Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture. 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."

Episodes

September 12, 2025 42 mins
Jason Segel starred in Freaks and Geeks, How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up. But he's also an accomplished writer and creator. He wrote the classic romcom Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and revived The Muppets for a new generation.When Jesse talked to Segel in 2020, Jason had just created the weird and wonderful TV drama Dispatches from Elsewhere - a show he says put him "out of his comfort zone." He'll talk about that, and what makes t...
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Bob Odenkirk is an alt-comedy legend. He wrote for Saturday Night Live in the 90s. Then he got the part in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul as Saul Goodman. He’s also a writer. With the help of his children, he released a collection of poems called Zilot & Other Important Rhymes. Bob joins us to talk about writing poetry and how he turned his worn notebook into a book of poetry with the help of his children.

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September 5, 2025 43 mins
There aren't many animators more beloved than Genndy Tartakovsky. He created two golden era Cartoon Network shows: Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack. He has worked on countless other animated projects including Star Wars: Clone Wars, Batman: The Animated Series, Hotel Transylvania and many more. Genndy joins us to talk about his latest animated project: Fixed – a raunchy comedy about dogs, their private parts and friendship. He ...
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September 2, 2025 40 mins

Alex Edelman plays Adam Cooper on The Paper, the new show from NBC set in the universe of The Office. Edelman is also an award winning standup and writer. His solo show, Just For Us, offers a very funny, very personal examination of white supremacy and Jewish identity. He talks to Bullseye about his unlikely position as the least impressive member of his family, the difference in audience reactions to his standup in th...

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August 29, 2025 35 mins
Filmmaker Victor Kosskovsky has been thinking quite a lot about rocks these days. Things like big granite boulders, crushed up gravel and stunning slabs of marble. He formed those thoughts, and some opinions, into his most recent documentary: Architecton. It’s a movie entirely about stone. Victor joined us to talk about Architecton, what drew him to choosing rocks as a film subject and much more.

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August 26, 2025 37 mins
We're joined by the principal members of the band HAIM: Alana, Danielle and Este Haim. In 2013, they released their critically acclaimed debut album Days Are Gone and the rest is history. HAIM joins us in the studio to talk about making the latest record: I Quit. They also get into growing up in the San Fernando Valley and the shocking lyrics in the new album are about a true story from their time in high school.

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August 22, 2025 49 mins
Our guest this week is Al Jardine, one of the founding members of The Beach Boys alongside Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Mike Love. Jardine left the Beach Boys in 1998 and has toured solo ever since. He just released an EP called Islands In The Sun, and he’s touring it with Brian Wilson’s band. Al Jardine talked with Bullseye about Brian’s recent passing, growing up making music with the Beach Boys, and rediscoverin...
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August 19, 2025 59 mins
Earlier this year, Marlee Matlin was the subject of the documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore. The film chronicles her life and career as a performer and her efforts to make movies and TV more inclusive for deaf performers. Marlee and her longtime interpreter Jack joined us to talk about the documentary, Marlee’s career in showbusiness and much more.

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August 15, 2025 33 mins
In the world of ska and punk music Fishbone are legends. We're joined by Angelo Moore and Chris Dowd, founding members of the band. Earlier this summer the band released their 8th full-length LP, Stockholm Syndrome. They talk about why the latest record is something they always dreamed of making. They also get into the bands that helped them visualize a career in music and so much more.

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August 12, 2025 37 mins
Paul Walter Hauser has a great list of big movie appearances. He’s in Fantastic Four and The Naked Gun, and he’ll be appearing in movies like Americana and the Bruce Springsteen biopic. Hauser talks to Bullseye about his unique path to his current acting career, as well as his other labor of love: professional wrestling.

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August 8, 2025 43 mins
Punk rock band PUP released their fifth studio album Who Will Look After the Dogs? back in May. We’re joined by the band’s lead singer Stefan Babcock and guitarist Steve Sladkowski to talk about the new record. They also chatted with us about their live shows and how the mosh pits at their shows and more!

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There’s probably nobody better to direct and write a movie like The Naked Gun reboot than Akiva Schaffer. He has a resume full of brilliant, dumb, joke-a-minute work. Together with Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone he is a member of the comedy trio The Lonely Island. Akiva wasn’t sure he wanted to direct The Naked Gun at first, he gets into why. Plus, why Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppin’ didn’t click with audiences and his very funn...
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August 1, 2025 29 mins
In 2021, Arooj Aftab became the first Pakistani to win a Grammy. It was a Best Global Music Performance for her single "Mohabbat" off of her 2021 album Vulture Prince. Her latest album is called Night Reign. Like Vulture Prince, It's ethereal and beautiful and kind of haunting. In this conversation, Aftab talks about the influence of Meshell Ndegeocello on her work, being a recording gear nerd in addition to being an artist, and ho...
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July 29, 2025 40 mins
Eugenio Derbez has arguably earned the title of most successful comedy actor in Latin America. And in 2013, his film Instructions Not Included helped make him a star here in the United States. These days you can catch Eugenio in the show Acapulco, which is entering its fourth and final season on Apple TV +. Eugenio joins us to talk about the new season of the show, making the jump from being a movie star in Mexico to a movie star i...
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July 25, 2025 29 mins
Megan Stalter is an actor and comedian. She plays Kayla Schaefer on the hit show Hacks. She's the wildly inappropriate, yet charming assistant to Paul W. Downs' manager character. When we talked last year, Stalter had just starred in the movie Cora Bora. She played the title character, a singer/songwriter in a long distance relationship that she senses is in trouble. Megan joins us to talk about the film, her time on Hacks, and so ...
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July 22, 2025 26 mins
Tramell Tillman plays Mr. Milchick on Severance, the bizarre, fascinating sci-fi workplace show on Apple TV +. Tramell Tillman is great as Mr Milchick. He shares how he collaborated with Ben Stiller to create the character. He also talks with us about his upbringing in Baltimore, his experience being raised in the Baptist church, and his early appearance on The Wire.

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July 18, 2025 40 mins
Hayden Pedigo writes sprawling, beautiful songs around the acoustic guitar. Hayden just put out a new record called I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away. He stopped by the studio to talk about his songwriting process and even brought his guitar by the studio for a live performance.

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July 15, 2025 38 mins
This week's guest is Richard Kind. He is not a star. He does not want to be a star. He is perfectly fine with that. Richard loves to be the kind of character actor that shows up, lays down four pages of unforgettable dialogue... and goes on with his day. We share some laughs with Richard Kind. He gets into working with John Mulaney on Everybody's Live and the career he almost had instead of acting. Plus, what it was like to work wi...
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We're joined by music historian and professor Rickey Vincent to talk about the legacy of Sly Stone. He talks to us about what made the funk icon so special and why there'll never be another like Sly again.

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