Episodes

  • Episode 335 Writer Mishka Shubaly

    Episode 335 Writer Mishka Shubaly
    Jan 9 2026
    Mishka Shubaly is a nonfiction writer and storyteller known for essays on addiction, recovery, endurance, and reinvention. After earning an MFA in fiction from Columbia University, he toured as a musician before returning to writing. His seven Amazon Kindle Singles all became bestselling titles, praised for grit, dark humor, emotional honesty, and vulnerability. Each summer, Mishka teaches a nonfiction writers workshop at Yale Summer Session, helping writers refine their craft.
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Episode 334 Byron Coley

    Episode 334 Byron Coley
    Jan 2 2026
    This week's episode features a conversation with critic, Byron Coley, whose work has covered experimental music and independent culture. Byron discusses Now Jazz Now, the newly published, fully illustrated 270-page softcover book edited by Eva Prinz, with a preface by Neneh Cherry and an afterword by Joe McPhee. Now Jazz Now brings together the perspectives of Mats Gustafsson, Neneh Cherry, Joe McPhee, Thurston Moore, and Byron, compiling personal archival selections of recorded works that orbit free jazz and free improvisation. Structured around 100 essential releases presented chronologically—but explicitly rejecting hierarchy or competition—the book foregrounds album art, labels, liner notes, and collector reflections as lived history rather than canon. Byron discusses record collecting as a lifelong practice, the cultural conditions that shaped free music, and the idea of listening as an act grounded in curiosity, memory, and freedom.
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Episode 333 Ben Roy

    Episode 333 Ben Roy
    Dec 19 2025
    Stand-up comedian Ben Roy is also an actor, writer, podcaster, and musician. He began his career in Denver, developing his stand-up at Comedy Works, and has since appeared at festivals including Just for Laughs, the New York Comedy Festival, and South by Southwest. His television credits include HBO's Funny as Hell and Comedy Central's Adam DeVine's House Party, Corporate, @midnight, and This Is Not Happening. Ben is a co-creator, writer, and star of the truTV series Those Who Can't, which ran for three seasons. He hosts the podcasts 97.9 The Rat Race on the All Things Comedy network and The Grawlix Saves the World. In addition to comedy, Ben is a musician and serves as the lead singer of the pop-punk band SPELLS.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Episode 332 Harley Flanagan

    Episode 332 Harley Flanagan
    Dec 12 2025
    Photo Maurice Nunez Harley Flanagan began performing in the city's punk scene at age 11 as the drummer for the Stimulators. In the early 1980s he founded the Cro-Mags, a band widely cited for its influence on later hardcore, punk, and metal groups. His memoir, Hard Core: Life of My Own, frames his career within the broader evolution of New York's punk and hardcore movements. Harley has also been active in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for decades, directing the kids' program at Renzo Gracie's New York academy. In recent years he has continued recording and performing while participating in film work and public discussions of mental health.
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • Episode 331 Martin Atkins

    Episode 331 Martin Atkins
    Dec 1 2025
    Martin Atkins's three decades in the music industry in nearly every aspect of record production, gives him a rare perspective on the music business past, present, and future. After early success as a drummer with Public Image Ltd. and later work with acts like Killing Joke, Ministry, and Nine Inch Nails, he launched his own projects including Pigface and the influential Invisible Records. He has since become an author, speaker, and educator, sharing his expertise at major conferences and now teaching music business at Millikin University. A father of four, he lives in Chicago with his wife, Katrina.
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Episode 330 Filmmaker Jasmine Hirst

    Episode 330 Filmmaker Jasmine Hirst
    Nov 21 2025
    Longtime friend and collaborator of Lydia and friend of The Lydian Spin, Jasmine returns to the show. She is a filmmaker and artist who wrote letters to Aileen Wuornos and later conducted a filmed interview with her on death row in 1997. Jasmine's footage appears in the new Netflix documentary Aileen: Queen of Serial Killers; Wuornos had asked her to record her story before the execution to provide an account she felt the media had misrepresented. Jasmine is working on her own documentary, which is currently in progress. Jasmine and Lydia have also collaborated on the documentary and Artists Anxiety Depression and Rage.
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • Episode 329 Excepter members John Ryan and Lala Ryan

    Episode 329 Excepter members John Ryan and Lala Ryan
    Nov 14 2025
    Excepter is an experimental music collective formed in Brooklyn in 2002. John Fell Ryan (sometimes called "Jeff") founded Excepter and has remained a central member, providing vocals, synths, and electronic instrumentation. Lala Harrison Ryan has been involved in the group since at least 2006, contributing vocals, programming, keyboards, and flute.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Episode 328 Producer and Musician Paul Roessler

    Episode 328 Producer and Musician Paul Roessler
    Nov 7 2025
    Paul Roessler is a musician and record producer based in Los Angeles. Active since 1978, he was part of the early L.A. punk scene and played keyboards with band including The Screamers, Twisted Roots, 45 Grave, Nervous Gender. His work includes solo albums such as Abominable, Curator, and The Drug Years, as well as collaborations with artists including Nina Hagen and Mike Watt. Paul is currently a producer at Kitten Robot Studios and is the brother of musician Kira Roessler and son of underwater photographer Carl Roessler.
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    1 hr and 10 mins