PEN15’s Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle

26th March 2019

Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle join us to talk about their new coming of age show on Hulu Pen15 and what it feels like playing a thirteen year old version of themselves.

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Photo: Jesse Thorn
Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle on their new Hulu show ‘Pen15’
Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle join us to discuss their new coming of age show Pen15. It’s a show about middle school. Or, more accurately: it’s about a version of middle school you might have actually experienced.The show is set in the year 2000 with plenty of cuts from N*SYNC and Lit and Mandy Moore. The characters wear Bebe tanks, Ruff Ryders shirts and UFO pants. It’s a show about kids that definitely isn’t for kids – sex and menstruation come up a bit, for example. The show digs deeper into what it means to be 12 or 13. A time in your life when a lot of kids are very, very insecure.

On Pen15, Maya and Anna play middle school aged versions of themselves. They’re best friends. Maya has a bowl cut. Anna has braces. They’re starting 7th grade at the beginning of the show and while 6th grade wasn’t great, they have a pretty good feeling that this year is gonna be different.

Maya and Anna tell us how they mined stories from their own lives to make the show. And why they cast Richard Karn – yes, Al from Home Improvement – as Maya’s dad.

Pen15 is now streaming on Hulu

Listen to this interview on YouTube!

In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Guests

  • Maya Erskine
  • Anna Konkle

About the show

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.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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Senior Producer

Producer

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Maximum Fun Production Fellow

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