On today's episode, I talk to Eisner Award-winning comics writer Kelly Thompson. After graduating with a degree in Sequential Art from The Savannah College of Art & Design, Kelly began her career as a novelist, penning two books in the early 20-teens, The Girl Who Would Be King and Storykiller. She soon began writing comics with some creator-owned series through Dark Horse and Boom, as well as on the IDW series Jem & The Holograms, among many others. This led to writing for Marvel, where she's written many critically acclaimed and well-loved books including Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Deadpool, Uncanny X-Men, Rogue & Gambit and Hawkeye, among many others! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musicians Kathryn Calder and Mark Andrew Hamilton. Kathryn and Mark have been making music in different bands for years. Kathryn is a member of The New Pornographers, has released three albums under her own name and was in the indie pop group Immaculate Machine from 2003 to 2011. Similarly, Mark's primary band since the mid-aughts has been Woodpigeon, who have released over two dozen albums and EPs since their formation. After a chance meeting in the hallway of a recording studio, the two vowed to form a band together one day, and in the late 20-teens, they did just that! Their first self-titled album was released in 2018, and their latest Parade was just released last week on Oscar St. Records! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to rapper, academic and politician Mariah Parker AKA Linqua Franqa. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Mariah wears many hats. As an academic, they earned their master's in Linguistics at the University of Georgia in 2017 and are currently a doctoral student in Language and Literacy Education at the University. As an activist and politician, Mariah ran for and won county commissioner in District 2 of Athens, Georgia. And as a rapper, they've released two wonderful albums, Model Minority in 2018 and their latest Bellringer, which was just released on Ernest Jenning Record Co., and it's great! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Carey Mercer. Originally from Okanagan, British Columbia, Carey formed the band Frog Eyes in the early 2000s out of the ashes of his former band Blue Pine. From 2003 until 2018, they wrote and released almost a dozen albums and EPs on labels like Absolutely Kosher and Dead Oceans. And in that time, Carey also released a number of solo albums, as well as with the supergroup Swan Lake featuring Destroyer's Dan Bejar and Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug. In 2018, Frog Eyes disbanded, but four years later they are back with a new album The Bees, which is out on Paper Bag Records, and as usual, it's fantastic! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer and actor Andrew Farmer. Originally from Florida, Andrew is a recipient of the 2018 Jonathan Larson Grant, and his work has been produced at The Museum of Modern Art, Ars Nova, Playwrights Horizons Downtown, Joe’s Pub, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Walker Space, Theater Aspen and The Yale School of Drama. As a podcaster, he hosted the long-running Forever Dog podcast Scary Stories to Tell On the Pod, and as a TV writer, he's written for Miracle Workers and the forthcoming animated show Praise Petey. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer Dan Erickson.  Originally from Olympia, Washington, Dan earned a Masters in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School before moving to LA where he worked a number of day jobs and journeyman writing jobs for places like Super Deluxe and things like Spike’s Lip Sync Battle Pre-Show. In 2016, his hourlong pilot, Severance, became the first TV script ever included on The Bloodlist, an industry list of the best unproduced scripts. This led to a meeting with Ben Stiller's production company, and eventually the show Severance, which is easily one of the best of the last decade. Its first season on Apple TV+ is just wrapping up, and it's already been renewed for a second! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to actor, writer and improviser Lennon Parham. Born in Marietta, GA, Lennon was acting from a young age, but it was when she moved to New York and started improvising at UCB that her career began in earnest. Performing on a number of house teams at the theater, Lennon eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she booked a regular role on the sitcom Accidentally On Purpose. Since then, Lennon's been a working actor, has had recurring roles on shows like Veep and Lady Dynamite, has had other regular roles on shows like Bless This Mess, and co-created and co-starred in two fantastic shows Best Friends Forever and Playing House. Currently, Lennon is part of the cast of the HBOMax series Minx, airing now! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to rapper Rollie Pemberton AKA Cadence Weapon. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Rollie began rapping as a teenager, and released his first mixtape Cadence Weapon Is the Black Hand at the age of 19. He released his first album Breaking Kayfabe just a little later, and since then he's released four more albums, all of which were nominated for Polaris Music Prizes, with his latest Parallel Worlds winning the award in 2021. Rollie was also named as Edmonton's Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2011, and today, the deluxe edition of Parallel Worlds is out via MNRK Music Group! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode, I talk to comics creator Kevin Huizenga. Originally from South Holland, a small town of Dutch immigrants in the suburbs of Chicago, he attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is where he started drawing the influential mini-comic Supermonster. After moving to St. Louis, Kevin started the comic book series Or Else, the strip Leon Beyond with Dan Zettwoch, as well as his acclaimed series Ganges. Much of Kevin's work has been published by Drawn & Quarterly; he's won five Ignatz awards and been nominated for Harvey and Eisner awards; and he's constantly creating mini-comics which you can get on his website - one of my most recent favorites is his Rumbling series, but you'll never go wrong with anything he makes! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.