Tag: donaldtrump

Ep. #332: Billy Bragg

Post author By vish
Post date July 11, 2017

Billy Bragg is an iconic musician, songwriter, singer, and activist who lives in and hails from the United Kingdom. An active and outspoken artist for 40 years, Bragg has pledged his life and livelihood to making a positive change in this world and urging others, particularly younger generations, to hold authority figures and politicians to account for their decisions. He speaks of empathy and political engagement and he has been speaking of such things long before the likes of Brexit and the presidency of Donald Trump. On July 7, 2017, Bragg released a new song called “The Sleep of Reason” and he and his collaborator, Joe Henry, are appearing at the Hillside Festival in Guelph the weekend of July 14 to perform songs from their acclaimed 2016 album, Shine a Light: Field Recordings From the Great American Railroad. They’ll be playing some other songs too, I’m sure. Billy and I caught up this week to extensively discuss “The Sleep of Reason” and its lyrics, the current political landscape, travelling in trains on the American railway system with Joe Henry and cutting their record along the way, Gordon Lightfoot, his future plans, and much more. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, and Planet Bean Coffee.

News Podcast

Ep. #327: Mac McCaughan

Post author By vish
Post date June 22, 2017

Mac McCaughan is a talented and influential songwriter, musician, and singer based in North Carolina. Renowned for his prolific output in bands like Superchunk and Portastatic, McCaughan also co-founded Merge Records, one of the world’s most resilient and tastemaking independent labels. In the face of Republican cuts to programs that cruelly impact women and other disenfranchised people, McCaughan and his bandmates in Superchunk just released a limited edition single called I Got Cut with all proceeds benefitting Planned Parenthood. They also worked with local visual artists who custom made artwork for a handful of singles that are up for auction until June 28 on the site, Paddle8.com. Again, all proceeds from the auction benefit Planned Parenthood. Mac and I recently had a conversation about what motivated this new single, the political landscape in North Carolina and how it relates to the rest of U.S., the state of progressivism, his early exposure to political punk and seeing Van Halen in the early 1980s, how his Merge Records partner and fellow Superchunk member Laura Ballance has been doing since leaving the road behind in 2013, Arcade Fire’s departure from Merge for Columbia Records, and much more. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, and Planet Bean Coffee.

News Podcast

Ep. #322: John Mulaney

Post author By vish
Post date May 30, 2017

John Mulaney is a comedian who originally hails from Chicago but currently calls Los Angeles home. One of the most gifted comedic voices of his generation and a brilliant standup, Mulaney wrote for Saturday Night Live between 2008 and 2014, co-creating memorable characters like Bill Hader’s Stefon. Recently he and Nick Kroll conceived of a pair of elder, opinionated New Yorkers in a stage show called Oh, Hello on Broadway, which they took to Broadway and filmed for a new Netflix special, which debuts June 13. His own 2015 standup special for Netflix, The Comeback Kid, is coming to vinyl, CD, and mp3 in June as well, courtesy of Drag City Records, and he’s touring his new show, Kid Gorgeous, across North America, including stops in western Canadian cities and a stand at Just for Laughs in Montreal in July. John and I caught up recently to discuss most of the aforementioned projects and people, as well as Donald Trump, Hasan Minhaj’s remarks at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Jerry Seinfeld, Donald Trump, the Obamas, comedy’s role in the current political climate, Seth Meyers, meeting Bill Clinton in 1992, another new show he’s making with Nick Kroll, music, and much more. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, and Planet Bean Coffee.