This Is Your Mixtape

By Michael CollinsMusic Music Interviews

This Is Your Mixtape episodes

July 07, 202150. I Am Cringe But I Am Free. [Michael Collins.]
Michael Collins is a writer, podcaster,
former academic, bodybuilder, and lapsed classical pianist who has hosted This
Is Your Mixtape since October 2017. He is originally from Newfoundland, but
has somehow spent the last twelve years in Toronto, Ontario.
Since Michael wasn’t up to interviewing himself, he invited his first
guest,
Chris (from Megaphonic podcasts It’s Just
A Show and The Spouter-Inn) to ask him some questions. Michael and
Chris talk about resilience, self-respect, false jadedness, long-term
relationships, and climate apocalypse.
Michael’s Five Songs.
Beautiful Life by Ace of
Base.
Precious Things by Tori
Amos.
Risingson by Massive
Attack.
Good Intentions Paving Co.
by Joanna Newsom.
Drowning in the Sound by
Amanda Palmer.
Show Notes.
Michael’s writings on Medium.
Michael’s Twitter.
A Christmas Story (This Is Your
Mixtape holiday special where Michael talks about his childhood Christmas in
the hospital).
Dear Reader (Michael’s other podcast about
books with co-host Emily).
1 hr 17 min
May 17, 202149. All Those Lives At The Same Time. [Gary Barwin.]
Gary Barwin is a writer, musician and
multimedia artist and the author of many books including the novels Yiddish
for Pirates and Nothing the Same, Everything
Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the Cowboy, as well as
the poetry collection For It Is a Pleasure and a Surprise to Breathe: New and
Selected Poems. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario. For
one long strange summer, he shared a shoesize with Allen Ginsberg.
Gary and Michael talk about being a body, a sense of the numinous,
instrumental music, experimental poetry, and reading Lord of the Rings in your
bathrobe while smoking a pipe of oregano.
Gary’s Five Songs.
Il Gardellino, Op. 10 n. 3 - Concerto for flute, strings & b.c. in D
major by Antonio Vivaldi.
Alabama by John Coltrane.
This or That by Donkey Lopez feat.
Stuart Ross.
String Quartet in Four Parts by John
Cage.
Consteelation by Ryan Barwin.
Show Notes.
Gary’s website and
Twitter.
Gary’s music on Bandcamp.
Gary’s novels, Yiddish for Pirates and Nothing the
Same, Everything Haunted: The Ballad of Motl the
Cowboy.
1 hr 20 min
April 13, 202148. The Idea of a Centre. [Oriana Schwindt.]
Oriana Schwindt is one of those former
journalists-turned-screenwriters. She lives in Los Angeles now, but is pretty
sure it’s just a phase. She’s a co-host on Megaphonic’s own By-the-Bywater Tolkien podcast and is
considering reviving her old podcast about grift in America, called, uh…
American Grift.
Oriana and Michael talk about imagination, the persistence of trauma, learning
to be vulnerable, giant trees, and visiting the geographical centre of all
fifty American states.
Oriana’s Five Songs.
Wannabe by The Spice
Girls.
Flying Horses by Dispatch.
The Mute by Radical Face.
[Being Alive]() by Stephen Sondheim, performed by Raúl Esparza.
Remember the Mountain Bed
by WIlco and Billy Bragg, lyrics by Woody Guthrie.
Show Notes.
Oriana on Twitter.
Oriana’s capstone essay about her Centerville
Project.
Oriana’s essays on Medium, including some
from the Centerville Project.
American Grift: Oriana’s on-hiatus podcast about grift in America.
By-the-Bywater: A Tolkien Podcast,
where Oriana is one third of the hosting team.
Support This Is Your Mixtape on Patreon.
(Thanks!)
1 hr 20 min
March 23, 202147. A Sentient Guitar Wearing One Platform Sneaker. [Sarah Walsh.]
Sarah Walsh is a comedian, visual artist, and creator from Newfoundland.
She hosts a show called The Odd
Ends, cataloging unusual ways to
die.
Sarah and Michael talk about awkward enthusiasm, undiagnosed ADHD, stage
fright, the weirdness of aging, and learning how to give less of a fuck.
