Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Paul Williams has lived an extraordinary life. He's a songwriter who's written songs performed by Three Dog Night, Tiny Tim, The Carpenters, and David Bowie. On the latest episode of Bullseye we get into it all: Falling out of airplanes. Dressing as an Orangutan from Planet of the Apes on Carson. The simple genius of Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection, which was surprisingly complicated to write. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Tavi Gevinson is a very talented actor and writer. She was just fifteen years old when she founded the fashion magazine Rookie, a smash success that is still beloved today. She returns to the show to talk about some of her new projects, what impacts social media has had on her career and how she dealt with the pressure of being called a wunderkind. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Connie Chung is a TV legend. She is an Emmy-winning newscaster and interviewer, and the first Asian American to host a major network news show. She chronicles her life and career in her new book Connie: A Memoir. Connie joins Bullseye to talk all about her memoir, what she misses the most about reporting the news, and the wonder of the modern standing desk. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

J. Kenji López-Alt is a food writer and chef. He wrote the books The Food Lab and The Wok: Recipes and Techniques. The holidays are coming up – if you're looking for some new recipes to try, some of our favorites at Bullseye include López-Alt's roasted potatoes, chocolate chip cookies and standing prime rib. Making your own mayonnaise the López-Alt way only takes two minutes! A version of this interview originally aired in March of 2022. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

"Weird Al" Yankovic is the undisputed king of parody music. He's been recording music for over four decades and sold millions of records. Al just turned sixty-five, and we're celebrating with a look back at our conversation with the music icon! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

James Adomian is a comedian with a foot in two worlds. He's a stand-up comedian and impressionist who's performed on the Late Late Show, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live and many more. He's got a brand new stand-up special out now called James Adomian: Path of Most Resistance. He joins us to talk about the new special and even does a few impressions. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

DeMar DeRozan is a basketball player for the Sacramento Kings. He's a six time NBA All-Star and an Olympic gold medalist. DeRozan just released a memoir: Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm. He joins us to talk about some tough subjects covered in the book like his struggle with depression. He also gets into what it was like to be named dropped in one of the hottest songs of summer – Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Good gourd! It's a very special Halloween Spooktacular edition of Bullseye, where we're revisiting some of our best Halloween interviews. First up: R.L. Stine, creator of the Goosebumps series. Then, a very special visit from comedian Andy Daly with the song that changed his life: The Monster Mash! Finally, the "damned" finale: Cassandra Peterson, the woman behind Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Nicolay of the Foreign Exchange joins us to talk about the song that changed his life. A Prince track that, honestly, we were very surprised hadn't been picked yet. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

MAVI is a rapper from Charlotte, North Carolina. In recent years, he's become one to watch. On his latest album Shadowbox his flow teems with self doubt and anxiety. The melodies and samples linger long after the record's finished. MAVI joins us on the latest episode of Bullseye to discuss the record. The themes in his albums are often filled with pain and loneliness, so get into how he's been doing lately to handle those feelings. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Jordan Morris is a comedy writer, podcast host, and author. His new graphic novel Youth Group follows a teen who apprehensively joins a Christian youth group and comes to find that demons are real! Fear not, as the youth group is intent on exorcising the demons from whence they came. We get into Jordan's graphic novel and so much more on Bullseye. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

What do the films Men in Black, The Addams Family and Raising Arizona all have in common? They were all shot by cinematographer and director Barry Sonnenfeld. He's responsible for filming and directing some of the biggest movies from the 20th century. He joins us to talk about his new memoir and reflect on his many years in show business. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Sérgio Mendes died last month. He was 83 and had been dealing with long COVID for several months. His band Brasil '66 was at the forefront of a bossa nova explosion that introduced the genre to listeners across the world. When Mendes joined us nearly a decade ago, he talked about how his music evolved over the years and he got into the show at Carnegie Hall that changed music history forever. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Herb Alpert is most famous for the music he created with his band, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. His career as a musician and producer has spanned over six decades, breaking ground on artists like The Police and Janet Jackson. In the nine years since Herb was last on Bullseye, he's dropped nine more records. We revisit our conversation with the music legend in honor of the recent release of his 50th studio album, 50. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

André 3000 is one of the greatest rappers to ever grace a microphone. He is, of course, one half of the Grammy winning rap group Outkast. Between the years of 1995 and 2006, he and his partner Big Boi released some of the most iconic rap records of all time. Late last year André released an album called New Blue Sun. It's an ambient spiritual jazz record where André plays the flute. He just kicked off a Fall tour in support of the album. We are beyond thrilled to have André 3000 join us on the show to talk about his recent album. He also gets into where he currently stands on rapping. Plus, he shares with us what his time working in the fashion world was like. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Earlier this year, Casey Wilson and Jessica St. Clair put together an audio book called The Art of Small Talk. Think of it as a guide on navigating through brief conversations with strangers. In the audio book, they discuss why small talk is important and how it brings us as human beings, living our lives, closer together. On this episode, Jessica and Casey will get into how to perfect the art of small talk. They'll tell us what works for them and walk us through a few examples. They'll even coach Jesse on how to best engage in small talk at the dog park. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Eve is an icon in hip-hop, a west Philly rapper whose flow, style and production helped define the genre in the early 2000s. She's released three incredible albums–all of which reached either gold or platinum–and stands out as the first lady of rap collective The Ruff Ryders. Eve covers it all in her new memoir, Who's that Girl?. It's about Eve's journey in hip-hop, acting, motherhood, and mental health. We talk all about it and so much more on Bullseye. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Wendy and Lisa recorded some stone cold classics with Prince's band The Revolution: Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, When Doves Cry and more. These days, they're known for their work composing scores for TV and movies: Heroes, Dangerous Minds, Crossing Jordan, and Nurse Jackie. Wendy and Lisa talk with us about their 40-plus year partnership, and their Emmy award-winning work as composers. And of course, what it was like to collaborate with Prince, and work on some of his most iconic records. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Ian Frazier, is a writer who, for lack of a better term, does the thing. If there is a place that fascinates him he goes to that place, immerses himself in it, and writes about it. And that's exactly what he did for his new book about the Bronx called Paradise Bronx. He joins us to talk about the history of the New York borough and even tells us how he mapped out the radius in which residents can smell cookies from a local bakery. Plus, he shares what items he brings with him when he goes out to explore a city. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Tyrese Gibson is a renaissance man. He's a Grammy-nominated singer, blockbuster actor, an accomplished author, and model. His latest project is a crime drama–1992. It's set in Los Angeles, the day four police officers charged with beating Rodney King were acquitted. We talk about the film and the commercial that jump started his career. Plus, Tyrese presses pause mid-interview to take an important call from a rap legend. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy