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The Creative Asylum
Conversations with Creative Disruptors
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216. Margaret Cho - EP216 - The Creative Asylum
31:41||Season 2, Ep. 216This is the first time we've had a comic in the Creative Asylum, and I'm still delighted with who it's with! In this episode I got to have a conversation with the unstoppable Margaret Cho — comedian, actor, writer, musician, activist, LGBTQIA+ icon, feminist firestarter, and one of the few people in American comedy who has never once mistaken “polite” as necessary tool for acceptance in a world full of intolerance. For decades, Cho has been dragging hypocrisy, bigotry, misogyny, racism, homophobia, and spot-on crassness into the light with the kind of fearlessness that made her a legend long before most comics learned how to fake being edgy as a career choice. From her groundbreaking sitcom All-American Girl to her era-defining stand-up specials, film and television work, music, books, and fearless political commentary, Margaret has built one of the boldest and most influential careers in comedy.In this conversation, we dive deep into the "awful" of the Trump regime, because let's face it: their clown car of cruelty, corruption, and fascist cosplay needs to be met head-on with resistance, and as Margaret mentions, "comedy is hope." Margaret Cho has spent years using comedy as a weapon - against Trumpism, MAGA fanaticism, white grievance theater, attacks on women’s rights, and the nonstop demonization of immigrants, queer people, and anyone else inconvenient to the authoritarian imagination. We discuss comedy as a form of resistance, rage as fuel and her latest tour, CHOligarchy. On her website, Cho describes the show as her most politically pointed in years, and that tracks — because if America is going to keep free-falling into authoritarianism, we need to be part of the resistance against its most vicious intent.If you’re a fan of political comedy, feminist comedy, queer comedy, anti-Trump comedy, or comedians who still have a spine, this is a conversation that you do not want to miss.
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215. Gary Taxali (Fine Art & Illustrator) - EP215 - The Creative Asylum
43:41||Season 2, Ep. 215This episode is a special one for me, as it's with Gary Taxali a huge personal favorite artist of mine, somebody I've been following since the '90s. Gary is a Toronto-based artist, illustrator, and visual satirist whose unmistakable retro-pop style has made him one of the most celebrated illustrators working today. He's done work with The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, GQ, TIME, Newsweek, and The New York Times and has done collaborations with brands and companyies like Converse, Sony, Warner Brothers and even the Royal Canadian Mint, where he got to design a series of commemorative coins! Taxali's career bridges fine art, editorial illustration, design, pop culture, and sharp social commentary, but does it with a visual language that feels vintage, subversive, funny, and unsettling all at once. He's managed to carve out a lane entirely his own in the worlds of contemporary art and illustration in a way that blurs the boundaries between the two.Gary Taxali is more than a world-class illustrator however: Over the course of the last decade, he’s become one of the most biting political artists during this unnerving era of the Trump regime. As America has lurched deeper into authoritarian spectacle, MAGA extremism, and the corrosive theater of the toxic Trump years, Taxali’s work has stood out as fearless, caustic, funny, and brutally clear-eyed. In this conversation, we talk about art as protest, satire as resistance, the role of illustration as commentary on collapsing political culture, and how Gary has used his work to respond to fascism and the surreal absurdity of modern American life. If you’re into political art, pop art, editorial illustration, protest art, contemporary pop art, graphic design, and targeted anti-Trump commentary, you'll wanna jump on board.
214. Steve Fisk (Pigeonhed, Producer) - EP214 - The Creative Asylum
01:02:45||Season 2, Ep. 214In this episode, I spend some time with an old friend and one of my favorite conversationalists, the legendary (and always funny) Pacific Northwest producer and musician Steve Fisk. In a behind-the-scenes candid chat with one of the architects of some of the region’s most adventurous and influential music, we discuss his working with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Beat Happening, Unwound, Screaming Trees and Carseat Headrest. Known for his adventurous ear and willingness to push bands beyond their comfort zones, Fisk has long been a key figure in the creative ecosystem that helped define the sound of the Pacific Northwest.Similar to Jack Endino, Steve’s story isn't limited to the recording studio: He has a very cool resume as a musician, having played in Pell Mell and the genre-bending collaboration, Pigeonhed with Shawn Smith of BRAD. In this conversation, Fisk reflects on his decades of studio wizardry, the evolution of independent music culture and the creep of AI, and what it takes to help artists capture that special something. It’s a fun deep dive with one of the quiet giants of alternative music, and probably my single favorite character to emerge from the movie Hype!
213. Chad Channing (Nirvana) - EP213 - The Creative Asylum
56:48||Season 2, Ep. 213This episode is a special treat with an old friend: A conversation with Chad Channing, the drummer who helped usher Nirvana into the world with their debut record, Bleach. We dive deep into his pivotal role on the band’s bands beginnings, and the creative spark that defined those early Sub Pop years. Channing reflects on his time in those sseminal of the Seattle scene, and what it meant to be part of a band before they became the very poster-child for the seismic cultural impact that "grunge" unleashed.Beyond Nirvana, we talk about Chad’s decades of music since Nirvana — from pcollaborating in projects like the Fireants to evolving as a songwriter and performer in his own rite. It’s an honest, insightful look at legacy, reinvention, and the long arc of a working musician’s life — an essential epsidode for grunge historians and anyone fascinated with the deeper personalities that go well past the headlines.
212. Ben Venom (Heavy Metal Quilting) - EP212 - The Creative Asylum
47:36||Season 2, Ep. 212In this episode, a super-fun conversation with the San Francisco–based “Heavy Metal Quilter,” Ben Venom, an artist who stitches together the worlds of metal, punk, skate culture and fine art quite literally. A long-standing fixture in the Bay Area’s punk rock art scene, Venom repurposes band tees and battle jackets into intricate, hand-sewn quilts that blur the line between craft and cultural artifact. We talk about growing up on heavy music, finding community in the underground, and transforming DIY ethos into large-scale textile works that honor the raw spirit of intense music while pushing it into unexpected spaces.Venom’s résumé is as impressive as it is unconventional: from gritty gallery exhibitions to major museum installations, his work has earned recognition accross a broad spectrum of cultural environments. In this conversation, he reflects on bringing subculture into institutional settings, challenging assumptions about what “fine art” can be, and why fabric and ferocity belong together in the same artistic perspective. This is a must-watch for metalheads, art lovers, and anyone who believes rebellion can be beautifully handcrafted.
211. Alice Bag - EP211 - The Creative Asylum
52:44||Season 2, Ep. 211In this episode, we’re joined by Latina feminist punk pioneer Alice Bag for a fierce, fun and deeply insightful conversation about music, identity, and resistance through art. A breakout presence in Penelope Spheeris' debut film, The Decline of Western Civilization, Alice was one of the earliest artists that defined the confrontational energy of early L.A. punk with her band The Bags. We dig into that explosive era, the community behind that scene, and how she carved out space for Chicana and feminist voices in a movement that reshaped underground culture.We also discuss her acclaimed memoir, 'Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage : a Chicana Punk Story,' her subsequent solo music career, and her recent collaboration with Kid Congo Powers as one half of the duo Juanita and Juan. From punk clubs to classrooms, Alice Bag remains a powerful creative force — and this interview captures her legacy, her fire, and her ongoing mission to make music that both challenges and connects.
210. Adem Tepedelen (Kim Thayil Biographer) - EP210 - The Creative Asylum
53:12||Season 2, Ep. 210In this episode, I sit down with an old friend, rock journalist and author Adem Tepedelen to dig into his latest and most anticipated project: Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond, which is the authorized autobiography of Kim Thayil of Soundgarden which Adem worked on with Kim over the period of three years. Adem discusses how the project came to fruition - writinga book with one of heavy music’s most innovative guitarists, unpacking the stories, history, and creative evolution that shaped a cornerstone band of the Seattle sound. We talk how the book captures both the myth and the reality of a key member of an underground scene that changed rock music forever.We also explore Tepedelen’s broader career as a respected rock and roll author, discussing his previous published books, Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion, with Steve Turner of Mudhoney and A Fabulous Disaster: From the Garage to Madison Square Garden, the Hard Way with Gary Holt of Exodus and more recently, Slayer.