Talkhouse Podcast

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got a couple of old friends who are both multi-hyphenates: film directors, actors, writers, musicians, and perhaps most importantly, opinionated rabble-rousers who’ve spent decades pushing at the edges of culture—especially sexual politics—and gleefully widening its scope. It’s John Cameron Mitchell and Sook-Yin Lee.

Mitchell is perhaps best known for co-writing and starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the late-'90s stage musical that became a cult-classic movie. It was the beginning of a career that has championed queerness and otherness, pushing those things into a mainstream that has sometimes been welcoming, but most times not so much. He followed Hedwig with Shortbus, whose frank depictions of sexuality were probably a little too intense for wider audiences. Mitchell has also done really interesting work as an actor in other people’s projects, including playing Tiger King Joe Exotic in a miniseries not too long ago. As you’ll hear in this chat, he’s working on a project about Alan Ginsberg in 1968, a time that should be more distant than it feels like at the moment. Mitchell is heading out on a Hedwig anniversary tour that will include screenings of the film plus live performance and conversation; check out hedwig25.com for info.

The other half of today’s chat, Sook-Yin Lee, met Mitchell way back when, as you’ll hear, when she auditioned for him—sort of. She had roles in both Hedwig and Shortbus, but has also lived other lives as a TV presenter in Canada and a prolific film director. For the past couple of years she’s taken her latest film, Paying For It, straight to audiences along with her friend Chester Brown, whose graphic novel is the film’s basis. It’s a comedy about a couple that opens their relationship, and one of them decides to experiment by paying for sex. You can stream it most anywhere now, but that’s not all Lee has been up to: She just released a new album of catchy, skewed electro-pop called 72RHR. Check out the song “A Hollow” right here.

In this funny, fiery conversation, Mitchell and Lee talk about their early days together, about Alan Ginsberg and how the times he lived through don’t seem to be over, about Mitchell’s adopted New Orleans home, the power of art and lots more. Enjoy.

0:00 — Intro
2:39 — Start of Conversation
3:13 — On celebrating Pride, and Allen Ginsberg
5:34 — On their first collaborations, why their earlier projects couldn’t be made in today’s climate and industry, and branching out with new projects
10:43 — On promoting their latest film collaboration, "Paying For It"
13:11 — On their musical backgrounds and finding inspiration from different styles and genres of art
14:10 — On up-and-coming cities and scenes for artists, marginalized communities, and progressive and punk cultures
16:57 — Comparing and contrasting modern times and today’s art to 1968
18:42 — On making a living as an artist, funding for the arts, and affordability
20:23 — On art movements in small regions, and protecting DIY art spaces, and regional culture in New Orleans
22:03 — On promoting “Paying For It” in the US
23:36 — On the frustrations of a digital world, and building connection and attention spans
25:27 — On doing screenings and gigs for the 25th anniversary of “Hedvig,” and screening “Short Bus”
26:13 — On using art to bring people together again to re-connect to reality
28:58 — On fighting ICE and data centers, and uniting over shared issues
31:46 — On using technology to connect, and young peoples’ changing identities
34:23 — On how young people are creating DIY art, and the tools that make art more accessible for creators
38:13 — On the connections between punk culture, art distribution, and resistance
42:29 — On AIDS activism and “applied punk” within the queer community
44:03 — Where you can find their work

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast and thanks to Sook-Yin Lee and John Cameron Mitchell for chatting. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the other great shows in our network. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠.
Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more.
Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.

On the latest episode Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That, Nick Dawson sits down with the brilliant and innovative filmmaker Zia Anger, the creative force behind the 2024 feature My First Film and the legendary live multimedia show of the same name.

Over the course of their conversation, Nick and Zia touch on such topics as the problems of being ahead of your time, how Justin Bieber’s recent Coachella show followed in Zia’s footsteps, the remarkable series of “Take It to the Limit” parties she attended as a college student, the dreams she has that Jung would have a field day with, what she would do during a nuclear holocaust, and much more.

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That now has a Substack, so head there to check out all of our past episodes, plus subscribe to get access to exclusive audio and video content!

On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a couple of friends who swim in the same punk-inspired scenes but whose musics are pretty different: Barry Johnson and Greg Mendez.

Johnson is the singer and guitarist for Joyce Manor, the pop-punk/emo/indie-rock/something-something band that’s been blasting out short, to-the-point songs for nearly two decades. There’s something perfectly economical about everything the band does: Their records often clock in at under 20 minutes, so there’s no fat or filler to be found. The latest is being hailed as their best, which is saying something for a band whose chosen genre rarely seems to age well—something Johnson laughs about in this chat. The album is called I Used to Go to This Bar, and it was produced by Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz. Check out the song “I Know Where Mark Chen Lives” right here.

