All-new type of bonus episode this week! I decided to visit the cemetery across the street from me, make my way to the grave of Cleveland working class artist hero and underground comics pioneer Harvey Pekar, and bring you all on the trip. This was a blast to record, and it's one of my favorite episodes of TIYA After Dark and maybe even the entire project of This Is Your Afterlife. Some of the audio is rough around the edges, especially in the bookshop and coffee shop, but those segments are quite short, so stick through if you're having trouble!

I talk about: historical people, violent ways of networking, coffee mishaps, daffodils, expectation vs. reality, art about everyday life.

Patreon is the only place to see pics from the trip!

Get those, support the show, and listen to the full TIYA After Dark feed here:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

Chicago comedian and gem-of-a-person-to-talk-to Lucia Whalen returns to This Is Your Afterlife... for the first time? Lucia wanted a few things from episode 83 kept private, so I sent it to the great podcast beyond, and we took the opportunity to record a new conversation as episode 205. I honestly think we had even more fun than before! We're older, wiser, and Lucia is DEFINITELY prepared this time. Right, Lucia?

We talk about: having a one-page worldview, the 2020 Pixar movie Soul, disappearing into oneness vs. losing consciousness, being present for her dad's heart attack, the lonely life of a touring standup comic, if clips on social media have changed the feeling in the room for standup shows, winning the lottery with your friends and family, our opinions of each other.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Lucia:

https://www.instagram.com/luciawhalen/

https://www.instagram.com/whatawastepod/

See her quarterly variety show, Surprise! We Made a Comedy Show, at the Hideout in Chicago on July 15.

And check for her upcoming segments on the Buddy System podcast:

https://www.instagram.com/buddysystempod/

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

This is a preview of a bonus episode from the Patreon feed, TIYA After Dark! Head to patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife to hear this full episode and all the others for just $5 a month.

Thanks to everyone who contributed voice messages to this first call-in episode of TIYA After Dark (at least of the new era)! It's an exorcism of all the casual cruelty we experience at work, from the mundane to the dramatic. I hope you dig it. It was very fun to do.

I talk about: work, bosses, how much I love work and bosses in case any of mine are listening, Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat, DOGE, money laundering schemes, drop me 60, tell whoever you need to tell, Karl Marx.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

THIS WEEKEND I'm recording a bonus episode of the podcast about the casual, mundane cruelty of work. If you've listened to recent episodes, you know why! I'm calling it the Casual Work Cruelty Exorcism, and I'd love you to be a part of it. Call me at the number I say in this clip or email [email protected] for me to play/read your contribution on the episode. I will make you feel better. You will make me feel better. It'll be a primal scream into the void of our capitalist hell in the hopes of finding a little heavenly solidarity. Hey, I was worried this was too off-theme, but I got there! But yeah, it will fun, but I need your contribution to make it the most fun. So do some time theft and hit me up before I record!

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed—where I'll release the full exorcism—on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

There's only one piece of music from 2026 so far that I've loved, but it's nearing the point of obsession: Wretched Blessing's "How Deep Is Your Love?," which features guitar work from previous TIYA guest Genital Shame! It's a cover of the Calvin Harris & Disciples song (not the Bee Gees), but there's an important note: Norwegian singer/songwriter Ina Wroldsen is uncredited on the original, despite singing the hook and co-writing the song. Wretched Blessing drummer and singer Rae Amitay emphasizes this in the liner notes on Bandcamp, and they brought it up on this episode.

Rae and Wretched Blessing are attuned to the overlooked, as their songs frequently face evils that are regular conversation topics on TIYA: fascism, Zionism, complacency. It was a pleasure to hear Rae and Kayhan Vaziri, the other half of Wretched Blessing (who are real-life engaged), talk about the intersections of politics and art. They're sweet and fun people who make heavy music full of righteous rage. You get all of that here.

We talk about: preaching to the choir; teaching kids music in School of Rock; high school exes; the mind-expanding benefits of travel; Crimethinc.; Zionist indoctrination; Gruyeres, Switzerland; HR Giger; and basically everyone on earth should be in a touring band maybe?

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Wretched Blessing:

https://wretchedblessing.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/wretchedblessing/

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

This is a preview of a bonus episode from the Patreon feed, TIYA After Dark! Head to patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife to hear this full episode and all the others for just $5 a month.

A solo episode in which I'm trying to choose narratives for my life. Maybe you can relate?

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

"How can this possibly be the way?!" is a question Leigh Claire La Berge asks constantly in Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism Is a Joke. The book is Leigh Claire's reflection on her time prepping a Fortune 500 company for Y2K by essentially making a bunch of copies, double-checking spreadsheets, and traveling internationally to give frivolous PowerPoint presentations. It's very funny! And unfortunately hella resonant! Leigh Claire jumped right into the deep end with me on this episode, and the result is one of my favorites in a while.

We talk about: anxiety, Fake Work, fake work, marxism, really trying to understand how other people came to their beliefs, psychoanalysis, getting a PhD, making room for pleasure and humor in our politics.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Leigh Claire:

https://www.instagram.com/marxforcats/

https://twitter.com/marxforcats

And read her books!

Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism Is a Joke — https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2534-fake-work

Marx for Cats: A Radical Bestiary — https://bookshop.org/p/books/marx-for-cats-a-radical-bestiary-leigh-claire-la-berge/5c87bc279b7a45a4

Wages Against Artwork: Decommodified Labor and the Claims of Socially Engaged Art — https://bookshop.org/p/books/wages-against-artwork-decommodified-labor-and-the-claims-of-socially-engaged-art-leigh-claire-la-berge/ad4130cecb721c22

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

This is a preview of a bonus episode from the Patreon feed, TIYA After Dark! Head to patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife to hear this full episode and all the others for just $5 a month.

Daniel Strauss and Drennen Quinn return to talk about Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York. They're my closest comedy friends since right before this movie came out in 2008, and it was fun to sit down and goof off about a movie Daniel calls one of his favorites that he'll never see again.

We talk about: bedtime, a career in the arts, phone etiquette when recording a podcast, Theatre of Cruelty, aging, nontraditional horror, no longer being able to relate to characters you dislike, still relating to those same characters.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Daniel and Drennen:

https://www.instagram.com/danielstrauss/

https://www.instagram.com/drennenwon/

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

I recently saw two movies that exemplified how I want to make political art: Neo Sora's "Happyend" and "Failed State" by Christopher Jason Bell and Mitch Blummer. Both films tell intimate stories that show rather than obscure the ways political systems influence their characters' lives. In this episode of This Is Your Afterlife, I'm grateful to talk to "Failed State" co-director Chris Bell about his approach to making political work and what makes him the artist and person he is. He's TIYA's first filmmaker guest!

We talk about: DIY filmmaking, reconnecting with childhood friends, panic attacks, meditation, the mundanity of skydiving.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Follow Chris:

https://linktr.ee/christopherjasonbell

https://means.tv/ (use his code, CHRISBELL, for 10% off)

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

This is a preview of a premium episode from the Patreon feed, TIYA After Dark! Head to patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife to hear this full episode and all the others for just $5 a month.

I love talking to Lucas O'Neil about the specifics of standup comedy craft, and since he just released his first special, Emotional Man, I use this bonus episode as an opportunity to dig deep with him into the process of conceiving, creating, and releasing it. It's the kind of creative exercise I've longed to do in podcast form, and I'm grateful to be able to do it with a previous guest of This Is Your Afterlife who also happens to be a very funny and thoughtful artist and friend.

We talk about: Edinburgh Fringe, breaking gender and genre boundaries, outfit anxiety.

Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlife

Watch Emotional Man:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2mYyGhtajM

Follow Lucas:

https://lucasoneil.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mr.lucasoneil/

Follow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:

https://thisisyourafterlife.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/

[email protected]

Music by TIYA house band Lake Mary:

https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/

Artwork by Matt Sage:

https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/