Issue 20: A podcast interview!
Do I identify as a clown? A Dancer? A Gwyneth Paltrow?
Hello, Strawberries!
Thanks a million for such an enthusiastic response to last week’s newsletter, which detailed the journey of designing the cover of my chapbook. It was a delight to recall that process, and I’m so glad you enjoyed getting the inside scoop.
Onto this week…!
My friend Julian Stern is a very talented writer, comedian, and musician, and his deeply funny and insightful newsletter, the Sternal Journal is a) the first Substack I ever read, and b) a major inspiration for this very Substack!
This week, Julian interviewed me for his new podcast, A Violent Act of Desperation, where we discuss my (kinda) burgeoning clown career, why I don’t identify as a “Dancer,” why people hate on John Grishman and Rupi Kaur, and a wholeeee lot else. At the end, I read a poem and then – spoiler alert!!! – we HUG. The interview was an absolute pleasure, and also way less violent and desperate than you might expect.
Check it out video-style below or, if you prefer, just play the audio on your computer or through your headphones, so you can listen to it podcast-style while folding laundry (like I did). (Julian tells me it’ll be posted on podcast platforms soon.) Enjoy!
With love and thanks and a violent act of desperation,
Ben