Transcript
jesse thorn
It’s Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. My next guest is Steven Van Zandt. You might know him better as Little Stevie, the guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.
music
Bright, upbeat rock plays.
jesse
Or maybe you know him as an actor. He starred in the Netflix show, Lilyhammer, and he played Silvio on the legendary drama The Sopranos.
sound effect
Music swells and fades.
clip
Speaker (The Sopranos): You’re under arrest for violation of title 2C chapter 37 section 2 of the New Jersey penal code: promoting gambling. Silvio: Yeah, go ahead. Last year, I made bail so fast my soup was still warm when I got home.
sound effect
Music swells and fades.
jesse
He can sing, he can act, he can play guitar. In other words, this is a guy who’s led an interesting life. He recounts all of it in Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir, the months-long tours, recording sessions, international fame, the ups, the downs, the many, many, many head scarves. [Music fades in.] And of course, his solo music. Here’s a song from his band, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, “Tucson Train”.
music
“Tucson Train” from the album Summer of Sorcery Live! At the Beacon Theatre by Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul. I got so down and out in ‘Frisco Tired of the pills and the rain I picked up, headed for the sunshine I left a good thing behind [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
jesse
Steven Van Zandt, welcome to Bullseye. I’m happy to have you on the show.
steven van zandt
Good to be with you, my friend.
jesse
So, I’ve been recording this show mostly remotely the last couple years, for obvious reasons. I get to like look through the video conference into people’s offices and houses and places where they’re recording. And I just wanna start by acknowledging that you’re basically recording in the perfect little Stevie Van Zandt themed environment, there. [They laugh.]
steven
Purely by accident, I assure you.
jesse
Surrounded by tapestries and like a 1959 jukebox.
steven
Well, yeah, I guess so, huh? Now that you mention it. [Jesse chuckles.] We usually are upstairs in the kitchen, but the—yeah, I’m very rarely down here. So, I’m not sure what’s behind me.
jesse
I’m grateful to have you, grateful you took the time. Do you remember what the first rock record that you were obsessed with was?
steven
Um, it would’ve been one of several, ‘cause I wore a couple of singles out, which wasn’t easy to do in those days. It was either “Sherry” by The Four Seasons, “Twist & Shout” by The Isley Brothers, could’ve been “Pretty Little Angel Eyes”. You know, somewhere in there. [Chuckles.]
jesse
Were those songs that you heard on the radio?
steven
Yeah, this would’ve been like ’61, ’62. You know, would’ve been—we had, you know—the AM radio back then was great, before—you know, long before FM. Yeah, they were—that’s the only place you would’ve heard it would be on the radio. American Bandstand was on by then.
sound effect
Music swells and fades.
clip
Host: Couple of very nice automobiles will go to two lucky winners that you selected in the American Bandstand dance contest. Our special guests of the day are Underground Sunshine. It all happens here, right after this word. Listen to the sound of this record and you can figure out why this group is the most talk about group of its day. Mr. Crosby, Mr. Stills, Mr. Nassssh. Music: “Marrakesh Express” from the album Crosby, Stills & Nash by Crosby, Stills & Nash. Looking at the world through the sunset in your eyes Traveling the train through clear, Moroccan skies Ducks and pigs and chickens call Animal carpet, wall-to-wall American ladies, five foot tall, in blue [Music fades out.]
jesse
What did your parents think of that music?
steve
Well, that was the thing that was interesting. I talk about this in the book. You know? The invention of the portable record player really allowed for these things to take place without your parents’ knowledge. [Chuckles.] Which was essential, I would say. And as I said, without that portable record player, I’m pretty sure rock and roll would not have happened, because you would’ve had—you know, the old record players, for those of us who are older—the record player was built into this piece of furniture in the living room, which also had the one TV and the one radio in the house. You know? And everybody had the same thing for some reason. And so, the living room record player had to have your parents’ approval. It was right in the middle of the house. You know. I don’t think—I don’t think rock and roll would’ve even survived had that been the—you know, necessary. Fortunately for us up and coming, trouble-making teenagers, the portable record player was invented so we could play them to death in our own rooms.
jesse
Did you think immediately, when you were young, like, “This is what I want from my life.”
steve
No. No, not ‘til—I mean, not ‘til the British Invasion, at which point it was my life. It became my life. You know. The—up until this, I was just buying singles and disconnected, really, from it. I didn’t even particularly associate the records with the artists that much. You know? I don’t know. I was just kind of a slow, dumb kid, really. But—
jesse
I don’t know if that’s it. I think when you’re a kid—I have so many vivid feelings and memories about “Jump For My Love” by The Pointer Sisters. [They chuckle.] And it’s because it passed through my life and was very important when I was five years old. You know what I mean? [Steve agrees.] You know. Like those—“The Freaks Come Out at Night” by Whodini. This is the same place in my mind. And it wasn’t about—I had no idea about like—Whodini had great outfits and everything. I didn’t even know about that. [They laugh.]
steve
Well, you had “The Freaks Come Out at Night” and I had “Satisfaction”. So, what can I tell you? You know? [Chuckles.]
jesse
I mean, they’re great records. [They laugh.] That’s the category we’re talking about, here.
steve
Yeah. So, yeah. You know, and it was very lucky, growing up when we did.
jesse
Well, the British Invasion hit when you were like the perfect age to be transformed. You know what I mean? [Steve agrees.] Like, you were like entering adolescence and like ready to be a new kind of person. You know what I mean?
steve
Yeah, and feeling like I really didn’t fit in with any of the options society was offering. You know? So, that was the other factor. You know what I mean? I wasn’t comfortable somewhere else and had to be moved to this new world that the British Invasion was revealing, this world of bands, which was really what it was all about. You know? We never saw a band until the British Invasion. You know? You went to your high school dance; it was instrumental groups. [Music fades in.] You didn’t see four or five guys playing and singing. You just didn’t see it. And so, the entire culture would be changed, February 9th, 1964.
music
“Twist and Shout” from the album Please Please Me by The Beatles. Work it on out Well, work it on out, honey (work it on out) You know you look so good (look so good) You know you got me going, now (got me going) Just like I knew you would (like I knew you would) [The audience cheers.] Well, shake it up, baby, now (shake it up, baby) Twist and shout (twist and shout) Come on, come on, come on, come on, baby, now (Come on, baby) Come on and work it on out (work it on out) You know you twist, little (twist, little girl) You know you twist so fine (twist so fine) Come on and twist a little closer, now (twist a little closer) And let me know that you’re mine (let me know you’re mine) [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
jesse
I mean, what’s wild to me about it, as somebody who is a different age from you, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around how fast the culture around rock music changed during a time when you were like a teenager. You know what I mean? Like, you go from pre-British Invasion, through the British Invasion. You—you know. It’s hard for me to understand [chuckling] that the Beatles went from dorks doing corny R&B covers to like the like most important pop musicians of their generation to like the most progressive pop musicians of their generation in like three years or something. [They laugh. Steven agrees.] You know, and then like hippies changed the world and then were done 18 months later. [Laughs.] You know what I mean?
steve
Yeah. No, it was like that. It was—time was very, very different in the ‘60s. You’re absolutely right about that. It’s hard to explain. We had a major trend that happened every year of the ‘60s. British Invasion, ’64. Folk rock, ’65. You know. Blues rock, ’66. Psychedelic, ’67. Country rock, ’68. Southern rock, ’69. And then the great fragmentation in the ’70s. But it was just like huge, huge changes and something remarkable happening every month or two. You know. Here comes—you know—one band after the other, incredible, legendary bands. And then, you know, by the way, here’s this kid—Jimi Hendrix—and here’s this, you know, Procol Harum, and here’s—you know. Jefferson Airplane and The Doors and The Stones and The Who and The Kinks and The Hollies. You know? And Dusty Springfield and Curtis Mayfield and, you know. And just Motown, alone. You know, a ridiculous roster of geniuses, you know? Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and The Temptations, The Four Tops. You know. One after the other. You know. Martha and the Vandellas. And we just took it for granted that this extraordinary renaissance was never gonna end. And of course, it couldn’t last, and it didn’t. And like I said, by ’69, ’70, the major trends—genre trends that would take over the entire culture and made us very much a monoculture for those years, fragmented into some singer-songwriters over here to heavy metal over there and everything in between, starting in 1970 or so. And we would never be—we would never be that monoculture again. But huge changes were taking place very quickly. Very quickly.
jesse
We’ll have even more with Steven Van Zandt soon. We haven’t talked nearly enough about playing in a band with Bruce Springsteen, which is something he’s done a fair bit of in his career. So, we’ll get into that after the break. It’s Bullseye, from MaximumFun.org and NPR.
music
Thumpy rock music.
jesse
Welcome back to Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. My guest is Steven Van Zandt. For decades, he has played guitar in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. He also had starring roles on shows like The Sopranos and Lilyhammer. He has a new memoir out, called Unrequited Infatuations. Let’s get back into our conversation. I was trying to think of like what are the things that strike me as distinctive about what it is that you do. Like, what are the things that tie together The Asbury Jukes and the work you’ve done with Bruce Springsteen and your own stuff and the records that you’ve produced, and so on and so forth. Right? One of them is that thing that you talked about, about wanting to be in a band. And it’s not just the form of the band, but like the vibe of band-ness. Like, a lot of your work is basically about being buddies. [Chuckling.] You know what I mean? [Steve confirms.] Like, communicating the spirit of buddy-ness. The other is that like right as you were becoming a professional musician, around 1970, you were in like a rock world that was… not just fracturing into lots of kinds of rock music, although it was. You know. There was heavy rock was getting heavy and there was all other kinds of things happening. But also, like rock was transitioning out of being dance party music and you have always been committed to getting a party started. You know what I mean? In a way that you can’t say about Led Zeppelin or whatever. [Steve chuckles.] Led Zeppelin, great band. I’m not putting down Led Zeppelin. I don’t think Led Zeppelin needs me defending it. But like you—like, all of your work has always involved a certain amount of like, “Let’s all get down.” Like, “Let’s have a party.”
steve
Well, most of it, yeah. I think… [Music fades in.] One way or the other, I am motivated to motivate you. It may be dancing. It may be voting.
music
“Vote!” from the album Voice of America by Steven Van Zandt. Vote that mother out Uncle Sam wants you Uncle Sam wants you We’re coming to get you [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue then fades out.]
steve
I think you’re right; most of it has some motivating factor, let’s put it that way, which comes out of the origin of us being a dance band in the first place. Which most of the great bands were, from the ’60s and early ’70s. We kind of brought that back with Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes ‘cause by ’73, ’74, that trend had long ended. People had stopped dancing to rock and roll by ’68, ’69. But we kind of brought that back because, in the bar world—the bar band world—it never stopped. You know, the bar band world, you had to get people dancing. People still danced in bars. That’s what the bar owners wanted, because you dance, and you get thirsty, and you drink more, basically. So, that was a prerequisite, a requirement in the bar world, which was kind of existing in its own little—you know, parallel universe. And that’s where we really made our bones. We made our bones in that ’74, ’75 years in The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, as a dance band. Just like the Beatles were a dance band in Hamburg and The Stones, you know, in Richmond. And The Who and The Kinks and The Animals. All of those groups were dance bands in the beginning. And why does that matter? Well, now you transition into a concert band, but you still have that extra energy that you needed to pull people out of their chairs and make them dance. You know? That is an aggressive—you know, part of your DNA. You never lose that. So, that makes—that’s why we and the ones I mentioned are some of the most exciting bands in the world, because you still have that motivation to pull you out of the chair and make you dance. You know? Or at least get your blood moving and with the hope that, you know, if your blood is moving, it’ll get to your brain and make you think better. You know?
jesse
You had known Bruce Springsteen since you were a kid, a teenager. But you weren’t in the first band that he played with after he got his record deal. You had [chuckles] sort of been—that idea had kind of been floated and rejected at the very beginning. When the E Street Band was formed, did the bunch of you like have a conversation or did Springsteen tell you like, “This is why I want to do this thing this way or this is why we wanna do this thing this way.”
steve
No, I don’t think there was much verbal discussion about what we were doing. You know. My dog, here. [Faintly.] This is my dog… getting antsy.
jesse
[Laughs.] A really excellent dog delivery just happened, for our listeners at home.
steve
[Chuckles.] Um, no, there wasn’t—there wasn’t that sort of intellectual—you know, strategizing going on. No, it was all very instinctive.
jesse
But I mean, you must have known something that you wanted, because in—like, in the intervening time, you had even quit the business for a little while. You know. It’s not like Springsteen was making huge hits. He was still trying to figure out how to put over what he was doing. And like, so everybody had had this time to kind of marinate on it. And it seems like there was a lot of mission involved. You know what I mean?
steve
Subconsciously, perhaps. You know. Instinctively. But not literally. We started to feel, as one could easily do today, like things were slipping away. Like, important things were slipping away. That’s what it felt like in the early ‘70s. Yes, everybody was obsessed with being modern and new and you could tell—you started to feel, oh. The renaissance was finite. [Chuckles.] It’s not going to continue. It feels different now, because of the fragmentation and because of the hybrids. We’re not gonna see that complete originality ever again. And there was something about going to the source of that complete originality, as close as you can get to it, and taking your identity from that that would make you stronger. You know? That’s what we felt then and I feel it now. You know? I mean, my stuff, it’s never been timely, which makes it timeless. [Chuckles.] And so, you get—you get—you listen to it, and it doesn’t fit in anywhere. But there’s an intrinsic quality to it that I would put up against anything, ever. Because I made a point of that. You know. The greatest part of what we do is something that you make a decision about. And I’m chasing greatness all the time. I seek it out wherever I can. I support it when I find it and I try and achieve it, always. That’s all I care about. And so, that has its own currency. It may not be monetary, but it has a certain currency. It’s why people, you know, always respect my work. You know. They—you know, they may not buy it [chuckling] in big quantities, but I’ve always had that respect. And even live—same thing, live. And it’s something that—it’s a fealty. You know? It’s a certain respect and honor and loyalty to where we come from. And for some reason, that’s our thing. You know? And it's all of our—it’s our Jersey kind of thing, man. You know? And I continued it on the radio show. You know. You hear it in my radio network; the stuff we play is the best music ever made, in my opinion. And that includes 1000 new bands doing it, today.
jesse
I was reading you describe a tribute to Italy when you had some hit records in Italy. And these were your hit records. And you were like describing being recognized on the street, and—which was, you know, for your albums that had your name on them and feeling kind of odd about that and like, “Maybe this is not what I wanted from my life.” And I wonder if you thought that’s what you wanted? Like, were you, you know, the consummate second in command in the E Street Band and in The Jukes and so on and so forth, because that’s where you wanted to be? Or did you think you wanted to be somewhere else?
steve
Yeah, no. I never wanted to be in front. I never had that desire. It happened kind of by accident and by me getting into politics, which I felt—you know, this is not really a band thing. I’m kind of—I’m kind of taking a stand, here, on very controversial politics—you know, political situations. It’s not really something you can tell a band to go down with the ship. You know. It gets—you know. I’ve had my life threatened and etc., etc.—so, you know, you kind of… you know. The solo thing became something I just felt I had to do at the time, but it was never something I wanted to do. Never. And I realized that when I had those—I happened to have those two hits on the one album. You know, I was doing my usual thing, walking down the street, and suddenly there’s hundreds of kids attacking me. [Laughing.] You know? And that’s—you’re supposed to like that! You know what I mean? You’re supposed to say, “Oh! I’m a success! This is what I wanted!” And at that moment, I said, “I don’t like it! I don’t like this, okay? If this is what being a superstar is, I don’t like it.” I wanna create greatness. I wanna create great records and do great TV shows and whatever I’m gonna do. But I don’t need to be the star. You know? I know that’s—you know, through the years, you learn that you kind of have to be, if you really wanna—if you really wanna have enough power to do what you need to do, a little bit of celebrity doesn’t hurt. You know? [Jesse chuckles.] But if it was up to me? I would just be the writer/producer. I’m just fine with that. You know what I mean? I don’t need to be the performer. I don’t need to be a celebrity. I really—you know. I do not wanna be mobbed by a bunch of kids when I’m trying to go have a cup of coffee.
jesse
I mean, it’s funny because you are both like—you couldn’t be—you’re obviously like the most consummate side-man or second in command. Like, there is no greater symbol in popular music. With all due respect to Jerome from The Time, like there’s— [Steve laughs.] There’s no [chuckling]—there’s no greater support piece than you in a band. But also, like in so doing, you are also almost absurdly distinctive in doing that. Right? Like, you have— [They keep stumbling into laughter.] Like, you’re—I can see you right now. You are dressed as Stevie Van Zandt. You know what I mean? Like, there’s no mistaking. So, it’s not like—so, you’re also the furthest thing from anonymous. You know what I mean? [Steve reluctantly agrees.] And it’s kind of an interesting in-between place to be, even in The Jukes. You know, like sure, you’re not the lead singer, but you’re right there! You know what I mean? Like, you’re not hiding in the wings.
steve
No. You know, I know what you mean. And that just goes along—I guess this just goes with the territory of any kind of performance. You know. As soon as you [chuckles] step onto that stage, you’re gonna have some of that. You know. And you know—and you want some of that. You do. You know. You want to… you want people to like you and like what you do and appreciate what you do. You know. Again, it has its limits. You know. [Chuckles.] For me, like you know, I’d just rather—I would rather not be the guy in the spotlight all the time. I just don’t wanna live that way. I want to occasionally be able to observe and not be observed. You know. So, uh, you gotta find your way—find your way to do that. I mean, that’s one good thing about living in New York City. You can hide in plain sight. You know, pretty much. But I just—I know what you mean. But that’s—you know. Some of that’s okay. I mean, you know, you’re gonna—you’re gonna get some respect because you do good work. And that’s—you know. You want that. You do want that.
jesse
We’ll wrap up with Steven Van Zandt after a quick break. Stay with us. It’s Bullseye, from MaximumFun.org and NPR.
promo
Music: Exciting techno music plays. Tre’vell Anderson: Hey there, beautiful people! I’m Tre’vell Anderson. Jarrett Hill: And I’m Jarrett Hill. We are the hosts of FANTI, the show where have complex and complicado conversations about the grey areas in our lives, the things that we really, really love sometimes but also have some problematic feelings about. Tre’vell: Yes, we get into it all. You wanna know our thoughts about Nicki Minaj and all her foolishness? We got you. You wanna know our thoughts about gentrification and perhaps some positive?—question mark?— Jarrett: Uh-oh. Tre’vell: —aspects of gentrification? We get into that, too! Every single Thursday, you can check us out at MaximumFun.org. Listen, you know you want it, honey, so come on and get it! [Jarrett laughs.] Tre’vell: Period! [Music fades out.]
music
Thumpy synth with light vocalizations.
jesse
I’m Jesse Thorn. You’re listening to Bullseye. I’m talking with musician and actor, Steven Van Zandt. His new book is called Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir. Let’s get back into our conversation. Did writing the book change the way that you thought about your life? I mean, you are—in a way—forced to reflect.
steve
The one thing that I must say that I feel a little bit better about—all my life, I thought, “Well, could I have stayed in the E Street Band and still done what I did?” You know, still done the seven solo albums and the Sun City project and The Sopranos and Lilyhammer and—you know. And in my fantasies, I’ve always thought, “Yeah, I could’ve found a way to do that.” But when you go back and live it, you realize that’s just ridiculous. There’s no way that could’ve happened. You know? You know, you couldn’t go to Bruce at the peak of Born in the U.S.A. or whatever and said, you know, “By the way, Bruce—you know, would you mind? I’m gonna take six months here and see if I can become an actor.” You know. Thaaat’s not gonna happen. So, I think I’m more at peace with the decision I made at the time, which very much seemed like the end of my life. And I think that’s how the book can be useful for some people, because sometimes when you think your life is over, and I really did. You know? I wasn’t changing jobs when I left the E Street Band. I was ending my life. There was no plan B, after that. And, um, you know. Everybody’s gonna hit that wall, I think, in their life—in their lives, sooner or later. You’re gonna be disappointed. You’re gonna be—you know, depressed. You’re gonna—your job or—it’s not gonna work out. Something’s gonna happen. It’s—you feel like you’re done. And if you can find a way to hang in there and just find some way to survive and move forward without being decimated by drugs or alcohol or suicide, all of which I considered—if you can find a way to get past that and move forward, destiny will surprise you. Everything I’ve done in my life, pretty much, that has value happened after I thought my life was over. And I think that can be instructive. You know? Hopefully, that can be inspirational to somebody who thinks their life is over. “And look what he did [chuckling] after his life was over! He did everything!” You know? Every—virtually everything that matters after it was over. So, I think destiny can surprise you if you can—if you can find a way to, you know, just keep moving forward somehow.
