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The Fascinating Guests Coming Up on 'The Interview Show with Mark Bazer'

Daniel Hautzinger
The Interview Show with Mark Bazer

The Interview Show with Mark Bazer airs Fridays at 10:00 pm and is available to stream.

A young documentarian nominated for an Academy Award; a popular novelist-turned-screenwriter, an in-demand sociologist and poet; ESPN commentators: Mark Bazer finds people of all sorts to talk to on his intimate Interview Show. Take a look at some of the Chicago-associated people appearing on this season of The Interview Show, which airs Fridays beginning January 3 at 8:30 pm and is available to stream.

Abby McEnany

Interview airs and is available to stream January 3

Abby McEnany is a veteran of Chicago’s improv comedy scene who recently had Showtime pick up her comedy series, Work in Progress, in which she plays a version of herself: a middle-aged lesbian, who deals with depression and anxiety and deals with modern questions of gender and sexuality.

David Gamble

Interview airs and is available to stream January 3

David Gamble is an artist known primarily for his photography known for many things, especially portraits. But one especially intriguing project came when he was invited to photograph Andy Warhol’s house, Factory, and warehouse soon after Warhol’s death in 1987. His photos give an unusual look at Warhol’s everyday life and work.

Dan Hooper

Interview airs and is available to stream January 10

Dan Hooper thinks about the big stuff: questions about how the universe came about, what dark matter and dark energy are, and more. A senior scientist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, and the author of At the Edge of Time: Exploring the Mysteries of Our Universe’s First Seconds, Hooper has thought a lot about topics that you might think are over your head.

Lauren Michele Jackson

Interview airs and is available to stream January 10

Lauren Michele Jackson is a probing author and professor of English and African American Studies at Northwestern University whose book White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue… and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation came out recently and tackles complexities unflinchingly and artfully.

Jeff Tweedy

Interview airs and is available to stream January 17

Jeff Tweedy is a grand old man of Chicago’s indie music scene. The front man and main songwriter of the beloved band Wilco, which recently released a new album, he has also released solo music, recorded with his son Spencer in a band called Tweedy, and been an accomplice to R&B legend Mavis Staples in her late-career resurgence.

Jeannie Gaffigan

Interview airs and is available to stream January 24

Jeannie Gaffigan is a Milwaukee-born comedian who produces and writes for The Jim Gaffigan Show, which stars her husband. Several years ago, a tumor was discovered in her brain and successfully removed; her book about the experience, When Life Gives Your Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, and Funny People, came out in 2019.

Curtis Duffy and Michael Muser

Interview airs and is available to stream January 24

Curtis Duffy and Michael Muser have been absent from the Chicago dining scene for the past two years, after an abrupt and acrimonious closure of their previous restaurant, Grace. But, this spring, they’re aiming to open a follow-up so ambitious that they decided to name it with a superlative: Ever. It’s a high goal they might meet: Duffy is a lauded chef, Muser an attentive general manager, and Grace had three Michelin stars when it closed (the only other three-starred restaurant currently in Chicago is Alinea.)

Greta Johnsen

Interview airs and is available to stream February 7

There’s a good chance you will recognize Greta Johnsen’s voice: she’s the anchor of WBEZ’s Weekend Edition Saturday and host of the Nerdette podcast. Normally she’s the interviewer; now you’ll get to see her interviewed.