Episode 697
"Best of 2025 Special" with Paul F. Tompkins, Danez Smith, Riki Lindhome, and more
This "Best of 2025" special episode features some of Live Wire's favorite moments of the year: host Luke Burbank interviews an AI chatbot version of journalist Evan Ratliff; comedian Paul F. Tompkins receives a glitter bomb to celebrate his 7th appearance; authors Ira Madison III and Chuck Klosterman face-off in a quiz about Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs; musical comedian Riki Lindhome parodies The Sound of Music with her song So Long, Farewell, bidding adieu to another year... plus much more!
Evan Ratliff
Journalist and Shell Game Host
Evan Ratliff is an award-winning investigative journalist, bestselling author, and podcast host. He’s the author of The Mastermind: A True Story of Murder, Empire, and a New Kind of Crime Lord; the writer and host of the hit podcasts Shell Game and Persona: The French Deception; and the cofounder of The Atavist Magazine, Pop-Up Magazine, and the Longform Podcast. As a writer, he’s a two-time National Magazine Award finalist. As an editor and producer, he’s a two-time Emmy nominee and National Magazine Award winner.
Ira Madison III
Cultural Critic and Co-Host of Keep It
Ira Madison III is the host of Crooked Media’s pop culture podcast Keep It. His television credits include Uncoupled, Q-Force, Nikki Fre$h, and So Help Me Todd. He has written for GQ, New York magazine, Interview, MTV News, and Cosmopolitan, among other publications. Nylon named him one of the “most reliably hilarious and incisive cultural critics writing now.” He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Watch What Happens Live, The Wendy Williams Show, and the second season of Netflix drama You. He lives in New York City.
Paul F. Tompkins
Comedian, Actor, and Writer
Paul F. Tompkins is a comedian, actor, and writer who the Los Angeles Times describes as "a mix of Mark Twain, old-timey radio entertainer and vaudeville actor for the internet age." He's appeared on over two hundred episodes of Comedy Bang! Bang! and hosts popular podcasts including Threedom, The Neighborhood Listen, and Spontaneanation. An Emmy-nominated writer on Mr. Show, Tompkins also hosted TV shows like Best Week Ever and voiced Mr. Peanutbutter on the Netflix animated series Bojack Horseman. In his long-running live show Varietopia, he blends stand-up, character work, and improvisation, always in his signature suit and tie.
Danez Smith
Spellbinding Poet and Performer
Danez Smith is the author of three previous poetry collections, including Homie, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Don’t Call Us Dead, winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection and a finalist for the National Book Award. Danez's poetry and prose has been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The New Yorker, GQ, Best American Poetry, and on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Their latest collection, Bluff, was written after two years of artistic silence (during which the world came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Minneapolis became the epicenter of protest following the murder of George Floyd) and reckons with their role and responsibility as a poet and with their hometown of the Twin Cities.
Kari Ferrell
Writer, Activist, and Reformed “Hipster Grifter”
Kari Ferrell is a producer, writer, speaker, activist, and creator whose work is centered around prison reform and mental health. Her production company, Without Wax, is dedicated to uplifting and telling other stories from Women of Color, and she‘s working with Kaling International on a scripted show based on her life. Kari also supports various organizations like Second Chance Studios, Books Through Bars, the ACLU, and other advocacy groups. She lives in Brooklyn with her pup and her partner.
Kuinka
Indie Folk Band
Described by NPR Music as joyous folk pop, Kuinka "laces modern folk and Americana with an electronic jolt, waltzing along the grooved edges of dream-pop, synth-pop, and Brooklyn’s mid-aughts guitar-rock revival" (Vanyaland). Their genre-defying music features several different lead singers, four-part harmony, and eclectic instrumentation. For all of their sonic experimentation, the Seattle group's songs and live shows are linked by an infectious energy that remains present in everything they do.
Riki Lindhome
Actress, Comedian, and Musician
Riki Lindhome is an actress, comedian, and musician. A former member of the Los Angeles-based experimental theater group The Actors’ Gang, she made her film debut in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and has appeared in Hell Baby, Last House on the Left, The Lego Batman Movie, Knives Out and more, as well as a long list of TV shows including The Big Bang Theory, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, HBO’s Enlightened, Duncanville, The Muppets Mayhem and Netflix’s Wednesday. Lindhome also created and starred in the Comedy Central period sitcom Another Period with Natasha Leggero. In 2007, she formed Garfunkel and Oates with actress Kate Micucci. They wrote, produced, and starred in an eponymous television series on IFC, which aired for one season in 2014. Their 2016 comedy special Garfunkel and Oates: Trying to Be Special was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Lindhome is currently writing the songs for the Broadway adaptation of the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous following the production’s premiere at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Show Notes
Best News
Elena’s story: “Islands restored to former paradise after rats removed”
Luke’s story: “88-year-old Meijer cashier overwhelmed by sudden $1.7 million gift”
Evan Ratliff
Evan gives us a live, unscripted demonstration of an AI model of himself—the creation of which is fully documented in his celebrated podcast, Shell Game.
Ira Madison III
Ira is host of the pop-culture podcast Keep It. His newest collection of essays is Pure, Innocent Fun.
Ira and Luke discuss a hot of pop culture references including:
Chris Martin of Coldplay
Sex, Drugs and Cocopuffs by Chuck Closterman
Liz Phair’s 1993 album Exile in Guyville as a conversation with The Rolling Stones’ 1972 album Exile on Main St.
Roger Ebert’s show At the Movies, first with co-host Gene Siskel, then with Richard Roper. Luke references this outtake footage.
Film directors Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson
Hulu reality TV show The Traitors
Taylor Sheridan, co-creator of the TV show Yellowstone
Ira’s reading talks through the “Disney Renaissance”:
The Little Mermaid (1989), featuring musical number “Under The Sea,” composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman. The duo went on to compose/write for Little Shop of Horrors and Beauty and the Beast (1991).
Not of the renaissance, but worthy of note: The Emperor's New Groove (2000), and the Disney Channel spinoff series, The Emperor's New School.
Also not of the Renaissance, but an Academy Award winner: The Rescuers (1977)
Ira talks through Academy lore, mentioning Composer Stephen Sondheim, and luminaries Shirley MacLaine and Liza Minnelli.
Ira references Barbara Streisand, her memoir My Name is Barbara, and author Jonathan Franzen.
Aladdin (1992) with musical number “A Whole New World” and lyricist Tim Rice.
The Lion King (1994) scored by Hans Zimmer. Musical number “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice.
Pocahontas () Musician Gwen Stefani's.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with the songs “Topsy Turvy,” “Learning the Word,” and “Sanctuary.”
Hercules (1997) with the song “Go the Distance.”
Mulan (1998) with a credits song by Christina Aguilera.
Tarzan (1991) featuring Phil Collins' “You'll Be in My Heart.”
Paul F. Tompkins
Paul and Luke hit on a broad range of pop culture references including: singer Olivia Rodrigo, movie The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) and comedian Vinny Thomas.
We hear a clip from the podcast Handsome, hosted by comedians Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin.
Danez Smith
Danez shares from their latest book, Bluff.
Danez references Carl Phillips’ essay “Silence” from the book, My Trade Is Mystery.
Danez talks about writing poetry in the context of social upheaval and oppression, especially highlighting the impact of the murders of George Floyd and Mike Brown. They lean on the work of Black American poets and activists, such as June Jordan, Jammes Baldwin, and Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni.
Danez references their poem, “Waiting On You to Die So I Can Be Myself.”
They read their poem, “Anti Poetica.”
Kari Ferrell
Luke and Kari discuss Kari’s new book, You’ll Never Believe Me, in which she unpacks her stint as the infamous “hipster grifter” and her subsequent launch into advocacy work.
Kuinka
Perform "Living Room Floor” from their album Shiny Little Corners.
Riki Lindhome
Sings a song off her new album, No Worries if Not titled “So Long Farewell,” a breakup anthem on behalf of the Baroness Schraeder from The Sound of Music (1965).
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