Maria Bamford and George Saunders (R)

Episode notes

Maria Bamford: Comedy’s OrchidMaria Bamford‘s comedy is weird and wonderfully distinctive. For example: she recorded her last stand up special at home, in her living room. The seating? Her couch. The audience? Her parents. She performed her set with breaks “off-stage” to take cookies out of the oven and administer medicine to her pet pug. Her comedy takes on a number of difficult issues, ones that are personal to her — mental illness, suicidal thoughts, or tough family dynamics (she describes her family’s favorite pastime as “Joy Whack-a-Mole”). But she doesn’t use humor as a shield. She uses it to confront an issue, point-blank.

Bamford talks to us about why she chose to perform a special in front of her parents, processing awful experiences or feelings into jokes, and why she describes herself as “the orchid of comedy”.

The Special Special Special is available now and streaming on Netflix. Her new Comedy Central CD / DVD special, Ask Me About My New God is now available.

This interview originally aired on 2/12/13.

Embed or Share this interview with Maria Bamford

Dan Deacon on “The Song That Changed My Life”Dan Deacon is a Baltimore-based composer and electronics musician who has released over a dozen albums since 2003. He talks about why a player piano composition by Conlon Nancarrow changed his life and the way he made music.

This interview originally aired on 1/03/12.

Embed or Share this interview with Dan Deacon

George Saunders on Creative Challenge and Financial PressureGeorge Saunders could have been a geophysicist. In fact, he was one. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and worked in the oil fields of Sumatra. He came to fiction writing a little later in life, attending Syracuse University’s creative writing program (where he now teaches).

Saunders is now well-recognized as one of the greatest short story writers and satirists of our time. He’s been awarded a MacArthur “Genius” grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship, along with piles of literary accolades for his collections, which include Pastoralia and CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. His stories often explore a world much like our own, just slightly more grotesque — societies that are terrifying and recognizable. His writing is incisive, sad, and also really funny. His collection, Tenth of December, is available now in paperback.

Saunders talks to us about how people interpret luck and what they do with it, drawing inspiration from a disturbing dream, and unyielding financial pressure (the kind that doesn’t even lift when you win a major award).

This interview originally aired on 2/12/13.

Embed or Share this interview with George Saunders

The Outshot: William Carlos Williams’ “Danse Russe”Jesse ruminates on alone time and… William Carlos Williams’ “Danse Russe”.

This segment originally aired on 2/12/13.

Embed or Share this Outshot on William Carlos Williams’ “Danse Russe”