Bullseye With Jesse Thorn

The Bullseye Holiday Spectacular is here! We are revisiting some of our favorite holiday interviews with different guests from over the years. First, we kick things off with Rob Halford. The lead singer of Judas Priest tells us about the rock music he loves and the reason he decided to record a holiday album. We also have singer/songwriter Sy Smith, who shares which classic holiday tune changed her life. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees sits with Jesse to discuss his time in the industry and The Monkees holiday record Christmas Party. We close things out with the McElroy brothers Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy. They're hosts of the Maximum Fun podcasts The Adventure Zone and the smash hit My Brother, My Brother and Me. They bring their signature wit to Bullseye and solve your holiday conundrums.

Normally, when you tune into Bullseye, you'll hear interviews with different pop culture creators. This week, we're breaking the format a bit. That's because it's our annual end of year best stand-up comedy showcase! We're playing you some excerpts from the best stand-up comedy albums of 2022. Our list includes industry veterans and up-and-coming talents you are going to love.

The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite creators in show business about the music that made them who they are today. This time around, we're joined by Rainn Wilson. That's right: Dwight from The Office and more! Rainn explains how Mystery Dance by Elvis Costello literally changed his life when he moved from Seattle to Chicago in his teen years. He had just switched schools, and describes the school assignment that helped him visualize a career in acting with the help of that Elvis Costello song. You can see Rainn star alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story for free on the Roku Channel.

Charlotte Nicdao stars as Poppy on the Apple TV+ comedy Mythic Quest. It's a workplace comedy about a video game company, but it's not really about video games. Everyone on the show cares deeply about the thing they're working on. It's the massive online role-playing fantasy video game Mythic Quest. Charlotte Nicdao joins Bullseye to talk about the new season of Mythic Quest and playing the part of Poppy on the series. She also talks about growing up in Australia, and the first time she visited the United States when she was a teenager for music camp. She also takes us back to the time she auditioned for the part of a mob boss in her school's production of Guys and Dolls.

Actor Aya Cash joins us on Bullseye for the latest installment of The Song That Changed My Life. It's a segment where creators we know and love talk about the music who made them who they are. Aya has played in a number of memorable roles, and these days, she stars in the very funny sitcom Welcome to Flatch. When we asked her about the song that changed her life, she took us back to her childhood. Back to the nineties when she was growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, riding in the car with mom and dad listening to a classic song by Ani DiFranco.

Vanessa Ramos is a television writer. She's written for shows like Superstore, Bordertown, Crashing and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Her latest show is called Blockbuster on Netflix. It's a sitcom set at the very last franchise location of Blockbuster, and the employees who try to keep the store alive. We talk with Vanessa about creating the new sitcom, and her own memories of Blockbuster, and what VHS tapes were most important to her. Plus, how she got her start in comedy and what it was like to be in the writers room for Comedy Central Roasts.

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.