15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

Hello Listeners, It's been going on two years since the last new episode, and I really wasn't sure if there was going to be another one, but I came across someone whom I just had to invite on, and she said yes, and we had a lovely chat in July, and here we are! Whether this will be a coda or a reboot, we shall see - I'd love your input on thatFrom Ayun Halliday's website: “I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and came of age at the height of the preppy craze. For some unfathomable reason, my grandparents had a subscription to The New Yorker. Every week, I'd paw through it, daydreaming of a glamorous future in which I'd be a celebrated stage actress, living in sin with some hot, devoted trumpet player in a Greenwich Village loft with a skyline view I've since learned is possible only from downtown Brooklyn or the western shores of New Jersey.”Ms. Halliday is a writer, actor, performance artist, zinester, the list goes on and on! She pubilshes the Zine The East Village Inky. It was and still is written and illustrated entirely by hand. I could spend a good while longer discussing some of her many other theatrical and publishing achievements, but what brought her to my attention this spring was the publication of her latest (7th) book, Creative, Not Famous: The Small Potato Manifesto, a compendium of Halliday's words and illustrations along with input from a variety of creative people (I just can't get myself to take the noun “creatives” seriously) who comprise “99.9% of all humans who … have not been and will never be rich as a result of their art. Nor will we be famous…at least not as famous as we deserve.”I heartily encourage you to look up any of the artists mentioned in our conversation and, especially if you're a lil spud, to pick up a copy of the Small Potato Manifesto, available through Ayun's site or wherever books are purveyed. For all episodes of this show, from small fries to Sedarises, please find us on the social mediae (insta/twitter) at 15minsjamieb, on facebook by just looking for the name of the show, or at 15minutesjamieberger.com, or email me at 15minutesjamieberger@gmail.com-Jamie Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

In celebration of the end of the Trump era, here's an old favorite from just a few months in, George Saunders, from back in early 2017. Belated Happy New Year and continuous happy (or at least way less sad) post-Trump to all! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

David Sedaris and I talk about celebrity, grace, inappropriate jokes (this episode is NSFTG, not safe for Terry Gross, btw), being recognized in airports, our mothers, going on Colbert, agents, what’s good on pizza, Stormy Daniels, George Saunders, John Updike’s quote that “Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face,” getting laughs, the preciousness of anonymity, being mistaken for a woman, and MUCH MUCH MORE. Enjoy, and after you enjoy, please pass this one on. A much happier 2021 to all!-Jamie(Image by Anja Schutz) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello friends. No time to talk. It’s 11/2/20 and I need to get this up today. I talked with A.R. Moxon, essayist, novelist, and twitter godsend these last four years, about Trump, Trumpism, the future, twitter virality leading to finding a publisher for his novel The Revisionaries, published last year and coming out in paperback in December, piano practice, 538, America, the future …. Find A.R. Moxon at http://armoxon.com and or @JuliusGoat on twitter. Deep breaths, everyone, deep breaths. -jhttp://15minutesjamieberger.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I was a guest on the Meat for Tea Cast after my essay "Itch Itch Itch" was published in the stellar literary magazine of the same name earlier this year.Now I understand why some of my guests hesitate to post about our episodes. It leaves them in the position of writing to friends, family, and fans saying “Hey everyone here’s a conversation focused on ME! Awkward.With that in mind, Meat for Tea is a great magazine with a nifty podcast and host/publisher/editor Elizabeth MacDuffie and I had a long and enjoyable talk, for the two of us anyway.So Hey everyone here’s a conversation focused on ME!(and here's a link to the essay, which I read out loud at the end of the episode)https://psiloveyou.xyz/itch-itch-itch-8934f97ed7edStay Safe.Vote.BLMxox-Jamie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here’s my conversaion from back in February (2020), aka a zillion lifetimes ago, with podcaster, Maximum Fun creator, and, perhaps most publicly, Judge John Hodgman bailiff Jesse Thorn. That's him with the glorious facial hair, above. (photo: Ibarionex Perello)It’s nice, you’ll like it.Re: my callout to you all in the intro, you can reach me at info@15minutesjamieberger.com or find me on Insta or twitter at @15minsjamieb.Thanks!-jb See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Back in 2016, aka a zillion horror-movie lifetimes ago, my friend Eugene and I had a late-night conversation about fame, comedy, having a newborn baby boy, and much much more. I re-edited it to put it back out here on the occasion of the streaming release of the wonderful documentary "It Started as a Joke," which follows the decade long run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival along with the parallel story of Eugene and his wife Katie's battle with her cancer. That may sound like a rough juxtaposition, but it's extremely well done. You'll laugh, you'll cry - see it, it's not like you don't have any free time right now.http://prettygoodfriends.com/it-started-as-a-jokeBest to all in these strange, tough times.-j See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Re-edit reboot of my 2017 two-episode conversation with Beth Lisick on the occasion of the publication of her great new and first novel, "Edie on the Green Screen." Congratulations, Beth!The episode starts with a serious #metoo conversation before moving on to lighter topics. So if you're needing light in these heavy times, after the intro, jump ahead about a half an hour.Best to you all, I wish you the best lives you can possibly live right now!-jamie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Back in 2017, I spoke to actor/writer/comedian Michael Ian Black for this show. At the time, I broke our conversation up into two episodes, each preceded by a long rant by me about the political and social injustices of the day. Well, it's the end of the year, and I'm exhausted by injustice, and decided to re-edit the conversation into a single, more entertaining whole. I think you'll enjoy it. We talk about fame of course, and about our mothers, about toe fungus, his feud with Marc Maron, the list goes on. Listening back, I found this, on how what's better than being a lead, the famous one, on a TV series, is being somewhere around 5-7 on the call list:"“If I knew that I would have an acting job for the next five years on a network show, where I didn’t even really have to think, it was just showing up, doing some scenes, having a free lunch and collecting a fat paycheck, I would like to do that for the next five years with the full knowledge that at the end of the five years I’d have enough money in the bank to write a novel, devote myself to the podcast, five years of being number 5-7 on the call sheet. There’s a sweet spot there that’s just ideal. I don’t want to be in every scene, I don’t want to solve the crime.”***I wish us all better times, and a free and fair election, in 2020.-Jamie B. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

My dear friend and former San Francisco Public Library colleague, skater, certified arborist, actor, adventure traveller, and raconteur, on how he brought punk and skateboarding together; the splendors and hazards of trimming Sharon Stone's trees; and other gems. A perfect example of the hardest-to-lure guest: the decidedly non-famous person who wants to come on a podcast and dig into the topic.It's still one of my favorites, back from when I didn't know what I was doing at all but sometimes it worked.Enjoy!-Jamie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you listened to Episode 72, with John Hodgman, or even if you didn't (you should), here's Episode 1, as promised, with same. Warning: there's a lot of ambient, though not unpleasant, noise (of a busy bar) in the interview, and then rather low sound quality for the Judge John Hodgman meetup, which ostensibly wasn't being recorded for the podcast, but which I wanted to include here for the true JJH Stans out there jonesin' for a deep cut. Image is a pic from the poster for the event at the Rendezvous in Turners Falls, MA, back in 2015 (yes I dithered an entire nother year before launching the show - don't do that!), designed by Anja Schutz. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

John Hodgman (returns!) - Episode 72Hello Everyone!The very first guest on 15 Minutes was John Hodgman (and we’ll be reposting that episode right after this one). Back in Fall of 2015, we spoke for a nearly exact 15 Minutes (the only full episode with a guest that’s actually anywhere near that short, most are around an hour - yes, yes, but the name of the show, we know, we know). When I heard about his new book Medallion Status (pub. date 10/15/19!), which John describes as “your basic minor fame to no fame Hollywood memoir with some peeks into the secret clubs and hidden rooms that celebrity allowed me briefly to peek into,” I knew it was time to have him back, and this time we talked a whole lot longer.For those of you who don’t know him, and yes, Hodgmaniacs, there are those folks out there:JOHN HODGMAN is a writer, comedian, and actor. Most recently, he is the author of the acclaimed collection of funny true stories called VACATIONLAND. He also wrote three books of fake facts and invented trivia, all of them New York Times Bestsellers, and his writing has also appeared in The Paris Review, This American Life, The New Yorker, and Mad Magazine. After an appearance to promote his books on “The Daily Show,” he was invited to return as a contributor, serving as the show’s “Resident Expert” and “Deranged Millionaire.”For the past nine years, he’s also been the host of the popular Judge John Hodgman podcast, where he settles serious disputes between real people. He also contributes a weekly column under the same name for The New York Times Magazine.He’s also the host of the viral Instagram-live sensation Get Your Pets! with John Hodgman in which he talks to animals and their people in a live broadcast, while perhaps occasionally plugging his new book Medallion Status (http://bit.ly/MEDALLIONSTATUS) every so often.Over nearly an hour and a half, we talked a lot about the book and those rooms and clubs, his previous book, Vacationland, fame as addiction, adjusting and appreciating life as one’s status inevitably declines over time (We also go into how white men are handling the reality of their/our inevitably declining status), and why it’s really important for authors that readers pre-order their books if possible, and which you should do if you’re so inclined and you’re reading this before 10/15/19, and you should be so inclined, because Medallion Status and John Hodgman will make your life better. Where can you go to pre-order, you may ask? Why http://bit.ly/MEDALLIONSTATUS, that’s where! My short plug: Like Vacationland, the book (and this 15 Minutes episode) is funny in ways many know John to be, as well as moving and contemplative in ways you might not expect. I gave it five starts on Good Reads.Early praise for Medallion Status:“This funny, sometimes delightfully absurd book offers sharp meditations on status, relevance, and age, and fame—or at least being fame-adjacent.” -PW“Hodgman offers thoughtful musings about human nature and our drive for status. An entertaining and endearing entry from the author of Vacationland (2017).” -Booklist(Note: this is one of those episodes with a false ending, so when you hear us saying bye, stick around for more!)But enough plugging, enjoy the episode! Oh, and when you do enjoy it, PLEASE PASS IT ON - you'll be helping a worthy author sell books, and an independent podcaster get listeners, both very difficult tasks in supersaturated markets. Thanks!-Jamie(Image: detail of Medallion Status cover by Aaron Draplin) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mari Naomi is a graphic-memoirist, a term I just made up. That is, she’s a cartoonist who writes personal nonfiction. At least in her adult work, that’s what she does. I first encountered her cartoons on the Rumpus. I ended up following her on Twitter and patroning her on Patreon, and she has thoughts about fame! We talked about that and career and San Francisco and trolls and dating someone famous and living in LA and seeing stars and running into Bud Cort and fangirling out in Gelson’s and … well, come listen and you’ll find out!You can find her at http://marinaomi.com. Here’s some of what you’d learn about her there:“MariNaomi is the award-winning author and illustrator of Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 (Harper Perennial, 2011), Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories (2dcloud/Uncivilized Books, 2014), Turning Japanese (2dcloud, 2016), I Thought YOU Hated ME (Retrofit Comics, 2016), and the Life on Earth trilogy(Graphic Universe, 2018-2020). Her work has appeared in over eighty print publications and has been featured on websites such as The Rumpus, LA Review of Books, Midnight Breakfast and BuzzFeed.”“She is the founder and administrator of the Cartoonists of Color Database, the Queer Cartoonists Database, and the Disabled Cartoonists Database. She is the cohost of the Ask Bi Grlz podcast with author Myriam Gurba.”***You can find all episodes of this podcast at http://15minutesjamieberger.com and a really old site of my writing at http://jamiebergerwords.com, which I mention for the first time since starting this podcast because I’m starting to write a little after about a decade hiatus.Episode 72 will mark the return of Episode 1 guest John Hodgman, whose new book, Medallion Status, the follow up to his supergreat memoir Vacationland, will be out in mid-October.Thanks for listening!-jb See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Todd Barry and I talk a little about fame, but more about exercise, diet, doors that open out, and kittens!For the pic of Todd and Charlize Theron, please see the episode page on our site See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 69 - Robyn Hitchcock.Among the topics and people discussed with the legendary British singer-songwriter are self-promotion, the Beatles, Elvis Costello and a whole lot of other 80s music, the idea of leaving a small-lizard-sized legacy, the need to make one living, not two, having Ethan Hawke sing your song in a movie, - and a whole lot more. But you’re not here to tell me what I talked to Robyn Hitchcock, you’re hear to listen to Robyn (and I) talk. Enjoy!P.S. I meant to include Sonny Smith's new record label, Rocks-In-Your-Head in the outro, but forgot, so here you go:http://rockshead.com/Sorry Sonny!Find Robyn stuff at http://robynhitchcock.com-jb See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 68 - Zak TrojanoHey it’s our first episode of 2019!Zak Trojano is, well, he’s a friend here in the Pioneer Valley whose music I’ve enjoyed for many years, and who’s latest album is “Wolf Trees.” He performed in our live show back in June of last year, and we finally sat down to talk fame, legacy, his tour in Germany, the color