Bullseye with Jesse Thorn Folgen

Lisa Hanawalt is a cartoonist, writer, and author of four brilliant books, including Hot Dog Taste Test, My Dirty Dumb Eyes and her latest book, Coyote Dog Girl. You may be familiar with her work on the popular animated Netflix series BoJack Horseman where she's a producer. Hanawalt is the creator of the new show Tuca & Bertie. It's an animated series on Netflix about two Anthropomorphic bird women. They live in Bird Town. Tuca is a toucan. She's outgoing and fun, but kind of a mess, too. She doesn't really have a solid job. Bertie, her best friend, is a songbird, kind of a homebody, a little shy and deferential. The show is breathtakingly drawn and totally surreal. Lisa talks to us about how intuitive creating Tuca & Bertie was at times, deciding what to ground in reality and where to take flight and why she should be allowed to ride Martha Stewart's pony.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The Tick is one of the strangest, most compelling superheroes ever. Creator Ben Edlund has lived with the character for over 30 years now. The Tick has been a comic book series, an animated TV show, a video game, and a live action TV show. Now, The Tick is back with another live-action TV show on Amazon. The Tick is kind of this giant man in a blue suit with antennas on his head. He's got all the classic trappings of a superhero: strength, speed, invincibility. But he's also kind of a dope. Edlund joins us to discuss how his relationship with the character has changed over three decades. Plus, why he feels the latest revival nails the strange, odd tone in ways the other projects haven't. Writing compelling and grounded superhero stories is hard to pull off in a post-Dark Knight world ... if you haven't met The Tick by now you're in for a treat!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

So many of the sketches Paula Pell has written for Saturday Night Live are stone-cold classics. There's the Culps, Ana Gasteyer and Will Ferrell's bizarre pop music duo. The Spartan Cheerleaders. The Tony Bennett Show. Remember when Justin Timberlake brought us on down to Omeletteville? We have Paula Pell to thank for a lot of wonderful and hilarious work on SNL. Paula pulls back the curtain and discusses some of her more controversial work on the classic program. Pell also joins us to talk about her latest project: Wine Country. She co-stars alongside SNL alums Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, and Rachel Dratch. Sincerely, one of the funniest people we've ever had on the show. Don't sleep on this one!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy