This time, I’m letting Chris Mulkey talk. Chris is a character actor whose work I’ve been watching since well before I actually knew who he was, but I do know when I actually started paying attention to him: after he started playing Hank Jennings, the deceitful husband of Double R Diner owner Norma Jennings, on Twin Peaks. He first stepped in front of the camera in the mid-1970s, and he’s been working steadily ever since, perpetually mixing things up between film and television but always keeping busy. The amount of TV series he’s been in is kind of ridiculous. We’re talking about a list that includes Baretta, M*A*S*H, Charlie’s Angels, The White Shadow, Magnum P.I., and even the short-lived Vincent Price series Time Express, although I literally had to send him a link to the episode to prove to him that he’d done it, because he had zero memory of it. During the course of the conversation, we hit on topics including – but not limited to – The Long Riders, First Blood, The Hidden, Patti Rocks (as well as its prequel, “Loose Ends,” and the sequel he’s hard at work on getting into production), Gas Food Lodging, Ghost in the Machine, Bulworth, Radio, Captain Phillips, Whiplash, and a bunch more. He’s a guy who’s full of stories, and he’s happy to share them. There’s definitely enough untouched material for a sequel, so definitely let me know how you enjoy this. Just a couple of notes up front: Chris did the interview in a cabana, and he shows off his surroundings, so only  those watching the video will really appreciate that. Also, at one point he froze and vanished, and I’ve edited it down so that the downtime isn’t significant, but I kept in the moment, so when it happens, don’t worry, it won’t last long, and he explains what happened, which is pretty funny and the direct result of where he was doing the interview. And just to speak off the cuff, since this is the last new podcast episode of 2025, with many more to follow in the new  year, God willing, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s listened and supported me in this endeavor. It’s already lasted longer than my last podcast, and it’s because I haven’t been limiting myself to a particular niche or gimmick, I’m just been inviting people whose work I enjoy onto the podcast and, like it says, letting them talk. As of this writing, we’re less than 25 downloads away from hitting a grand total of 1,600 downloads, and for a podcast that has zero advertising budget and is strictly being discovered by word of mouth, that seems pretty decent to me. And I have you to thank, so…thanks. And please keep it up. Please share an episode whenever you’ve listened to it and liked it. And rate the podcast. I hear that’s important, too. Okay, that’s enough of an intro and a thank-you. Happy New Year, everyone. It’s time to let Chris Mulkey talk.

This time, I'm letting Angelo Moore talk. Angelo is a force of nature, one of the most gregarious individuals I’ve ever had the good fortune to interview, and – it must be said – one of the greatest self-promoters you’re likely to ever come across. And I mean that as a compliment. I need to take notes from this man. In addition to having been the frontman of Fishbone since the band’s inception, Angelo also works under the guise of Dr. Madd Vibe. I interviewed him years ago, way back in 2001, and it was a decidedly freewheeling conversation, but it was also one that led to him signing my copy of Fishbone’s The Reality of My Surroundings with the words, “Thanks for the accurate article.” Accuracy should be pretty easy when all you’re doing is literally transcribing what someone said, but you’d be surprised how many people are grateful for you simply for typing out their actual words.    During the course of this freewheeling conversation – and truth be told, I’m pretty confident that freewheeling is the only sort of conversation that Angelo is capable of having, but I’m 100% good with that – we talked about as much of Fishbone’s career as possible, including John Cusack’s support of the band, the time Fishbone opened for the Beastie Boys, Angelo’s appearance in Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, and much  more. I should probably mention a few things up front, however. First of all, this is inarguably the most visual episode of the podcast that’s happened to date, so if you’ve ever thought about joining the ranks of the paid Substack subscribers or the Patreon supporters, this is the one. Angelo spends the early part of the conversation taking me and his camera on a tour around the entirety of his new apartment, and then he later takes me on a visual tour of some of his more recent releases, which are pretty amazing. Given that he’s talking the entire time, it feels wrong to trim it from the audio version, but just know that you’re definitely not getting the full experience without seeing the video. He also gets a few calls during the course of the interview, but I kept those in as well, since he proceeds to introduce the people who are calling, even holding the phone up to the camera. How could I cut those out? That’s gold, Jerry! GOLD! The other thing is that when I asked Angelo one of my stock questions – the one about the first person who ever made him have to fight to keep from going full fanboy – he thought I was asking about Fishbone fans who went full fanboy on him. Given the title of this podcast, I didn’t interrupt him, I just let him answer it the way he thought was accurate, and the end result was still a really great story, so…no complaints whatsoever. Okay, that’s enough of an intro. Now brace yourself accordingly, because I’m going to let Angelo Moore talk.

