Arts

Talkhouse Podcast

Your favorite musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds one-on-one. No moderator, no script, no typical questions. The Talkhouse Podcast offers unique insights into creative work from all genres and generations. Explore more illuminating shows on the Talkhouse Podcast Network.

Latest Episodes:

Guillermo del Toro with William Friedkin Part 1 Apr 17, 2018

Show notes

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, a casual cinematic chat between two friends, who also happen to be Academy Award-winning directors: Guillermo del Toro and William Friedkin. In the first part of their enthralling two-part conversation for the Talkhouse Podcast, the pair discuss winning big at the Oscars, surviving award season, how to stay a scrapper despite success, del Toro's apprenticeship under makeup legend Dick Smith, the remarkable story of Friedkin and the Pazuzu statue in The Exorcist, the plagiarism controversy surrounding The Shape of Water, and much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Eliza Hittman with Lynne Ramsay Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, Eliza Hittman – the writer-director of It Felt Like Love and Beach Rats – chats with one of the great living filmmakers (and one of Hittman's personal heroes), Scottish writer-director Lynne Ramsay. The two talk about Ramsay's latest film, You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix, which is in theaters now, touching on such topics as the adaptation process, tackling violent subject matter, making a thriller for the first time, staying open to new ideas during all phases of the creative process, balancing life and work, and much more besides. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Billy Bragg Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

Today’s show features a talk the brilliant English folk-punk activist Billy Bragg gave on skiffle music at NYC’s Strand Bookstore last year upon the release of his book Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World. Bragg traces the little-known genre from its distinctly American roots to its British chart-topping success, and consequent all-conquering return to America repackaged as the British Invasion. He describes how the short-lived “hillbilly” sound forever changed the course of Western music via its teenaged adherents, who included Van Morrison and, crucially, the Beatles. This utterly fascinating tale also touches on questions of cultural appropriation (and appropriation of appropriation), how young women wanting to jive created a new gig infrastructure, calypso hitting the U.K. charts due to a cricket match, and how the spread of skiffle — and, for that matter, rap — mimics the fidget spinner. Check it out, and subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

This week’s episode is a collaboration with the Strand. It was recorded by Charles Mueller and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

Meredith Graves with Cameron Lynch Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

Today's episode, a collaboration with The Players' Tribune, was recorded earlier this month in front of a live audience at On Air Fest at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn.

When On Air Fest reached out to Talkhouse about curating a live episode for their podcast festival, we had an idea: what if we, the outlet where musicians and filmmakers write and speak about their experiences, partnered with Derek Jeter's The Players' Tribune, the site where athletes write about their own experiences, for a podcast discussion about what the first-person narrative really looks like? The Players' Tribune loved the idea, and brought in NFL linebacker Cameron Lynch to speak with frequent Talkhouse contributor Meredith Graves (Perfect Pussy). Their thoughtful and often funny conversation takes in a lot, from shutting down the "shut up and dribble" narrative, to the very real pressures of professionally rolling "the dice of life" every single day. It also touches on Fergie's National Anthem blowback, the truth and falsity of people's preconceptions about athletes and rock stars, the perils of Googling oneself, and reckoning with the fact that each of us is "an unpredictable consciousness driving a meat-covered skeleton."

Dan Treadway, Deputy Editor at Players' Tribune, and I kick off the live conversation with some background on each of our first-person-driven media outlets.

Check it out, and subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

— Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s episode was recorded by Mark Yoshizumi with Michael Bosworth, and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

Chris Frantz (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) with Richard Lloyd (Television) Mar 22, 2018

Show notes

Chris Frantz (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) and Richard Lloyd (Television) were key architects of punk and new wave, forever changing what music could be. Lloyd just published his memoir, Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll: The Memoirs of an Alchemical Guitarist, and to celebrate he sat down with his old friend Franz at N.Y.C.’s iconic Strand Book Store for a deep dive into the wild times of his youth and musical hijinks. Tune in to hear about Lloyd hanging with Jimi Hendrix, the advice John Lee Hooker gave him, and how he blew up a Chinese laundry. Plus Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) pops up in the Q&A with a question of her own!

Check it out, and subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s episode was recorded by Mark Yoshizumi with Garrett Karrberg, and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. Big thanks to the Strand.

Sam Harris (X Ambassadors) with Kendra Foster (D’Angelo, Parliament Funkadelic) Mar 08, 2018

Show notes

Kendra Foster and X Ambassadors’ Sam Harris know a thing or two about songwriting. Foster is a two-time Grammy winner for her work with D’Angelo on his seminal Black Messiah LP, while Harris has written for Rihanna and scored major song placements with Chrysler and ESPN College Football, and in the Will Smith movie Bright. We paired Foster and Harris for a deep-dive conversation on all things songwriting, and they delivered. This conversation covers co-writing, making time to work on new joints while on tour, how songwriting blends technical and spiritual elements, and working with and without producers. It also takes in the artistic and financial benefits of taking risks, how D’Angelo taught Kendra to be patient with her perfectionism, and the way Imagine Dragons forever changed X Ambassadors’ career. Check it out, and subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today’s episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

Tom Kalin, Eliza Hittman, Reinaldo Marcus Green and Kirsten Johnson Talk the Oscars Mar 01, 2018

Show notes

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, filmmakers Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats), Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson), Tom Kalin (Savage Grace) and Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men) talk all things Oscars. In a conversation recorded at Kickstarter HQ in Brooklyn, the four directors discuss this year's (historic!) nominees, notable snubs, changes the Academy has made as part of its diversity push, parallels to the awards in the 1970s, the experience of being a contender and an Oscar voter, and much more. Plus, of course, they offer up their predictions for the big night! For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop about future Talkhouse Podcasts.

Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes) with Jana Hunter (Lower Dens) Feb 22, 2018

Show notes

Before Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes) and Jana Hunter (Lower Dens) were famous musicians, they worked long shifts together in a Baltimore restaurant. The friends watched each other's artistic careers explode, and when they sat down in the Sonos room at Rough Trade NYC — for one of three conversations that Talkhouse curated for Northside Festival — their chat was both hilarious and moving. (You can listen to Jlin with William Basinski now, and Suicide's Martin Rev talking with Julianna Barwick will drop soon.) As well as tales of those early days washing dishes and lying to annoying customers, their talk takes in the baggage of being "a girl with a guitar," the pros and cons of ceding control in the creative process, and... Abba.

Check it out, and subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer @eliaeinhorn

Today's episode was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi

Christina Choe with Andrew Ahn Feb 15, 2018

Show notes

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, we feature a conversation between friends and fellow Korean-American writer-directors Andrew Ahn and Christina Choe, recorded at the Kickstarter Lodge during last month's Sundance Film Festival. Choe was at Sundance with her debut feature Nancy (which won her the festival's Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award) and Ahn with his Sundance Now TV show This Close, about two deaf best friends. Over the course of their wide-ranging and extremely unfiltered conversation, Ahn and Choe discuss not only their new projects but also telling stories of one's own community, how Andrew came out to his parents through a short film, Christina's club KGB (Koreans Gone Bad) – and a whole lot about Christina's mom! For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop about future Talkhouse Podcasts.

Jlin with William Basinski Feb 08, 2018

Show notes

Jlin and William Basinski are two of today's most fascinating and gifted composers. Basinski works with decaying analogue tape loops to create ambient soundscapes, while Jlin constructs brilliant, stuttering reimaginings of footwork rhythms. The friends and collaborators sat down in the Sonos room at Rough Trade NYC for one of three conversations that Talkhouse curated for Northside Festival. (Upcoming episodes will feature the other two, Suicide's Martin Rev with Julianna Barwick, and Lower Dens' Jana Hunter with Jenn Wasner from Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes). The two get into Basinski's tribute to his hero David Bowie, Jlin's boundary-pushing collaborations with cutting-edge dancers, and how a cat on the loose ended up significantly contributing to Basinski’s artistry.

Check it out, and subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

Today's episode was recorded and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi