Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

A new HBO Max documentary just dropped called Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! It’s about, well, Mel Brooks! And yes, he turned 99 this past June. We’re revisiting our 2013 conversation with the film and comedy legend, where he chatted with us about fighting in World War II, the genius of Gene Wilder, and much more!

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Elliot Kalan has been the head writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 reboot. Now he’s written a book about joke writing. It’s called Joke Farming: How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense. He talks to Bullseye about developing a process for writing jokes reliably, writing topical jokes, and writing jokes for voices other than his own.

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Susan Orlean has spent a lifetime noticing the little details about others when she writes. The Orchid Thief followed an obsessive outlaw who collected rare flowers. The Library Book was a history of LA’s central library and particularly the suspicious fire that nearly burned it down. For once, she’s pointed her attention at herself in her memoir Joyride.

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We’re taking a look back at the life and work of the great actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. Whitlock died in December, he was 71. Whitlock performed in hit movies and TV shows like The Wire, Da 5 Bloods and Goodfellas. We’ll revisit our conversation with the late actor from 2021.

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Walton Goggins does it all. Master of comedy, action and drama – take his latest project Fallout. Goggins also gets into his love of horseback riding and growing up with a father who’s larger than life. Plus, how The Ghoul, one of the characters he portrays on Fallout became an accidental sex symbol. A version of this conversation originally ran in 2024.

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