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• Our own Graham Clark, co-host of Stop Podcasting Yourself, has launched my favorite web series of 2012 to-date: “Graham Clark Wilderness Man”. This is must-see internet.
• Eugene Mirman has announced that his first hour-long standup special, Eugene Mirman: An Evening of Comedy in a Fake Underground Laboratory will premiere on Comedy Central at midnight on Dec. 14th. Rumors are suggesting that it will include a theremin. If you’re in NYC, he’ll also be hosting a free simultaneous watching event / celebration at Bell House in Brooklyn.
• The State Department recently invited party-rocker Andrew WK to perform at the US Embassy in Manama. He quickly announced on his own website that he would be a “cultural ambassador” who would unite the human race “with love and partying.” But, sadly, it was not to be. The State Department, shortly after reviewing his “entire body of work” rescinded the invitation. Andrew tweeted later that he believed the trip had been cancelled solely "because I'm too party."
• Louis CK will release his fourth HBO special in early 2013. It will be filmed at one of the stops on his current tour. Good news for you folks without cable: he will eventually make it available as a $5 download from his website.

  

• Your long wait is over: here is Brandon Bird’s T-mas Card for 2012. Fa la la la la, Fool!
• Saddest comedy news of this holiday season: Wyatt Cenac is leaving the Daily Show. His last appearance will be on December 13th - the show’s last edition for this year.
• Happiest news: Both Key and Peele and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell have been renewed for another season.
• Bonus news: Hodgman on both 30 Rock AND the Daily Show this evening. Stay in. Make popcorn.

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Here's where you can find some of our favorite people this week:

Asheville, NC - They Might Be Giants at The Orange Peel on Sept. 28th;

Atlanta, GA - Adam Corolla at the Tabernacle on Sept. 30th;

Baton Rouge, LA - Brian Posehn at the Manship Theater on Sept. 26th and 27th;

Bloomington, IL - The Comedy Attic will feature Jackie Kashian and Maria Bamford on Sept. 22nd, 23rd and 24th and Doug Benson (taping an episode of Doug Loves Movies) on Sept. 26th;

Boston, MA - The Wilbur Theater will host Bill Burr on Sept. 23rd and 24th and Louis CK on Oct. 1st; Das Racist will be at the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub on the 28th;

Canton, MA - The Hold Steady will appear at the Life Is Good Festival on Sept. 24th;

Chicago, IL - They Might Be Giants with Jonathan Coulton at The Vic Theater on Sept. 23rd;

Colorado Springs, CO - Doug Benson at The Black Sheep on Sept. 21st;

Des Moines, IA - Demitri Martin will appear at Hoyt Sherman Place on Sept. 23rd;

Detroit, MI - Chris Tucker will perform at the Fox Theater Detroit on October 1st;

Indianapolis, IN - They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton at The Vogue on the 22nd; Doug Benson at Crackers on Sept. 25th; Chris Tucker at the Murat Theater at Old National Center on Sept. 30th;

Louisville, KY - The Improv will host Marc Maron on Sept. 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th and Doug Benson on October 1st; Bob Edwards will be appearing to promote his new book, "A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio", at the Filson Historical Society on the 22nd;

Madison, WI - Dave Atell will at the Comedy Club on State on Sept. 23rd and 24th;

Miami Beach, FL - Chris Tucker will be at the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater on Sept. 24th;

Nashville, TN - They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton at the Cannery Ballroom on Sept. 27th;

New Haven, CT - Das Racist will play at Toad's Place on Sept. 29th;

New Orleans, LA - Chris Tucker at the UNO Lakefront Arena on Sept. 23rd;

New York, NY: Colson Whitehead will be doing a book signing at McNally Jackson Books as part of the New Yorker Festival on October 2nd; He'll also be participating in a panel discussion about Alternative Realities at SVA Theatre on Sept. 30th;

Omaha, NE - Demitri Marin will be at the Omaha Music Hall on Sept. 24th;

Ottawa, ON - Greg Proops will be performing "Whose Live Anyway?" at the Centrepointe Theater in Ottawa, ON on Sept. 23rd;

Philadelphia, PA - The Hold Steady at the Popped Music Festival on Sept. 23rd; They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton at the Theater of the Living Arts on Sept. 30th.

