion Bus, and currently, Tom has written the book, music and lyrics for an audio musical called Is Anyone All Right?, which was released by Audible. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to author Affinity Konar. Affinity studied writing at SFSU and received her MFA from Columbia, and is the author of two books, The Illustrated Version of Things, which was published by Fiction Collective 2 in 2009, and her latest Mischling, which was published by the Hachette imprint Lee Boudreaux Books earlier this year. Mischling is the story of twins, Dr. Mengele, and the ravages of WWII and has been lauded by everyone from Buzzfeed to the Wall Street Journal. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to comedian and actor Anthony Atamanuik. Over the last year, Tony has received a great deal of deserved acclaim for his accurately debauched Donald Trump impression, travelling the world with James Adomian in the Trump vs. Bernie Debate Tour. The two appeared on a special @Midnight episode and had two specials on Fusion. But before that, Tony was a house performer at UCB on the legendary improv team Death by Roo Roo and as a co-host of the theatre's flagship show ASSSSCAT 3000. You might also know Tony as one of the silent 30 Rock writers or from his appearances on Broad City, DIfficult People and Brett Gelman's Adult Swim specials. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to actor and comedian Sasheer Zamata. Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Sasheer moved to New York after college and began taking classes at UCB, eventually becoming a house sketch actor and improviser at the theatre. She was a cast-member of the short-lived MTV sketch show Hey Girl, and she created the webseries Pursuit of Sexiness with Nicole Byer. In 2014, Sasheer joined Saturday Night Live as a featured player, and two years later was promoted to repertory cast-member. She also serves as ACLU's Celebrity Ambassador for Women's Rights. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Paul Hammer. Paul is main singer/songwriter of the indie pop band Savoir Adore. Originally a duo with Deidre Muro - who left the band in 2014 - Savoir Adore began playing sometime in the mid-2000s. They released their first EP The Adventures of Mr. Pumpernickel and the Girl with Animals in her Throat in 2008, and since then have released three other albums: In the Wooded Forest, Our Nature, and their latest, which was released by Nettwerk Music Group earlier this summer, The Love That Remains. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to comedy writer Jen Spyra. Originally from Pittsburgh, Jen was a senior writer for The Onion for many years. There she also headed the editorial video department as a writer, director and producer. Beyond The Onion, her humor writing has appeared in numerous places including The New Yorker and McSweeney’s, and currently, she is a staff writer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer and performer Sarah Pappalardo. Based in New York City, Sarah is an improviser, playwright, and documentation whose short Reverence will be featured during IFC's DOC NYC Festival later this year. She's also one of the founders and editors of the satirical women's magazine Reductress. In the three short years since its inception, Reductress has become it's own cottage industry. Besides the online magazine, it's also spawned a wonderful podcast called Mouth Time, and on October 25th, their first book, How to Win at Feminism, will be released by HarperCollins. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer Beth Newell. Originally from Lynnfield, MA, Beth has been writing, performing and teaching sketch at The Magnet Theater for many years. She's also one of the founders and editors of the satirical women's magazine Reductress. In the three short years since its inception, Reductress has become it's own cottage industry. Besides the online magazine, it's also spawned a wonderful podcast called Mouth Time, and on October 25th, their first book, How to Win at Feminism, will be released by HarperCollins. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to the founder of Jacobin Magazine Bhaskar Sunkara. Bhaskar is the son of immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago, and has written for a number of publications including Vice magazine, the Washington Post and The Nation. However, he is most well-known for being the founder, editor and publisher of Jacobin Magazine, which in its six short years of existence has become one of the leading publications of the left, drawing praise from everyone from Noam Chomsky to Chris Hayes. Bhaskar also started a book imprint called Jacobin Books in partnership with Verso Books and Random House. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer, stand-up and union organizer Nato Green. Nato lives and was raised in San Francisco, and the city's progressive atmosphere pervades everything he does. Nato wrote for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell on FX and toured nationally with Kamau & Janine Brito as "Laughter Against the Machine". He's the creator of Iron Comic, the Iron Chef-spoofing comedy game show, and was named San Francisco's Best Comedian by the SF Weekly, Huffington Post, and CBS. He also hosts a comedy segment on NPR's All Things Considered, and his first comedy album, The Nato Green Party, was released by Rooftop Comedy, and can be found online wherever comedy albums are sold! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on iTunes, follow me on Twitter.