Bullseye With Jesse Thorn

Bill Withers died last month. He was 81. For Bullseye this week, we look back at our two interviews with the soul singer responsible for such classics as "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lean on Me" and "Grandma's Hands." We look back at the life of the man, the myths behind why he left the industry and the soul of the artist. Bill also talked to us about charting his own course to happiness in life.

Cartoonist Ben Katchor is probably best known for his comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, a comic about small businessman who roams the city capturing pictures of a fading ideal of New York. His newest work is called The Dairy Restaurant. It's an illustrated history of the Jewish restaurants that served as a kind of meatless counterpart to the delicatessen. Ben joins us to talk about the dairy restaurants of his youth, what he calls our "pastoral impulse" to find good food, and the first place he's going once he can break quarantine.

It's Ed Helms, everyone! Helms got his start as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Then he was on the Office. Then, a little old movie called The Hangover. Ed Helms joins to chat about how all those projects changed his life. Plus: his latest role as a Detroit Police officer in the buddy cop comedy Coffee & Kareem.

We're joined by the always sharply-dressed Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top! He's been the lead guitarist and singer of the band for over fifty years with classic songs like "La Grange," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs." While the band's current tour dates have been postponed due to current events, their documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band from Texas, is available to stream online. The Texas native and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer joins Bullseye to talk about the group's legacy, their blues and psychedelic roots and his keen sense of style. Plus, he'll tell us how a BBQ joint became responsible for that legendary ZZ Top sound.

Director and writer Alan Yang is probably best known for co-creatoring the hit Netflix series "Master of None" and his impressive comedy writing credits on shows like Parks and Recreation. But his newest endeavor, Tigertail – a film he wrote and directed that's loosely based on his family's immigrant experience – breaks from comedy. Alan joins us to talk about "Tigertail," about his childhood growing up in Southern California, and how finding the Harvard Lampoon changed his life.

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. We're joined by DJ and master of the turntable Cut Chemist. Born Lucas McFadden, Cut Chemist is best known for co-founding the iconic underground hip-hop group Jurassic 5. He'll tell us about "Park Bench People" by Freestyle Fellowship. The Fellowship was a boundary-defying underground crew fronted by MC's Myka 9 and Aceyalone. Find out how the song changed Cut Chemist's idea of what hip-hop could be. When he joined us in 2018, he had just released his first record in over a decade. Die Cut is available now.

Missing basketball? Today, we're looking back on our conversation with NBA All-Star Metta World Peace! His larger than life personality often precedes him and has made him one of the most polarizing players in the history of the game. The Queensbridge, New York native talks to Jesse about how his upbringing shaped him as a person and how it impacted the way he raises his own children, what he regrets from his stint playing with the Indiana Pacers and how downsizing his world rescued him. Plus, he'll discuss the infamous NBA brawl dubbed the "Malice at the Palace."

Comedian Tom Papa wants you to focus on the small victories. The little triumphs in everyday life that add up to winning the war against cynicism. His new Netflix special, You're Doing Great! sums up his philosophy perfectly. So you're not killing it like everyone else on Instagram. That's fine! They're not really killing it either. You finally made it out of the house to run that errand you've been putting off all week? Now THAT'S killing it! That approach to comedy seems increasingly rare but Tom has made a nearly 30 year career on it. Tom joins us to talk about the moment when he decided to become a comedian, his familial take on comedy, and the resilience of his Nana.

Maybe you're stuck at home, like the rest us. Maybe you're looking for something to binge, like the rest of us. May we suggest Brooklyn Nine-Nine? You've seen the premise of the police procedural on network television countless times. The cops are good at their jobs. They're quick and witty when it comes to solving crime. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has some of that – but subverts the genre through comedy. It's a deeply warm, deeply funny office sitcom. The police at the precinct care about their jobs, they care about each other. The show was created by Dan Goor, along with Mike Schur. These days, Dan's the showrunner of the show. We talk with Dan about the latest season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Plus, why he left working for Conan to work on Parks and Recreation – and why the shift was a struggle at first. You can stream all seven seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, including the new episodes on Hulu.

We revisit our conversation with the writer-director and rapper Boots Riley. He's a founding member of the legendary hip hop group The Coup. The band's sound is politically-charged with a laid-back funk and has that classic Bay area cadence. His rhymes tell a story of his own life and deal with elements of social justice, poverty, racism. He's more than an artist. He's a long-time activist who uses his talents as a story-teller to move the needle forward in the world. In 2018 he made his directorial debut with the film Sorry to Bother You. It's a dark comedy that takes on late-stage capitalism, among other issues, head-on. Bootsy returns to Bullseye to talk about Sorry to Bother You, trying to find his style early on as both an individual and as a band member and how the narrative style of his song "Fat Cats, Bigga Fish" inspired his film career. Plus, he'll talk to us about how the very personal song "Underdog" helped him deal with the grief of losing a long-lost friend.

