Episode 712: Julia Steiner of Ratboys

In 2023, they recorded their first full-length album Revival of a Friend at Tiny Telephone, and it will be released on Exploding In Sound Records at the end of the month! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to Julia Steiner of the band Ratboys. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Julia started Ratboys in college at Notre Dame with Dave Sagan. In 2015, they relocated to Chicago and released their first album AOID on Topshelf Records. And since then, the band has accomplished everything you want to happen to a good band: international tours, critical and commercial success and releasing numerous albums and EPs of great music. Their latest, Singin' to an Empty Chair, was just released in early February, and folks, it's fantastic! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to Amelia Fletcher of the band Heavenly. Raised in Oxford, Amelia started playing in bands in the mid-1980s. Her first major group was Talulah Gosh, which she formed with Elizabeth Price, and they released a number of singles before Amelia left and formed Heavenly in 1989. Heavenly released four albums on Sarah and K Records, but after a tragic event, retired the name, and since then, Amelia has performed in a number of notable groups including Marine Research, Tender Trap and The Catenary Wires. Alongside her musical career, Amelia became a respected economist and academic, whose accolades are too numerous to mention in a short biography, though one major point is that her work has been used to curb Tech power in the UK, and due to her decades of service, she was appointed OBE in 2014 and CBE in 2020. Most recently, Heavenly has returned after their 30 year hiatus with Highway to Heavenly, which was just released last week on Skep Wax, and regardless of the intervening decades, is as good as anything they've ever done! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to comedian and actor Mort Burke. Originally from St. Louis, Mort came up in the Chicago comedy scene before moving to Los Angeles. He's acted on everything from Bunheads to Workaholics to Mythic Quest, recurred on The Mindy Project, wrote and acted in W/Bob and David, and was a regular on both Enlisted and Drunk History. He also hosts the podcast Rebrand with his brilliant wife Ashly Burch and is writing a novel in installments on his Substack, which I can call Dickensian in the only positive use of that word. As a comedian, Mort has released two specials, his first Spiritually Filthy in 2023, and his latest, There's Beauty In It All, which just came out last week, and much like everything Mort does, it's a delight! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to Lisa Marr and Lisa Gertrud, two-thirds of the band cub. Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Lisa Marr and Robynn Iwata formed cub in 1992 and while they were only together for five short years, were incredibly prolific, releasing a dozen albums, EPs and 7"es in their half-a-decade as a band. After their break-up, Robin started the band I Am Spoonbender, while Lisa M and Lisa G, who joined in 1994, moved to California where they started the band Buck. Since the '90s, both Lisas have had extensive careers in film and visual art; Lisa M co-founded the Echo Park Film Center, and Lisa G is a founding member of Vancouver's Iris Film Collective. Back in mid-January, Mint Records released the 30th anniversary reissue of cub's second album Come Out Come Out, and even three decades later, it is still fantastic! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to harpist Mary Lattimore. Originally from Asheville, North Carolina, Mary began playing the harp as a tween and eventually attended the Eastman School of Music to study it more seriously. In 2012, Mary released her first album, a self-titled cassette, on Fred Thomas' Life Like imprint. This was re-released a year later on Desire Path Recordings with a new title, The Withdrawing Room. Since then, she's released almost a dozen more albums and collaborations on labels like Ghostly International, Three Lobed and Thrill Jockey, and her latest, Tragic Magic, an album she made with Julianna Barwick, was just released in the middle of January, and it's fantastic! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to musician Julianna Barwick. Originally from Louisiana, Julianna ended up in New York in the early aughts and self-released her debut EP, Sanguine, in 2006. Her first album The Magic Place came out on Asthmatic Kitty in 2011, and since then, she has released a dozen more albums, EPs and collaborations on labels like Dead Oceans and Ninja Tune. Her latest, Tragic Magic, a collaboration with harpist Mary Lattimore, just came out in the middle of January on InFiné, and it is just wonderful! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's 16th anniversary episode, I talk to Emmy Award-winning TV and comic writer and podcaster Elliott Kalan. Originally from Millburn, NJ, Elliott started as a PA at The Daily Show in 2003 and eventually worked his way up to head writer. In addition to The Daily Show, he's written for the Academy Awards, MST3K, Netflix's upcoming Ghostbusters cartoon and many other shows. As a comic writer, he's written Spider-Man and the X-Men, Harley Quinn and his own Maniac of New York, and as a podcaster, Elliot has been one of the three hosts of the wonderful Flop House, which has been running since 2007. This is just a small sampling of Elliott's CV, and the latest addition is his new book Joke Farming: How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense, which was just published by University of Chicago Press at the end of last year! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to Jen Bender of Cusp. Originally from Long Island, Jen and her bandmates formed Cusp a little over five years ago in Rochester, before moving to Chicago in 2022. A year later, they released their first album You Can Do It All, followed by the Thanks So Much EP in 2024, and their latest, What I Want Doesn't Want Me Back, which came out in October last year and was one of my favorite albums of 2025! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

On today's episode, I talk to musician Steven Brown. Originally from Chicago, IL, Steven moved to San Francisco in the 1970s, where he eventually joined the artist collective and commune The Angels of Light. It was though this group that he would meet his collaborators in the brilliant post-punk band Tuxedomoon. In 1980, they released their first album Half-Moon on Ralph Records, and eventually relocated to Brussels, where they began to release albums on the influential label Crammed Discs. In 1983, Steven began recording albums on his own, and his first record Music for Solo Piano, was released by Crépuscule the following year. Since then Steven has recorded  numerous albums and soundtracks on his own and with Tuxedomoon, and his latest In This Very World will be released February 20th on Crammed Discs, and folks, it's great! (Plus if you live in LA, go see Steven at Zebulon on January 25th!) This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!