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 that From…

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 preciousn…

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 …

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 focuse…

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 i…

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 …

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 a…

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, mo…

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 wa…

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,…

John Hodgman (returns!) - Episode 72 Hello 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 na…

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…

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 mo…

Episode 68 - Zak Trojano Hey 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, socia…

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 abou…

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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-smith Hope your 2019s are starting as well as they possibly can! -j Hosted on A…

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy…

Second up in 5 from '18 is performance poet Ansel Appleton: http://www.15minutesjamieberger.com/news/2018/10/31/ut7e8v0a42fxh464sg7ponwmyq6nvh It's noon on New Year's Eve - the countdown is on! Have a great one, all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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-2 Since then, Beth trekked up to Western Mass t…

(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…

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 col…

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 cra…

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 ti…

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/…

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…

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,…

Click for other ways to listen: Spotify iTunes (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 Jens…

Episode 59 - David Sedaris This 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…

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 WS…

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" l…

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 th…

Episode 55 - Laurie Kilmartin Laurie 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 wit…

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) legendar…

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 too…

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…

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 an…

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 her…

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 previ…

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 …

Almost at 50, re=airing some faves. Here's Bob's Burgers "Gene" and stand-up comedian and stand-up human being, Eugene Mirman! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 ...) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in…

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…

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…

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." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m…

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 …