pink, social media, the joy of wearing a skirt, and apparently a great deal more stuff that at least interested one person - as this is the longest episode yet - in January. Here’s the bio from his website (zaktrojano.com):“Zak Trojano is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, a finger-style guitar player, a fly-fisherman, and a beer drinker. He watches more than he talks, the guy at the end of the bar nursing a drink while the afternoon light angles in, letting the conversation pile up around him like snowfall. He grew up in New Hampshire, outside of town in a cabin built by his parents. His father was a drummer who held down a regular country gig, and nights after work he would loosen his tie and show his son the finer points of Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones. In New Hampshire they drove around in trucks, and Prine and Dylan cassettes showed up in most of those trucks. Zak made Eagle Scout, got his knots down. Then it was college and out, wandering the country from the desert Southwest to Great Plains until he ran out of money, washing windows to work up the bus fare home. After a while it seemed like he ought to write some songs, and he did: heavy songs with a light touch; an AM radio throwback voice and an intricate finger-style technique framed by a drummer’s rhythm and sharpened by years of immersion in the work of players as various as John Fahey, Merle Travis, and Chet Atkins. In over a decade writing, recording, and performing music professionally - sharing studios and stages with his band Rusty Belle, or supporting touring acts like Chris Smither, Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault, and Peter Mulvey - Zak Trojano has evolved his own thing: a warm baritone paired with an old Martin guitar, floating above spare lines of cello and lap steel, horns and brushes, with a deceptively simple lyricism that on repeated listening shows that the fellow at the end of the bar doesn’t say much, but he’s worth hearing.”***Along with our conversation, you’ll find three songs from “Wolf Trees” and a live performance of a John Fahey guitar solo from the anniversary live show at Hawks and Reed last year.Coming up in April will be another musical guest, Robyn Hitchcock, whom I’ve learned either needs no introduction at all or a very thorough one, depending on whom you ask.Enjoy the show!-Jamie B. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

While I don't tend to rerun episodes from year one, when, for one thing I was still talking very ... very ,,, slowly ... in the intros, and other stuff I can hardly bear to listen to now, I wanted to repost this short intro to #grabhimbytheballot and conversation with Anja (and a lovely conversation after that with Lindsay Mace, who also talks about the project, among other topics) from the day back in September (I think?) of 2016 when Anja Schutz did the first of two day-long shoots for #grabhbytheballot. I think it says a lot about Anja, the project, and the more and more apocalyptic culture of narcissism (overused but apt word these days) and attention-desperate behavior that Donald Trump both somehow succeed with and is enabling in others, one that's rearing it's head in our world because of an ugly little battle we've been forced to wage with an organization calling itself #grabthembytheballot. If you want to know more - and/but maybe you really don't - you can check my Facebook feed.-Jamie B. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Let's face it, so long as I get to have a conversation with this guy once a year, it's probably gonna make the top two. Ladies and Germs, a Too Hot for Terry (Gross) conversation with David Sedaris:http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2018/5/31/episode-59-david-sedaris-returns See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here's one that really made me happy. One of the best parts of making this show is having an excuse to talk to people I haven't seen in a decade or so, in this case, Sonny Smith of Sunny and the Sunsets. http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2018/7/2/episode-61-sonny-smithHope your 2019s are starting as well as they possibly can!-j See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here's another favorite form 2018, with NY-er humorist and author and TV-maker who's new show, "Miracle Workers" (based on Rich's novel What in God's Name) starring Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi, will air on TBS starting in February.http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2018/7/24/episode-62-simon-rich See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Second up in 5 from '18 is performance poet Ansel Appleton:http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2018/10/31/ut7e8v0a42fxh464sg7ponwmyq6nvhIt's noon on New Year's Eve - the countdown is on! Have a great one, all! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello All,We'll be back in the new year with new episodes, but wanted to repost a few favorites you might have missed. Here's, #5, which is the second half of my conversation with writer/performer/friend-of-show Beth Lisick. http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2018/2/22/episode-54-beth-lisick-pt-2Since then, Beth trekked up to Western Mass to participate in our first live show, AND got signed by a great publisher (I'm blanking on who it is right now) for her first novel, which will be out sometime in 2019!(In part one of our conversation, http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2018/1/19/episode-52-beth-lisick-part-1we wrestle with more difficult stuff such as men learning how to reckon with their actions and how to successfully apologize - this one is the lighter half of the conversation)Below are the original notes for that episode, from back in January.Happy New Year, all!***Here's part two of my conversation with writer/performer, old San Francisco friend Beth Lisick. (And here's Part One)Before the conversation, I read a shortened version of an essay of mine called "Peep Show", that Beth was instrumental in getting me to write, a pretty long time ago., when she asked me to perform at her (And Arine Klatt's) legendary San Francisco storytelling series, Porch Light. If you want more of a bio of Beth, go take a look at Episode 52, where you can find the first half of our conversation. Among the topics we dive into here are: Moving to New York City in one's 40s, writing/writer career stuff and how we define success therein, "Punk-Rock Damage," asserting/enjoying one's own successes, making sure you get to do your own own audio book if you have the chance and want to!, working with a writing partner, avoiding becoming a “brand,” connecting with strangers in Trump Year One, #metoo and Louis and Harvey and fame and sex and power and whether it’s time for redemption and the misuse of the word “pervert” as equivalent to “predator,” and a bunch of other stuff. Coming up in March are comedian/author/Conan-O'Brien-writer Laurie Kilmartin and former Playboy Editorial Director Chris Napolitano.Here's the full-length version of the essay "Peep Show" I read at the beginning of the episode that came out of a story told at Porch Light ...... and here's the short story, "Close," that led to the Porch Light story that led to the essay that ...And here's the book Bo's Arts, which came out of an art show at Adobe Books that Beth wrote about back in those halcyon days of yore.Find Beth Lisick at http://bethlisick.comFind us at http://15minutesjamieberger.comThanks! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

(This is the second half of a conversation that begins in episode 56, from back in March)Christopher Napolitano is an old college friend. When we graduated, I headed off to work for literary presses Grove Press and New Directions, while Chris started working at Playboy, where he eventually rose to be Editorial Director for many years. After his 20 year tenure at Playboy, he became the Creative Director at Indian Country Today Media network.In the earlier episode, we talk about editing in general, editing one's heroes (Norman Mailer and John Updike, among them), Chris’s decision to take a sharp turn away from the glitz and glam of Playboy in the early 2000s, and much, much more. This episode is the somwehat less literary of the two. Among the topics we discuss are Chris's first-hand impression of Donald Trump (they met in the Playboy offices, near Trump Tower, on several occasions), #metoo and the legacy of Hugh Hefner, Playmates’ odd celebrity, and a story about Perry Farrell’s party at the Mansion. Find all episodes of 15 Minutes on iTunes, Spotify and pretty much everywhere pods are cast, or at http://15minutesjamieberger.com.-jb See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A conversation with writer and slam poet Ansel Appleton, along with a story recorded from Ansel’s performance at our two-year anniversary show in June. Among topics that came up are the slam poetry scene in Cambridge and beyond in the late 90s and early 2000s and Ansel’s preference to perform only for strangers rather than for friends or family colleagues or heroes. ***Find us at http://15minutesjamieberger.com or wherever pods are cast! Thanks! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Daniel Oppenheimer and I talked about Stephen Elliott’s essay and lawsuit (filed last week) against Moira Donegan and the “Shitty Men in Media” list that Elliott was named in a year ago this week.This one was put together on short notice, and made in part because I couldn’t find written words to express my thoughts on this and it was making me crazy. Here are some stories mentioned in the episode: Elliott’s “How An Anonymous Accusation Derailed My Life”: https://quillette.com/2018/09/25/how-an-anonymous-accusation-derailed-my-life/The news story about the lawsuit: https://www.thecut.com/2018/10/stephen-elliott-sues-moira-donegan.htmlOther “shitty men” respond to the lawsuit: https://www.thecut.com/2018/10/stephen-elliott-moira-donegan-men-respond.htmlWriters respond to the lawsuit: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/writers-condemn-author-stephen-elliott-after-he-sues-creator-of-s-ty-media-men-listOn the possible effects of the suit:https://www.thecut.com/2018/10/stephen-elliott-lawsuit-moira-donegan-spreadsheet-privacy-expert.htmlThe Honest Couretesan’s Maggie McNeill’s “Topping from the Bottom” mentioned & quoted in intro: https://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/topping-from-the-bottom/Moira Donegan’s legal defense fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/hz8sxqMy “A noisy man on the silence of men” rant:https://medium.com/@15minsjamieb/if-this-reads-like-a-facebook-post-a0fde26a45a7If you want to read Bari Weiss’s Times Opinion Piece, you’ll have to look it up yourself.Please find all our episodes, I’d say all of them more cheery than this one, at http://15minutesjamieberger.comInsta/twitter: @15minsjamiebFeedback? info@15minutesjamieberger.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello All, My guest this week, in our now-annual visit, is WFMU radiomaker (also available in podcast form!) and 15-Minutes-inspirational-icon Hearty White. This being his third visit (see Episodes 8, 31, and 32 for more!), we’ve pretty much dispensed with the formality of talking about fame and just chat about whatever comes to mind, which this time included Timothy Leary, sanity, The Rockford Files (of course), rings, heroes, the Attention Economy, Black Stalin, Sundar Popo, Chutney Music, how he makes episodes of “Miracle Nutrition” (his show), the cultural obsession with recording/preserving memories, and much much more! Find him on WFMU.org or by searching for "Miracle Nutrition with Hearty White" on your favorite podcasting application.Before that, though, I rant for a while about how infuriating it is how many dudes such as this clever fellow (picture of a tweet you won’t see on the podcast apps so go to 15minutesjamieberger.com)and most most recently, long-since-relevant comedian Norm McDonald, insist on shouting BUT IT’S NOT COMEDY about, instead of discussing the content of, Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix stand-up comedy special, “Nanette,” which somehow led me into a tangentially related story from my San Francisco performance art days. Find “Miracle Nutrition with Hearty White” at/on WFMU and all the podcast places, where you can also find this show, or at 15minutesjamieberger.com. Thanks!-jb See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode is the first of several featuring recordings from our live show in Greenfield, MA at Hawks and Reed, back in June. Sarah Wisby, writer and recent transplant to Western Mass, and I, talked, a couple months after the show, about performance, writing, what success means to an artist as opposed to what it means to the public who perceives/judges artists, about being a character in someone else's (in her case, Michelle Tea's) work and a movie and meeting the person who played you in the movie based on that work, and so much more. You'll also hear the two swell stories Sarah read at the show. (You can find episodes with two of the other performers, Beth Lisick and Myra Bartok, in our archive, and episodes with the others, Old Pam, Ansel Appelton, and Zak Trojano are soon to come.)Here's the bio from Sarah's website. Sarah Fran Wisby writes poetry, short fiction, memoir and essays, preferring always to deepen and subvert genre by way of the hybrid form. Her book Viva Loss was published in 2008 by Small Desk Press. Recent work can be found in Eleven Eleven Journal and Rumpus Women Volume 1, and heard on Invisible Cities Audio Tour #2: The Armada of Golden Dreams. She’s also been published in Instant City, Sparkle and Blink, Digital Artifact, and The Encyclopedia Project Volume 2, F—K, for which she was honored to write the entry for fuck. She performs her work all over the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, and was a Literary Death Match champion in December 2010.***Coming next week to wrap up August, will be part two of the conversation from earlier this year, (Episode 56) with former longtime Playboy editorial director Christopher Napolitano.Oh, last thing - this episode contains some wonderful adult content - enjoy!As ever, thanks for listening! -Jamiehttp://15minutesjamieberger.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After finishing off his collegiate tenure as president of the Harvard Lampoon, Simon Rich became one of the youngest writers ever hired on Saturday Night Live and has written for Pixar and “The Simpsons.” He is the creator and showrunner of “Man Seeking Woman” (originally on FXX, now available on Hulu) and “Miracle Workers” (TBS), which he based on his books. His other collections include Spoiled Brats and Ant Farm. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. “Hits and Misses” is, as his publisher puts it, his “new collection of stories about dreaming big and falling flat, about ordinary people desperate for stardom and the stars who are bored by having it all.” Inspired by Rich’s real experiences in Hollywood, Hits and Misses chronicles all the absurdity of fame and success alongside the heartbreaking humanity of failure. From a bitter tell-all by the horse Paul Revere rode to greatness to a gushing magazine profile of everyone’s favorite World War II dictator, these stories roam across time and space to skewer our obsession with making it big–from the days of ancient Babylon to the age of TMZ.We talk about some of that stuff! Simon also reads two of his stories, (47:30) one of which includes a cameo of me as Death! Look out Hollywood, here I come!At least today, July 24th, 2018, which is also the pub date for Hits and Misses, this is my new favorite episode. Hope you enjoy it!-Jamie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sonny Smith is an old San Francisco friend I hadn’t spoken to in fifteen years. Here’s what Mother Jones had to say about his new album:“On his own, or as leader of Sonny and the Sunsets, the engaging Sonny Smith specializes in finely observed vignettes about everyday people that showcase his wry, slackerish voice. For all its rough edges, though, there’s nothing casual about his scruffy garage pop, which tempers a streak of melancholy with offhand, self-aware wit. Produced by Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach (who knows a thing or two about making eccentricity accessible), Rod for Your Love is Smith’s most commercial effort yet—it’s all relative—boasting a brighter sound and sunnier vibe than before. Witness the jaunty, toe-tapping optimism of the irresistible “Lost,” where he chirps, “I know the way this time,” or the romantic drama “Burnin’ Up,” featuring Angel Olsen’s tangy harmonies. While Smith may never top the charts, he’s never been more entertaining or more deserving of mainstream attention.”We talked about flying to Nashville to be produced by a rock star (and guests Pat Sansome of Wilco and Angel Olsen), and about then deciding to head home and onto his next projects instead of hitting the road to promote that album. We traded Robyn Hitchcock and Spalding Gray stories. We went into the tough decisions artists need to make regarding creative living versus promoting a creative life. To name just a few topics. We had a lot of fun reconnecting. Or at least I did. I think we both did. We mention a few names and places. Virgil = Virgil Shaw, Kelly = Kelly Stoltz, Atom = Atom Ellis, and the Make Out Room is a bar I used to work at and he used to play at in the Misison in SF.Find all episodes of 15 Minutes at:http://15minutesjamieberger.comLately, we’ve had to turn down a couple of great guests because there’s just no budget to put up more episodes in a timely fashion. Please help us make this show more than twice a month, at: https://www.patreon.com/15minutesjamiebergerOr via Paypal at 15minutesjamieberger@gmail.comThanks! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Click for other ways to listen:SpotifyiTunes(or search "Jamie Berger 15 Minutes" on Google Play, Stitcher, you know, all the places.)Hello All! Getting back in the groove after our first live recording (episodes to come in August) and the big ole 2nd-anniversary David Sedaris episode!Episode 60 is a conversation with comedian Keith Lowell Jensen, whom I started following on twitter last year, because of tweets like this that make me feel better and worse about life in America:I had Keith on my list of people to contact to see about having him on the show, and when his latest album of new material, "Bad Comedy for Bad People," hit #1 on the iTunes charts this spring, it seemed like the time. It was the time! And now is the time to bring that conversation to YOU!We talk about: calling out pervy middle-school teachers, letting go of his grudge on Julie for throwing his BDP cassette across the cafe, Keith's friendship with Robin Williams, and the time he performed for him in the parking lot after a show, TMZ & how much fame is too much fame, and much much more!You can find out more about where to catch Keith live, how to buy any of his 8 or so albums, on his site (click the words "his site" there). If you want to read and/or support his comic strip collaboration with Evan Svoboda, you can do that here. For all episodes of this show, please go to 15minutesjamieberger.com.And yes, we too have a Patreon page, on which you can pledge as little as $1 per episode to help us get this show made. Please and thank you! You can also pledge whatever you want whenever you want but just Paypalling 15minutesjamieberger at gmail. We'd love to get back to three or even four episodes a month, but right now we just don't have the income to make that time. Thanks, regardless!Ed Patenaude is the engineer. I, who write these words, Jamie Berger, am the host and pretty much everything else, except graphic designer and occasional photographer - that's Anja Schutz.Find us on Twitter and Instagram @15minsjamieb, and on Facebook by searching "15 Minutes Jamie Berger."Christian Cundari made the theme song.Thanks for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 59 - David SedarisThis is the podcast where David Sedaris gets to (okay, is strongly encouraged to) tell the dirty jokes he can’t tell Terry Gross! (This both a warning and an invitation.) But we talk about serious stuff too.This episode marks the 2-year anniversary of 15 Minutes, and I was so happy to have our guest from right around our first anniversary return. (Episode 38 is where you can find our first conversation)David Sedaris is a multiple NYT-bestselling author/humorist. But chances are really good you already knew that.Stuff we talk about: Aging; Success; his diaries and his new book of essays, Calypso; denim shirts; Stormy Daniels; what’s funny and what isn’t; letting a stranger who isn’t a surgeon take you to her office and perform surgery on you; David Rakoff; bitterness; being confused for a woman; and much, much more!***All episodes of this podcast can be found at http://15minutesjamieberger.com, and on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and pretty much wherever pods are cast.Ed Patenaude engineers the show. Christian Cundari made the the theme music. The show is hosted and created by me, Jamie Berger.Anja Schutz, who handles all elements of visual design for the show, made today's episode image, in conjunction with Cola Saitux, LTD, based on a photo of David S. for which we could not find the photographer, and the cover of Calypso. Thanks for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Annie Duke (annieduke.com) was the first person I recorded for this show, back in 2014, nearly two years before I got done deliberating/procrastinating and launched this thing. Here's what I wrote about my friend of 30+ years for Episode 5, where you can find that first conversation. "Annie Duke is a poker legend - winner of a WSOP bracelet, the WSOP Tournament of Champions, and of the NBC National Heads’-up Poker Championship in 2010, among other accolades. She was also runner-up to Joan Rivers on Season Two of Celebrity Apprentice. Among other charitable endeavors, Annie is co-founder, along with Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein, of Ante up for Africa. Our first first guest who's been over the Wall of Fame and climbed back, Annie is now retired from both poker and TV and is now a professional speaker, decision strategist, and one of the founders and directors of How I Decide, a nonprofit dedicated to helping youth become skilled decision makers, both in school and out. You can find them at howIdecide.org. Last, and Annie would say, most important, she is the proud mother of four."***Now Annie is back with her first mainstream (as opposed to poker) book. Part cognitive- psychology inquiry, part how-to guide, Thinking in Bets, posits that if we think of life less as the proverbial game of chess and more like poker, with its greater uncertainty and more unknowns, and act (bet) accordingly, we will make better decisions. We talk about that idea in terms of everything from voting and engaging in political conversation to deciding on everything from whether to run a red light to momentous life decisions. If you want to hear Annie recount her experiences with and thoughts on fame, go back and check out that earlier episode. We pretty much are completely OT re that fame stuff in this one.(NOTE: At around 37:00 I refer to a poker book I once reviewed, but vaguely. It's Positively 5th Street by James McManus.)Here's a link to Jennifer Wright's "Women Don't Owe Men a Debate about Feminism," mentioned in the episode.( https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a19480416/women-changing-mens-minds-feminism-steven-crowder/ )You can find 15 Minutes at http://15minutesjamieberger.com or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, pippa.io, and pretty much everywhere pods are cast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Whitney Reynolds is a writer, podcaster (“I Haven’t Seen That” with Mark Popham) and, most important, in terms of this episode, inveterate tweeter. A recent tweet of hers, which was a response to not only a previous tweet, but a response to a response to said tweet, Whitney's "new twitter challenge" to "describe yourself like a male author would" led to thousands of responses and retweets, which led to press coverage ranging from a Huffpo article to a New Yorker piece and a BBC radio interview. She was also asked to do a TV interview for BBC, which she declined, and, in fact, decided to move on from this kind of attention. I was honored to be the last person she agreed to talk to about this. On top of learning about the splendors and terrors of Twitter virality, Whitney tells us about Twitter as a place not just to look for audience, but also, (as many of us have treated Facebook for years, and now treat Instagram, but are ignorant of re twitter) for community. I haven't used twitter in that fashion, and I look forward to giving it a go. We spoke on the phone on Saturday, 4/7/18, about a week after the big tweet.Find her @whitneyarner, or don't, she's really not that concerned about it. Sounds like a healthy way to go. Find us at http://15minutesjamieberger.com or @15minsjamieb (twitter/insta)and on Facebook, Patreon, iTunes, Spotify, oh gosh, the list really does go on. Thanks!(see below for a couple of great responses to Whitney Reynolds' tweet)-jb See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Christopher Napolitano is an old college friend. When we graduated, I headed off to work for tiny literary presses Grove Press and New Directions, while Chris started working at Playboy, where he eventually rose to be Editorial Director for many years.We talked about editing in general, editing one's heroes (Norman Mailer and John Updike, among them), and a bunch of other stuff. Part one is the more literary of the two.Part 2, coming soon, touches on the other stuff - visits to the Playboy Mansion, the treatment of women both in editorial and in front of the camera, at the magazine, Chris's first-hand impression of Donald Trump, #metoo, and more.At the top of the show, I gripe for a few minutes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 55 - Laurie KilmartinLaurie Kilmartin has been a Staff Writer for “Conan” since 2010 and a stand-up comedian for three decades. Her new book, “Dead People Suck,” (which she’s calling her second, and last, book) is a simultaneously heartwarming and biting comedic memoir about her father’s death and a tongue-in-cheek how-to about dealing with the death of a loved one.She also co-hosts “The Jackie and Laurie Show” podcast with fellow comic Jackie Kashian.***Laurie and I talked about the book, about writing for Conan, the life of a stand-up, the joys and hazards of making jokes about her living mother and dead father, and of course, about fame and what she sees as her place in the comedy world.And because you all know I have that magical gift of making funny people unfunny by asking them serious questions, I’ve included a couple of clips from her album “45 Jokes about My Dead Dad.” (which you can also find on Spotify, etc.)You can find Laurie Kilmartin athttp://www.kilmartin.com/and “Dead People Suck” wherever books are sold!You can find us at http://15mintuesjamierberger.comand, again, now on Spotify!Our new host is Pippa, and if you’re a podcaster looking for a host, check them out at http://pippa.ioOur theme song is by Christian Cundari.Ed Patenaude is the Engineer.Thanks for listening!-jb See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here's part two of my conversation with writer/performer, old San Francisco friend Beth Lisick. (And here's Part One)Before the conversation, I read a shortened version of an essay of mine called "Peep Show", that Beth was instrumental in getting me to write, a pretty long time ago., when she asked me to perform at her (And Arine Klatt's) legendary San Francisco storytelling series, Porch Light. If you want more of a bio of Beth, go take a look at Episode 52, where you can find the first half of our conversation. Among the topics we dive into here are: Moving to New York City in one's 40s, writing/writer career stuff and how we define success therein, "Punk-Rock Damage," asserting/enjoying one's own successes, making sure you get to do your own own audio book if you have the chance and want to!, working with a writing partner, avoiding becoming a “brand,” connecting with strangers in Trump Year One, #metoo and Louis and Harvey and fame and sex and power and whether it’s time for redemption and the misuse of the word “pervert” as equivalent to “predator,” and a bunch of other stuff. Coming up in March are comedian/author/Conan-O'Brien-writer Laurie Kilmartin and former Playboy Editorial Director Chris Napolitano.Here's the full-length version of the essay "Peep Show" I read at the beginning of the episode that came out of a story told at Porch Light ...... and here's the short story, "Close," that led to the Porch Light story that led to the essay that ...And here's the book Bo's Arts, which came out of an art show at Adobe Books that Beth wrote about back in those halcyon days of yore.Find Beth Lisick at http://bethlisick.comFind us at http://15minutesjamieberger.comThanks! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Daniel Oppenheimer 2Hello All,Part 2 of my conversation with Beth Lisick will be next up. For now, here's a timely interruption. You may recall, in the last episode, I mentioned that (to quote, well, me) :"This week I took a huge, manic, obsessive dive down the Aziz Ansari/#metoo rabbit hole, and like to think I have takes that haven't yet been took. But after writing about 18 (single space) pages of notes and compiling dozens of articles and audio and video (google Samantha Bee and Aziz for one of the most recent, and best, responses), when I went to record ... well, I'm just not skilled enough yet to say what I need to say as concisely as would make me feel comfortable to share with the world."It just so happened that right after that, Dan Oppenheimer (Episode 11) called me up wanting to talk through that same stuff and what he sees as the frustrating toxicity of most ostensibly serious discourse on social media. So I asked if I could use his need to both satisfy my own AND make an episode. So we talked ... and talked ....I think it made both of us feel a little better. Maybe it will you too.  Among the topics we dug into:PatriarchyRacism#metooThe Aziz Ansari moment / bad dates and bad daters/ discord between 2nd and 3rd Wave FeministsThe toxicity of social mediaThe dangers of stereotyping, even of straight, white, middle-aged men! (even when based on valuable/sound movements/ideas/etc. such as patriarchy, #metoo)Child-rearing / sexual moresMale feminismPuritanismvirtue signallingHigh-school sex (& why we didn't get much)and ...PARKING IN THE DEEP SPOTFind Dan and his work at: http://danieloppenheimer.com. He's the author of Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Centurywhich was published in 2016 by Simon and Schuster to the kind of fanfare authors of such books dream of dream of with reviews and features everywhere from the Atlantic to the New Republic, New Yorker to, New Statesman, TIme Magazine the New York TImes Book Review.These notes have gotten really long. If you want to know more about anything we talked about from Bob Jensen & Hugo Schweitzer to any of the best and worst writing on the Aziz stuff, and google fails you, please feel free to email me at: info (at) jamiebergerwords.comand I'll be glad to send links your way.Likewise, if you have a thought/response to the episode that you'd like to share either with me or with the whole wide world.Last, I will put one link, to the short story "Cat Person," that we referred to:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-personTHANKS FOR LISTENING. If you like what we do, please pass it on, rate/review on iTunes, or even chip in a little money per episode:https://www.patreon.com/15minutesjamiebergeror if you want to donate just once, paypal to "15minutesjamieberger (at) gmail.comTHANKS!-Jamie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Happy 2018 All! This week I took a huge, manic, obsessive dive down the Aziz Ansari/#metoo rabbit hole, and like to think I have takes that haven't yet been took. But after writing about 18 (single space) pages of notes and compiling dozens of articles and audio and video (google Samantha Bee and Aziz for one of the most recent, and best, responses), when I went to record ... well, I'm just not skilled enough yet to say what I need to say as concisely as would make me feel comfortable to share with the world. My first two tries at recording the intro ran over half an hour, longer than the actual conversation with Beth, which is just not what this here show is about.That personal failure out of the way, I think my guest Beth Lisick is super swell and the episode is more than just fine. But before I get to Beth, I would like to share with you, though, the best writing I've read this week on the Aziz stuff, by Katie Anthony. Discovering KA's work (http://www.katykatikate.com) has been worth all of the reading and writing that didn't end up leading to talking for this show. (I think) she should be required reading for men who want to do better.  (She also has a podcast with Ronit Feinglass Plank called Mouthy Messy Mandatory that I just listened to the first time last night and is also awesome) BUT HER WRITING! If you want a jumping off point, check out "the katykatikate guide to apologies" which is super relevant to today's episode.  I could go on all day about Ms. Anthony's powerful, funny, and useful words, but her work can speak way better for how great it is than my description of it ever would.Now, on to our show!Beth Lisick is a writer and actor. She is the author of five books and has appeared in films screened at Cannes, Sundance, and the San Francisco International Film Festival. Her books include the memoir collection Yokohama Threeway and Other Small Shames (City Lights), the New York Times bestselling comic memoir Everybody Into the Pool (Harper/ReganBooks), the gonzo self-help manifesto Helping Me Help Myself (Harper/William Morrow), the story collection This Too Can Be Yours (Manic D), and the performance poetry/story collection Monkey Girl (Manic D). She lives with her husband and son (and probably a pet or two, I forgot to ask) in Brooklyn, and is working on a novel.We spoke on the phone in December. (As ever, all episodes can be found pretty much wherever pods are cast: iTunes, Soundcloud .... or at 15minutesjamieberger.com)Thanks for listening!-Jamie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Back next week to start off 2018 with Beth Lisick, but here's one more favorite from back in 2016, with fiction writer/rocker (Erase Errata, etc.) Sara Jaffee. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Wrapping up the year with a replay of one more fave from earlier this year - a couple of local-becoming-more-than-local heroes, sibling musicmakers Matt "The Suitcase Junket" and Kate Lorenz, who made beautiful both together and separately this past year. ***Find us on iTunes and a bunch of other podplaces, and on twitter and insta @15minsjamieb and on Facebook. ***Better times to all in 2018! - we'll be back in a couple weeks with #52, author/performer, old friend, Beth Lisick, and then former Playboy Editorial director Chris Napolitano, and then . . . . See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since Episode 21 aired about a year ago, Bulldog's first album has dropped. Find it here!http://www.getembulldog.com/musicFind us here!Since Episode 21 aired about a year ago, Bulldog's first album has dropped. Find us and the original episode notes here!http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2016/12/5/episode-21-nora-murphy-of-bulldogFind us here!http://www.15minutesjamieberger.comHappier 2018 all! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brooke Gladstone... is co-host of the most essential radio show/podcast in my weekly listening, On The Media. She also has an incisive, insightful, and oddly comforting (you'll hear that word a lot in the episode) new book, The Trouble with Reality, A Rumination on Moral Panic in our Time. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here’s part two of Jamie's conversation with Michael Ian Black, with a bonus clip from Episode 48 guest Elna Baker, and an intro regarding famous and unfamous men's power, and how we need to reckon with it. It gets a lot funner and funnier after that.Topics include toe fungus, tacos, and Marc Maron.For more on Michael and to find any of those previous 50 episodes:http://15minutesjamieberger.comYou can find us on Soundcloud, iTunes and lots of other places where pods are cast.Insta/Twit: @15minsjamiebHappy December! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 50 - Michael Ian Black, pt. 1Hello and goddam we made it to FIFTY!After this year and a half of letting politics and social commentary exist on this show only as it came up within the conversations, for the first time, I’ve decided to talk for a few minutes all by myself at the top of the show, pretty much completely off topic, pretty much about my working through how to be a 53-year-old white straight male ally in these days of Trump and Weinstein and C.K.If you can make it through that ...Michael Ian Black and I talk about everything from our moms (of course) and his recent memoir, “Naval Gazing,” about his mother and her illness, among other things, to his podcast, “How to Be Amazing,” to dream jobs, to his twitter activism fighting Trump and all the other horrible shit therein that’s happened this year, to his three-decade (what I’m calling) love-feud with Marc Maron. Oh, and fame. We talk about fame too. Here’s verifiable information his bio says about him:Michael Ian Black is a multi-media talent who’s starred in numerous films and TV series, written and/or directed two films, is a prolific author and commentator, and regularly tours the country performing his ribald brand of jokes and observations. He most recently starred in TVLand's “The Jim Gaffigan Show” and Comedy Central’s “Another Period.” He also reprised one of his iconic film roles in Netflix’s “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later,” and previously in "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp." His third standup comedy special, “Noted Expert,” was released on Epix.Black has authored 11 books, including the recently released best seller, “A Child’s First Book of Trump.” He’s written two well-received memoirs: “Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom’s, which I know sounds weird)”, and “You're Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death and Other Humiliations.”Eleanor Gordon-Smith’s “This American Life” piece: by turns upsetting, fascinating amusing and maybe ultimately depressing story on trying to get a few Australian men to reconsider the “harmless”ness catcalling and ass-slapping.https://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/603/once-more-with-feeling?act=1#act-1Nicole Stamp CNN “What Decent Men Can Do” - If you listen to my intro, you’ll know I’m not satisfied with this as being enough, at least for me, but it’s a darn good start:http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/21/opinions/what-men-can-do-me-too-stamp-opinion/index.htmlHere’s the "How if You’re a Man … Trash" piece I talked about in the intro:https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/how-if-you-re-a-man-to-deal-with-the-fact-that-you-re-1820410857?utm_source=theroot_facebook&utm_medium=socialflowHere's my essay, "Peep Show":https://psiloveyou.xyz/peep-show-9912979642cdWant more on the awful topics of recent weeks? Try Googling: Jessica Valenti, Rebecca Traister, Bell Hooks, Barbara ErenreichNext week: Part two of the M.I.B. conversation, as well as another rant, this time about the extra added power of having not just money or employment but fame as a weapon that entertainment/arts-world abusers wield; and how now do we go on being fans of the white guys we love?There's some fun/funny stuff in there too, I hope.For the other 49: http://15minutesjamieberger.com(or itunes or stitcher or wherever pods are cast)Happy Thanksgiving!!!!  -Jamie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Almost at 50, re=airing some faves. Here's Bob's Burgers "Gene" and stand-up comedian and stand-up human being, Eugene Mirman! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On our way to Episode 50, revisiting some hits - here' s author/podcaster/Jeopardy Champ and Greatest American Living Writer Neal Pollack. Find the greatness here!https://www.nealpollack.com/Find all of our episodes here!http://15minutesjamieberger.com(or on itunes or stitcher or soundcloud or ...) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mira Bartok is a dear old grad school and Pioneer Valley friend. We had a conversation about the Cinderella-story-40-plus-years-in-the making that is the last whirlwind two years of her career as a writer and an artist, during which, among other wonders, her debut middle-grade novel was snatched up by Hollywood before it was even sold as a novel or even finished! Here’s her official Bio:Mira Bartók is the author and illustrator of numerous books for children and adults, including The Memory Palace, a New York Times bestselling memoir and winner of the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography, and The Wonderling, the first in a middle grade series, published by Candlewick Press. A major motion picture of The Wonderling, directed by Stephen Daldry (The Crown, Billie Elliot, The Reader), is currently in development. Mira is also a spokesperson for TransCultural Exchange, an international arts organization that seeks to foster greater understanding between world cultures through artistic collaboration. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her musician husband Doug Plavin and their little dog Sadie. We spoke in October in her writing/art studio behind her house in Western Mass. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As we approach episode 50, and also because he's on Fresh Air today talking about his new book, "Vacationland," and we know you'll be itchin' for more John Kellogg Hodgman both before and after, that, here he is, John Hodgman, our very first guest back in May 2016, and the only episode that's even close to being actually 15-minutes long. Next up is Mira Bartok.http://15minutesjamieberger.com@15minsjamieb on the twitters See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As we approach 50 episodes (49 coming Monday 10/30, with writer/artist Mira Bartok), revisiting a few. This one, well, it's a lot of Lois asking me (Jamie) stuff about the show, looking back on year one and why I'm making this thing. Been wondering why, myself, lately, so I'm glad we made this "session." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Elna Baker - writer, storyteller, performer, comedian and author of the 2010 memoir, “The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance.” You may have heard her tell stories on the Moth, TAL, among other places.On top of telling and producing stories for This American Life for six years, she’s also on the staff of the show. I’m not sure exactly what her title is, but it’s along the lines of producer, consultant, comedian. We talk about that a bit.We’ve met a few times through NYC comedy-world friends. Earlier this year we ended up having dinner with a group of friends after a show at the NY Podcast Festival. I found myself sitting across from Elna, and her This American Life boss, Ira Glass, and while Ira was uninterested, at best, when I found my way around to talking about my podcast - something to the effect of “Why would anyone want to listen to famous people talk about fame” - I clarified that it wasn’t just famous people talking about it, point is, Ira was clearly never going to be a listener, let alone a guest, Elna, perhaps out of politeness, seemed genuinely interested in the topic. And now, here she is. It’s especially gracious and trusting of Elna, of anyone involved with a show like TAL, to come on a show that’s all about lengthy, free-form conversations, because it’s pretty much the opposite of what they do over at TAL, which is to make beautiful, challenging, highly produced-polished little gems of thought and storytelling. We talked about some of her recurring themes in her work - family, sex, Mormonism and her leaving it, her 100-pound weight loss and the accompanying change in self-and-others-perception.We also ended up revisiting a live show Elna and colleagues put on six years ago at the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival that featured Ira Glass, Rachel Maddow, John Hodgman and a slew of others. That evening isn’t available on the internet, or anywhere, that lives on only in infamous legend, which I am proud to have a small part in keeping alive. It was called “The Drunk Show,” and … well, you’ll hear about it.We talked on the phone on a Friday evening in early October. Find Elna telling stories at http://elnabaker.websiteFind us at http://15minutesjamieberger.comThanks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

(reposting some faves as we near Episode 50!)George Saunders is as famous as contemporary literary fiction (let alone short-story) writers get, to the extent of being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2013. His first novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” comes out February 14th, 2017 and is receiving glowing reviews. The audio version of the novel is read by an unarguably star-studded cast of 166, including Susan Sarandon, Jeff Tweedy, David Sedaris, Ben Stiller, Lena Dunham, Keegan Michael-Key, Julianne Moore, and Saunders’ parents.He’s also one of my favorite writers ever.I’ll let his short autobiography on his site tell you more about him.www.georgesaundersbooks.com/about/We talked about fame’s perks and pitfalls, artmaking, humility, kindness, the president (just for a minute, promise), beans, and much, much, so much more.Here are the two nonfiction pieces of his we referred to in our conversation: “Congratulations, by the Way” (a graduation speech from 2013 on kindness - also available as a lovely audio minibook on Audible)6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/…-graduates/andSaunders’ New Yorker piece from pre-election time last year, “Who Are All These Trump Voters?”www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07…to-trump-ralliesFind all of our episodes at 15minutesjamieberger.cominstagram & twitter @15minsjamiebOn iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and everywhere pods are cast.Thanks! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.