On today's episode, I talk to comics creator Farel Dalrymple. Originally from Tulsa, OK, Farel Dalrymple has been creating comics for over two decades. While attending the School of Visual Arts in New York, he was one of the founders of the Meathaus Collective, who published the Meathaus comics anthology. And since then, he's written and illustrated a wide range of comics, worked with Jonathan Lethem on Omega the Unknown and created numerous creator-owned books like The Often Wrong, Proxima Centauri, It Will All Hurt, Pop Gun War and The Wrenchies. Many of these are on Image; all of them are worth your time! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to musician Dave Portner AKA Avey Tare of Animal Collective. Originally from Baltimore County, Dave met his future bandmates Josh, Brian and Noah in high school where they played music together, but it wasn't until they all found themselves in New York in the early-aughts that they officially became Animal Collective. The first album as Avey Tare, Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished, also doubles as the first Animal Collective album, and since its release on FatCat in 2000, they've written 10 more albums, the latest of which, Time Skiffs was released on Domino last year. On his own, Dave has written and collaborated on over half a dozen albums and EPs, and his latest, 7s, came out just last week, also on Domino! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi, Couples Therapy, can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to actress Emma Paetz. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Emma realized she wanted to act for a living while au pairing in Paris. She moved to London where she studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and was primarily a theater actor for a long time. While she's had roles in shows like The Looming Tower and Gentleman Jack, her first starring role was as Martha Kane in the canceled-too-soon show Pennyworth, all three seasons of which you can still watch on HBO Max! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to actress Elina Löwensohn. Originally from Bucharest, Romania, Elina emigrated to the US as a child under somewhat harrowing circumstances. She studied acting and started performing in theater productions in New York and was hired by Hal Hartley after he saw her in play. She starred in a number of his films including Simple Men, Amateur and Flirt, and in the last 30 years, has acted in everything from Schindler's List to Seinfeld to Basquiat to A Very Long Engagement, and this is just a small sampling of her work! Most recently, Elina starred in the excellent experimental sci-fi film After Blue (Dirty Paradise)! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to musician Damian Abraham. Originally from Toronto, Damian has been playing in punk bands since he was a tween. In 2001, he formed Fucked Up with Mike Haliechuk and has been the lead singer ever since. They've recorded six albums and dozens and dozens of EPs and other recordings on labels like Arts & Crafts, Merge and Matador. Damian is also the host of the interview podcast Turned Out a Punk, which has featured many of the same wonderful guests you've heard on Beginnings. Fucked Up's latest album One Day was just released last week on Merge, and like everything else they do, it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's 13th anniversary episode, I talk to Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award winning TV and film writer Terence Winter. Originally from Brooklyn, Terry became a lawyer before giving it all up to move to LA to pursue a career in screenwriting. Starting on shows like Xena: Warrior Princess and sitcoms like Sister, Sister, Terry eventually became a writer for The Sopranos, which he wrote on for most of its run. Since then, he created the wonderful HBO show Boardwalk Empire, wrote the screenplay for The Wolf of Wall Street, and co-created both Vinyl and the new Taylor Sheridan/Sylvester Stallone show Tulsa King, which just wrapped up its first season on Paramount+. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated comics creator Jim Zub. Jim began his comics career making webcomics starting in the early aughts, but it was with his Image book Skullkickers, which allowed him to break through to a wider audience. Since then he's written other creator-owned work for Image like Wayward and Glitterbomb, as well as numerous books for DC and Marvel including most notably The Avengers and Thunderbolts. Speaking of Thunderbolts, Jim is currently writing the latest series of that, as well as a Murderworld miniseries, a Conan series for Titan Comics and much, much more! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musicians Alba Torremocha, Melissa Carter, and Lillie McDonough AKA the band ALMA. Hailing from all over the world, the New York-based trio officially formed in 2019 out of a shared delight in harmonizing and experimentation. Later that year, they were named an NYFA Fellow for their genre-pushing work and the following year, were awarded an Awesome Foundation Grant. Then in 2021, they released their first album MOSAIC to acclaim! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here!

On today's episode, I talk to theater and TV director Sheldon Epps. Originally from Compton, CA, Sheldon's decades-long career in entertainment has spanned both the stage and television. He was a co-founder & the associate artistic director of the off-Broadway theater The Production Company, conceived and directed the Duke Ellington musical Play On!, which received three Tony Award nominations, and was the artistic director at the Pasadena Playhouse for two decades. For television, Sheldon has directed episodes of Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, Hannah Montana, Sister, Sister, and many, many more, and he was a producer/director for the hit UPN/CW show Girlfriends. Most recently, just this fall, Sheldon's memoir My Own Directions: A Black Man's Journey in the American Theatre was published - check it out! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.