Brooklyn Magazine: The Podcast

The Good Liars are comedians Davram Stiefler and Jason Selvig, and for nearly a decade they have been doggedly traveling the country — most notably to presidential campaign rallies for both political parties — trolling attendees and politicians in fearless interviews that often go viral. All with an eye towards exposing hypocrisy, hubris, absurdity and just plain stupidity. The two have launched a new podcast, “The Good Liars Tell the Truth,” where they replay and re-examine some of their more viral moments — like being on the scene during the January 6 insurrection, or, more recently, attending a Trump rally and trying to sell their own satirical version of Donald Trump’s bible to his supporters. They’ve also taken their live act, “The Good Liars Fix America,” first performed in Brooklyn, on the road. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Dan Perlman is a comedian, writer and director in Brooklyn He co-created, wrote and starred in Showtime's critically acclaimed comedy series, “Flatbush Misdemeanors” which was sadly not renewed after its much lauded and pitch-perfect two season run. Don’t count Dan out though. He just keeps making things — short things for now. Much as Flatbush Misdemeanors got its start as a web series he made with fellow comedian Kevin Iso, Perlman has made two short films — one in 2020 and one at the end of 2023 — both starring the same two New York kids, non-actors playing versions of themselves. The first one, “Cramming,” has just been announced as the recipient of a grant from Rooftop Films so it can be made into a feature film. The second, “Practice Space,” will have its world premiere at the Lower East Side Film Festival this year. That announcement just dropped … today. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Rapper, singer, artist, producer and, since 2010, one third of the Brooklyn hip-hop group the Flatbush Zombies, Erick the Architect has dropped his first full-length solo album, "I've Never Been Here Before.” The title is a sly allusion to where he's at in life — emotionally, physically, professionally, musically — and the 16 tracks within feature collaborations with a range of artists from Lalah Hathaway to James Blake to Joey Bada$$ to George Clinton and more. The result is a kaleidoscopic mix of psychedelic hip-hop, Jamaican dancehall, classic boom-bap rap and neo-soul that reflects an omnivorous musical palate. Today, we discuss his so-called “villain era,” loss and growth, what he hates about contemporary hip-hop, Brooklyn and more. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Robert Simonson writes about cocktails, food and travel for the New York Times, where he’s been a contributor since 2000. He is the author of seven books about cocktails — he literally wrote the book on the old-fashioned and one on the martini. His latest tome, out now, widens the lens — by a lot. “The Encyclopedia of Cocktails: The People, Bars and Drinks, With More Than 100 recipes” is a delightful omnibus, an alphabetical compendium of the most notable drinks, influential bartenders (living and dead), and important bars that have shaped the cocktail world — all in shot glass-sized entries from absinthe to the zombie. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

For 17 years Maria Popova has kept an online literary journal of sorts, a catalogue of what she’s been reading, contemplating and grappling with across multiple disciplines — literature, science, art, philosophy, poetry and what she has called “various other tentacles of human thought and feeling.” She started her site, the Marginalian, under a different name — you may remember it as Brain Pickings — as an email to a few friends and colleagues, a personal record of reckoning with her own search for meaning. Today it consists of hundreds of thousands of entries, cross linking ideas and connecting metaphysical dots. It is fundamentally a personal project, a map of one woman’s quest to understand this weird experience called life. And yet over the years it has proven to have a universal appeal, attracting millions of readers from all over the world who take comfort or pick up wisdom from her lyrical close readings. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

What makes a story a New York story? Maybe it’s seeing a drag queen emerge from a manhole cover on Canal Street in a full look at 6:30 a.m. Or it could be a woman carrying a bag of live eels on the subway to the shock of no one. The thing is, you know a New York Story when you’ve got one, and Dan Saltzstein has collected a whole book’s worth of little vignettes — short stories and curated tweets that perfectly distill that New York moment to a second or two. Saltzstein joins us today to discuss his book, “That’s So New York: Short and Very Short Stories About the Greatest City on Earth," and the makings of a great New York story. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Not only is Dr. Uché Blackstock a second-generation Black woman physician, she is the first Black mother-daughter legacy to have graduated from Harvard Medical School. Today she is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, a consultancy that helps its clients in the healthcare and corporate space to provide racially equitable care. She is also the the author of a new book, “Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism In Medicine,” in which she explores systemic inequity in the American healthcare system, clearly tracing its origins from slavery and after the Civil War to today — even in her own experiences as a medical student and a doctor. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Most New Yorkers don’t need an introduction to Veselka. One of the last of many Slavic restaurants that once proliferated in the East Village, Veselka is turning 70 this year, it’s more robust, vital and relevant as a cultural hub that it’s ever been. It’s expanding into Williamsburg later this year and it’s the subject of a new documentary, out now, called “Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World.” Filmmaker Michael Fiore started filming his documentary 11 days into the Russian war on Ukraine. Over the course of a year he documented its effects here at home in real time. In this episode, third-generation owner Jason Birchard discusses the past, present and future of the iconic eatery. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Lee Fields is a funk and soul legend who has been recording for 55 years and performing for longer than that. From his roots in hardscrabble Wilson, North Carolina — where his parents ran a speakeasy on Saturday nights and took him to church on Sundays — through the funky 1970s, Fields honed an explosive live act frequently compared to James Brown. After a decade-long setback in the ‘80s, Lee signed with Desco Records (an early version of Daptone) and sparked a comeback that continues unabated to this day. Now he is the subject of a documentary, “Lee Fields: Faithful Man,” available to stream everywhere on demand this week. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Second City is the legendary Chicago improv comedy company that opened in 1969 and launched the careers of everyone from Bill Murray and Gilda Radner to Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to Keegan-Michael Key to Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell and Mike Meyers and Tim Meadows and so on. This month they’ve opened their first ever New York campus — in Williamsburg. And this week we're speaking with two of the new ensemble members of the new Second City company in New York. Ben Rameaka and Yazmin Ramos are veteran comics, improv actors and comedy teachers. And today we’re going to be talking about what Brooklyn can expect from the new Second City outpost, the legacy of Second City, their own careers and more. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Bensonhurst-born Anthony Mongiello is the unheralded inventor, he claims to this day, of the stuffed crust pizza. Mongiello, who holds a 1987 patent for the method of making pizzas with cheese baked into the crust, sued Pizza Hut when they rolled out their own product with the same name in 1995 — for $1 billion. That lawsuit — which was rejected in a summary judgment — is the subject of a new short docu-drama called "Stolen Dough." Silly? Maybe. But the facts are the facts: Mongiello had a patent for stuffed crust pizza before Pizza Hut came out with the same product with the same name. Let's discuss! Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

