15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger


Episode 52 - Beth Lisick, Part 1

January 19, 2018

Happy 2018 All! 

This week I took a huge, manic, obsessive dive down the Aziz Ansari/#metoo rabbit hole, and like to think I have takes that haven't yet been took. But after writing about 18 (single space) pages of notes and compiling dozens of articles and audio and video (google Samantha Bee and Aziz for one of the most recent, and best, responses), when I went to record ... well, I'm just not skilled enough yet to say what I need to say as concisely as would make me feel comfortable to share with the world. My first two tries at recording the intro ran over half an hour, longer than the actual conversation with Beth, which is just not what this here show is about.

That personal failure out of the way, I think my guest Beth Lisick is super swell and the episode is more than just fine. 

But before I get to Beth, I would like to share with you, though, the best writing I've read this week on the Aziz stuff, by Katie Anthony. Discovering KA's work (http://www.katykatikate.com) has been worth all of the reading and writing that didn't end up leading to talking for this show. (I think) she should be required reading for men who want to do better. 

(She also has a podcast with Ronit Feinglass Plank called Mouthy Messy Mandatory that I just listened to the first time last night and is also awesome) 

BUT HER WRITING! If you want a jumping off point, check out "the katykatikate guide to apologies" which is super relevant to today's episode.  I could go on all day about Ms. Anthony's powerful, funny, and useful words, but her work can speak way better for how great it is than my description of it ever would.

Now, on to our show!

Beth Lisick is a writer and actor. She is the author of five books and has appeared in films screened at Cannes, Sundance, and the San Francisco International Film Festival. Her books include the memoir collection Yokohama Threeway and Other Small Shames (City Lights), the New York Times bestselling comic memoir Everybody Into the Pool (Harper/ReganBooks), the gonzo self-help manifesto Helping Me Help Myself (Harper/William Morrow), the story collection This Too Can Be Yours (Manic D), and the performance poetry/story collection Monkey Girl (Manic D). She lives with her husband and son (and probably a pet or two, I forgot to ask) in Brooklyn, and is working on a novel.

We spoke on the phone in December. 

(As ever, all episodes can be found pretty much wherever pods are cast: iTunes, Soundcloud .... or at 15minutesjamieberger.com)

Thanks for listening!

-Jamie