MikeyPod

I’ve been watching Matt Koff’s new comedy special Cat Man all week — it’s out now on YouTube — and this week I got to talk with Matt about it. He’s an Emmy-winning Daily Show writer and the winner of New York’s Funniest Standup 2023. We talked about the cultural discomfort around men who love cats, and the very real divide Matt has clocked between Manhattan audiences (who think men with cats are weird) and Brooklyn audiences (who emphatically do not). As a fellow middle-aged cat dad, I related more than I’d like to admit.

We also got into how Cat Man came together: self-financed, shot in two shows on a single night at the Comedy Cellar, and made with a crew of longtime Daily Show colleagues who transformed the Village Underground into something out of David Lynch by way of The Muppet Show. And we talked about the shift from being angry about not being famous to being relieved about it — a turn that, for Matt, has a lot to do with the grease stains on his shirts.

Matt Koff is a Brooklyn-based stand-up and Emmy-winning TV writer who has been at The Daily Show for 13 years. His debut comedy album, Who’s My Little Guy?, is out on 800 Pound Gorilla Records, and he’s written for The Onion and the Trevor Noah-hosted White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Be sure to check out the bonus conversation with Matt dropping on Patreon! Find it here on my Patreon page.

You can find Matt at mattkoff.net and at mattkoff.substack.com.

Thank you to everyone who’s stuck around while I find my rhythm again with this podcast. And what a conversation to come back with! I got to talk with writer and performer Mike Albo about his new audiobook, Hologram Boyfriends: Sex, Love and Overconnection, out now on Macmillan Audio. We got into desire as an energy — where it lives, how it’s changed since the smartphone made it portable — and what it’s been like to watch gay men shift from pariahs to culturally marketable, which Mike describes as a kind of whiplash. We also talked about the live performance pieces woven into the audiobook and how they came together at the Parkside Lounge.

Mike Albo is a writer and performer whose novels include Hornito, The Underminer, and Another Dimension of Us, alongside the memoirette Spermhood and the novella The Junket. He’s written for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, GQ, and TED, and was the Critical Shopper columnist for the New York Times. His solo shows have toured the US, Canada, and the UK.

There’s a bonus conversation with Mike dropping Wednesday for Patreon subscribers — we get into his writing process, which surprised me so much it came up in my therapy session that week. Find it here on my Patreon page.

Connect with Mike:
Website
Substack

Photo of Mike Albo by Eric McNatt

The video version of this podcast can be found on my YouTube channel.

I loved talking with finance creator Leila Kartforosh for this weeks episode! Leila is a microbiologist turned financial coach and content creator who also happens to be my very own financial coach, too. We talk about her transition to self-employment, the significance of authenticity in her YouTube videos, and the surprising evolution of her relationship with money.

Leila Kartforosh is a personal finance coach and content creator behind the brand Personal Finance with Leila – Debt Over It. After spending five years paying off over $82,000 of her own debt, she left her corporate career to help others get clarity and control with their money. She shares simple, practical, judgment-free strategies on budgeting, debt payoff, and wealth building through YouTube and one-on-one coaching. Outside of finance, Leila loves reading and staying active in the gym!

Connect with Leila:
YouTube channel 
Website

A video version of this interview can be found on my YouTube Channel.

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who receive bonus episodes for this show, among other perks. Learn more at patreon.com/michaelharren

This week’s episode brings back writer and musician Brett Gleason, and I was so happy to reconnect with him! We talked about a couple of big shifts he has made recently: leaving New York for LA after twenty years, and his move from music to writing. It was cool to realize we had both made similar changes in our late thirties, though that was nearly twenty years ago for me!

Brett and I also discussed one of his songs, “Sensory Deprived,” why he values the process of writing, and so much more. I’m always so excited to have the chance to talk with Brett, and I know you’ll love this episode, too.

Brett Gleason is the author of the confessional memoir in progress, ‘Moody & Gay’ – focusing on his experiences as a bipolar, gay musician from New York. A creative writing graduate of the New School in NYC, he moved to Los Angeles after a career as a performer and recording artist and is now once again writing while working in the music industry as a marketing professional. 

Brett writes to make the unseen seen, to find the truth behind the story, even when he was at fault. This creates writing that is often intimate and vulnerable, literary but straightforward. His works in progress can be found on his Substack.

A video version of this interview can be found on my YouTube Channel.

Connect with Brett:
Website
Substack
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Brett where we get a little saucy!  Learn more right here!

I loved this conversation with writer and zinester Ayun Halliday. We got into her new book Panther City, an illustrated comedy set in the pre-bicentennial Midwest, and talked about how she captured the emotional intensity of childhood without losing the humor and weirdness of that age. The book’s dual-narrator structure gave us a lot to chew on, not to mention the little mysteries she plants along the way.