Sarah’s Five Songs.
Wannabe by The Spice
Girls.
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on
Seattle by Nirvana.
Monkey’s Gone To Heaven by
Pixies.
California by Liz Phair.
Oh! You Pretty Things by
David Bowie.
Show Notes.
The Odd Ends on Instagram and
Facebook.
The Moffats’ largest Canadian hit, I’ll Be There For
You [not the song from Friends].
Spice Girls tooth-destroying bubblegum.
Catch Mikey streaming on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights on
Megaphonic’s Twitch channel!
Support This Is Your Mixtape and all of
Megaphonic’s shows on Patreon. (Thanks!)
1 hr 17 min
March 31, 202046. Maps Won’t Show Us Where We’re Going. [Chris Ross.]
Chris Ross is a Canadian EMT who lives in
and about Vancouver with his cat Boss. He enjoys painting, baking, and
Canadian content regulation specified music. He joined the Vancouver-based
choir Kör in September of last year, but before that the last time he made
music was playing tuba in his high school’s concert band.
Chris and Michael talk about gay kids and their (our) clumsy attempts at
disguise, nontoxic models of masculine sexuality, rabbits, dance music and its
potential for liberation, and finding peace in a world of turmoil.
Chris’s Five Songs.
I Love You Always Forever
by Donna Lewis.
Jealous of Your Cigarette
by Hawksley Workman.
Dear Confessor by
Immaculate Machine,
Take Ü There by Jack Ü
feat. Kiezsa and Missy Elliott.
Ever Again by Robyn.
Show Notes.
Chris on Twitter and
Instagram.
Chris’s choir.
Wall Street Journal article about
Robyn.
Support This Is Your Mixtape on Patreon if
you can (or just let us know that you're enjoying the
show).
1 hr 5 min
February 15, 202045. Kick It out of the Park. [Lauren O’Neal and Niko Bakulich.]
Lauren O’Neal and Niko
Bakulich are co-hosts of the podcast
Sunday School Dropouts, a podcast where an
ex-Christian and a sort-of Jew read through the Bible for the first time.
Lauren is a writer and editor, and she recently edited and contributed to the
anthology Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the
Church. Niko is a musician
and composer, and he recently released the EP Okay
101.
Lauren, Niko, and Michael talk about scavenging for cool music, emotion that’s
too much for machinery to handle, sexual attraction to guitars, San Francisco,
and making music and a life together.
Lauren and Niko’s Five Songs.
Oh Shit! by King Brothers.
Two-Headed Boy by Neutral
Milk Hotel.
Strange Mercy by St.
Vincent.
Sweater Weather by The
Neighbourhood.
Something New by Niko Bakulich.
Show Notes.
There are still a few days left to vote for This Is Your Mixtape for the
Canadian Podcasting Awards! If you’re Canadian and involved in podcasting,
please register and vote for us.
Lauren and
Niko on Twitter.
Their podcast, Sunday School Dropouts.
Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the
Church.
Niko Bakulich’s website.
How to Quit Shampoo Without Becoming
Disgusting (Lauren’s viral article about quitting shampoo).
Ellisa Sun: Grand
Piano.
Arto Lindsay:
Illuminated.
Support This Is Your Mixtape on Patreon.
1 hr 16 min
February 11, 202044. Talk About Another World. [Marnie Breckenridge.]
Marnie Breckenridge is an American
soprano whose repertoire extends from the baroque to the bel canto to the
modern. She’s also worked as an actor and a voice-over artist on television.
She made her Carnegie Hall debut singing the soprano solos in Mozart’s
Coronation Mass last spring. She’ll be the vocal lead in
Jacqueline, a new opera
about cellist Jacqueline du Pré, when it debuts here in Toronto at Tapestry
Opera later this month.
Marnie and Michael talk about breaking expectations, long bus rides, car
crashes, compositional techniques, and what makes contemporary classical music
so exciting and important.
Marnie’s five songs.
Just a Piece of Sky by
Barbra Streisand (from Yentl).
I Still Believe by The
Call.
Cold by Annie Lennox.
