Episode 462

with Samantha Irby, Jackie Kashian, and Fantastic Negrito

Host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello talk post-lockdown self-care; author and blogger Samantha Irby discusses her latest collection of essays Wow, No Thank You and settles some household disputes in the "Live Wire Court;" comedian Jackie Kashian casts doubt over the “empathic” abilities of her fellow comics; and Grammy Award-winning blues artist Fantastic Negrito takes us on a journey through his musical rebirth, before serenading us with "Nobody Makes Money."

Samantha Irby
Comedian & Author

Samantha Irby is a comedian, author, and blogger. She runs the blog bitchesgottaeat, where she writes frank, hilarious posts about books, snacks, her personal life, and her battle with Crohn’s disease, among other topics. Until 2015, Irby co-hosted the live lit show Guts and Glory in Chicago, alongside Keith Ecker, and in 2018 she wrote an episode for the first season of Hulu’s Shrill. Irby is the author of the 2017 essay collection We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, which was a New York Times bestseller in paperback nonfiction, as well as of the essay collection Meaty, and the Vintage short New Year, Same Trash. Her latest book, Wow, No Thank You, was released in March 2020 and instantly became a #1 New York Times bestseller. Website • Blog • Twitter

Jackie Kashian
Comedian & Podcaster

Jackie Kashian is an actor, podcaster, and comedian who has been doing standup for over 35 years. Her albums have been #1 on Amazon and iTunes and have over 10 million listens on Spotify and Pandora. She has performed her stand-up on CONAN, and has made appearances on HBO’S 2 Dope Queens, and Comedy Central's @Midnight. Since 2006, Kashian been hosting her popular podcast The Dork Forest, where she talks to people about what they love to do, think about, and collect. Along with Laurie Kilmartin, she co-hosts The Jackie and Laurie Show, a podcast celebrating stand-up comedy. Website • Twitter

Fantastic Negrito
Musician

Fantastic Negrito is a musician who writes and produces his own work, spanning the genres of blues, roots, and R&B. The name Fantastic Negrito represents the musician’s experience of rebirth after surviving a near-fatal car crash that left him in a coma. Shortly after this brush with death, Fantastic Negrito went on to win NPR’s inaugural Tiny Desk contest and tour North America and Europe with Chris Cornell. To date, three of his albums have won the Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Album: The Last Days of Oakland in 2016, Please Don’t be Dead in 2019, and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? in 2020. At a time when our world is in upheaval, Fantastic Negrito is using his songs as fuel for what he calls the third comeback of his life. In his own words: “For anyone who ever felt like it was over yet hoped it wasn’t, this is your music.” Listen • Twitter