This week I visit Eric Aleman, owner of the storied King of Kings Barber Shop in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I’ve been going to him for a couple years and it’s always an odyssey which begins on my scalp and ends in my heart.
Eric, like a lot of good barbers, is able to step in and out of conversation. He’ll talk if you want to talk. Or he’ll just step back and keep working on your hair. That’s part of why I like him.
He’s not only a really solid barber, he’s also a talented lyricist, hip-hop artist/ whatever you want to call it. He’s a founding member of BLKLYST. Who you can check out playing at Littlefield’s or here on youtube.
If you listen real close here you can hear him shaving my neck at one point. It’s pretty hard to talk w a knife to your neck, but I did my best.
-
SN5:EP7 “A Brother Runs Through It”
The inimitable Eeland Stribling @blacksteveirwin–one of the most relaxed, but killer comics I’ve seen in a while. He’s also a Wildlife Biologist and a major part of the @brownfolksfishing initiative.AND co-host of the popular “Get Home Safe” podcast. We start with some basic bachelor grocery shopping and trade our takes on: trout fishing and race; religion; carbonated Hawaiian Punch; Ireland (or what he calls “White People’s Africa”); and witness a rare kid-accidentally-breaking-some-eggs-on-the-way-home-from-the store ritual. This is a longer episode for you to live in and truly one of the best recorded evenings in the history of @wanderingaisles. Consider supporting the show on Patreon! (or just tell a friend). -
SN1:EP3 “Present French”
I hope that this conversation with one of the best and brightest French people I know makes up for my lack of insightful commentary on the situation in France. Sami Bronowski is a NYC comedian who walked around Manhattan with me back in April. (I’ve been sitting on this episode because I was worried you guys might think it’s too difficult/distracting to listen to a lively conversation which sometimes battles the sounds of dump trucks and helicopters.) We talked about the usual stuff: girls, mimicking people, food, death, and a lot of other very French type stuff. It’s worth a listen. Very John Cage-esque if you go in for that sort of thing. @SamuelBronowski -
SN1:EP1 “Living out Loud”
The inaugural episode of this podcast. (Originally “What’s Your Yarn Worth? w/ Andy Farnsworth.”) An honest, unvarnished conversation with James Greco: painter, inner monologue coach, and person I respect and love a whole lot.
There’s literally zero production on this first episode. Just a straight, conversational document. Pretty much every instinct I had at the time told me not to put this out there, but my friend Tasha listened to it and told me not to trust my instincts. It’s advice that served as a guide for all the episodes that have followed. Anti-instincts.I’d say this episode is intense but what’s intense you know? I probably wouldn’t listen to it in front of kids, but maybe you’re running some kind of experiment. Here you go.
You can check out James Greco’s work here
[Correction: Just FYI I got a little carried away in this one when I was talking about the baby-smuggling grade school teacher. I actually didn’t have her as a teacher. It was my sister that had her. Also, the teacher in high school I was talking about was actually “Mrs. Mishler” not Mueller. Don’t know why I said those things.]
