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

When it comes to hip-hop from the Bay Area, E-40 is quite possibly the greatest of all time. His distinctiveness has kept him relevant for three decades now, from mob music in the 1990's to hyphy slaps in the aughts to new music today. E-40 joins us to talk about his new record, Practice Makes Paper. We'll pull up some deep cuts from R&B singer Saint Charles, who 40 more intimately knows as his Uncle Chuckie. Chuckie was a huge inspiration for E-40 growing up. E will also take us to the root of his passion for music. Plus, he'll talk about his college days at Grambling State University. Did he win the school's talent show? Only one way to find out. Listen up


Baseball week at Bullseye continues with filmmaker Aviva Kempner. She's the director behind such lauded documentaries as "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" and She'll talk to us about her film "The Spy Behind Home Plate." And we'll meet the smartest man you've never heard of: Moe Berg

Category:general -- posted at: 3:00pm EDT

It's baseball week here at Bullseye and bestselling authors Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik are stepping up to the plate. They're the writers behind the book: "The MVP Machine: How Baseball's New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players." They'll talk to us about how players aren't the only ones changing the game. And even if you're not into baseball, we promise there are some lessons to take away!


Chuck Klosterman has written tomes of the written word for GQ, ESPN, The Washington Post, Esquire, The Guardian, and plenty more. In 2014, he joined us to talk about I Wear the Black Hat, which examined villany through pop culture figures like Batman, Kanye West and LeBron James. In 2016, he talked about his book: But What if We’re Wrong, which examined how the present will be perceived in the future. But this time around, Chuck joins us to tell us about the craziest day of his career. Trust us, this is one story you don't want to miss! Klosterman's latest book Raised in Captivity: Fictional Nonfiction is out now.


Jeff Chang is a journalist and music critic with an emphasis on hip hop music and culture. His writings have appeared in San Francisco Chronicle, the Village Voice, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Spin, and many more. Jeff Chang returns to Bullseye for his latest project, We Gon' Be Alright. It was a book back in 2016. Recently, it was turned into a web series by Indie Lens Spotlight. The series deals with some really tough questions with no easy answer. The current state of racism since Trump became President. Where Asian Americans fall when it comes to discrimination. It's a look at the state of race relations in America today. And, what he'd like to see people do about it.


*A heads up to listeners, this episode contains many censored expletives throughout the interview.* J.B. Smoove is without a doubt one of the funniest people we've ever had on Bullseye. He got his start in television as one of the stars of Def Comedy Jam in the mid-90's. In the early aughts, he became a writer on Saturday Night Live. But, he's probably best known for his role as Leon on Curb Your Enthusiasm. J.B. joins us to talk about his time on SNL. We'll hear about a few of his favorite sketches that never made it to air. He'll also talk about his work on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and why he always goes to an audition in character. Plus, he'll tell us about the time he told Howard Stern, and we quote: "You can’t eat spaghetti on an open patio." Join us to learn exactly what he means!


Bullseye guest host Shereen Marisol Meraji, host of NPR's Code Switch, talks with the musician Ahmed Gallab. You might know Ahmed as the man behind the band Sinkane. Ahmed and Shereen discuss his latest album, growing up in the U.S. as the son of immigrants and how he connects his Sudanese roots to his music. Sinkane's latest album is titled Dépaysé and is available now.


Guest Host Shereen Marisol Meraji, host of NPR's Code Switch, chats with actor Garcia. Garcia plays Jake Rodriguez on "Tales of the City" on Netflix, a part-remake part-sequel to the TV miniseries you might remember from the 90's. Garcia and Shereen discuss their first breakout role, being pigeonholed as a trans character in Hollywood and how their chosen family led them to acting.


Pitcher Sean Doolittle is the closer for the Washington Nationals, and no, it's not The Closer you're thinking about. Sean's been called one of the most interesting players in baseball. He'll talk about his unorthodox path to the major leagues, starting out as a first baseman, recovering from serious injuries and then pivoting to closing out games on the mound. Sean's also known as one of the nicest guys in MLB. He's used his platform as a baseball player to raise awareness about a number of issues: He's worked with veteran groups, spoken out publicly for LGBT rights, and hosted a Thanksgiving dinner with Syrian refugees. This interview was recorded in 2017, back when Sean was at spring training with the Oakland A's.


This week, we're revisiting our conversation with Emmy-award winning actress Edie Falco. She's best known for her roles in The Sopranos, Oz and Nurse Jackie. When she spoke to us in 2018, she had just starred in the movie Outside In. Edie talks to Jesse about landing her first acting gig — which she started the day after she graduated from acting school at SUNY Purchase. Plus, Edie tells us why she thinks comedy isn't for her, and what it was like to work with James Gandolfini for nearly a decade on The Sopranos.