jesse
I mean, you got to join back up. You get to be in the E Street Band as long as you want, now! [Steve agrees.] You guys’ll be—you guys’ll be 95 years old doing three-and-a-half-hour concerts.
steve
Yeah. We’ll be 95, waiting for the COVID thing to end. [Chuckles.]
jesse
That’s fair.
steve
Waiting for the new variant to go away. Yeah.
jesse
So, there’s one other thing that I wanna ask you that’s pretty stupid, which is—somebody suggested this to me, and I was like man, I really wanna know the answer to that. It is: so, you are probably—the most famous image of you onstage is probably sharing a microphone with your friend, Bruce Springsteen. The two of you yelling into the same microphone with your scarf flowing behind you. You know. And his gorgeous puss right up against yours. When you guys are doing that, are you spitting on each other? [Steve chuckles.] Like, is that a hazard in doing that?
steve
This is what keeps you up at night?
jesse
I don’t know! Somebody said, “Are they spitting on each other when they do that?” And I’m like I don’t—I kinda wanna know whether they’re spitting! It seems like they probably would be!
steve
Let’s see, let’s see. We’re losing 3000 people a day to COVID. Russia’s attacking the Ukraine. China’s about to take over Taiwan. You know? We’re about to lose our democracy in America. And that’s what you’re worried about? [Laughing.] That’s what you’re thinking about?
jesse
You know what? One time I interviewed—one time I interviewed Larry King and I asked him about his interviewing technique. I learned way more than I expected from interviewing Larry King. And the question that he said—that he gave as an example of a question he was really proud of was asking a pilot when the plane took off if he knew it was gonna land. [Steve giggles.] And sometimes a dumb question is a good question. As soon as someone suggested to me “are they spitting on each other”, I had to know the answer.
steve
The answer is no. [Chuckles.] [Jesse affirms.] If you must know. Absolutely not.
jesse
Well, Stevie Van Zandt, I sure appreciate you taking the time to be on the show. It was really nice to get to talk to you.
steve
Yeah, my pleasure, my friend.
jesse
Steven Van Zandt. His new book is called Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir. [Music fades in.] Before we end things, let’s go out on a tune from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, one on which Little Stevie played. We let Stacey Molski, Maximum Fun’s very own child of New Jersey, pick the tune. This is “Rosalita”. Little Steven on guitar and backup vocals.
music
“Rosalita” from the album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Spread out now, Rosie Doctor come cut loose her mama’s reins You know playing blind man’s bluff is a little baby’s game You pick up a little dynamite, I’ll pick up a little gun [Volume decreases and continues under the dialogue.]
jesse
That’s the end of another episode of Bullseye. Bullseye is created from the homes me and the staff of Maximum Fun, in and around greater Los Angeles, California. My eight-year-old, Oscar, took my power drill and disassembled the playhouse that was in the backyard. [Chuckles.] It’s now a pile of sticks and he also made a few swords out of it. The show is produced by speaking into microphones. Our senior producer is Kevin Ferguson. Our producers are Jesus Ambrosio, Valerie Moffat and Richard Robey. We get booking help from Mara Davis. Our interstitial music is by Dan Wally, also known as DJW. Our theme song is called “Huddle Formation”, recorded by the group The Go! Team. Thanks to them and to their label, Memphis Industries, for sharing it. Bullseye is on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find us in all those places, follow us. We’ll share our interviews with you. And I think that’s about it. Just remember: all great radio hosts have a signature signoff.
promo
Speaker: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR. [Music fades out.]
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.
If you would like to pitch a guest for Bullseye, please CLICK HERE. You can also follow Bullseye on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. For more about Bullseye and to see a list of stations that carry it, please click here.
Get in touch with the show
@bullseye
@bullseyewithjessethornPeople
How to listen
Stream or download episodes directly from our website, or listen via your favorite podcatcher!