TV writer and producer David Simon is our guest this week. Simon is the force behind some of television's most compelling and critically acclaimed series such as The Wire, Treme and The Deuce. He joins us to talk about his new HBO series, The Plot Against America.

Jason Segel has had a lot of interesting roles over the years. He got his start on screen in his late teens on the short-lived cult tv show Freaks and Geeks. From there he starred in a bunch of other comedic roles including: How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up, and Bad Teacher. His writing debut was Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In 2011, he revived The Muppets for a new generation. His latest show is kind of a departure from all that. AMC's Dispatches from Elsewhere follows the lives of a group of regular people who discover a hidden world. It's mysterious and strange – kinda silly, too. We'll talk with Jason about how he works humor into the tone of a show like Dispatches from Elsewhere. Plus, plenty of chat about Freak and Geeks, and what makes the Dracula song in Forgetting Sarah Marshall work.

We're joined by the talented and captivating Annette Bening! She stars alongside Bill Nighy in the new film "Hope Gap." In it, she plays a woman dealing with the wreckage after being blindsided by the sudden end of her thirty year marriage. She'll talk to us about her approach to playing English characters, how she tapped into her "Hope Gap" character to work on her own issues with confrontation avoidance and how motherhood offered a welcome respite to the sometimes alienating life of show business. Plus, we ask her about playing a baddie on "Miami Vice!"

At long last: Will Forte! The actor, writer, comedian joins us to talk about his new film, Extra Ordinary. In it, Will plays Christian Winter, a washed up American one-hit-wonder living in Ireland who makes a deal with the literal devil for another shot at fame. Rose, played by the hilarious Maeve Higgins, is a driving instructor and a reluctant medium who just might be the only one who can keep their small Irish town safe. Will also chats about what it's like to be both star and showrunner of your own TV series and his self-described "weird" brand of comedy. All that and more on the next Bullseye!

We revisit our conversation with Gregory Porter. He's a Grammy winning jazz singer, the pride of Bakersfield California and, until his junior year of college, he was an aspiring football player. When he joined us in 2018, he had recently recorded an album of standards made popular by Nat "King" Cole. He'll tell Jesse about his deeply personal connection to one of America's most iconic voices. Plus, what it was like to grow up in Bakersfield, California and how that's influenced his lyrics. Gregory Porter's new album All Rise is out on April 17th.

We revisit our magical conversation with Academy Award winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. They're the husband and wife writing team behind 2013's modern classic "Let it Go" from the animated film Frozen and "Remember Me" from 2017's Coco. The Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony-award winning duo joined Bullseye to share the story of how they first met as well as chat about how they draw inspiration for their song lyrics. Plus, they tell us what date night at the Oscars with their kids is like.

Lynda Barry is a legend of alternative comics. She's also one of the latest recipients of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. She's written over a dozen books. These days, she's been busy teaching. She's an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. We'll welcome her back on Bullseye to talk about her latest book: Making Comics. The book is sort of an illustrated guide on how to create comics. Some of it's pulled straight from the classroom – things she's been teaching her students for years. At the heart of the book is a belief Lynda has: anybody can draw. Anyone can make comics. Yes, even you!

Comedian Maria Bamford is back! We are thrilled as always to welcome her for another conversation with Bullseye. The stand-up, writer and actor joins us to talk about her two newest projects: the hour-long comedy special, Weakness Is The Brand and talk show, What's Your Ailment?! where she talks with fellow comedians and entertainers like Tig Notaro, Baron Vaughn and Rachel Bloom about how mental health has affected their lives. Maria also chats with us about finding human connection in unexpected ways like meeting Twitter followers for coffee and comedy feedback, dealing with hecklers, the healing power of chicken wings, and how marriage has changed her. All that and more on the next Bullseye!

It's Zach Woods! You may know him best from NBC's The Office where he played the truly dreadful Gabe for three seasons. You've also seen his work as Jared Dunn on the HBO series Silicon Valley. He currently stars alongside Hugh Laurie on the TV show Avenue 5. It's airing now on HBO. Zach talks to Bullseye about what initially drew him to acting, his secret comedy life as a teen taking the train from Pennsylvania to New York and how his anxious personality helped him tap into his latest character's psyche. Plus, he'll share his favorite inspirational RuPaul quote with us. All that and more. Let's go!

Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio! Star Wars' BB-8! And, now the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog! We're joined by Ben Schwartz. Ben's big break came in 2010 with a small recurring role on Parks and Recreation. Jean-Ralphio was a character who only showed up a few times a year – but he was one of the most memorable characters on the show. We'll chat at length about his role on the show. You can hear his voice work alongside Jim Carrey and James Marsden in Sonic The Hedgehog, the new blockbuster that just hit theaters. We'll chat about his long time fandom of the video game series. Plus, we'll have him describe some truly cursed Sonic the Hedgehog online fan art.