Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

By NPR

Society & Culture

What's Bullseye with Jesse Thorn about?

Bullseye from NPR is your curated guide to culture. Jesse Thorn hosts in-depth interviews with brilliant creators, culture picks from our favorite critics and irreverent original comedy. 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." (Formerly known as The Sound of Young America.)

4.7

2,213 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

Jason Schreier on the rise ...

05.14.2021

For the better part of a decade, the video game industry has made more in revenue than Hollywood. Year after year, it's not even close. Some of the biggest blockbuster games can pull down a billion dollars within a week ...

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn episodes:

05.14.2021 Jason Schreier on the rise and fall of gaming's biggest studios For the better part of a decade, the video game industry has made more in revenue than Hollywood. Year after year, it's not even close. Some of the biggest blockbuster games can pull down a billion dollars within a week ...
05.11.2021 Ann Dowd Ann Dowd is a veteran actor. Her career began on the stage, first in Chicago, where she went to school, then in New York. She started appearing on screen in the '90s in shows like The Baby-Sitter's Club and Law ...
05.07.2021 The Song That Changed My Life: Doc Severinsen The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite artists about the music that made them who they are today. This time around, we're joined by American jazz ...
05.04.2021 Archivist and filmmaker Rick Prelinger Rick Prelinger is an archivist and professor at UC Santa Cruz. He's a collector of found and discarded footage: home movies, outtakes from industrial videos and never before seen b-roll from old feature films. Rick also co-founded the Prelinger Library ...
04.30.2021 William Jackson Harper William Jackson Harper won the hearts of fans as the sweet philosophy professor Chidi Anagonye on NBC's The Good Place. The role helped jump start his career and earned him a handful of award nominations including an Emmy nod. In ...
04.27.2021 Documentary Filmmaker Ric Burns Ric Burns has written, produced, and directed many documentaries over the last 25 years that capture fascinating narratives about different topics in American history. A few subjects he's covered include New York City, The American Civil War, The Chinese Exclusion ...
04.23.2021 Director Raoul Peck Raoul Peck makes sweeping, breathtaking, insightful films that marry the political to the personal. As a director, he's made both documentaries and feature films. That includes 2000's Lumumba about the assassinated Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba, 2016's Oscar-nominated I Am Not ...
04.20.2021 Remembering Jessica Walter Last month, the actor Jessica Walter died. She was 80 years old, her family says she passed away in her sleep. Her career spanned over six decades. She's starred in hundreds of on screen performances, from Arrested Development, The Alfred ...
04.16.2021 Nicole Byer Nicole Byer is a force of nature. She hosts two game shows and four podcasts. She also writes and does stand-up and improv. She's an Emmy-nominated actor. And if all that wasn't enough for you, she's a great follow on ...
04.13.2021 David Mitchell and Robert Webb British comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb have been making audiences laugh for over two decades. They began their career performing on stage and eventually transitioned to the world of television with their breakout sketch comedy shows The Mitchell ...
04.09.2021 Killer Mike Killer Mike first joined Bullseye all the way back in 2009. Since then, he's formed the supergroup Run the Jewels with partner El-P, he's appeared in films like Baby Driver and he hosted his own television series "Trigger Warning with ...
04.06.2021 Adam McKay Adam McKay's had a pretty eclectic career. He started in sketch comedy. First as a founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade, then as a writer on Saturday Night Live. He's collaborated with Will Ferrell to make some stone cold comedy ...
04.02.2021 Jon King of Gang of Four The post-punk band Gang of Four was an unstoppable force of danceable beats, abrasive guitar work and unflinchingly political lyrics. Formed in the late 70s in Leeds, England, core of the operation was vocalist Jon King and guitarist Andy Gill. ...
03.30.2021 Christopher Lloyd When you think of actor Christopher Lloyd, what's the first film of his that comes to mind? Is it the Back to the Future franchise where he starred as the unforgettable inventor Emmet "Doc" Brown? Perhaps it's the 1988 live ...
03.26.2021 Riz Ahmed Riz Ahmed has spent the last decade pursuing dual careers in acting and hip-hop. His work has been political, controversial, funny, subtle — the sort of stuff critics love — and it's found huge audiences, despite all that controversy. He ...
03.23.2021 Kim Deal of The Breeders With a little help from the smash hit "Cannonball" on their 1993 album "Last Splash," The Breeders became one of the biggest names in early '90s alternative rock. In 2018, we chatted with the band's lead guitarist and singer Kim ...
03.19.2021 Delroy Lindo, star of 'Da 5 Bloods' Have you seen the latest Spike Lee Joint? Da 5 Bloods? It's one of the best movies of 2020. It follows the story of four Black Vietnam war veterans who return to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. Officially, they're ...
03.16.2021 Poet Nikki Giovanni Nikki Giovanni is a Grammy-award winning poet, essayist and professor at Virginia Tech University. She's been creating beautiful, plain spoken prose that's knocked us off our feet since the 1960s. She's worked with James Baldwin, Maya Angelou and Mohammad Ali. ...
03.12.2021 E-40, rap legend He goes by many names: Forty Fonzarelli, Charlie Hustle, 40-Water or maybe you know him as the Ambassador of the Bay Area. When it comes to Bay Area hip-hop, E-40 quite possibly the greatest of all time. His distinctiveness has ...
03.09.2021 Kathryn Hahn It Was Kathryn Hahn All Along! Kathryn Hahn shows up just when you need her most in some of our favorite television series and movies of the past 15 years! She's appeared in Step Brothers and Anchorman, in Parks and ...
03.05.2021 Comedian Kate Willett on the Craziest Day of her Entire Career The Craziest Day of my Entire Career is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite people about some truly unbelievable stories. This time around, we're joined by the comedian Kate Willett. Her debut, ...
03.02.2021 Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart: Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea and more We're joined by film directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart—creators of the new animated film Wolfwalkers. The film is the third installment in their Irish folklore trilogy that includes 2009's The Secret of Kells and 2014's Song of the Sea. ...
02.26.2021 Terrace Martin Born in Los Angeles' Crenshaw District, Terrace Martin found a love for hip-hop early on. The kids growing up around him were freestyling and playing in backyard shows. He grew up in a jazz household, and got his start as ...
02.23.2021 Errol Morris Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris has a very unique style of storytelling. Part of his creative process includes the use of a device he invented called a "Interrotron." It allows the subjects of his films to look at him, the interviewer, ...
02.19.2021 Christian Jacobs of The Aquabats We're joined by Christian Jacobs, aka MC Bat Commander. He's the frontman for the SoCal band The Aquabats. The band got their start in the ska scene in the mid 1990s. Today, they perform as a genre-bending, family-friendly band with ...
02.16.2021 Holly Hunter Holly Hunter's had unforgettable roles in some of the best movies of the last 30 years. She's been nominated for several Academy Awards for her roles in films like Thirteen, The Firm, and Broadcast News. Her role in 1993's The ...
02.12.2021 Justin and Dr. Sydnee McElroy of the Sawbones podcast Buckle up folks, it's about to get weird and maybe even a little bit icky! Dr. Sydnee McElroy and Justin McElroy are here to share all the weird and fascinating stories most of us have never heard about medicine through ...
02.09.2021 Actor Steven Yeun: Walking Dead, Burning and more Actor Steven Yeun played fan-favorite Glenn Rhee for 6 years on AMC's wildly popular series The Walking Dead. He's also appeared in critically-acclaimed films Okja, Sorry to Bother You and 2020's Minari. He joined Bullseye in 2018 to talk about ...
02.05.2021 'All Creatures Great And Small' showrunner Ben Vanstone All Creatures Great and Small tells the story of a Scottish veterinarian who moves out to the English countryside. It started as a book series written under the pen name James Herriot. In each chapter, Herriot drives around the Yorkshire ...
02.02.2021 Ted Danson From his role as the lovable Sam Malone on the classic sitcom Cheers to his role as the goofy demon Michael on The Good Place, Ted Danson has made an indelible mark on our hearts playing the mischievous cad you ...
01.29.2021 John Wilson of "How to with John Wilson" John Wilson created the series "How To with John Wilson," one of our favorite new shows, a totally unique look at New York City, social anxiety, the pandemic and risotto. John joins Bullseye to chat about finishing a season of ...
01.26.2021 Fran Lebowitz Fran Lebowitz has lived in New York City pretty much her entire life. Her written work often provided American social commentary through her unique lens as a New Yorker. While her work is now iconic, it's been decades since she ...
01.22.2021 Natalie Palamides, creator and star of "Nate: A One Man Show" Comedian Natalie Palamides joins Bullseye this week to talk with guest host Carrie Poppy! Natalie and Carrie talk about Natalie's new Netflix special Nate: A One Man Show, what her parents think of her raunchy stand-up, and choosing to commit ...
01.19.2021 Isiah Whitlock Jr. This week, we're joined by actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. He played Clay Davis in the iconic television series The Wire. He's also appeared in some of our favorite films including Goodfellas, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, 25th Hour and last ...
01.15.2021 Robert Glasper, Grammy-winning R&B artist Robert Glasper is a Grammy award-winning pianist, producer and songwriter. He's worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop from Kanye West to Common. Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly features some of his outstanding keyboard work. To date, ...
01.12.2021 Freddie Gibbs, Grammy nominated rapper This week we're revisiting our 2019 conversation with rapper Freddie Gibbs. Freddie joined us to talk about his childhood growing up in Gary, Indiana, carving out space for himself as a rapper from the Midwest, and how he always knew ...
01.08.2021 Michael Ian Black We're joined by comedian and actor Michael Ian Black on an all-new Bullseye! He's a founding member of the comedy groups The State and Stella as well as a regular on the kind of talking head pop culture shows that ...
01.05.2021 Glynn Turman: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, marrying Aretha Franklin and more We're back with our first new episode of the year! It's already one of our favorites in recent memory. Actor Glynn Turman talks with us about his extraordinary life. You might know him as Clarence Royce on The Wire, or ...
12.29.2020 End of Year 2020 Comedy Special It's the most hilarious time of the year again! That's right, we're back for another End of Year Comedy special. This holiday season the staff at MaxFun HQ listened to countless hours of stand-up, considered thousands of punchlines, and subjected ...
12.25.2020 Why Bjork's "Post" is one of the greatest albums of all time "Canonball" is a segment on Bullseye that gives us a chance to take a closer look at albums that should be considered classics, to find out what makes them great. This time, Margaret Wappler makes the case for why Bjork's ...
12.22.2020 Dick Van Dyke Dick Van Dyke has been entertaining the public for over 70 years. He's a legend of stage and screen – The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie and so many more... and he's still performing today. He ...
12.15.2020 Bullseye's 2020 Holiday Spectacular! It's here! Bullseye's Holiday Spectacular has finally arrived and it's a jam packed episode! This year features interviews with guests like musician and actor Andrew Bird, actor and musician, Anika Noni Rose, and hosts of the new MaxFun podcast Tiny ...
12.11.2020 Cartoonist and Author Adrian Tomine Adrian Tomine is a cartoonist. Along with graphic novels like Killing and Drying and Shortcomings, he created the series Optic Nerve, which began publication in 1991. He's also made several classic covers for The New Yorker. His latest book is ...
12.08.2020 Roman Mars of 99% Invisible Roman Mars hosts the radio show and podcast 99% Invisible. It's a show about the little known stories behind everyday design and architecture. Prefabricated homes. Trash can design. Even those little ramps you see on sidewalk corners: how and why ...
12.04.2020 Phil Elverum of The Microphones, Mount Eerie This week we're revisiting our 2017 conversation with musician Phil Elverum. Phil is a singer-songwriter best known for the music he records as the bands the Microphones and Mount Eerie. Earlier this year he released a new album titled Microphones ...
12.01.2020 Ani DiFranco Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco has been making music since she was a teenager. For decades now, she's recorded and released her music on her own label, Righteous Babe Records. Her music is both autobiographical and political, with influences from funk, rock, ...
11.27.2020 Carrie Coon on 'The Leftovers,' 'Fargo' and 'The Nest' Guest host Linda Holmes interviews Carrie Coon about her
11.24.2020 David Cross Actor and comedian David Cross is our guest! While you may know him best for his stand-up comedy and roles on shows like Arrested Development and Mr. Show, David joins Jesse to talk about his newest endeavor - a dramatic ...
11.17.2020 David Letterman This week, our guest is David Letterman. The one and only. He and Jesse talk about the Late Show, about his triumphs and failures, and latest TV show: My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, on Netflix.
11.13.2020 A$AP Ferg We're joined by rapper A$AP Ferg of the A$AP Mob. Born Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr., he grew up in Harlem in an area dubbed "Hungry Ham." His music is hard to define but if you had to you'd need ...

Older episodes