Humor and the Abject Podcast

New York writer Elvia Wilk joins to discuss her recent collection of essays on ecologies, “Death By Landscape” (Soft Skull Press, 2022). Using an accessible approach she calls “fan-nonfiction,” Wilk's latest book catalouges and considers a diverse group of writers, while ruminating on plant-becoming, slow apocalypses, mysticism, LARPing, trauma, the New Weird, consent, and black holes. The outro music is “Planta” by Soda Stereo. Purchase “Death By Landscape,” as well as Wilk's 2019 debut novel “Oval,” through Soft Skull Press: https://softskull.com/authors/elvia-wilk/

A science fiction set in the back of beyond, along a stretch of Interstate 80 in Northern Utah's desolate Great Salt Lake Desert, where for decades the United States military has clandestinely tested its most volatile chemical, biological, and explosive weapons. Here, amidst blinding salt flats and far-flung mountain ranges, one local gig worker unwittingly crosses a top secret threshold, stumbling upon an alarming experiment that upsets the very foundations of our temporal reality. Originally published by Do Not Research: https://donotresearch.net/ Pre-Order the physical book, scheduled May 2022, with original drawings by Thomas J Gamble: https://humorandtheabject.com/store/backslasher

A science fiction set in the back of beyond, along a stretch of Interstate 80 in Northern Utah's desolate Great Salt Lake Desert, where for decades the United States military has clandestinely tested its most volatile chemical, biological, and explosive weapons. Here, amidst blinding salt flats and far-flung mountain ranges, one local gig worker unwittingly crosses a top secret threshold, stumbling upon an alarming experiment that upsets the very foundations of our temporal reality. Originally published by Do Not Research: https://donotresearch.net/ Pre-Order the physical book, scheduled May 2022, with original drawings by Thomas J Gamble: https://humorandtheabject.com/store/backslasher

Humor and the Abject has a special treat for all you screedlers out there: an interview with Japanther co-founder Ian Vanek. He’s about to release “Puppy Dog Ice Cream,” a new book all about Japanther’s 13-year run, published by Outlandish Press. We talked about buzzing, vibing, and dancing; Brooklyn DIY in the mid-00s; one-man motorcycle/sampler tours; the rainy charm of the Pacific Northwest; blissing the fuck out; playing a show in a castle with Penny Rimbaud of Crass (who bit them); how to make your band a sculpture, and a whole lot more. The outro music is Ian’s current band HOWARDIAN, reworking a Genesis classic. Pre-order your copy of “Puppy Dog Ice Cream” today: https://www.outlandish.press/store/p/puppy-dog-ice-cream-the-story-of-japanther

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, babyyyyyyyy. It’s the lucky thirteenth episode of the DSA Podcast, starring your pals Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe. To celebrate, the power trio ripped into some of the most important topics of the day including Jeff Bezos delivering packages to the moon, raccoon roommates, fighting a cat, Alec Baldwin sightings, and more. The outro music is “True Romance” by Tiger Army.

New York writer Charlie Markbreiter (@BerlantBro) has written about contemporary art, humor, and edgelordism for The New Inquiry, Artforum, Baffler, Momus, and Garage, among others. On this week’s episode, we talked about their interest in comedy and humorlessness; a recent interview they conducted with scholar Lauren Berlant; why the NYMPHOWARS podcast subverts right wing and liberal expectations; gimmickry, social justice, and being annoying; and the impotent self-destruction of Jackass. The outro music is “Delete Yourself!” by Atari Teenage Riot. Read Charlie’s interview with Lauren Berlant here: https://thenewinquiry.com/cant-take-a-joke/ Read Charlie’s article on NYMPHOWARS here: https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/vbaz9d/nymphowars-podcast

Janet40 is the Mexico City-based curatorial and production platform of Patricia Siller and Luis Nava. They’ve been in Austin for the last month as part of the Unlisted Projects residency program at the Museum of Human Achievement. While in town, they’ve been working on prototyping and fabricating objects for artists Canek Zapata (Mexico City) and Hannah Dubbe (Austin). We got the chance to get together in their studio at MoHA and talk about their current projects; the Janet40 origin story; having day jobs; turning URL content into IRL objects; capitalism; love; how to make rice glow in the dark; aliens; the nature of collaboration; and the totally nuts amount of upcoming projects they’ve already got in the works. The outro music is “It’s a Fine Day” by Opus III. View their project archive here: https://janet40.com/

It’s my big birthday week, babies. To celebrate, I caught up with an old friend, artist Beth Campbell from New York. She was visiting Austin this past week to unveil a new public art project as part of the Landmarks collection at the University of Texas. I got to see Beth do a great conversation with philosopher Timothy Morton, who also wrote a nice essay about her work available via the link below. During our own conversation, Beth and I discussed the arc of her practice over the last 20 years, which has won her a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Pollack-Krasner Grant, and has seen her work presented in venues including the Whitney, the Drawing Room in London, MoMA PS1, and tons of other places. We talk mirrors, audience expectations, the difference between installation and sculpture, emotional time travel, and a whole lot more. The outro music is “Mythmaster” by Lightning Bolt. Read Timothy Morton’s essay, and learn more about Beth’s Landmarks project, here: https://landmarks.utexas.edu/artwork/spontaneous-futures-possible-past

Azikiwe is finally back from his travels all around North America, so it’s time for another installment of everybody’s favorite podcast within the podcast, the DSA Podcast (Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe). With the remake of “Pet Sematary” dropping this week, we thought it only appropriate to do a comprehensive review of the original film that is now 30 years old. We also learn a lot about different types of domestic pet breeds! Fuck it all, baby! The outro music is “Pet Sematary” by Ramones.

New York writer Mike Pepi makes his debut on the Humor and the Abject podcast to talk about the important topics currently ripping up your mind: the smooth jazz rock of Steely Dan; parvenus; the Mueller Report; restaurant lighting design; why museums are failing to confront platform capitalism; how many times one can legally donate to Bernie; that classic libertarian love of street art; the twisted history of Huntington, New York; picks for Vice President; restaurant drama across Manhattan; and, of course, neoliberalism. The outro music is “Black Cow” by Steely Dan.

March is apparently Toronto month, because we’ve got artist Bridget Moser joining this week. Bridget is currently an artist-in-residence in Cleveland at SPACES, where she’s got a solo exhibition of brand new work, generated in-residence, opening up next month. Over the course of this episode, we got to talk about many important topics including: the slow death of mall culture; how ugly Toronto is; the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; reading Adbusters and making political art in college; why painting is so boring; learning performance art by just doing one thing for a really long time; prop comedy; obsessively rehearsing; accounting for time and tech; organizing a performance by color or other compositional tools; why everything in a gallery sounds like shit; and the lovely work of festival staff. The outro music is “Kids” by PUP.

Toronto artists Amy Lam and Jon McCurley have been collaborating for 13 years as Life of a Craphead. On this week’s episode, we talked about their current exhibition, “Entertaining Every Second,” which has toured throughout Canada to its current site of Montreal; self-organizing a 30-show live even series called Doored; why cutting your teeth on stage makes you a better sculptor; the glaring problems with Ken Burns’ “Vietnam” documentary; King Edward VII; whether or not people in Toronto live in bars; and so much more. The outro music is “Ontario” by Neil Young.

It’s episode 100 of the Humor and the Abject podcast! To celebrate this unholy milestone, we brought back our very first guest ever: Darcie Wilder. THIS IS NOT JUST A DSA PODCAST WITHOUT AZIKIWE. Over the course of this latest conversation, Darcie and I discussed her weekly conceptual newsletter, “sentences”; the Elizabeth Holmes Theranos scandal; the nuances of reporting for jury duty; that time Mayor de Blasio killed a groundhog and tried to cover it up; and we play a brand new game called Better Take Than Never. Throughout the episode, you’ll hear cameos from multiple previous Humor and the Abject guests. The outro music is a total travesty by alumnus Daniel J Glendening. Buy Darcie’s book here: https://store.nytyrant.com/products/literally-show-me-a-healthy-person-by-darcie-wilder Subscribe to the “sentences” newsletter here: https://tinyletter.com/darcie Support Humor and the Abject on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/humorandtheabject