Final trio from Der
Rosenkavalier by Richard
Strauss.
Orphée Suite IV: Orphée and the
Princess by Philip Glass.
Show Notes.
Jacqueline at Tapestry
Opera, Feb 19–23, 2020.
Marnie’s website (includes videos of
performances, such as “Glitter and Be
Gay” from Candide, in a performance inspired by Marilyn Monroe).
Dog Days, an opera by David T.
Little.
Jersualem by Thomas
Schoenberger with Marnie Breckenridge.
Support This Is Your Mixtape on Patreon and
help us make this show. Patrons get to hear a bonus bit from this episode!
1 hr 10 min
January 17, 202043. The Gwynneth That Lives. [Sam Branman.]
Sam Branman, otherwise known as Ten
Yards, is a fashion designer and occasional DJ living and working in Brooklyn.
He can be found at home sewing and watching procedurals or lurking in the back
of a drag show making sure things run as smoothly as possible.
Sam and Michael talk about friendship, community, connection, queerness, and
Corin Tucker’s neck vein, among many other things.
Sam’s Five Songs.
Garnet by Malice Mizer.
Sympathy by Sleater
Kinney.
Ride Friendship by The
Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt.
Love Part II by Bright
Light Bright Light.
Run Away with Me by Carly
Rae Jepsen.
Show Notes.
Sam on Instagram and
Twitter.
Sam’s first fashion show is happening Sunday, February 9th, 8
pm, at
Venus in Furs, Brooklyn.
CHERYL.
HBO’s documentary Wig features Casa
de Diva.
The drag shows Sam has been involved with include: Straight to DVD; A+ the
Pan-Asian Drag Review; Unforgivable Emotional Carnivore; and Stellar Major.
This Is Your Mixtape has been nominated for Best Music Podast at the Canadian
Podcasting Awards! If you’re Canadian and involved in podcasting, please
register and vote for us.
Support This Is Your Mixtape on Patreon and
talk about your favourite music with us on our friendly Slack.
1 hr 1 min
December 23, 201942. A Megaphonic Holiday Special.
’Tis the season for a Mixtape special! This time, hosts and friends of the
Megaphonic podcast network gather together for a Holiday party! Michael asks
five of them about a song they associate with this time of year. Enjoy, and
have a happy holiday! See you next year!
Their Songs.
Ned: O Tannenbaum by the
Vince Guaraldi Trio, from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Sean: Here’s to the Lonely
by Dr. Elmo.
Jared: O Holy Night, here
performed by Point of Grace.
Beth: O Holy Night from
Home Alone.
Chris: Silent Night, here
performed by Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge.
Show Notes.
The guests’ podcasts: By-the-Bywater, The Fiasco Brothers Watch a
Movie, It’s Just A
Show, and The Spouter-Inn.
Some of the guests have been on This Is Your Mixtape Before:
Ned,
Beth,
Chris.
Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas.
Erasure: She Won't Be Home (Lonely
Christmas).
Jane Sibbery’s Christmas
Songs.
Sheb Wooley: Santa Claus Meets the Purple People
Eater.
Sufjan Stevens: O Holy Night.
Celine Dion: O Holy Night.
The church scene from Home
Alone.
Carol of the Bells.
Support This Is Your Mixtape on Patreon and
come wassailing with us in a members-only Slck.
1 hr 14 min
December 04, 2019 41. A Secret Code Carved. [Michael’s Bodybuilding Song.]
There haven’t been regular episodes of This Is Your Mixtape because your less-than-steadfast host, Michael, has been preparing for a bodybuilding
competition, which is a very gruelling and life-consuming thing to do. It’s
all over now, and he had a fantastic time. This is a short bonus episode where
he talks about the song he chose for his posing routine—Björk’s Pagan
Poetry—and why, to him, it was the perfect song to capture the moment and all
the thoughts and feelings he had going into it.
Show Notes.
Pagan Poetry by Björk
(NSFW official video).
Pagan Poetry by Bjork (SFW,
audio only).
Michael’s posing
routine.
Support This Is Your Mixtape on Patreon to
help Michael put these out more regularly.
16 min