Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"I used to think that saying 'I don't have it' was a sign of weakness. When in reality, the weakness was not having it and thinking you do."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by Jack Grisham of TSOL and co-host Tequila Mockingbird for a candid conversation about creativity, accountability, recovery, and the enduring spirit of DIY. Moving beyond familiar punk origin stories, they reflect on writing, criticism, sobriety, violence, vulnerability, and the lifelong work of learning how to make—and remake—yourself.

Together, they discuss the early Southern California punk scene, the formation of TSOL, punk's myths and realities, gender expression, authorship, and what it means to continue creating across music, literature, and film. Throughout the conversation, Grisham offers an unflinching look at personal responsibility while reflecting on the ways punk both challenged and reproduced the worlds it sought to resist.

Jack Grisham is the vocalist and founding member of TSOL and has spent more than four decades writing, performing, and creating across music, literature, and film. He is the author of several books, including An American Demon and A Principle of Recovery, and continues to write fiction and create new work across multiple media.

Recorded April 2021.

Links + References:

Jack Grisham

Jack Grisham (@jackgrisham) • Facebook

Jack Grisham (@jackgrishamphoto) • Instagram photos and videos

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Co-hosted and guest produced by Tequila Mockingbird.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon– audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Editor's Note (July 2026)

Today we learned of the passing of Jennifer Finch.

Rather than simply share the news, I wanted to make this conversation available again. Recorded live at the Punk Rock Museum during the 2025 Punk Scholars Network US conference, it captures Jennifer exactly as I remember her: generous, thoughtful, funny, and deeply curious. Throughout our conversation, she challenged assumptions, connected punk to larger social questions, and reminded us that museums, archives, and community spaces are places where we imagine different futures together.

I'm grateful to have shared this conversation with her, and I hope others will enjoy hearing her voice and ideas again.

—Jessica Schwartz

————

Original Episode Notes.

Live from Las Vegas, it’s the Punk Scholars Podcast! What happens at the Punk Scholars Network conference in Vegas is now available for your listening (dis)pleasure as Jessica Schwartz interviews Fat Mike (NOFX, Punk Rock Museum) and Jennifer Precious Finch (L7, Sh!t My Rockstar Says!) with a never before heard musical collaboration to close this one of a kind interview out. Thank you to the Punk Rock Museum for hosting us. Enjoy. 

Links

The Punk Rock Museum

Jennifer Precious Finch

Fat Mike 

–

We’d love to hear from you and are soliciting episode ideas and guests. 

Contact us at: [email protected]

The PSP theme music is excerpted from “Crows” by Watch You Drown. All rights reserved. 

Season 1, Episode 10 was recorded on March 3, 2025 “Live in Las Vegas” at the Punk Rock Museum as part of the Punk Scholars Network US and Canada Third Annual Conference. Ellen Bernhard produced the episode and gave the pre-podcast acknowledgments. Jessica Schwartz hosted the episode, and edited the audio and transcript, available here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"There is this specter of demolition that, in some ways, haunts the American city."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by urban historian and geographer Peter Ekman for a conversation exploring how architecture, urban renewal, and the built environment have shaped the sounds, spaces, and histories of punk. Drawing from his article Corner, Garage, and Basement: Reused Spaces and Vernacular Sounds Since the Bulldozer, Ekman traces the relationships between postwar urban redevelopment, street-corner singing, garage rock, and hardcore punk.

Together, they discuss the politics of urban renewal, the sonic histories of doo-wop, garage rock, and hardcore, and the ways everyday spaces—including street corners, garages, and basements—became sites of creativity, resistance, and DIY cultural production. The conversation also considers Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., race, segregation, automobility, and the critical possibilities that emerge when architecture and sound are understood together.

Peter Ekman is on the faculty of the USC School of Architecture and holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Timing the Future Metropolis: Foresight, Knowledge, and Doubt in America's Postwar Urbanism (Cornell University Press). His research explores the history and theory of cities, landscapes, architecture, and the built environment, with particular attention to sound, urbanism, and everyday spatial practice.

Recorded June 2026.

Links + References:

USC faculty website: Peter Ekman | USC School of Architecture 

Link to book, Timing the Future Metropolis: https://cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501778391/timing-the-future-metropolis/#bookTabs=1

Link to article, “Corner, Garage, and Basement”: https://read.dukeupress.edu/qui-parle/article-abstract/34/2/379/407908/Corner-Garage-and-BasementReused-Spaces-and

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Melanie Hui – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"I make zines and jokes and have thoughts."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by zinester, archivist, and independent scholar Liz Mason for a conversation exploring DIY publishing, archives, humor, and the enduring cultural life of zines. Together, they discuss independent publishing as a creative practice, a form of community building, and a form of cultural research, while reflecting on libraries, radio, oral history, fandom, and the evolving relationships among memory, documentation, and punk.

The conversation centers on Mason's Most Unwanted Zine, a research-driven publication built from surveys of zinesters and readers that playfully transforms qualitative data into satire. Along the way, they discuss fax-machine funerals, collaborative storytelling, aging in DIY culture, creative curiosity, and the ways zines continue to document everyday life while preserving voices often left out of traditional archives.

Liz Mason has been publishing zines since the 1990s. Her work has appeared in Punk Planet, The Zine Yearbook, and the backs of her friends' toilets. She managed Chicago's legendary zine hub, Quimby's Bookstore, for more than two decades and is currently pursuing a Master's in Information Science with a specialization in Archives and Records Management at Chicago State University. Mason is also the creator of Caboose, co-host of the Rough Draft podcast, and a DJ at CHIRP Radio.

Recorded June 2026.

Links + References:

LizMasonIsAwesome.com

Rough Draft with Keidra and Liz Podcast

Liz Mason Official: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter | Linktree

LizMasonZines - Etsy

https://www.facebook.com/LizMasonIsAwesome

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-mason-caboose-zine/

Instagram: @caboosezine

Bluesky: @caboosezine.bsky.social

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"Fulfill your purpose, do what you love…"

Jessica Schwartz and co-host Tequila Mockingbird are joined by Johnny Indovina, singer, songwriter, and founder of Human Drama, in a conversation exploring songwriting, artistic purpose, and the communities that sustain creative life. Together, they reflect on the legendary Scream scene in Los Angeles, Human Drama's evolution from The Models, and the collaborative spirit that shaped one of the city's most influential underground music communities.

Johnny also discusses his documentary 7 Days in Mexico, the unexpected journey that rekindled his relationship with music, and the enduring connections between artists and audiences across Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Mexico City. Throughout, the conversation reflects on authenticity, creative perseverance, and the importance of continuing to do the work that gives life meaning.

Johnny Indovina is the singer, songwriter, and founder of Human Drama, an influential band whose emotionally resonant music has shaped gothic rock, post-punk, and alternative music for more than four decades. Through Human Drama and his solo work, Indovina has built an international following grounded in deeply personal songwriting, artistic honesty, and enduring connections with audiences across the United States, Latin America, and beyond.

Recorded July 2023.

Links + References:

Human Drama Spotify

Human Drama Website

Johnny Indovina Bandcamp

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Co-hosted by Tequila Mockingbird.

Guest produced by Tequila Mockingbird.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

Experimental composer, improviser, and educator Si Paton joins Jessica Schwartz for a live conversation with UCLA students exploring listening, neurodivergence, improvisation, and the creative intersections of punk, noise, jazz, and DIY music cultures. Together, they discuss how musical communities emerge through collaboration, experimentation, and shared practices of listening, while reflecting on improvisation as both a creative process and a way of navigating the world.

The conversation also explores graphic notation, theatrical performance, ensemble composition, and Paton's research on developing shared musical languages across diverse musical traditions. Throughout, Paton reflects on the value of embracing uncertainty, making mistakes, and creating spaces where experimentation can thrive.

Si Paton is a composer, bassist, academic, and promoter. He completed his PhD at Birmingham Conservatoire under the supervision of Ed Bennett and Seán Clancy, researching composition for improvising large ensembles and the development of shared musical languages across different stylistic traditions. He previously studied electric bass and jazz composition at the University of West London with Paul Westwood and Eddie Harvey. Past projects include the prog-jazz group Selectric, punk-funk big band Pack of Wolves Arkestra, and the acoustic-grindcore suite Gillberg Variations. As an improviser, he has performed with Nils Økland, Steve Tromans, Chris Sharkey, Maria Chiara Argirò, Cath Roberts, and Apocalypse Jazz Unit. He is also the curator of Thinking/Not Thinking Fest, a three-day festival celebrating musical juxtapositions.

This conversation includes questions and contributions from students in a UCLA musicology course facilitated by Jessica Schwartz and was recorded in January 2024.

Links + References:

Si Paton - Instagram

Si Paton Bandcamp

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (Bandcamp)

Sound and Music (composer profile)

Apocalypse Jazz Unit (Bandcamp)

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

ICE OUT OF LOS ANGELES

'Fear literally controls people. It ruins ...it runs people's lives...the stuff of nightmares.'

'We can't really make progress without solidarity from men, from people of all ages, and from people all across the spectrum...

we just need solidarity across struggles and oppressions.'

'...it's just really exciting to see what comes out of Los Angeles, like communities, you know.'

Punkast correspondent Arrow Avalon is joined by Los Angeles photographer, organizer, and community builder Serafina Maxima in a conversation exploring photography, punk, community, and the ongoing impacts of immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.

Known for her community-centered Photobook Meetups, Serafina reflects on photography as art, documentation, and activism while discussing the responsibilities that come with representing communities through images. Together, Arrow and Serafina explore local organizing, creative spaces, women in photography, and the role of cultural workers in preserving community histories.

The conversation also addresses ICE-related violence, protest, policing, and the ways fear, documentation, and collective memory shape everyday life in Los Angeles. As part of an ongoing Punkast project examining punk, community, and responses to immigration enforcement, this episode highlights lived experiences, grassroots organizing, and the importance of creating spaces for connection and solidarity.

Arrow Avalon is a Punkast correspondent + guest producer as well as a photographer, musician, promoter, and UCLA undergraduate whose work explores punk, photography, community, and social justice in Los Angeles.

Recorded May 2026

Links + References:

Serafina Maxima: IG @f1lmfomo

Arrow Avalon: IG @arrow.avalon

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Correspondent: Arrow Avalon

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon– audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Cover Photo:

Gregory Bojourquez

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast on the Punk Scholars Network. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

‘There's no future unless you try and change it.’

Jessica Schwartz is joined by Sex Pistols bassist and songwriter Glen Matlock in a conversation recorded in London at Oxford Circus. Together, they reflect on the political and cultural conditions that shaped the emergence of punk in 1970s Britain—from economic decline and social unrest to questions of identity, community, and change.

Matlock discusses the early days of the Sex Pistols, London's music and style cultures, the role of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's shop, and the relationships between punk, politics, and everyday life. In addition, he reflects on Brexit, nationalism, cultural memory, and the ways people continue to search for belonging and possibility through music and collective action.

Glen Matlock is a musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Sex Pistols. He co-wrote many of the band's best-known songs, including “Pretty Vacant,” and contributed to the music of “Anarchy in the U.K.” Beyond the Sex Pistols, he has performed with Rich Kids, The Faces, and numerous solo projects. A lifelong songwriter and performer, his work continues to draw on influences ranging from early rock and roll and British mod culture to soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz.

Recorded at Oxford Circus, London, United Kingdom, in December 2019.

One of the earliest interviews recorded for Punkast, this conversation captures a moment when debates around Brexit, nationalism, and cultural identity were reshaping public life in Britain, while reflecting on the histories and conditions that helped give rise to punk decades earlier.

Links + References:

Glen Matlock

Glen Matlock - YouTube

Glen Matlock - Sex Pistols | The Official Website

I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol (Paperback)

I Was A Teenage Sex Pistols (Trailer)

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Guest produced by Tequila Mockingbird.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon– audio editing.

Cover Photo:

Danny Clifford

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast on the Punk Scholars Network.

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

“I didn’t feel judgment. I felt more acceptance that I could be my strange self.”

Jessica Schwartz is joined by filmmaker Corbett Redford and professor John Goshert to reflect on the East Bay punk community and the DIY practices that have shaped generations of musicians, artists, and organizers. In this episode, we discuss the infrastructures, cultural formations, and communities that emerged through Gilman Street and the broader East Bay punk scene. Through Corbett Redford’s film Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk and John Goshert’s punk scholarship, their work has helped document and circulate the story of Gilman Street far beyond the East Bay.

Corbett Redford is a filmmaker, musician, actor, writer, and voice-over artist from the California Bay Area. An East Bay native, he recently moved with his family and their gaggle of pets to the Russian River Valley in Northern California. He is currently working with his band, Bobby Joe Ebola & The Children MacNuggits, on Solar Cantata, a 20-song concept album and the band's first release in twelve years.

John (Chuck) Goshert started going to punk shows in 1984, becoming involved in the Bay Area scene through legendary venues such as Ruthie’s Inn, the Farm, and Gilman Street. After playing in a number of bands from 1986–1996, he moved to Indiana to pursue a PhD in philosophy and literature. Since 2001, he has taught English at Utah Valley University, where his work focuses on critical theory, cultural studies, and American literature, with particular emphasis on multiethnic and LGBTQ literature and culture.

More than a venue, Gilman Street became a space where people learned to create, organize, and participate in building their own culture.

Recorded March 2024.

Links + References:

instagram.com/corbettredford

eastbaypunk.com

bobbyjoeebola.com

Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children Macnuggits - Spotify

-

johngoshert.com

instagram.com/jcgoshert

instagram.com/marymotherofbear

instagram.com/oddequals

-

More info on Turn it Around: The Story of East Bay Punks 

Watch Turn it Around: The Story of East Bay Punks on Tubi

Watch urn it Around: The Story of East Bay Punks on Plex

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Melissa Hernandez – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript link

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast on the Punk Scholars Network. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

“Distinguish themselves within Japanese society as being not part of the kind of mainstream.”

Jessica Schwartz is joined by historians Ran Zwigenberg and Mahon Murphy in a conversation exploring how punk, hardcore, and underground culture took shape across Kyoto and Osaka through student movements, DIY venues, and the global circulation of Japanese punk. Together, they discuss the social geography of Japan in the 1980s, the evolution of local punk scenes, and the infrastructures that enabled Japanese punk to travel beyond Japan and connect with audiences worldwide.

Ran Zwigenberg is an Associate Professor at Pennsylvania State University whose research focuses on modern Japanese and European history, memory, and cultural history. Mahon Murphy is an Associate Professor at Kyoto University whose work examines the global dimensions of the First World War. Together, they are the authors of S.O.B.’s Don’t Be Swindle (Bloomsbury, 2024), which chronicles the 1980s Kyoto/Kansai hardcore punk scene through the influential band S.O.B.

This conversation includes questions and contributions from UCLA students in a course facilitated by Jessica Schwartz and was recorded in February 2024.

Links + References:

Seibu Kōdō and  Punk in Kyoto

Mahon Murphy (Faculty Profile)

Ran Zwigenberg (Faculty Profile)

S.O.B.’s Don’t Be Swindle (Bloomsbury 2024).   

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Melissa Hernandez – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast on the Punk Scholars Network. 

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.