Portland, OR - Scott Thompson and Kevin McDonald perform "Two Kids, One Hall" at Helium on Sept. 22nd, 23rd and 24th; Tig Notaro at Mississippi Studios on Sept. 28th;

Providence, RI - Das Racist at The Met on Sept. 30th;

Raleigh, NC - Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson performing "Two Kids, One Hall" at Goodnights on Sept. 29th, 30th, Oct. 1st and 2nd;

Richmond, VA - They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton at the The National on Sept. 29th;

Salt Lake City, UT - Jimmy Pardo at Wiseguys Comedy Club on Sept. 30th and Oct. 1st;

Sayreville, NJ - Brian Posehn at the Starland Ballroom on Sept. 30th;

Seattle, WA - Demitri Martin at The Neptune Theater on Sept. 30th and Oct. 1st;

St. Louis, MO - They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton at The Pagaent on Sept. 24th

Tulsa, OK - They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton at Cains Ballroom on Sept. 25th;

Ventura, CA - Doug Benson at the Ventura Harbor Comedy Club on Sept. 28th;

Washington, DC - Das Racist at the 9:30 Club on October 1st.

Tweet Did you catch the sweet two-episode set of "Louie" last night? One of the shows featured flashbacks to Louie's early days in standup and his relationship with a comic who started out with him. In the final flashback, Louie reveals that he has been asked to appear on Letterman. From there, we know that Louie goes on to success and acclaim, but his friend does not. It's a classic and moving story of how even close friends can evolve and slowly grow apart.

Apparently our good friend Adam Lisagor (of "Put This On") was so intrigued by the episode that he searched through the interwebs to find video of the referenced Letterman appearance and posted it on his Tumblr, Lonely Sandwich.

Here it is:



Adam also had a great observation about the set:

"Louie CK’s first appearance on Letterman, 1995.

Referenced on last night’s Louie (with a young Louie portrayed confusingly by a kid who looks less like Louie in ‘95 (anybody else see some Fincher in there?) and more like Ham from The Sandlot.

Louie, from this point in his career, shows every bit of the brilliance he does now. And still, it’s refreshing to see him tell one of the worst hacky 90s jokes ever written, at the very end of his set. Still figuring shit out. Just like the rest of us."

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If the comedy nerd next to you just looked up from his laptop with tears of relief and joy in his eyes, it's probably because FX just announced that the network has renewed Louis C.K.'s Emmy-nominated show "Louie" for a third season.

That's my best guess, anyway. Truly wonderful news.

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• More worth watching from Louis CK: his visit to The Tonight Show, talking about white privilege. You can find clips from the interview here.
  
  
• Worlds collide: Bubbles of The Trailer Park Boys meets Bubbles of The Wire?
  
  
• Two burly and sometimes bearded comedians, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis will star in a political comedy timed to be released with the 2012 election.
  
  
• Comic, writer and producer Dana Gould teams up with Marty Krofft (believe it, both past TSOYA guests!) on a movie based on the 70s kids show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Krofft is also recreating more of your childhood memories with an H.R. Pufnstuf film.
  
  
• And finally, Kurt Braunohler gets to "the real" Kristen Schaal in a very funny interview on Comedy Central's Portable Lounge.
  

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• A preview of the upcoming animated show Bob's Burgers will air on Fox on Thanksgiving night. Bob's Burgers follows Bob and his family, who run a burger joint. Four of the five main characters are voiced by alums of The Sound: comedy writer H. Jon Benjamin, comedians Dan Mintz and Eugene Mirman and actress and comedian Kristen Schaal.
  
  
• An HBO special, Talking Funny, featuring comedians talking about comedy, is in the works with Louis CK alongside other greats like Ricky Gervais.
  
  
• Writer, actor and comedian David Wain has a new project, Cartoon Show, in development with IFC. The show "follows a large cast of iconic cartoon characters as they struggle to produce a daily variety TV show."
  
  
• Writer Harmon Leon visits one of the cultural sites of California's Interstate 5 highway, Pea Soup Andersen's. It is not what he is expecting.
  
  
• And finally, a new video from art rock band Les Savy Fav for their song "Let's Get Out of Here". Lead singer Tim and guitarist Seth joined us for a special set of songs at the live WNYC show a few weeks back, so look forward to a podcast of their set to be posted tomorrow!

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• I couldn't be more excited about Jason Segel's new Muppet movie, especially now that Zach Galifianakis is attached. Above, Zach with Animal and Sgt. Floyd Pepper at the Webby Awards earlier this year.
  
  
• Greg Kot, host of NPR's Sound Opinions and music critic for the Chicago Tribune, takes on one of all-time biggest debates in rock music with his new book, The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones: Sound Opinions on the Great Rock 'n' Roll Rivalry.
  
