Bullseye

Kate Berlant and John Early have been performing as a comedy duo for over a decade now - their brand of comedy is a little surreal, a little unhinged and always laugh-at-loud funny. They just created an hour long sketch special called Would It Kill You To Laugh? - it debuts on Peacock today. John and Kate talk with Jesse about how they met, how they balance their creative partnership with their independent work and why Kate should have eaten a tuna melt before sitting down to her NPR interview.

Robin Thede is the showrunner, creator and star of the Emmy-winning series A Black Lady Sketch Show. The show just wrapped up its third season on HBO. Like the title suggests – A Black Lady Sketch Show is a sketch show created by and starring Black women. What makes the program so unique and rich is its specificity: Robin and her co-stars cover church politics, family reunion line dancing, and hair-care specific weather forecasts. On the latest episode, we chat with Robin about the latest season of HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show and her time as head writer on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. Plus, we get into her childhood. Robin grew up in a mostly white, suburban part of Iowa. She'll talk about the challenges that being biracial presented and why she identifies as Black today.

Keith Phipps is a writer who has worked for the AV Club and the Dissolve. He specializes mainly in pop culture, making him a natural fit for the show. Keith just wrote his first book. It's called Age of Cage: Four Decades of Hollywood Through One Singular Career. The subject of the book is the one and only Nicolas Cage. Cage is arguably one of the most enigmatic actors in recent memory. In his over forty years of acting, Cage has performed in unforgettable classics, arthouse indies, blockbuster action movies, direct-to-video horror and everything, literally every possible thing, in between. Keith Phipps joins the show to talk about his new book and how doing research for it has changed his opinion about Nicolas Cage. He also breaks down some of his favorite Nick Cage roles and shares how he makes sense of the actor's resurgent career now.

Mandy Moore first rose to stardom with her hit single Candy in 1999. It made Mandy a teen pop star, following the steps of her peers Britney Spears, N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys. But she never wanted to be just a pop star – she had dreams of performing on stage and screen and writing her own music. And for the last 20+ years, Mandy has been doing just that. She's starred in movies like Saved, The Princess Diaries and I'm Not Here. On TV she's appeared on Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs and This is Us, the smash-hit, beloved drama that just finished its 6-year run on NBC. Mandy played Rebecca Pearson on the show, a role that earned her Screen Actors Guild and People's Choice awards, along with Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Mandy is currently gearing up for her first North American tour in over a decade, in support of her new album In Real Life.

Content warning: This interview contains some explicit language and graphic, frank talk about sex that some listeners might be sensitive to. Ryan O'Connell is the creator and star of the Netflix show Special. It's a semi-autobiographical sitcom about Ryan's own life – his experience as a gay man, and coming to terms with his identity as a disabled person. Ryan has cerebral palsy. It's a congenital disorder that can affect someone's movement, muscle tone, or posture. For Ryan, that means CP mainly manifests as a limp. The show's depiction of disability is groundbreaking. It shows the intersection of disability and sexuality in a way that is rarely ever seen on screen. These days, Ryan is currently starring in the new reboot of Queer As Folk. On the latest episode, we'll revisit public radio veteran Ray Suarez in conversation with Ryan from last year.

Many know Bill Hader from his time on Saturday Night Live. He was kind of an impressions guy — he did a mean Alan Alda. One of his most memorable characters was Stefon from Weekend Update. He left the show in 2013 and went on to perform in movies like Trainwreck, Inside Out and Sausage Party. His latest project is a TV show called Barry, which is in the middle of its third season. Hader joined Bullseye in 2018, right as the show had launched. Bill Hader chats with Jesse about how he prepared for his role in Barry, working as a production assistant when he first came out to Los Angeles and the influence his parents had on his taste in film. He also opens up about the struggles he's had with anxiety and projecting his voice on stage.

Hip-hop historian Dan Charnas joins Bullseye to discuss his new book Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm. Charnas digs deep into the life and work of acclaimed producer J Dilla, who took the hip-hop industry by storm at a young age with his signature, influential production style. His solo album Donuts was released to rave reviews just three days before his death. Dan Charnas discusses his new book, Dilla's impact that still influences musicians to this day and the immeasurable legacy he left behind.

Adam Scott is best known for his iconic roles in comedy: Parks And Recreation. Party Down. Step Brothers. The Good Place. His latest is a departure from the roles traditionally associated with the actor. On Severance, he portrays the show's protagonist Mark. While the show has some comedic elements, it's very dark and mysterious. Severance is set mostly at a company called Lumon Industries. In a department where many of the workers have undergone a procedure called severance. Upon entering Lumon, workers have no memory of their lives outside the office. And upon leaving for the day, remember nothing about what happened on the inside. What could possibly go wrong? Adam explains why Severance is exactly the type of role he's been waiting for since he first became an actor. Plus, what it was like to grow up in Santa Cruz and his first job as a taffy maker at Marini's Candies.

Claudia O'Doherty is, as you are about to hear, an extremely funny person. She is from Sydney, Australia. Some of her work includes serving as a writer on Inside Amy Schumer and a regular part on Netflix's Love. Claudia has her own brand of comedy that I guess one could describe as "cheerfully deranged." Sort of a kindler, gentler Adult Swim bizarreness. Her latest project is called Killing It. It is a sitcom streaming on Peacock summed pretty neatly in the tag line: "Class, capitalism and one man's quest to achieve the American dream." Claudia O'Doherty joins Bullseye to talk about her work on Killing It. She also talks with us about how she got into comedy and the Australian comedy scene. Plus, she reveals to us what the Australian term for "slide" is – like the playground toy you slide down.

Michael Stipe is forever cemented in the minds of music fans as the lead singer of R.E.M., one of the biggest rock bands in history. You might also know him from his fun appearances on shows like At Home with Amy Sedaris and The Adventures of Pete and Pete. We're chatting with him this week about discovering his voice, his passion for photography, and the new music he's been writing.