Talkhouse Podcast

Hey Talkhouse listeners, it's Josh Modell. Instead of a new episode this week, we're resurfacing a great one from a few years back between Blondshell and Maya Hawke. Blondshell, aka Sabrina Teitelbaum, released a new song recently and she's about to hit the road for a big tour. Maya Hawke is an actor who just signed on to star in the upcoming Netflix show The God of the Woods and she makes great records as well. Check it out! —Josh Modell, Host of the Talkhouse Podcast  On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast we’ve got two performers who’ve got friends in common, and became fast friends themselves while recording this chat: Maya Hawke and Sabrina Teitelbaum. Maya Hawke is best known for her day job as an actor, most visibly in a little show called Stranger Things, and she was also in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and the new Wes Anderson movie, Asteroid City. But as you’ll hear in this chat, she might be most excited by a side path as a singer and songwriter. Hawke has released two understated but fantastic albums so far, and she’s basically finished another. The vibe is sort of indie-folk, sort of floating and ambient but lyrically really engaging. She’s worked with some cool folks to realize her musical vision, including Christian Lee Hutson, who’s the “Christian” referenced in this conversation, just so you know. ⁠Check out⁠ a “Sweet Tooth” from Hawke’s 2022 album Moss right here. Sabrina Teitelbaum just released her debut album under the name Blondshell, and it’s one of the best of 2023 so far. She describes it in this conversation as an emergency album—meaning a bunch of songs that she felt almost desperate to write, record, and unleash on the world. It’s direct and angry in spots, but also darkly funny and completely unafraid. She’s toured with the likes of Horsegirl and Porridge Radio, which might give some indication of what you’re in for. Or I could just play you Blondshell’s opus, “Salad,” right here. ⁠Check it out⁠. These two have a fantastic conversation, and just in case it’s not clear from the context, they’re both good friends with the singer Samia, and each has contributed to a Samia covers series called Honey Reimagained. Blondshell did a song called “Charm You,” which is available now. Elsewhere in this chat, they talk about Hawke’s playing “body air guitar,” the weird emotional hit you get when a tour is finished, and the difficulties of stage banter. Enjoy. 0:00 Intro 3:20: Start of Conversation 3:21: On mutual friends and covering songs 4:58: On “perceived vulnerability” and perspectives in their songwriting 9:08: On sad songs, music you can play for friends, and “Olympus” 10:57: On the writing and jazz experiences that inspired Maya’s music 12:48: On the physicality of performing, feeling the music, and performance art 14:41: On playing live, post-tour loneliness, and active vs. passive time 20:06: On maintaining friendships 21:17: On Maya’s latest record 22:54: On onstage banter, scripting shows, and keeping shows fresh 25:53: On finishing a record and learning from the experience 27:43: On music serving as a snapshot of an artists’ life 28:26: On promoting music creatively and authentically, and social media 33:19: On the songwriting process, and tv show narratives’ influences on our experiences 38:40: On being inspired by friendships 42:13: On Maya titling her album “Moss” 43:40: On writing about past pain, and trying to balance it with joy Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Sabrina Teiltelbaum and Maya Hawke for chatting. 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 latest episode of Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That, Nick Dawson sits down with one of the greatest living documentary filmmakers, Kirsten Johnson, the director of Cameraperson and Dick Johnson is Dead. In a very personal conversation that draws on their shared history around death and their parents, the two talk about their mutual pursuit of connection, Johnson growing up in the shadow of an imminent apocalypse, the truly remarkable dream she had while shooting in Sudan, a great story about Stephen Colbert’s hands, the disappointing way in which she and a legendary artist have not been collaborating, 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!

"You guys were The Stooges for me... You were KISS. You were everything."

Nick Dawson sits down with Charles Lane, the writer-director-actor behind the landmark indie film classic Sidewalk Stories.

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.