This time, I’m letting Rizwan Manji talk. Rizwan has successfully carved himself out a career as a character actor, one who’s frequently comedic but has also had the opportunity to show off his dramatic chops on occasion. I first met him when he was in the cast of the NBC sitcom Outsourced, which was set in a call center in India. It met with a decidedly mixed reaction at the time, but I enjoyed it from the get-go, for reasons which I explain during the course of today’s episode. But I interviewed Riz and his co-star Parvesh Cheena at the TCA tour, and I’ve stayed connected with the both of them via social media ever since. As such, when I saw that Riz was in the cast of a new Adam Saunders film called Re-Election and was doing virtual interviews to promote the film, I immediately reached out to get on the list to chat with him. Since our initial meeting, Riz has been a part of a ridiculous number of impressive projects – these days, I think most people may recognize him from his recurring role on Schitt’s Creek – but he’s been doing high-profile stuff even before I met him. During the course of our conversation, we talk about his work with Mike Nichols and Tom Hanks on Charlie Wilson’s War, auditioning for Scorsese for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, and his reflections on having done a few episodes of 24. Of course, we also talk about Schitt’s Creek and the surrealness of working with two of his comedic idols on his very first day of shooting, his love of the underseen sitcom Perfect Harmony, his son’s reaction to his appearance in the opening credits of Peacemaker, embarrassing himself in front of Antonio Banderas, and much more. Okay, that’s probably enough of an intro. It’s time to let Rizwan Manji talk…

This time, I'm letting Jerry Ordway talk. Jerry is one of my favorite comic book artists and writers, going back to the early ‘80s. If you listened to my interview with Mike Carlin a few episodes back, then you already know that I’m a certifiable comic book nerd, but I will admit that I got even nerdier while talking with Mr. Ordway. If you came of age with DC Comics anywhere within the ‘60s through the ‘80s, then you’re aware of the existence of Earth-2, a parallel version of Earth where superheroes started to emerge in the late 1930s, i.e. when DC Comics first started publishing their adventures. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then…you probably never even started listening to this episode in the first place, so let’s just keep moving. Suffice it to say that my formative years of comic book reading involved falling head over heels with the characters of Earth-2 thanks to an ongoing series of crossovers with the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America, so when DC decided to launch a book about the World War II era adventures of Earth-2 called “All-Star Squadron,” I was all-in. And a few years later, when they decided to spotlight the children of some of these heroes in a series set in the present day called “Infinity, Inc.,” I was even more all-in. This is how I became a fan of Jerry Ordway,  and it’s why I’ve remained a fan of his for lo these many years. In addition to being a great writer and artist, he’s also one of the best inkers in the comic book business. You’ve seen his work in comics for both DC and Marvel, including inside and on the covers of titles like The Adventures of Superman, The Power of Shazam, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Maximum Security, and more. Jerry is a talker, and given that the name of this podcast is “Letting Them Talk,” I was happy to fulfill his destiny throughout this episode by allowing him to do just that. If you’re a comics nerd like I am, you’ll love his stories. If you’re not a comics nerd… Well, like I said before, you’re probably not even listening at this point anyway. As such, I’m going to go ahead and let Jerry talk…

This time, I'm letting Mat Bradley-Tschirgi talk. Mat's a fellow pop culture writer - because, you know, we’re all in this thing together, you guys - and he and I follow each other on social media. We have a number of similar pop culture likes, but I was still surprised and honored when he asked me if I’d give a read to his latest book and do a blurb for it. I happily agreed, because, c’mon, when someone says, “I’ve just written a book called ‘The Films of Eddie Murphy’ and I’d like you to read it,” who’s gonna say “no” to that? As it happens, it turned out to be a very worthwhile “yes,” since Mat did the full deep dive into Murphy’s career, either revisiting – or, in some cases, watching for the first time – every film in his filmography. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve seen them all, but this is one of those cases where he could say, “I did this so you don’t have to.” He didn’t say that, mind you, but it stands true nonetheless. Of course, we talked about this book during our conversation, and we also talked about some of his other work, including his book about the video-game adaptations by Uwe Boll and his deep dive into every Star Trek video game ever made…and if you’re like me, you’ll do a double-take when he tells you how many there actually are. I’m a Trekkie, and it *still* surprised me. I also asked him to offer up some of his favorite pop culture obscurities, which he happily did. And with that, I’ll let Mat talk…

This time I’m letting two people talk. Better yet, it’s two people who starred in one of my favorite sitcoms in recent memory, and now they’re the hosts of one of my must-listen podcasts. If you’ve ever watched The Middle, then you already know Eden Sher, a.k.a. Sue Sue Heck, and if you watched The Middle on a semi-regular basis, then you also know Brock Ciarlelli, who played Sue’s bestie, Brad. I think just about everyone who listens to this podcast already knows this, but I reviewed The Middle for the AV Club from season three through season seven – plus the series finale – and during the course of that time, I was able to interview Eden a few times and Brock once, but the last time I interviewed either of them was during season seven for Brad’s coming-out episode, and that episode celebrated its 10th anniversary back in October, so...it’s been awhile. As you might reasonably expect, I end up talking about my connection to The Middle a decent amount during the course of this episode, but in my defense, I was interviewed two podcast hosts, and Brock did not hesitate to turn the tables on me to satisfy his own curiosity, and I have no complaints. We talk about how both of them got onto The Middle in the first place, we talk about the Middle spinoff, Sue Sue in the City, that never made it to series, and, of course, there’s a whole lot of Middling…albeit in a general, non-episode-specific way that in no way steps on the toes of what they’re doing on their wonderful podcast. I’ll also give you fair warning that there’s a point in this episode where Eden’s dog makes a cameo appearance, and at the time it was happening, I was considering editing it out, but after the fact, two things occurred to me: 1) it’s actually going to be pretty funny for the people who are watching the video version, and 2) it felt more than a little bit like a sitcom moment, so given the episode, why would I edit it out? So if you’re feeling lost as you listen to that portion of the proceedings, just remember: If you sign up for either a paid subscription to my Substack newsletter – http://willharris.substack.com – or for my Patreon campaign – just go to Patreon and search for "Letting Them Talk" – then you’ll get access to the video version. Okay, that’s enough of an intro. Let’s get to…letting Eden and Brock talk.  

This time I'm letting Thomas Jane talk. The last time I talked to Mr. Jane was in 2011, when I interviewed him for the AV Club’s Random Roles feature, and I won’t lie to you, I was downright giddy when I got word that I’d secured him for an episode of this podcast. Thomas Jane has been acting in front of the camera since he was 15, and the story about how he got that gig is one that we talk about during the course of our conversation. A lot of people know him as The Punisher, others know him from the HBO series Hung, still more of you may have been traumatized by watching him in Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist. I know I sure was! The film that brought him onto the podcast today is Frontier Crucible, a western based on the 1961 novel Desert Stake-Out by Harry Whittington. I was able to check the film out in advance of talking to Mr. Jane, and he delivers a tremendous performance, as does the rest of the cast, frankly. If you’re a fan of westerns, I highly recommend it. Over the course of our interview, we touched on a number of projects from Thomas’s back catalog, from Arrested Development to The Expanse and much more, including what he learned from working with Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman on the same film. I’m not going to say that we tackled everything that I wanted to tackle, nor did we get to many of the things that you probably wanted me to ask him about, but it was a conversation that kept me guessing throughout, and it led me to jump around to match the topics that were coming up, from film and TV to music and comics. I even got a chance to ask him about the best show he ever saw at the 9:30 Club, which… I mean, who else is going to ask him that? Anyway, I’ll just say this: if we didn’t end up talking about something you were hoping we’d talk about, don’t worry, because he’s already said that he’s up for doing a sequel in the future. Whatever it was, we’ll get to it then. And with that, it’s time to let Thomas Jane talk.

