Hello Listeners,

It’s been going on two years since the last new episode, and I really wasn’t sure if there was going to be another one, but I came across someone whom I just had to invite on, and she said yes, and we had a lovely chat in July, and here we are! Whether this will be a coda or a reboot, we shall see - I’d love your input on that

From Ayun Halliday’s website: “I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and came of age at the height of the preppy craze. For some unfathomable reason, my grandparents had a subscription to The New Yorker. Every week, I’d paw through it, daydreaming of a glamorous future in which I’d be a celebrated stage actress, living in sin with some hot, devoted trumpet player in a Greenwich Village loft with a skyline view I’ve since learned is possible only from downtown Brooklyn or the western shores of New Jersey.”

Ms. Halliday is a writer, actor, performance artist, zinester, the list goes on and on! She pubilshes the Zine The East Village Inky. It was and still is written and illustrated entirely by hand.

I could spend a good while longer discussing some of her many other theatrical and publishing achievements, but what brought her to my attention this spring was the publication of her latest (7th) book, Creative, Not Famous: The Small Potato Manifesto, a compendium of Halliday’s words and illustrations along with input from a variety of creative people (I just can’t get myself to take the noun “creatives” seriously) who comprise “99.9% of all humans who … have not been and will never be rich as a result of their art. Nor will we be famous…at least not as famous as we deserve.”

I heartily encourage you to look up any of the artists mentioned in our conversation and, especially if you’re a lil spud, to pick up a copy of the Small Potato Manifesto, available through Ayun’s site or wherever books are purveyed.

For all episodes of this show, from small fries to Sedarises, please find us on the social mediae (insta/twitter) at 15minsjamieb, on facebook by just looking for the name of the show, or at 15minutesjamieberger.com, or email me at 15minutesjamieberger@gmail.com

-Jamie

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In celebration of the end of the Trump era, here's an old favorite from just a few months in, George Saunders, from back in early 2017. Belated Happy New Year and continuous happy (or at least way less sad) post-Trump to all!

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David Sedaris and I talk about celebrity, grace, inappropriate jokes (this episode is NSFTG, not safe for Terry Gross, btw), being recognized in airports, our mothers, going on Colbert, agents, what’s good on pizza, Stormy Daniels, George Saunders, John Updike’s quote that “Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face,” getting laughs, the preciousness of anonymity, being mistaken for a woman, and MUCH MUCH MORE. Enjoy, and after you enjoy, please pass this one on. A much happier 2021 to all!

-Jamie

(Image by Anja Schutz)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.