The hit Amazon series “Reacher" just wrapped its second season and has been re-upped for a third — and coming back with it is the character Frances Neagley, played by Maria Sten. Neagley is Jack Reacher’s colleague, a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant, his confidante and in many ways his equal. Sten herself is just as fascinating as Reacher, and has the added benefit of not being a fictional character. She was born in Copenhagen to Danish and Congolese parents. She’s a writer, dancer, gymnast, a kick-boxing horseback-riding beauty pageant-winner who lives here in Brooklyn. So today Sten joins us to talk about “Reacher,” what we know about season three, her own background and … revenge stories. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Today we’re talking with a theatrical power couple: Joe Tapper stars in the Off Broadway dark comedy “The White Chip,” opening February 1 and co-produced by his wife, the Tony-winning actor Annaleigh Ashford. We talk about the play and Tapper’s own personal connection to the role. We discuss Ashford’s career as well and adding a producer credit to her already impressive resume. The two discuss life as a married couple who are both working actors, working with James Earl Jones and Jake Gyllenhaal, comedy versus drama, parenting and more. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

The city’s 34 Cultural Institutions Groups — organizations including The Brooklyn Museum, BAM, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and more — depend on funding from the department of cultural affairs. It is a department that is facing drastic cuts in Mayor Eric Adams’ proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, which, if approved, could be devastating to many of them. On the podcast today, Adrian Benepe — the former NYC parks commissioner and current president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden — joins us to discuss the implications of the Adams budget, his work at the garden, his youth spent in Central Park, and his dealings, as parks commissioner, with a certain Donald Trump. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

[Originally aired 2021] For Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, we look at the ways in which New Yorkers have advocated, agitated, and exercised their power to shape the discussion around civil rights. MLK himself is connected to the city in ways that may be both obvious and surprising. With Sarah Seidman of the Museum of the City of New York, we explore his legacy as well as others, including those of Brooklyn CORE, Rep. Shirley Chisholm, and the BLM movement. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

The ridiculously prolific Scott Lynch covers food for Brooklyn Magazine: restaurant openings, news and pop-ups. He also shoots highly photogenic events like the Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge, Bike Kill and the Idiotarod, among others. Scott wrote our roundup of the best 12 new Brooklyn restaurants of 2023 and he recently launched our new monthly-ish column Quick Bites, a roundup of local eatery news bites. And today we’re going to talk about food. We discuss his favorite dining moments of 2023, food trends he likes and food trends he’s tired of, plus what to look forward to in 2024. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Back in October the writer and professional opinion-haver Fran Lebowitz swung through the borough to appear at Kings Theatre in conversation with writer Marlon James. Ahead of that appearance, she chatted with us for this episode of “Brooklyn Magazine: The Podcast” … over her landline. It’s pure Fran in all her cantankerous glory. And it was our most-downloaded and shared episode of the year. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

If you’ve watched TV or movies with any regularity over the past 20 years, you’ve probably seen Ashlie Atkinson. If you’ve gone to bars with any regularity in Central or South Brooklyn over the past 20 years, you’ve probably seen Ashlie Atkinson. She may have even poured you a drink. A character actor with an IMDB page about a mile long (and still a frequent local bartender), Atkinson just wrapped the second season of “The Gilded Age,” the HBO … er, Max … show that chronicles the lives, loves and pettiness of ultra rich high society New York at the end of the 19th century. Atkinson plays the party-throwing Mrs. Fish, based on the real-life socialite Mamie Fish, wife of railroad man Stuyvesant Fish. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

If you like comedy, have we got a book for you. It’s called “Comedy Book.” And it’s by Jesse David Fox. Actually, the full title is “Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture — And the Magic that Makes it Work,” and it is at its heart an argument that comedy is an art form. And as an art form, it should be studied just as seriously as any other art form out there. It’s an explicit love letter to comedy and a history of the modern era of comedy of the past 30 years or so. It is also a philosophical probe into what this “comedy” thing is anyway. If you like stuff that has made you laugh on purpose, and you care about the context in which it got made, you might want to read this book. But first listen to this interview with Jesse. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

A founding member of Wu Tang Clan and one of hip hop’s most explosive characters, ODB was a showman, a stage crasher, a comedian, a father, a husband, a literal hero. He was also flawed. ODB struggled with addiction, had real run-ins with the law and grappled with mental health issues. But he was in no way, as the media often portrayed him, a caricature. A new podcast, hosted by photographer and filmmaker Khalik Allah, seeks to strip away the bombastic persona and paint a more nuanced profile of the man. Over eight episodes, “ODB: A Son Unique“ unpacks the origins and impact of Ol’ Dirty Bastard, his own influences — not the least of which was the Five-Percent Nation, an offshoot of the Nation of Islam — his style and the indelible mark he left on hip hop through interviews with the people closest to him. Allah joins us to discuss his legacy. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope