Sensitive Skin Magazine

Author Vincent Zangrillo in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Vincent (Vinnie) Zangrillo is the author of Dime Bag, a collection of short stories recounting his misadventures in downtown NYC in the 1970s. We spoke about his time at Naropa, when he hung out with Burroughs, Ginsberg and especially Corso, who ended up moving into Vinnie’s East Village apartment back in the ’70s when Ginsberg kicked him out for making too much noise. Vinnie talked about the time Corso got a Hell’s Angel to read a poem at Naropa, Corso’s search for his mother, and an interesting rumor about the death of Jerry Garcia.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E07 – Vincent Zangrillo appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Writer, poet and musician Keshav Das in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Keshav Das, was, once upon a time, an editor at Sensitive Skin magazine, when he went by the nom de plume Christian X. Hunter. He also painstakingly compiled and edited the book BAREFOOT IN THE HEART, a collection of oral history of the Indian saint Neem Karoli Baba. We had a great time talking about Ram Dass, the Jivamukti Yoga Center, how he grew up in New York City and learned to play guitar (he played Kirtans with Krishna Das for many years), and was taken in by the great comic book artist Ralph Reese as a homeless teenager. He later became a professional motorcycle racer and photographer, before I met him when he started writing poetry as part of the Unbearables. It was great to connect with him and we had a Good Talk, so listen up!

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E14 – Keshav Das appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Poet and teacher Sharon Mesmer in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

I always enjoy speaking with the great Sharon Mesmer, one of my favorite poets and/or people! We talked about the state of poetry, podcasts (Ram Dass vs. Joe Rogan), cancel culture, millennials vs. gen z, the holidays, and how her plan to kidnap her teacher and mentor Allen Ginsberg went awry (even though he was all for it.) Sharon reads us her great Freddie Mercury poem, then some work from her new project, “Even Living Makes Me Die,” a tribute to American women poets who are sadly “underknown,” which was featured in a recent issue of American Poetry Review. Listen up!

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E13 – Sharon Mesmer appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Painter and critic Tom McGlynn in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

I had a good time talking to my old pal, painter and art critic Tom McGlynn. I always thought Tom was one of the smartest people I’d ever met, but I did my best to keep up with him! We spoke about his technique, influences and how his work transitioned from playing with logos to abstracting their schema via color palettes, and what it was like living in the East Village back when we met, in the mid-80s, and hanging around with our mentors David Hammons, Steve Cannon and John Farris, as well as folks like Steve Buscemi, Mark Boone Jr., Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kiki Smith and Richard Hambleton. You can tell we had a good time – both back in the day and now. Listen up!

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E12 – Tom McGlynn appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Novelist, poet and publisher J. Macon King in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

I met J. Macon King last spring, when he sent in a short story I liked – he thought I lived in NYC, but to his surprise, we both lived in Marin. John tells us how he grew up in the Midwest, his adventures on the AlCan, moving to LA in the seventies, then up to wild, wild mid-70s San Francisco and finally ending up in Marin in the 90s. We spoke about the many luminaries who’ve made their home in Marin, like Sam Shepard, Peter Coyote, Phillip K. Dick, Martin Cruz Smith and Gerald Nicosia. Around the 50-minute mark, John reads us three poems.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E11 – J. Macon King appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Novelist and essayist bart plantenga in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Amsterdam-based bart plantenga is a novelist and essayist (PARIS SCRATCH, NY SIN PHONEY) and one of the co-founders of the Unbearables literary group. We met over 30 years ago in Paris, when we published a 1-shot lit mag, The Bik Dik Review, which was the precursor to Peau Sensible, which became Sensitive Skin. We spoke about living in Amsterdam as an ex-pat, why social media doesn’t work anymore, and the book he’s currently working on – interviews with 100 people about why they didn’t have kids. Of course, we went down the political rabbit hole, and discussed why both MSNBC and Fox News suck, how the mainstream media ignores Bernie Sanders, and America’s obsession with guns and religion. Around the 65 minute mark, bart reads to us from PARIS SCRATCH and a Steve Cannon story from NY SIN PHONEY. Listen up!

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E10 – bart plantenga appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Author Emily Carter in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Emily Carter is the author of the classic GLORY GOES AND GETS SOME, as well as many, many short stories, published everywhere from Sensitive Skin to The New Yorker. I’d lost touch with Emily over the years, but she was a key member of my NYC/LES crew back in the day. But we started chatting and it was as if we’d just seen each other at Vazac’s last night. We spoke about aging, memory, consciousness, what it’s like for a born-and-bred New Yorker to be living in Albuquerque, why she uses a pseudonym (hint: she has a famous mom and sister), and why today’s gen-z kids are awesome. We ended up talking about podcasts we like, and then Emily reads a terrific story she wrote for children – specifically children of adult alcoholics. Listen up!

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E09 – Emily Carter appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Novelist, playwright and poet Arthur Nersesian in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Arthur Nersesian is the author of nine books, including the classic novels The Fuck-Up and the crime fiction novel Gladyss of the Hunt. Born and raised in NYC, where he still lives, we got off to a cheery start, talking how about Father died of ALS, his mom of Alzheimers and how I’d just put down my cat Jerry the day we spoke.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E08 – Arthur Nersesian appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

NYC poet and impresario Puma Perla in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

I’ve never met Puma Perl in real life. That is, I don’t recall having done so. But it seems as if we must have, as we know so many of the same people, and hung out at so many of the same spots on NYC’s Lower East Side, like the Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe and Neither Nor. I was so surprised to find out that Miguel Pinero, the great Puerto Rican poet and mauvais garcon, was her brother-in-law that it didn’t even register the first time she said it! We also spoke of Martin Wong, Rick Van Valkenberg, Bimbo Rivas, Miguel Algarin and a host of the usual suspects. At around the 41-minute mark, Puma reads us some poems.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E06 – Puma Perl appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.

Paris-based painter David West in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

I met David West at the Pink Pony in NYC, back in 1994 or thereabouts. David was the “bartender” and I used to go there all the time with Mark Ashwill. We had lots of laughs. After about three months, he told me his last name, and the penny dropped – I’d heard his name for years, we had many friends in common, and I had actually been friends with his sister 10 years earlier. Anyway, we had a good talk – everything from men wearing shorts in Paris because it’s too damn hot, to his leaving home at 16 to go live with a bunch of wild ballerinas. We talked about his traveling the world, the myth of CBDs, how he ended up in Paris, where’s he lived for almost 20 years now, and what it’s like to be an American there in the time of You-Know-Who. Finally, we agreed that art can save the world. The above photo is of some of his recent (brilliant) work. If you want to see more, you can make the click here, here, or check out the book of his work we published, Drawing Down the Muse.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post S02E05 – David West appeared first on Sensitive Skin Magazine.