Bullseye with Jesse Thorn
Bullseye from NPR is your curated guide to culture. Jesse Thorn hosts in-depth interviews with brilliant creators, culture picks from our favorite critics and irreverent original comedy. Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney's, which called it "the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world." (Formerly known as The Sound of Young America.)

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Syndication

Jesse talks with legendary character actress Carol Kane about the last season of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and her 45-year career in the biz.

Carol started acting in 1971 and pretty quickly landed big roles. One of her first films was in the Mike Nichols drama "Carnal Knowledge." She'd later work on other classics like "Annie Hall," "Dog Day Afternoon," and was even nominated for a best actress Oscar for her part in the 1975 film "Hester Street."

But ultimately, Carol found her home in comedy — something she never expected she'd do coming up. She appeared on "Taxi" as the wife of Latka, Andy Kaufman's character. She was in "The Muppet Movie," "The Princess Bride," "Scrooged," and lots more.

On "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Carol plays Lillian, long-time New Yorker and Kimmy's landlord. The last six episodes of UKS just dropped on Netflix by the way, and what a lovely run it has been.

Direct download: Bullseye190129podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

Jez Butterworth is a veteran of both stage and screen, he's written about a dozen films along with his seven plays. You can see the wisdom that only experience can bring in action during "The Ferryman," his latest play that's now on Broadway. A younger playwright might have the same grand vision as Butterworth did for the production, but would they have the finesse and thoughtfulness to make it work?

"The Ferryman" will be running in New York until July 7th and if you're in a position to do it, go see it!

Direct download: Bullseye190125podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

If you're in Hollywood, the stereotype goes that you're either a character actor or a *star*. A character actor shows up in a couple scenes for about five minutes, and, even in that small moment, they make the film. Tony Shalhoub has done that plenty of times.

While a star, of course, is someone you can build an whole movie or TV show around. They're relatable, usually charming, sometimes vulnerable. Tony Shalhoub does that all the time, too.

Tony Shalhoub of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "Monk" and more sits down with Jesse Thorn to discuss his long career on the big and small screens.

Direct download: Bullseye190122podcast2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:04pm EDT

A warning about this episode, which originally aired in 2017: the second half of this interview contains some honest and frank talk about sexual assault.

Stephanie Beatriz stars in Brooklyn Nine Nine as Detective Rosa Diaz - easily the toughest cop in the precinct - she's brave, serious, and rides a motorcycle. The sixth and newest season just premiered at its new home: NBC!

Stephanie also starred in the 2017 movie The Light of The Moon. She plays Bonnie, a young woman living in Brooklyn with her boyfriend. Towards the beginning of the film, she goes through a vicious sexual assault, and the movie tells the story of the aftermath of that event - its effect on her work life, relationship, and even mundane daily decisions - like whether or not she wears headphones when she's walking off the subway. It's brutal to watch, but it's also nuanced, realistic, and really touching.

We'll talk about all of that and also how she and her Dad cemented their father-daughter bond by watching Seinfeld:

Direct download: Bullseye190118podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

We've got a favorite from the Bullseye archives to kick off the week: Elvis Costello.

Costello grew up surrounded by music. His mother ran the record section of Selfridges, and his father was an accomplished working musician. As Costello describes in his memoir, Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink, he didn't intend to make music himself, but felt eventually drawn to it.

The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and record producer has enjoyed a long career, working on his own and collaborating with other musicians like Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, and Annie Lennox.

Elvis Costello joins Jesse to talk about his father’s career and love of music, why Alzheimer’s in his family inspired him to write the book, and who knows him by his birth name, Declan McManus.

Direct download: Bullseye190115podcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

Jesse talks to Karyn Kusama, one of the most unique voices in film right now. She just directed the new film "Destroyer," it's a dark crime drama, told in mostly flashbacks. Karyn discusses why it's important to portray complex female characters in film and media. She also talks at length about "Jennifer's Body," which she directed in 2009. It was very funny and very scary. She'll tell us about the look book she drew inspiration from, and why she thinks the film struggled to find an audience when it was first released. Plus, how she finds pleasure in horror movies. And, sure, a lot of people find pleasure in horror films, but Karyn's answer will still surprise you.

Direct download: Bullseye190111.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

Chris and Bridey Elliott are father and daughter. Chris is, of course, Chris Elliott. The guy who starred in Cabin Boy and Something About Mary. Who's currently a regular on the TV show Schitt's Creek. Tons more.

Bridey, his daughter, wrote and directed a new movie called Clara's Ghost, which you can buy or rent now. It's a family collaboration: Bridey also stars in the movie, along with Chris, her sister Abby, and her mother Paula.

And it's also kind of a horror movie? Listen to see what we mean. Jesse and the Elliotts talk about the film, family dynamics, and why Chris Elliott did an impression of Marlon Brando dancing around a bunch of bananas on Letterman.

Direct download: Bullseye190108.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT