Performing Arts Episodes

The storm is coming. So is the punchline. Emmy winning weatherman and standup comic Fritz Coleman is back, and the forecast is wet. A Kelvin wave and a likely strong El Niño could mean heavy winter storms, king tides, and real trouble for the coast. We also get into burn scars that can’t handle a downpour, rising seas, and a state whose water storage and infrastructure are already straining. Then it gets weirder. Fritz walks us through a career spent making the weather funny, and why the stand...

At 15, Albie Selznick hosted David Bowie’s circle for a post-concert party at his mother’s house in LA. Later, he juggled fire at Andy Warhol’s Factory. Magician, actor and one third of the punk circus trio The Mums, Albie spent a lifetime chasing one goal: to work with rockstar David Bowie. His new solo show, Letter From David, tells the whole wild story. Early loss, a refuge in magic, tightrope and juggling, nightclubs, hand-delivered letters and one surreal night out with Angie Bowie. On t...

Wesley Stace (John Wesley Harding to the folk-rock faithful) has hopped genres for decades: folk, rock, jazz, whatever the song demands. He takes us behind the curtain of One Last Heist, his latest album, and the Cabinet of Wonders, his one-of-a-kind variety show. He’s currently touring as a singer in the band Smithereens. Wesley walks us through his witty approach to songwriting, his leap into literary fiction, and how he makes his novels, including the hilarious Wonderkid and the unforgettab...

Phil fled to Canada (can you blame him?), so Ted is holding down the fort. How did one foggy city end up with the Beats, the hippies, the biggest gay community and the loudest rock scene of the 60s and 70s? Follow the trail back to the Gold Rush, where the lights came on all at once and nobody ever turned them off. Peter Richardson, author of Brand New Beat: A New History of Rolling Stone’s Early Years in San Francisco, takes us back to the city where it all caught fire. Think the Beats, LSD (...

Zayd Ayers Dohrn, son of Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, grew up as a toddler on the lam, dodging the FBI while his parents traded protest signs for pipe bombs. Then a West Village townhouse blew sky high and took three of their own with it. The kids got the bill: arrests, exile, and scars that never healed. So what happens when people give up on democracy and start building bombs? Zayd knows. He was raised in the fallout. Takeaways: The Weather Underground mo...

How can you hate me when you don't know me? Daryl Davis walks into rooms most people would run from. A Black musician, actor, and author, Davis has spent decades doing something that sounds almost too simple to work: sitting down with Klan leaders and just talking. The result? Over 200 Klansmen have hung up their hoods for good—and more than two dozen have handed Davis their robes as proof. He keeps them, not as trophies, but as evidence of what honest conversation can actually do. Daryl breaks...

Who was the woman talking to a log on primetime TV — and why can't anyone forget her? Phil and Ted sit down with filmmaker, actor, and singer Richard Green, whose documentary "I Know Catherine, the Log Lady," chronicles the life of Catherine Coulson, Twin Peaks' most unforgettable oddball. Green was Coulson's friend for decades, and he brings real stories: what it was like on David Lynch's iconic sets, how Coulson built a legacy from one strange, indelible role, and what it takes to survive — a...

Is America's system of checks and balances already broken, or just badly bent? Phil and Ted sit down with Professor Michael Genovese — presidential scholar, author of 50 books on the office, and, improbably, a stand-up comedian — to take stock of a presidency that's tested every boundary it could find, and cashed in along the way. Genovese walks through Trump's "runaway presidency": the monetizing of the Oval Office, the abuse of presidential power for personal enrichment — his own and his in...

Takeaways: Paul Wilson, an exceptional comedian and improviser, shares insights from his extensive career in comedy and television, notably his time on 'Cheers'. The discussion highlights the evolution of comedy improv and its significance in today's entertainment landscape amidst political and social challenges. We delve into the personal anecdotes of Paul Wilson, illustrating the camaraderie and competitive spirit among comedians throughout their journeys. The conversation addresses the cu...