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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."
Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

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Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

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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."

Most Recent Episodes

Steven Universe's Rebecca Sugar

Rebecca Sugar speaks on stage during Steven Universe presentation at New York Comic Con in 2019 Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ReedPOP hide caption

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Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ReedPOP

Steven Universe's Rebecca Sugar

Rebecca Sugar is behind some of the most magical shows on Cartoon Network. They started as a storyboard artist on Adventure Time. And went on to create the acclaimed cartoon Steven Universe in 2013. This year is the show's 10th anniversary! We're celebrating by revisiting our interview with Rebecca in 2019. They chatted with us about the process behind making Steven Universe and their favorite cartoons as a kid. Plus, how they deal with feedback from fans.

Steven Universe's Rebecca Sugar

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Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers of the band Chic performs at Bridgestone Arena on June 13, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers has been in the game for over fifty years. He's a founding member of the band Chic, and he's produced songs for some of the biggest names in music like Madonna, David Bowie and Daft Punk. On Bullseye, we're looking back at our interview with Rodgers in 2011. He joined us to talk about his book, Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny. Plus, his religious experience watching the band Roxy Music live for the first time.

Nile Rodgers

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Devendra Banhart on the song that changed his life

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Dana Trippe

Devendra Banhart on the song that changed his life

Singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart tells us about a beautiful, cinematic, heartbreaking song performed by the legendary Venezuelan singer Simón Díaz. He talks about the songs impact on him as a writer, performer, and a Venezuelan-American.

Devendra Banhart on the song that changed his life

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Comedian George Wallace

LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 06: Comedian/actor George Wallace performs during the 44th annual Labor Day Telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association at the South Point Hotel & Casino September 6, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Ethan Miller/Getty Images hide caption

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Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Comedian George Wallace

George Wallace has been doing stand-up for almost 50 years. He came up in New York – his roommate was Jerry Seinfeld. Wallace's humor, like Seinfeld's, is observational. The stakes are usually pretty low, the punchlines and wordplay pretty frequent. Which is to say, a George Wallace joke from the '80s can still kill today. The man is a legend and he joins us to talk about his decades long career as a stand-up comedian.

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Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

Jillian and Mariko Tamaki are talented graphic novelists. And if you didn't already know, the two are also cousins. They've collaborated on three projects so far that cover themes like sexual expression and queerness. Their latest is Roaming. On Bullseye, they chat about the project and the art of under-explaining in comics. Plus, they reflect on what it was like to be thrust into a heated national censorship debate with the launch of their indie graphic novel, This One Summer.

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Daniel Clowes

US cartoonist Daniel Clowes poses on January 31, 2017, in Paris. THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images

Daniel Clowes

Daniel Clowes is an award-winning writer and comics artist. He penned the Eight-Ball series and Ghost World, among others. This year, he released a graphic novel inspired by his attempts to learn about the life of his late, largely absent mother. It's called Monica. On Bullseye, he chats about the novel and the time he spent researching his family history. Plus, the things he learned about his mom that he can't unlearn.

Daniel Clowes

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Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, on the song that changed his life
Jamie Kelter Davis

Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, on the song that changed his life

His name is Will Oldham. You might know him better, though, as Bonnie "Prince" Billy or Palace or as half of the folk rock group Superwolves. His work has spanned three decades now and earlier this year he released his twenty-first Bonnie "Prince" Billy album. It's called Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You. When we asked Oldham about the song that changed his life, he picked a spare, interior, haunting song. One that, we'll admit, we hadn't heard before - "Horses" by Sally Timms.

Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, on the song that changed his life

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Jack Handey
Jack Handey

Jack Handey

Yes, Jack Handey is his real name. He's one of the best to ever write for Saturday Night Live: Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, Giant Businessman, Toonces the Driving Cat, Deep Thoughts. In his post SNL career, Handey's written more for the page. There's his countless columns in the New Yorker and now, his latest novel: Escape from Hawaii: A Tropical Sequel. He talks about all that, plus we ask him (very nicely) about why he initially declined to come back on the show.

Jack Handey

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Fashion Designer Carla Fernández

"Carla Fernández. L'avenir fait main" in Paris at la Galerie du 19M Elea Jeanne-Schmitter/Galerie 19M hide caption

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Elea Jeanne-Schmitter/Galerie 19M

Fashion Designer Carla Fernández

Carla Fernández is a Mexico City based fashion designer who creates new clothes inspired by traditional, indigenous garments of Latin America. Her work is a revolutionary approach to fashion and is absolutely breathtaking. Carla joins us on Bullseye to talk about her "Manifesto de moda Mexicana," thrift shopping and so much more.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.

August 31, 2022: Dale Earnhardt Jr. at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Harold Hinson hide caption

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Harold Hinson

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a stock car racing legend. He's won more than two dozen races and has been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He's since (mostly) retired from racing and recently gotten into writing. His latest release is a children's book called Buster Gets Back on Track. Dale Jr. joins the show to talk his racing career, about writing, and about why he collects wrecked cars from races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

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