Western Mass artist Emma Kohlmann was visiting Austin for a printmaking residency at the University of Texas last week, and was kind enough to drop by to record an episode. We talked about zines and doing book fairs; bakeries and why sourdough is printmaking; liberal arts colleges; Scooby Doo; flirting with anti-civ tendencies; punk festivals; assuming you can’t be an artist; our siblings; the 2007 Toyota Prius; walking everywhere; what is wrong with parents today; and even more. The outro music is “Time to Stand” by Deep Wound. Check out Emma’s work here: http://ekohlmann.com/

As part of fabled collective Paper Rad, artist Jacob Ciocci co-produced animations, video collages, and HTML works that have had a profound influence on almost every artist working with technology today—whether they realize it or not. On this week’s episode, Jacob joins from his new home of Chicago to discuss fatherhood; his early days as a student at Oberlin College with Cory Arcangel and Paul B Davis; the genesis of Paper Rad with his sister, artist Jessica Ciocci, and Ben Jones; the aesthetic break between Paper Rad and postinternet art; his beguiling experience encountering Fort Thunder in Providence; the craft beer craze and artifical scarcity; being scared of watching brain-rotting cartoons; his longtime musical collaboration, Extreme Animals, with David Wightman; being so uncool that it becomes cool; a recent teaching gig in animation; and the devastating pain of archiving your work. The outro music is “SURFING/SUFFERING” by Extreme Animals. Additional Extreme Animals tracks play throughout the episode. Want to hear more Extreme Animals? Buy a digital download of their movie, "The Urgency," here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/theurgency

Performance artist Jordan Wayne Long moved to Los Angeles in 2013 with his collaborator Matt Glass. Over the last six years, they’ve written, directed, and produced multiple film projects and taken home numerous Emmys as HCT.Media. On this week’s episode, Jordan joins first to talk about shipping himself in a crate across the country, tackling PTSD through performance, the complications of audience participation, knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing, and getting knocked off a horse. Following a short break filled with fun facts about Richard Brautigan, Matt joins the episode to talk about HCT.Media’s ambitious history of DIY filmmaking and what’s in store for the future. The outro music is a song called “Football” by Jordan and Matt. Check out the trailer to their first feature narrative, “Squirrel,” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2bySkOp58

Comedian Lorelei Ramirez returns to the podcast to talk about why founding—and sustaining—their monthly show NOT DEAD YET was important; the behind-the-scenes process of producing an 11-minute infomercial epic called “Pervert Everything” for Adult Swim; collaborating to identify resources for community organizing through the event series Incite Action (and how you can get involved); curating a new video series at Syndicated in Bushwick; the podcast “A Woman’s Smile” with Patti Harrison; and when acting sucks. The outro song is “Cologne” by Trans Am. LOS ANGELES — Get tickets to “Alive! (For Now)” here: 2/09 @ The Ruby: https://therubyla.com/events/lorelei-ramirez/ 2/10 @ Lyric Hyperion: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lorelei-ramirez-alive-for-now-tickets-55254306117 CHICAGO — Get tickets to “Alive! (For Now)” here: 3/18 @ The Hideout: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lorelei-ramirez-alive-for-now-tickets-54432922336

With partial federal government shutdown over, the Humor and the Abject furlough comes to an end. We’re kicking off 2019 with the 11th episode of the podcast within the podcast, the DSA Podcast, which stands for Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe. Get yourself into the groove of reopened national parks, a funded TSA, and federal I-9 work verifications courtesy of a conversation blossoming with 2019 predictions, Stephen King lore, the hottest Ja Rule takes, over-participation in contemporary art exhibitions, and getting kicked out of bars. The outro music is “Am I Evil?” by Extreme Animals.

Humor and the Abject is taking a little holiday break, but to celebrate the end of 2018, it’s episode 10 of the podcast within the podcast, The DSA Podcast (Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe). On this Christmas-themed episode, the comrades discuss their holiday plans, recent encounters with cinema, a super obscure book about Jesus that Darice has, screaming tips, the upcoming season of True Detective, and they even do a little bit of radio theater for your listening pleasure. The outro song is “Silver Bells” by Twisted Sister. See you in 2019.

New York poet Peter BD is about to release a new mixtape, “Milk & Henny,” a follow-up to his 2018 book of the same name from Inpatient Press. Peter and I connected to talk about accidentally channeling Jack Handy, his broad animal care skills, the “Milk & Henny” origin story, writing in Gmail drafts, studying biology, JC Chasez, inadvertently becoming an alt-lit darling, collaborating with musicians and other writers, writing stories about people and emailing them to them, actually liking “The Corrections,” tall people, our first cars, and The Narrows. He also participated in a new game, and even let me leak a couple of his new tracks. The outro song is “Reading Rainbow” from his forthcoming mixtape. Buy the "Milk & Henny" book here: https://inpatientpress.bigcartel.com/product/milk-henny-by-peter-bd

Dena Winter, FKA May Waver, is an artist and production designer known for her audiovisual explorations of intimacy, environment, memory, and selfhood in the so-called digital age. She joins Humor and the Abject this week from the frozen tundras of her home in St. Paul, MN to talk about the advent of her online alter ego May Waver, the value of tenderness in art and life, self and ego, perceptions of authenticity, working in set design for stage and the big screen including a new movie she’s part of called “American Tender,” life in the Twin Cities, and more. Halfway through the episode, you’ll hear the Custom Sound Collage for November’s Patreon Lottery winner, Jacob W. For a chance to win your own, support Humor and the Abject on Patreon. The outro music is “Mall of America” by Desaparecidos.

Are you feeling experimental? I am. On this week’s episode, I’m trying out something that I hope to do more of in the future: writers reading their work. To break the ice, I’ve opted to offer myself up as the sacrificial lamb and read two pieces of my own. The first, “Jalipaz Kirkham: In Profile,” is something I wrote for the release event of poet Peter BD’s book “Milk & Henny” last spring. The second is a very, very stupid piece of erotic fiction about Westworld titled “Have We Met Before?” that I read at a comedy night called Into the Woods, organized by Ari Richter, this past summer. If you just want to hear one or the other in the future, these are the timestamps: 04:40 — “Jalipaz Kirkham: In Profile” 20:57 — “Have We Met Before?” The outro music is “Fiction” by Joni Mitchell. I’m currently open to requests for writers I’ve had on the podcast that you’d like to hear read their work and get the Humor and the Abject audio environment treatment.

Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe are back for another podcast-within-the-podcast, and this time they’re talking about cheese—and animals! The outro music is “Cheese Roll Call” from Pinky and the Brain.

Photographer Matthew Leifheit’s most recent body of work, “Fire Island Night,” is on view at Deli Gallery in Brooklyn through December 2nd. He joined Humor and the Abject this week to talk about his independent photo journal MATTE, trying to maintain a practice while juggling multiple adjunct teaching gigs, the importance of building trust and allowing for coincidence in photography, his years as photo editor at VICE, a three-month stint on Fire Island in the pursuit of his latest project, looking to the future while archiving the past, still working with film, generational shifts in queer communities, and more. We’re occasionally joined by his dog, Debbie Harry. The outro music is “Raw Deal” by Judas Priest. View documentation from Matthew’s “Fire Island Night” here: https://www.matthewleifheit.com/fire-island-night/

Joshua Citarella has a phenomenal new book out, "UNTITLED (Post-Left Politigram)," that you can read an excerpt from via his website linked below. It’s a collection of his research, writing, and artwork over several years related to accelerated political identities in adolescent online culture. He joins from his efficiency living unit in New York City this week to talk about his involvement with historically notorious Tumblr art collective the Jogging, accidental audiences, the not-yet-readymades he designed with Brad Troemel for Etsy under the banner of Ultraviolet Production House, startling overlaps between rightwing doomsday preppers and rooftop gardening Pinterest libs, freelance purgatory, Deftones, not getting an MFA, the byzantine philosophies of politically-radical Instagram posters, reading “Ishmael” once, and photography. The outro music is “Hearts Frozen Solid, Thawed Once More By The Spring Of Rage, Despair And Hopelessness” by AFI. About halfway through the episode, you’ll hear the first Custom Sound Collage from October’s subscriber lottery, made for OK Fox and Lucia Love of the Art and Labor podcast. If you’d like a chance to win one of your own, back Humor and the Abject on Patreon for just $3/mo. Get excerpts from Joshua Citarella’s new book here: http://joshuacitarella.com/_pdf/Politigram_Post-left_2018_short.pdf

Fresh off her solo exhibition, “Utopia Without You” at Williamson | Knight in Portland, OR, artist Tabitha Nikolai linked up with me to talk Nightcore, earnest rites of suburban occult, post-cataclysmic world-building, junk food asteroids, crust punk elves in the Pacific Northwest, a general malaise with liberalism and prescriptive visibility, isolation and the gamer's den, her fictitious corporation called Dynamic Horizons Limited, upgrade culture, planned and perceived obsolescence, cosplay and D&D, performative allyship in art institutions and gallery spaces, and growing up in Utah. The outro music is Don McClean’s “The Flight of Dragons (Nightcore Remix).” Humor and the Abject just migrated over from Drip to Patreon. Subscribe today for just $3/mo: https://www.patreon.com/humorandtheabject Check out Tabitha’s website here: https://tabithanikolai.com/ See images from “Utopia Without You” here: https://www.williamsonknight.com/tabitha-nikolai/

New York comedian and artist Alex Schmidt has a solo exhibition, “Group Fail Pony Play,” on view through October 28th at Leslie-Lohman Museum. We connected this week to talk about her Midwest roots, loving queer culture enough to satirize it, why they don’t make movies about Chicago anymore, what constitutes an actual family reunion, how breaking a horse is a metaphor for dom/sub relationships, creating IRL spaces for queer connections of all stripes from love to skillshares, her band Las Thumbelinas, pop-up dyke bars, teaching improv to diverse communities, and the upcoming event she’s co-organizing at Leslie-Lohman with Black + Pink on Thursday, October 25th. The outro music is “Willie” by Las Thumbelinas. Learn more about the October 25th event, and RSVP, here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-pink-orientation-and-pen-pal-matching-tickets-50081283467

Philly comic Kyle Harris visited Austin recently for a gig at Altercation Comedy Fest. He kindly made time to join me in the kitchen for an historic meeting of the minds that examines his dislike of not only his chosen art form, but also the city that he calls home. We chatted about sleep paralysis, Good Good Comedy (the only good thing in Philly, according to him), mayonnaise versus Miracle Whip, his sketch group Darlings, the tourism industry, honky tonks, his Boston origin story, his lady’s-man uncle, food cuckolding, The Flintstones live-action film, and hypothetical sculpture. The outro song is “Voicemails” by Yung K. Support Humor and the Abject for a chance to win an original, personalized sound collage at: http://d.rip/humorandthebject

The DSA Podcast is back and bicoastal! If you count the Gulf of Mexico as one of the two coasts, that is. Your trusted hosts—Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe—are back after a brief hiatus to bring you all the hottest takes on things that have almost no impact on your everyday life. And it’s the introduction of a brand new game never before played on the pod. The outro music is “Jumpers” by Sleater-Kinney.

Austin writer and director Yen Tan released a powerful film this year, “1985.” It tells the story of Adrian, a young man living through the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York who returns home for the holidays to his conservative Texas family. Yen dropped by the kitchen to talk about the development and production of the film, telling every day stories poetically, being an independent filmmaker in Austin, his previous feature projects, and his incredible graphic design work for other directors. The outro music is “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” by U2 from the “Batman Forever” soundtrack. Find out where you can see “1985” on the film’s website: http://1985thefilm.com/

It’s time for some sound art. Don’t read below unless you’ve actually listened to this entire thing. LOL. 02:00 - AFI - Miss Murder 05:15 - Gorilaz - Feel Good Inc 08:55 - Oasis - Wonderwall 13:00 - Misfits - Hybrid Moments 14:34 - At the Drive-In - One Armed Scissor 18:17 - The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps 23:03 - HIM - Right Here in My Arms 26:49 - 311 - Beautiful Disaster 30:45 - Nirvana - Lake of Fire 33:08 - Green Day - Welcome to Paradise 36:49 - NOFX - Linoleum 38:49 - Weezer - Say It Ain’t So 43:00 - Dio - Holy Diver 47:43 - Blur - Song 2 49:42 - Better Than Ezra - Good 52:47 - Black Sabbath - Paranoid 55:30 - Maroon 5 - Harder to Breathe 58:21 - Ellie Goulding - Lights 61:35 - Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal 65:00 - Fastball - The Way

Los Angeles comedian and non-fine-dining guru Danny Palumbo, a Prodigal Son of Austin, returned to town this weekend for a couple of headlining dates at the Velveeta Room. He dropped by Humor and the Abject to talk about his new food podcast Meatball Party, living in Los Angeles, cooking across a spectrum of kitchens, high concept online food pranks, that time he appeared on America’s Got Talent, his brother who I still think doesn’t exist, 9/11 in Texas, toxic masculinity in grill culture, Ratatouille, poetic ways of stealing from your boss, shucking oysters, and more. The outro song is “Le Festin” by Camille from the Ratatouille soundtrack. See Danny’s upcoming dates around the US here: http://www.palumbros.com/new-page/ Check out his fake restaurant concepts here: http://lilbuco.com/ http://www.abbrevsrestaurant.com/ http://cucinaconfusion.com/

Photographer Oliver Leach, notorious as BAKOON on Twitter, joins Humor and the Abject over Skype this week all the way from San Francisco. We talked about his love of horror, rent-controlled apartments, his weird photographic processes, teratoma twins, Texas beef, circumventing the gallery system and selling directly to his audience on Twitter, prank phone calls, a bunch of comic books and movies I’ve never heard of, bullying the bullies on the alt-right, and even more photography. Make sure to follow Oliver on Twitter, and check out his reasonably-priced artwork at http://oliverleach.com/. The outro song is “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” by Fantômas.

Happy Art and Labor Day! On this week’s episode, I connected with artists and art workers OK Fox and Lucia Love, hosts of the excellent podcast Art and Labor out of New York. We talked about shitty jobs in the art world, what led them to launch the podcast, the value of art in revolutionary thinking, not being an authority but still participating, why Kandinsky might be kind of neat, the paradoxes of the MFA, trying to live below your means as a practical economic safety measure, the difficulty of labor organizing in art world jobs, and so much more. Special thanks to their producer, Joey, for running the boards on their end. The outro music is the Art and Labor theme song, “Man! Let’s Have Fun” by Icy Spicy Leoncie. Support Art and Labor on Drip here: https://d.rip/art-and-labor

Seven is God’s number, and the seventh episode of the DSA Podcasts is positively divine. This time around, Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe have another pointless conversation, this time regarding Hawaii’s Big Island, bogs, the Hamptons, wedding DJs, people who get fired from their jobs because of social media, Bernard Sanders, The Wing, regional museums, container vendor Storables, the Vietnam War, how House ripped off Becker, and Tinder. The outro song is “Harrison Bergeron” by Snapcase.

Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly is gearing up to celebrate the band’s 20th (!!!) anniversary. He joined me in the kitchen this week to talk about Thursday’s origin story, some of his fondest memories from their two-decade career, the anonymous supergroup United Nations, a year of drama involving Lostprophets and Martin Shkreli, approaching age 40, and a whole lot more. The outro music is “No Sympathy for a Sinking Ship” by United Nations. Also, I’m moving to Austin this week. LOL.

Mothmen! Yetis! Chupacabras! Oh My! Artist Laura Bernstein drops by this week to talk about alternative genetics, cryptids, imagined future beings, circus aesthetics, the paradox of zoos, growing up in the Bronx, materiality and texture, funky wool, recent exhibitions at the Anytime Dept. in Cincinnati and NURTUREart in Brooklyn, and what’s gonna happen when the plumbing infrastructure eventually collapses. The outro song is “The Legend” by Tim Cook.

Recorded inside of one of Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses at Dia:Beacon, comedian Ana Fabrega is back in her second appearance on Humor and the Abject. Earlier on the day this was recorded, Ana was a visiting artist for the teens I teach at the museum, performing a live comedy set for them and then helping them workshop one-act plays they’ve been writing. Ana and I talked about the big news that HBO has ordered a season of her new show, "Los Espookys," co-created with Fred Armisen and Julio Torres. We also discussed her season writing for "The Chris Gethard Show," why she’s been more selective in where she performs live, and surf music’s obsession with being spooky. Also on this episode, it’s the return of audio food review series The Savage Table with Alex Savage (@focra), wherein he reviews a ham sandwich that he ate over a year ago in Italy. The background music in my speaking intro is “Conquistador” by Guantanamo Baywatch, and the outro song is “Barbacoa,” also by Guantanamo Baywatch.

Journalist Adrian Chen has covered the darkest corners of internet culture for years. He’s been a staff writer at the New Yorker and Gawker, and has bylines in practically every publication and on every platform you’ve ever heard of. On this week’s episode, he stops by to discuss his early writing on the Silk Road and the dark web, his sociological research into trolling and its complicated relationship to comedy, the depths of Reddit and 4chan, getting doxxed, the great Gawker Hack of 2010, his upcoming book project, moving to Los Angeles, and his recent lengthy profile of controversial IRL streamer Ice Poseidon for the New Yorker. The outro music is “Scuffed Walk” by Tracksuit Andy, Ice Poseidon, Ebz, Sam Pepper and Kiedom.

I think that Christin Bailey is the funniest person on all of Twitter. She joined me over Skype this week from sunny San Diego to talk about her recent visit to Europe, her outrageous astrology column, the Animaniacs, why The Departed is the most complicated piece of cinema in the 21st century, her family bonds, and more. The outro music is “Bells of Dublin/Christmas Eve” by the Chieftains.

Matt Christman of Chapo Trap House drops by this week to talk about his humble Midwest origin story, what gets him riled up most, the unending quest to post, whether political satire is dead, the millennial move towards socialist politics, why sophistication is stupid, and his morbid predictions about the supposedly imminent Blue Wave. The outro music is “I Love My Shirt” by Donovan. Buy The Chapo Guide to Revolution here: http://chapotraphouse.com/book/ Get tickets to the release event at The Strand in NYC here: https://www.strandbooks.com/event/chapo-trap-house

You’re probably already following Jenson Leonard on Instagram. He’s Cory in the Abyss, the hilarious and pointed poet, digital artist, and meme producer. Jenson dropped by the kitchen this week to talk about antiblackness in meme culture, the ways in which vernacular is appropriated for material capital, building layers and layers of comedy into his work, the tragedy of the comments section, studying creative writing at Pratt, why he wouldn’t want to be Robin Williams, and a whole lot more. Shout out to the dude Andrew Shuta for introducing us. Artist and writer manuel arturo abreu did a really, really great interview with Jenson for AQNB a while back which we talked about on the episode, and was instrumental in helping me to form my questions for the podcast this week. Give it a read and share: http://www.aqnb.com/2017/12/12/still-i-shitpost-cory-in-the-abyss-on-a-communism-of-the-visual-antiblackness-in-the-meme-o-sphere-with-manuel-arturo-abreu/ The outro music is “Summer Holidays vs. Punk Routine” by the Refused.

Artist Lex Brown makes videos, drawings, sculptures, and performances that mix science fiction with a healthy dose of dark humor. Recently, she and Aaron Fowler collaborated on a performance work called “C.E.” that debuted at the New Museum. After getting the chance to see it, I just had to invite her over for a conversation! Lex dropped by to talk about her writing process, her fascination with cartoons and slapstick, the types of science fictions she wants to put into the world, the mystery of power, the end of the fucking world, having cool parents who actually love and support you, collaboration, and much more. You can catch one of Lex’s videos in the group show “Elastic Behavior” curated by Memory Foam at Java Project in Greenpoint that opens up on July 7th: https://www.facebook.com/events/1051927431621697/

Exactly what it says in the title. Nice.

Ross Simonini’s debut novel, “The Book of Formation,” is a fascinating exploration of the cult of personality in an age where mass media has replaced traditional spirituality. But Ross isn’t just a writer, he’s also an accomplished visual artist, a musician, and a gifted interviewer. And his novel, appropriately, is told almost entirely through the format of interview transcripts. Splitting his time between Northern California and New York City, he stopped by the kitchen this week to talk about the book. We also discussed his literary influences, his experimental teaching, how the music he produces owes a lot to a fascination with writers and mythology, our collective nostalgia for the golden age of cults, “digressive” sitcoms, the art of the interview, and his somewhat-but-not-entirely useless study of astrophysics. The outro music is “Bad Past Gone Away” by Ross’s band, NewVillager.

Happy Knife Month, screedlers! On this episode of the DSA Podcast, Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe got together to talk about their shared love of knives, and further covered topics as diverse as parental sex, what’s in the fucking news, why Thomas J Gamble is a style icon, Mystic River, the greatest breakups of 2013, astrological signs, True Detective, Eminem’s sobriety, Darcie’s recent hangout with the Greenpoint police, Cartman impressions, and brrrrrup-a-ting-wah! The outro music is “Carpe Diem” by Nerve Agents.

Providence-based artist and activist Sheida Soleimani was recently in town for her solo exhibition “Medium of Exchange” at the CUE Foundation. She stopped by the kitchen to talk about how this recent body of work uses comedy and queer identities to critique the relationship between oil production in the east and military industrialism in the west. We also gabbed about multiple other things like teaching, writing screenplays, Flat Earthers, why arts administrators suck, the Creation Museum, baby boomers, death threats from Iran, why military people are such fucking nerds, the graphic design of OPEC.org, some of her all-star students, her family’s history of political radicalism, and more. The outro song is “Weave & Unravel” by Tilt. Sheida’s show is up at the CUE Foundation in New York through July 14th: http://cueartfoundation.org/sheida-soleimani

Hollywood Handbook’s best co-host, Hayes Davenport, happened to be in New York recently on a trip back from Italy and stopped by the kitchen. First of all, I’m SORRY about the scrappy audio quality. I explain what happened in the intro. ANYWAYS, this was a really fun and informative episode. Hayes and I talked about the origins of Hollywood Handbook and why certain guests have trouble on it, his new local politics show the LA Podcast with Scott Frazier, writing for Danny McBride and Jody Hill, the impossibility of ethical consumption under late capitalism, being a YIMBY vs a NIMBY vs a PHIMBY, whether or not dunking on libs by rose emoji Twitter accounts is an effective route to social revolution, problematic policing of the homeless population in Los Angeles, and being a realist about socioeconomic compromise. The outro music is “Ouroboros” by the Mars Volta. Scope below for links to the books that Hayes recommended on the episode. “Down, Out, and Under Arrest” by Forrest Stuart: http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo23530208.html “The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein: https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/ “The Edge Becomes the Center” by DW Gibson: https://www.dwgibson.net/book/the-edge-becomes-the-center/

Writer Erin Schwartz drops by the kitchen this week to talk about her new gig as assistant editor at VICE imprint Garage. We also talked about why the Jersey Shore reboot is a Greek tragedy, the nonfiction publication she co-produces called Natasha, writing about culture using a lateral but rigorous approach, class appropriation in high fashion, the nuanced layers in the lyrical playground that is Limp Bizkit’s catalogue, her favorite contemporary writers, the current existential crisis in journalism, why writing fiction is terrifying, vanity plates, and New Jersey in general. The outro song is “Stokin’ the Neighbors” by Lagwagon. Check out Erin's work for Garage here: https://garage.vice.com/en_us/contributor/erin-schwartz

We've UNLOCKED the latest episode of The DSA Podcast (Darcie, Sean, and Azikiwe), the podcast within the podcast, usually only available to our Drip subscribers. On this very public episode, we discussed Darcie's new dog psychic, explored the lyricism of the Mars Volta and At the Drive-in, learned about what Azikiwe's been eating, and staged a heated debate on the politics surrounding parental leave. To hear all other DSA episodes, subscribe on Drip! The outro music is the first four minutes of the thirty-two minute Mars Volta song "Cassandra Gemini." LMAO.

Live from their exhibition “Everything Speaks” at Geary Contemporary in New York City, artists Kristen Jensen and Ben Dowell join Humor and the Abject for a fun conversation on making art for non-art audiences, gravity, growing up in flyover states, studio techniques, intuitive color, caricature in material choices, skepticism, and the price of pants. “Everything Speaks” is on view through Saturday, May 19th. Check out documentation here: http://www.geary.nyc/exhibitions/everything-speaks The outro music is “Heliotrope” by At the Drive-in.