This time, I'm letting Pepe Serna talk. Pepe is a character actor who’s been appearing onscreen since the start of the ‘70s, bouncing between film, stage, and television, and although he’s still acting whenever the opportunity presents itself, he spends a good chunk of his time these days as an artist and an acting teacher. Pepe’s first film was a Roger Corman cult classic called The Student Nurses, and having gotten his foot in the door, he never looked back, quickly finding himself working for Dalton Trumbo in Johnny Got His Gun, sharing the screen with Gregory Peck in Shoot Out, and guest-starring ono a plethora of classic ‘70s series, including Mannix, Kung Fu, Adam-12, The Rookies, Cannon, Medical Center, and The Rockford Files. But it was film where he really got the chance to shine, including roles in Car Wash, The Jerk, Scarface – spoiler alert: he’s the one who meets his demise at the end of a chainsaw – and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. He also forged a longstanding friendship with Edward James Olmos that found the two actors sharing the screen in a number of projects, including Miami Vice, American Me, and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez. Pepe has lived a fascinating life that’s still going strong, but you can learn more about him by watching the very interesting documentary that’s been made about his life: “Pepe Serna: Life is Art.” Not coincidentally, he also has a book by the same name, with the subtitle “A Chicano’s Groundbreaking Life in Film.” Both of these are accessible via his website, PepeSerna.net. We had a great chat, but I’ll warn you that as you listen, you’ll get the impression that he’s doing some physical bits to go along with some of the acting information he’s imparting during the conversation, and you’re right. If you haven’t already upgraded to either a paid subscription to my Substack newsletter or contributed to my Patreon campaign for the podcast, then this is a good excuse, because that way you’ll be able to check out the video footage of the interview as well. And with that plug having been delivered, it’s time to let Pepe talk.

This time, I'm letting Julie Klausner talk. I’d never interviewed Julie before, but we found ourselves following each other on Bluesky as a result of my AV Club Set List interview with They Might Be Giants. It turns out that she's a huge They Might Be Giants fan, which is something I didn’t realize, but I clearly should’ve, since – as a realized during a rewatch of her Hulu series Difficult People – there’s an episode where her costar, Billy Eichner, is hanging out in Julie’s childhood bedroom, and there’s a very prominent They Might Be Giants poster on the wall. Yes, we talked about Difficult People during the course of our conversation, as well as how she found herself collaborating with Billy Eichner in the first place. We also chatted about the small part she played in a classic SNL "TV Funhouse" segment, her work on John Mulaney’s short-lived sitcom, the thrill of getting to write for the recent revival of Kids in the Hall, and the fun of working on the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon! Oh, yes, and she also has a Sabrina Carpenter connection in her back catalog, which we talked about that as well, and we talked about Juiie’s own music, specifically an amazing Kate Bush homage that you should check out as soon as you’re done listening to the podcast. Okay, that’s enough of an intro. It’s time to let Julie Klausner talk.

This time, I'm letting Billy Campbell talk. Billy is someone whose career arc has taken him from Dynasty to Dracula to Star Trek: The Next Generation, if not necessarily in that order. He’s starred in a plethora of period pieces that have found him in the midst of the Civil War, Los Angeles in the late 1930s, and Chicago in the early 1960s. But, of course, it’s important to keep in mind that Billy basically hasn’t stopped working since kicking off his acting career in the ‘80s, and when you’re working more or less constantly, it puts you in a position where you find yourself working in all sorts of projects and with all sorts of people. For instance, once again, we have another guest who once worked with former podcast guest Paget Brewster, who referred to Billy as “dreamy,” to which he replied, “She’s pretty dreamy herself."  Of course, we talk about that project - a TV movie called Max Q - during the course of our conversation, and we hit on a pretty huge collection of other works from his back catalog, including the aforementioned projects, plus the ones I casually referenced by their location and era, like Crime Story, The Rocketeer, and the one-two punch of Gettysburg and Gods and Generals. Probably my favorite story is his remembrances of working on the various Tales of the City miniseries, although when I later asked him to tell me his definitive “Hollywood” story, he told me one that went in a direction that was different from the way most people answer the question, and that’s even knowing the reputation of the actor who features in the story. Suffice it to say that the reputation in question is definitively cemented by story's end.  Even though he’s originally from Virginia, he now lives in Norway, although he maintains a residence in Canada as well, thanks to working there on such projects as The Killing and Cardinal. But, of course, he still works in the US pretty regularly, including on an upcoming film called A Better Place, which he filmed in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and he’ll be back in Gettysburg next year for a special event that will provide him with the opportunity that’ll give him the chance to do another performance as - you guessed it - Abraham Lincoln.  Oh, and did I mention that I made him cry? I just wanted to talk about how awesome Alan Arkin is, I swear!  Anyway, that’s probably enough to secure your listenership for the remainder of the proceedings. It's time to let Billy Campbell talk.

This week, I'm letting Mike Carlin talk.  You may recognize Mike's name if you’re a comic book fan, since not only has he written and edited for both Marvel and DC Comics, but he’s even been a comic book character on occasion, famously hiring one particular superhero as an artist with Marvel Comics…while in his secret identity, of course. The funny thing about this interview, however, is that it didn’t come about because of comics. It came about because Mike and I are Facebook friends, and it caught my eye when he offered up an R.I.P. post for Gilson Lavis, the drummer for Squeeze, and said that he’d seen Gilson live more than any other drummer. I immediately thought, “Okay, here’s a conversation I want to have: Mike Carlin on Squeeze.” And we did indeed talk about Squeeze. We also talked about some of his other favorite music, and we talked a whole lot about his favorite comedy, including how he was such an SNL nerd that he spend a good chunk of the show’s first five seasons standing in the stand-by line in order to attend tapings of the show. As a result, he saw a few of the most iconic musical performances in the history of the show…but I’ll let him tell you about those. But, of course, we also talked about comics, and how Mike’s sense of humor influenced his writing. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that over the course of his career he’s managed to write for the humor magazine trifecta: Crazy, Cracked, and Mad Magazine. He’s also worked with some of the most legendary artists of all time – perhaps you’re familiar with a gentleman by the name of Steve Ditko? – and he was even part of a cable access sketch comedy show with a couple of other guys from Marvel Comics, including the late, great Mark Gruenwald. Oh, and if you remember the Superboy TV series that was in syndication in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s… Well, I think Mike would be surprised, but even if you didn’t, he’s got some great stories about working on that, too. Okay, that’s enough of an intro. It’s time to let Mike talk.

This week, I'm letting Vincent Martella talk. I’ve been a fan of Vincent’s work since he was a series regular on the UPN – later CW – sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, where he played Chris’s very white friend, Greg. It’s one of those sitcoms that not enough people watched when it was originally on the air, but its fanbase has continued to grow over the years as a result of the show’s streaming presence. In fact, it even spawned an animated sequel last year called – what else? – Everybody Still Hates Chris. The original run of Everybody Hates Chris was from 2005 to 2009, but before it had even come to a conclusion, Vincent had already begun work on a new series, one that continues to keep him gainfully employed even now: Phineas and Ferb. Yes, that’s right: he’s the voice of Phineas. Mind you, just because he’s pulling a steady paycheck from voice acting doesn’t mean that he doesn’t still find himself in front of the camera on occasion as well, as fans of The Walking Dead well know. But having said that, as of this recording, Phineas and Ferb is still going strong, possibly even stronger than ever. During the course of our conversation, we talk about all of these projects in great detail, as well as a few others from throughout his filmography. We also talk about how he found his way into acting in the first place, and I even found an excuse to ask him about the time he was nominated for a Teen Choice Award, and…let’s just say that, in retrospect, he still can’t believe who won the award over him that year. But that’s enough of an intro. It’s time to let Vincent Martella talk.

This week, I'm letting Murray Attaway talk. I first became a fan of Murray’s work when he was fronting the Georgia-based band Guadalcanal Diary, who – along with Rhett Crowe, John Poe, and the late, great Jeff Walls – brought us such classic college rock tracks as “Watusi Rodeo,” “Trail of Tears,” “Spirit Train,” “Cattle Prod,” “Litany (Life Goes On),” “Get Over It,” “Always Saturday,” and “Pretty Is as Pretty Does.” After releasing their fourth studio album, 1989’s Flip Flop, the band made a collective decision to go their separate ways, but Murray soldiered onward, signing a solo deal with Geffen Records and releasing his solo debut, 1993’s In Thrall. I, for one, loved it, but let’s just say that it didn’t exactly go platinum, and it was pretty soon thereafter that Murray and Geffen parted ways. Since then, Murray certainly hasn’t been completely absent from the world of music – for one thing, Guadalcanal Diary reunited for a performance in the late ‘90s that resulted in a live album entitled At Your Birthday Party – but those who were waiting for him to release anything new under his own name were left wanting…until this year, that is, when he finally released a sophomore solo LP entitled Tense Music Plays. Naturally, you'll want to head over to Murray's website and order yourself a copy of Tense Music Plays. But that's after you listen this episode, of course...

This week, I'm letting Kevin M. Kruse talk.  Also this week: the debut of what I hope will be a recurring episode premise called “Political Pundits on Pop Culture.” Then again, maybe it’ll be a one-off. But given how much fun I had talking to Kevin, I certainly hope it isn’t. Kevin is a history professor at Princeton, a respected author, and one of my favorite follows on Bluesky, but as it turns out, we also have more than a few similar pop culture touchstones, from SNL and Police Squad! to Edgar Wright and R.E.M. In the long run, it’s basically a conversation between two guys who are geeking out on their pop culture faves, but – spoiler alert – this is not the first time a podcast has descended into such a conversation, and it damned well won’t be the last. Listen, enjoy, and if you haven't already, please subscribe! 

This week, I'm letting Paget Brewster talk. I have a long and thoroughly non-sordid history of interviewing Paget for various outlets. It started with her Random Roles for the AV Club, continued with an interview for Decider, and I know I’ve interviewed her twice for That Thing They Did, and…I think this is therefore our fifth time talking, maybe? Unless you count the time when I met up with her at a CBS party during the 2016 summer Television Critics Association press tour, but if I did an interview with her there, I don’t think it was a full interview, and if any portion of it ran anywhere, I can’t produce it. Anyway, my point is that we've talked about a lot of stuff over the years, and this time we talked about a lot of stuff, too, including - but not limited to - Criminal Minds, Friends, Two and a Half Men, Grandfathered, Drunk History, DuckTales, and The Thrilling Adventure Hour. We also talked about some of her failed pilots, including the inevitable Ghost Cop. (He’s a ghost, she’s a cop… You get it. But I still have to recite the line anyway.) Oh, and we also talked about the time she created botulism for a comedy sketch. Yeah, we really covered the gamut. You'll love it. She's delightful.

This week, I'm letting Mitch Easter talk. He's a producer (R.E.M., the Connells, Suzanne Vega, Marshall Crenshaw), and he's also a singer, musician, and songwriter in his own right, though you likely know him best on that front from the years he spent in the band Let's Active. He's made a lot of music over the years, and as a result, he's got a lot of stories to tell. Also, when it comes to Smash Mouth's cover of "Every Word Means No," he has...thoughts. But you'll have to listen to find out what they are.

This week, I'm letting Robbie Rist talk. For my first guest, I wanted someone I actually know but who I've never interviewed before, and although I've interviewed Robbie once many years ago, it wasn't a full look back at his career, so this seemed like a good time to do that. We discuss Big John, Little John, Battlestar Galactica, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Kidd Video, and much more, including his music career. Fair warning, though: we barely touch on his time on The Brady Bunch at all.