Live Wire Radio

Howard Bloom - Is the uthor of The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates. He's been called "the next Stephen Hawking" and the "Einstein, Newton, Darwin and Freud of the 21st Century." Alex Falcone - is a fresh, young comedian from Portland who has appeared on IFC's Portlandia, and has been a part of Bridgetown Comedy Festival, Sketchfest in San Francisco and Bumbershoot in Seattle. Musical guest - Edna Vazquez - Remarkable guitarist and singer / songwriter, Edna plays distinct styles of Mexican Mariachi music from regions of Occidente, Huasteca and Norténa.

Live Wire! 212 Encore: Howard Bloom, Alex Falcone, musical guest Edna Vazquez

Reggie Watts - is a man of many hats, but it's difficult to get hats over his magnificent hair. He's a comedian (Conan, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central), musician, actor, dancer and talk show sidekick on IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang!. His latest album, A Live at Central Park is available now. Jess Walter - is a novelist and journalist who made his name covering the siege at Ruby Ridge. Since then, he's written 6 novels, including In Zero and The Financial Lives of Poets. His latest collection of short stories, We Live in Water is scheduled for release in February of 2013. Musicial guest - Joshua James - is an acclaimed folk musician who's work has been featured on the TV show Sons of Anarchy. He has a clean, melodic sound and an avid following among music critics who know about these sorts of things. His latest album From The Top of Willamette Mountain was released in November, 2012 by Intelligent Noise. Telekinesis - has a polished, dreamy approach to making music which has made them a favorite in the Seattle indie scene. Their latest album is 12 Desperate Straight Lines on Merge Records.

Live Wire! 209 Encore: Reggie Watts, Jess Walter, musical guests, Joshua James, Telekinesis

Live Wire! 221 Encore: Jen Kirkman, Dan Savage, The Builders and the Butchers

JEN KIRKMAN Jen Kirkman is a stand-up comedian based out of Los Angles and a regular contributor to Funny or Die's Drunk History, which is about what it sounds like. (You can see her star turn here.) She also regularly appears on late-night talk show Chelsea Lately and has a number of comedy albums out. Her first book, I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids, was released in April. DAN SAVAGE Dan Savage writes the internationally syndicated sex advice column Savage Love for Seattle's The Stranger and man, has he got some advice to give about sex. He's written over 700 columns, appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and The Colbert Report, and contributed segments to This American Life. His book credits include The Kid: What Happened When My Boyfriend and I Decided to Get Pregnant, Skipping Towards Gomorrah and The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and My Family. THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS The Builders and the Butchers make music like a circus train with no brakes. Which is to say powerfully and without regard for the consequences. To date, the they have 3 full length albums out, including Dead Reckoning from Badman Recording.

Live Wire! 220 Encore: Kristen Schaal & Scott Jacobson, Lisa Hanawalt, Courtenay Hameister, musical guests Laura Gibson and John Roderick

KRISTEN SCHAAL & SCOTT JACOBSON According to the Onion AV Club, Bob's Burgers "can balance chaos and bizarre cutaways with legitimate insight and character development" which is a neat trick for any show but even more so for a Fox animated comedy. We'll be joined by comedian Kristen Schaal (30 Rock, Flight of the Conchords, The Daily Show) and writer Scott Jacobson (The Academy Awards, The Daily Show, TV Funhouse) to talk about how they bottle that particular brand of animated lightning. LISA HANAWALT Lisa Hanawalt is a Brooklyn based cartoonist and contributer to The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Vice, McSweeney’s, and The Believer, among others. You don't see Marmaduke getting that press, and Marmaduke is great. Do the math on that. Her newest book My Dirty Dumb Eyes will be out on May 28th. COURTENAY HAMEISTER This is Courtenay's debut in her swanky new essayist-sometime performer role. LAURA GIBSON Since the release of 2009's Beasts of Season, which NPR called "nothing short of a masterpiece" and Mojo called "both quietly devastating and life-affirming", singer/songwriter and multintrumentalist Laura Gibson has seen her career swell to include everything from modeling in a Japanese fashion magazine, to receiving a standing ovation from an auditorium full of prison inmates, to a 3 1/2 hour improvised performance art piece with sound artist Ethan Rose and filmmaker Ryan Jeffery. Her latest album is La Grande. JOHN RODERICK Musician, writer, and podcaster John Roderick makes a special musical appearance.

Live Wire! 219 Encore: Marc Maron, Monica Drake, musical guests Natasha Kmeto, The Doubleclicks

Marc Maron - is a veteran comedian with two books, four CDs and more than 40 appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien under his belt. He's also the host of the hugely successful WTF podcast (now an NPR show), where he interviews the biggest names in comedy and sometimes talks about cats. Statistically speaking, everyone on the planet earth is already a listener. His latest project is Maron, a new TV show on IFC. Monica Drake is the writer and former Michiganite who penned the novel Clown Girl, for which Kristen Wiig optioned the film rights, and Chuck Palahniuk named the best novel of 2007. Her latest novel, The Stud Book, is loosely based on her time studying animal husbandry and follows a group of friends as they navigate the world of baby bumps. Musical guests - Natasha Kmeto is a Portland-based singer and electronic producer who turns heads everywhere she goes. Armed with a taut dance floor sensibility and flutteringly sensuous voice, she exudes the kind of beauty that can only come from confidence and The Doubleclicks - All your favorite songs about literature and dinosaurs...played on cello and guitar/uke. Catch them before their monster summer tour takes them to parts unknown!

Ken Davenport and Scott Schwartz - Written by Davenport and directed by Schwartz, Somewhere in Time is exactly what you think it might be: a Broadway musical adaption of that 1980 Christopher Reeve movie. It's a time traveling musical romance, and naturally the world premiere is right here in Portland. We will maybe ask them which Superman movie was their favorite. Annalee Newitz is a writer, journalist and geeky empress of Io9.com, the flagship science fiction and science fact blog for Gawker. She's written articles on a gamut of social and scientific issues, from "Why Did Nearly All Life On Earth Die 250 Million Years Ago?" to "When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like Avatar?" which, while we're at it, are both darn good questions. Musical guest - Genders is a four-piece casual rock and roll band from Portland, Oregon. Their current self-titled EP has been topping out the airplay charts at OPB Music; and after a wildly successful spring 2013 tour, playing Treefort Music Fest opening for Built to Spill, Genders continues on, full speed ahead. Genders is furiously working on their full-length album, due in the fall of 2013. After which, Genders will embark on an expansive west coast tour in support of their album.

Live Wire! 218 Encore: Ken Davenport, Scott Schwartz, Annalee Newitz, musical guest Genders

Studio Sessions: Garrison Keillor

Live Wire! 217 Encore: Augusten Burroughs, Ryan White, musical guest Radiation City

Augusten Burroughs - is the author of the New York Times bestseller Running with Scissors and This is How. Ryan White - is the music editor for the Oregonian. He reads an essay about manliness. Musical guest - Radiation City are an indie pop from Portland, Oregon