We also talked about our own childhood memories, how kids learn about the world from each other, and why those early peer moments feel so high-stakes. From there, we shifted into the incredible story behind Panther City’s illustrations—drawn by Ayun’s nine-year-old pen pal, Leni Yow-Fairs. The whole process is exactly the kind of DIY magic I adore Ayun for.

Ayun and I also dug into creative habits: the pull between festivity and focus, the joy of making work for its own sake, and her long relationship with self-publishing—from traditional book deals to the handmade, decades-long world of The East Village Inky.

Based in New York City, Ayun Halliday is a writer, illustrator, performer, and the creator of the legendary zine The East Village Inky, now in its 27th year. She’s the author of books including The Big Rumpus, No Touch Monkey!, Job Hopper, and Peanut, and her newest work, Panther City, blends humor, nostalgia, and the messy emotional landscape of childhood. Her work often mixes cartooning, memoir, and social observation, grounded in a fiercely DIY spirit and an instinct for finding depth in the small, strange corners of everyday life.

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Ayun where we talk about procrastination and the creative process!  Learn more right here!

After a three-year hiatus, I’m excited to be back with MikeyPod. This conversation with Kevin (as a robot) Laibson is exactly what I needed—it cracked open things I’ve been grappling with in my own work.

I’ve been thinking about AI and human interaction as I work on my creative projects, and Kevin is exploring these same questions through performance. He’s a director and performer working at the intersection of live performance and emerging technology. His solo show The Harmnf—an adaptation of Chekhov using AI tools—is a meditation on failure, alienation, and our relationship with technology. We talk about directing AI actors, how the show evolved, and what he’s learned about human error and connection when technology mediates everything. This is the kind of peer thinking I need—someone building serious work at the edge of what performance can be.

Get tickets for this weekend’s performance of The Harmnf right here.

Based in New York City, Kevin Laibson is a director, performer, and educator working at the intersection of live performance and emerging technology. As a mixed-reality artist, he explores what happens when human creativity meets AI and code. His work has been featured at SXSW, SIGGRAPH, and venues including National Sawdust, The Flea, and Abrons Arts Center. He’s served as Artistic Director of Magic Futurebox and The Peoples Improv Theater, and currently leads XR performance research at Agile Lens in collaboration with institutions like the Royal Shakespeare Company and NYU. His solo performance The Harmnf—an adaptation of Chekhov using AI tools—is a meditation on failure, alienation, and our uneasy relationship with technology.

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Kevin!  Learn more right here!

Pianist and composer Sophia Subbaya Vastek joins me today to discuss her new album, In Our Softening. I am completely enamored with this album, our conversation about Sophia’s music, and the magnificently imperfect instrument that inspired it. Enjoy this conversation, and be sure to check out the entire album as well!

Based in Troy, NY, Sophia Subbaya Vastek moves quietly between musical worlds and defies easy categorization. She has been described as “a wonder” and “audacious” (Inactuelles), and as performing with “passion and profound tenderness” (Second Inversion) and “serene strokes and lyrical beauty” (Brooklyn Rail). Her debut album Histories was released on innova Recordings in 2017, produced by multiple Grammy-winning engineer Adam Abeshouse. Second Inversion described the album as “both an homage to Vastek’s own individual histories but also a beautiful mosaic of the larger cultural intersections of our world—and how we weave those histories together through music.”  She has since released the EP Lili, as well as several recordings and singles spanning multiple genres. Sophia has toured internationally across three continents.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
05:38 The Seas that Made Us – Sophia Subbayya Vastek
10:35 Conversation with Sophia Subbayya Vastek
36:05 After Stardust – Sophia Subbayya Vastek
40:05 Outro

Follow Sophia Subbayya Vastek on Instagram, YouTube, and Bandcamp.

Photo of Sophia Subbayya Vastek by Kiki Vassilakis

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Sophia Subbayya Vastek!  Learn more right here!

I’d love to have you in the Discord server! Think of it as a big chatroom where we can talk about whatever without the typical social media negativity and randos harshing our vibe. There are a few of us active in there right now and we’ve been discussing gratitude, podcast guests, and a bunch of other stuff. If you want to join the community, you can join right here. I’m happy to help if you need it!

Thinking of starting your own podcast? Do it! I’m a big fan of Blubrry for podcast hosting! You can get a month free hosting, or get your $100 Blubrry Pro Hosting fee waived when you use the code “mikeypod” at checkout!

Molly Joyce is back on the podcast to discuss her brand new album, Perspective, which features disabled interviewees responding to what access, care, interdependence, and more means to them. We talk about the development of the album, expanding accessibility with our art, and how a question from a mentor inspired the project itself. Thank you for listening!

Composer and performer Molly Joyce has been deemed one of the “most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome” by The Washington Post. Her music has additionally been described as “serene power” (New York Times), written to “superb effect” (The Wire), and “unwavering” and “enveloping” (Vulture). Her work is concerned with disability as a creative source. She has an impaired left hand from a previous car accident. The primary vehicle in her pursuit is her electric vintage toy organ, an instrument she bought on eBay that suits her body and engages her disability on a compositional and performative level. Her debut full-length album, Breaking and Entering, featuring toy organ, voice, and electronic sampling of both sources was released in June 2020 on New Amsterdam Records, and has been praised by New Sounds as “a powerful response to something (namely, physical disability of any kind) that is still too often stigmatized, but that Joyce has used as a creative prompt.”

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
05:09 Interdependence – Molly Joyce
09:34 Conversation with Molly Joyce
37:06 Weakness – Molly Joyce
41:02 Outro

Follow Molly Joyce on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Photo of Molly Joyce by Shervin Lainez.

Molly Joyce previously appeared on MikeyPod 294. Listen to it here.

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Molly Joyce!  Learn more right here!

I’d love to have you in the Discord server! Think of it as a big chatroom where we can talk about whatever without the typical social media negativity and randos harshing our vibe. There are a few of us active in there right now and we’ve been discussing gratitude, podcast guests, and a bunch of other stuff. If you want to join the community, you can join right here. I’m happy to help if you need it!

Thinking of starting your own podcast? Do it! I’m a big fan of Blubrry for podcast hosting! You can get a month free hosting, or get your $100 Blubrry Pro Hosting fee waived when you use the code “mikeypod” at checkout!

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok is my guest on the podcast this week to talk about her creative work, connection, disability, humor, and most importantly: cats. Her play Cost of Living is in its final weeks on Broadway at the Manhattan Theater Club and you need to see it, so get your tickets here! I’m thrilled to share some music from forthcoming MikeyPod guests Molly Joyce and Sophia Subbayya Vastek in this episode as well. Enjoy!

Martyna Majok was born in Bytom, Poland and raised in Jersey and Chicago. She was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, Cost of Living, which is currently on Broadway. Other plays include Sanctuary City, Queens, and Ironbound, which have been produced across American and international stages.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
03:34 Connection – Molly Joyce
07:18 Conversation with Martyna Majok
28:50 In Our Softening – Sophia Subbayya Vastek
33:36 Outro

Follow Martyna Majok on Instagram and Twitter.

Many thanks to Nolan Doran for his help in making this conversation possible.

Molly Joyce previously appeared on MikeyPod 294. Listen to it here.

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Martyna Majok!  Learn more right here!

I’d love to have you in the Discord server! Think of it as a big chatroom where we can talk about whatever without the typical social media negativity and randos harshing our vibe. There are a few of us active in there right now and we’ve been discussing gratitude, podcast guests, and a bunch of other stuff. If you want to join the community, you can join right here. I’m happy to help if you need it!

Thinking of starting your own podcast? Do it! I’m a big fan of Blubrry for podcast hosting! You can get a month free hosting, or get your $100 Blubrry Pro Hosting fee waived when you use the code “mikeypod” at checkout!

This conversation with interdisciplinary sound artist and composer Brian Harnetty covers everything from spirituality to creative process, to ethics of sampling, and beyond. We talk about (and listen to a few tracks from) his exquisite new album, Words and Silences, which was inspired by and includes archival recordings Thomas Merton made while in his Kentucky hermitage in 1967. I had a great time with this chat, and it inspired me to dive a bit more into the life and work of Thomas Merton. Enjoy!

BRIAN HARNETTY is an interdisciplinary sound artist who uses listening to foster social change. He works with sound archives and the communities connected to them, creating encounters that are centered on place and the transformative power of listening. Since 2010, Harnetty’s projects have brought together myth, history, ecology, and economy in Appalachian Ohio, informed by his family’s roots there. His current project, Words and Silences, is a musical portrait of Kentucky monk and writer Thomas Merton, fusing archival recordings of Merton’s voice with newly composed music.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:22 Sound of an Unperplexed Wren – Brian Harnetty
10:17 Conversation with Brian Harnetty
26:36 Who Is This I? – Brian Harnetty
34:15 Conversation with Brian Harnetty
52:14 Breath, Water, Silence – Brian Harnetty
58:08 Outro

Follow Brian Harnetty on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Spotify.

Photo of Brian Harnetty by Poynter Photo.

This podcast is powered by my subscribers on Patreon who, in addition to the warm feeling they get from co-creating with me, get lots of sweet perks including bonus podcast episodes, free downloads, zines, and more! This week’s bonus podcast will feature an extended conversation with today’s guest, Christopher Willits!  Learn more right here!

I’d love to have you in the Discord server! Think of it as a big chatroom where we can talk about whatever without the typical social media negativity and randos harshing our vibe. There are a few of us active in there right now and we’ve been discussing gratitude, podcast guests, and a bunch of other stuff. If you want to join the community, you can join right here. I’m happy to help if you need it!

Thinking of starting your own podcast? Do it! I’m a big fan of Blubrry for podcast hosting! You can get a month free hosting, or get your $100 Blubrry Pro Hosting fee waived when you use the code “mikeypod” at checkout!