  
• In other music analysis news, legendary rapper Bun B has confirmed that he'll be joining the faculty of Rice University to teach “Hip Hop and Religious Studies” this upcoming spring.
  
  
• Elijah Wood will star in the new FX series Wilfred, about a guy and his alcoholic dog. The show is based on an Australian show of the same name.
  
  
• Wilfred follows on the heels of several great shows FX has done recently, including Terriers with Donal Logue and Louie, the current project of comedian and writer Louis CK, who's been a guest on TSOYA on multiple occasions. Louie is available now on Netflix instant streaming. The show is a satirical look at a comedian's life in New York City post-divorce, and is by turns trippy, realistic, and poignant while being consistently funny. If you haven't caught it on FX, Season 1 of Louie is now streaming on Netflix.
  
  

Nathan Rabin and Josh Modell join Jesse to recommend the best of popular culture. Nathan chooses Louis CK's Louie and the new film The Kids Are All Right. Josh Modell chooses Inception and Children's Hospital.

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Great Americans

The brilliant comedian Louis CK has been a guest on our program on a number of occasions over the years. As I recall, the first time he appeared was nearly ten years ago, promoting the DVD release of "Pootie Tang." More recently, he's become a repeat guest on one of our favorite public radio shows, Fresh Air. In fact, we liked his last interview so much that we embedded it on this here blog.

Unfortunately, it seems that the folks at Mississippi Public Broadcasting didn't like the interview as much as we did. In fact, they disliked it so much that they pulled Fresh Air from their stations. This was reportedly prompted by the fact that the station plays as the "hold music" on the University telephone system, and a caller to the University who was put on hold happened to jump into the Louis CK conversation just as Gross was asking if he always kept his shirt on during sex. This one person was SCANDALIZED, and it led directly to an appropriate and proportional reaction on the part of MPR: dropping one of the best radio shows in the world.

This was the statement that MPB Executive Director Judy Lewis released to explain the decision:

Mississippi Public Broadcasting strives to deliver educational, informative, and meaningful content to its listeners. After careful consideration and review we have determined that Fresh Air does not meet this goal over time. Too often Fresh Air’s interviews include gratuitous discussions on issues of an explicit sexual nature. We believe that most of these discussions do not contribute to or meaningfully enhance serious-minded public discourse on sexual issues.

Of course, this thesis is absurd on its face. Fresh Air won a Peabody - the most prestigious award in broadcast news - because it's very, very, very "educational, informative and meaningful." Gross also won an Edward R. Murrow award, the most prestigious award in all of public broadcasting, in 2003. If you still need convincing that Gross and Fresh Air meet the goal of "educational, informative and meaningful content," check out this video of another of our heroes, Ira Glass, giving Gross a National Book Award.

This incident is of particular concern to us here at The Sound of Young America not just because we create a show with a format similar to Fresh Air's, or because Terry Gross is a personal hero of mine, but also because much of our show is focused on humor, and that seems to be the real target of the ban. Louis CK is, in my professional opinion, the single most insightful, "meaningful" comic working today, and he is no less insightful and "meaningful" in an interview context. Ms. Lewis' statement, to our eyes, seems to imply the age-old falsehood that the work of a comedian, because it's funny, doesn't "contribute to or meaningfully enhance serious-minded public discourse." That's directly contrary to the values upon which we've built this show. I've often said that one of our goals on The Sound of Young America is to demonstrate that you needn't be "serious" to be "serious-minded." In my mind, one of Fresh Air's most redeeming attributes is Gross' warmth and openness to the insights that can come from humor, though she herself is not a humorist. That's certainly one of the attributes I have most tried to emulate.

For these reasons, we'd like to stand with Fresh Air and our colleagues and heroes Louis CK and Terry Gross, and we've come up with a plan.

For as long as Mississippi Public Radio continues to unjustly bar one of broadcasting's best programs from its air, The Sound of Young America is hereby banning itself from Mississippi Public Radio. Mississippi Public Radio doesn't carry The Sound of Young America, and they probably weren't considering carrying it, but that won't stop us from snipping any potential consideration of carriage that might occur in the bud, should it happen to unexpectedly appear. WE'RE JUST THAT PRINCIPLED.

That's right: you mess with Louie and Terry, YOU MESS WITH US. Whether you KNOW WHO WE ARE or whether you are COMPLETELY UNFAMILIAR AND UNINTERESTED IN US AND OUR PROGRAM.

Consequences be damned.

We've started an "I'm Banning Myself From Mississippi Public Radio" Facebook page, so if you're ready to join us, sign up!

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Great, as always.