The other half of today’s conversation, Greg Mendez, takes a Spartan approach to songwriting as well, but his songs are much more quiet and reflective—you’ll definitely hear Elliott Smith vibes on his new album, Beauty Land. Mendez has actually been making music nearly as long as Joyce Manor, but their shyness didn’t really push through into wider view until a self-titled album in 2023. Now he’s ready to take the next leap—this new record is on the Dead Oceans label, which has released records by like-minded souls Phoebe Bridgers, Japanese Breakfast, and Bright Eyes. Check out the song “Gentle Love” from Beauty Land right here.

In this conversation, Mendez and Johnson talk about how they first met, about the ups and downs of sequencing an album, and about doing the stream-of-consciousness creative practice called “morning pages,” where you just write whatever pops into your head. Johnson doesn’t want you to see his pages, and you’ll find out why. Enjoy.

0:00 — Intro
2:47 — Start of Conversation
5:16 — On sequencing records
7:58 — On releasing new music and planning modern album rollouts
9:20 — On the benefits of slower rollouts and appreciating singles
10:58 — On how they became friends
13:52 — On living in New York, and midlife crises
15:42 — On surfing, skating, and Long Beach
19:50 — On discovering punk through skating culture
20:28 — On touring’s impact on creativity, and finding inspiration from other musicians
23:08 — On overcoming writer’s block, exercising your creativity with age, “morning pages,” and Kurt Cobain’s diary
32:21 — On upcoming tour plans and keeping audiences’ attention while playing solo
34:14 — On seeing musicians transfix an audience, getting emotional at concerts, and live versions of songs

Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Barry Johnson and Greg Mendez for a great chat. If you liked what you heard, please follow Talkhouse on your favorite podcasting platform, and check out all the great stuff at Talkhouse.com. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠.
Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more.
Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.

On the first episode of the new season of Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That, host Nick Dawson sits down with Emmy-winning actor Tatiana Maslany, whose new thriller series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is now streaming on Apple TV. In wide-ranging conversation, the two talk about how she fell in love her husband over FaceTime, her very unconventional way of turning up for auditions, why she falls asleep thinking about coffee, the hardest time she’s ever had on a movie set, her love of taking COVID tests, and much more. Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That now has a Substack, so head there to check out all of our past episodes, plus subscribe to get access to exclusive audio and video content!

Hey Talkhouse listeners, this week, I'm throwing you a rerun from a while back, but whose wisdom hasn't dimmed since 2018 when it was recorded. It's a great conversation between Steve Albini and Devo's Jerry Casale that was captured backstage at the Desert Days Festival. I grabbed this one from the archive because we recently passed the 2nd anniversary of Albini's untimely death, and there was a great Rolling Stone piece about his legacy that got me thinking. He was a very smart, sometimes controversial guy, always opinionated, but always thoughtful. Check it out and we'll see you with a new episode next week. —Josh Modell, Host of the Talkhouse Podcast 

The Talkhouse Podcast recently headed out to the fantastic Desert Daze festival at Moreno Beach at Lake Perris in Southern California. When we weren't catching sets by Tame Impala, King Gizzard, and My Bloody Valentine, we recorded a trio of great talks; this week, we present the first.

When I saw that both Steve Albini and Devo's Jerry Casale were going to be at Desert Daze giving talks, I knew we had to pair these two icons of alternative music. They're big fans of each other's work, and halfway through their conversation, Steve said, “This is the sort of stuff no one ever talks about. These are the questions I’ve had for 30 years.”

Their fascinating talk takes in the beginning years of Devo’s existence; their complex relationship with Neil Young; Brian Eno’s proclivity for ménage à trois; the differences between poker and making records; and how the name Devo became a category alongside jocks, squares and nerds.

Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast. —Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

0:00 — Intro
1:01 — Start of the chat 
1:14 — Introductions, names, and local sports 
3:50 — On Devo straddling genres, their connection to Neil Young, and punk rock 
8:14 — On the orthodoxy of punk rock culture, and reactions to politics and power structures 
15:17 — On Devo’s connection to the experimental and underground scene
17:58 — On lying to club owners to book shows in the '70s 
19:13 — On promoting Devo’s first albums, and Stiff Records 
22:44 — On working with Brian Eno, their first major record deal, and meeting David Bowie 
27:41 — On Devo controlling and developing their own sound 
29:04 — On making “non-functional” experimental music versus dance music, and the role of taste in producing and creating 
31:58 — On studio musicians working across genres 
35:56 — On being compelled to create original art, regrets, and the paradox of the mainstream record industry 
39:17 — On playing poker, and the psychological relationship between poker and creative personas 
45:55 — On being an outsider, and Devo becoming “a badge of courage” 

This episode was recorded by Keenan Kush at Desert Daze. It was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Big thanks to Desert Daze for hosting the Talkhouse Podcast.

Find more illuminating podcasts on the ⁠⁠⁠Talkhouse Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠.
Visit ⁠⁠⁠talkhouse.com⁠⁠⁠ to read essays, reviews, and more.
Follow @talkhouse on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Twitter (X)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠.