On today's episode I talk to writer Dave Hill. Dave is originally from Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he was raised in a family of carnies, gamblers, hell-raisers and story-tellers. He spent over a decade traveling the United States and Canada as a union organizer before settling down in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and three children. He was a regular contributor to Grantland and a writer for the UCB Theater in New York City, and his work has been featured on This American Life, in New York Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, McSweeneys, and many more. David's first book, "The Vapors", a hybrid memoir/history of Hot Springs was just published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and I can't recommend it more! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Shamir Bailey. Originally from North Las Vegas, Shamir's music career took off relatively quickly after signing to XL Recordings at the age of 19. The push and pull between what Shamir wanted to do and what the label wanted him to do though eventually ended with them dropping him a few years later. After a psychiatric hospitalization, Shamir began making the music he wanted to make, and his latest album Cataclysm, just released in March, is incredible. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician, producer, composer and founding member of Deerhoof, Greg Saunier. After graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1991, Greg formed the band Nitre Pit, which a few years later became Deerhoof, and in the last 25 years, the band has released 15 albums on labels like Kill Rock Stars and Joyful Noise. Outside of Deerhoof, Greg has played with many bands, including Nervous Cop with Zach Hill and Joanna Newsom, and Rolling Stone called Greg, Zach and Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale "a generation of trailblazing 21st-century avant-rock percussionists". Deerhoof's latest album Future Teenage Cave Artists was just released at the end of May. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to cartoonist Ben Passmore. Originally from Massachusetts, Ben has been writing and illustrating comics since he was a child. He's created comics like Daygloayhole, the Eisner Award-nominated and Ignatz Award-winning comic collection Your Black Friend, and BTTM FDRS with Ezra Claytan Daniels, which was published by Fantagraphics last year. In addition, he is a regular contributor to the daily satirical publication The Nib.. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to writer and stand-up Dan Levy. Originally from Stamford, CT, Dan has been performing comedy since he was nine years old, and while in college, performed stand-up as much as possible. This lead to him winning "Funniest College Comedian in America" at the 2001 Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, which jumpstarted his career. He's hosted shows on MTV, has his own Comedy Central Presents special, and has written for numerous shows including Whitney, Mulaney, and The Goldbergs. This all culminated in the creation of his own show Indebted, based on his relationship with his parents, which is now streaming on Hulu. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Thao Nguyen. Originally from Falls Church, VA, Thao began playing music as a young teenager, but it was with the release of her first album Like the Linen in 2005 that her actual career began. Her next album We Brave Bee Stings and All, her first with the Get Down Stay Down, was released on Kill Rock Stars to general acclaim, and since then, her albums, whether with the Get Down Stay Down or collaborations with musicians like Mirah, are all fantastic and well worth your time. Her latest, Temple, was just released in May by Ribbon Music. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to Eisner-Award winning comics creator Rob Guillory. Born, raised and currently based in Lafayette, Louisiana, Guillory is most known for his eight-year run on Image Comics’ Chew. The book went on to achieve much success, winning two Harvey Awards (including Best New Talent for Guillory), two Eisner Awards, and has been translated into a dozen or so languages. Rob is currently the writer & artist on his hit creator-owned series Farmhand from Image Comics. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Jimmy Flemion. Jimmy and his brother Dennis began playing music together in the late '70s in a number of different groups, eventually forming the band The Frogs in 1980. Since then, the band has vacillated between cult status and mainstream success, championed by such musicians as Billy Corgan, Kurt Cobain, Beck and Eddie Vedder, and releasing albums on labels like Matador and Scratchie. Though Dennis passed away in 2012, Jimmy continues to write and record music, recently touring backed by Even Dando of The Lemonheads. At the beginning of April, The End of All Music released The Frogs' previously-unreleased very first studio album 1st. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to playwright and composer Michael R. Jackson. Originally from Detroit, Michael holds a BFA and MFA in playwriting and Musical Theatre Writing from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He wrote book, music, and lyrics for the musicals White Girl In Danger and A Strange Loop, which received its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York City in 2019. A Strange Loop became an off-Broadway hit garnering Michael a number of nominations including the Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Awards among many others. For his work Michael has also received a Whiting Award for drama, a Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, and most recently, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.

On today's episode I talk to musician Dennis Callaci. Raised in Upland, California, Dennis has bounced around Southern California his entire life.  He runs the legendary indie record label Shrimper, noted for bringing forth the earliest recordings from Amps For Christ, Woods, Franklin Bruno, Lou Barlow's Sentridoh, The Mountain Goats, Dump, and a few hundred other releases over the course of the last thirty years.  He is also in the band Refrigerator who have released twelve records over those thirty years, as well as solo records by Callaci & collaborations with John Davis, The Debts, and Simon Joyner. Dennis' latest project, 100 Cassettes, which is a quasi-memoir based on his installation at the dA Center for The Arts, was just published in February by Pelekinesis. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.