Episodios

  • 251. LIFERS - In a Van 2: Diesel Boogaloo

    251. LIFERS - In a Van 2: Diesel Boogaloo
    Mar 27 2026
    It’s been a couple of weeks since we heard from Scott. In that time there’s been a change of vans, disgruntled fans, pizza pans and road dog bans. Tune in, turn on if you can.
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    43 m
  • 250. LIFERS - In a Van

    250. LIFERS - In a Van
    Mar 4 2026
    After having to last-minute cancel a podcast recording plan earlier this week, the guys make a spontaneous decision to quickly record an episode over Gabe’s lunch hour today (Friday, March 6th) and then just toss it up, unedited for ya! Scott is in a sprinter van heading to Colorado Springs, Ben is manning the Wisconsin Film Festival box office, and Gabe is WORKING, so apologies in advance for this episode, but also, it’s better than nothing, right? Right?
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    39 m
  • 249. LIFERS - Balthazar De Ley

    249. LIFERS - Balthazar De Ley
    Feb 26 2026
    Balthazar de Ley has a show with Menthol tonight. He also had a show with his other band Lightfoils last Friday. Plus — he makes his own amps with his own name on them (that you can buy, by the way). And if you pay him enough, he’ll even fix your broken non-Balthazar amps. The point is — he’s a busy guy. But he made time to sit down with us and talk about the BEST!?! debut albums of all time. What a guy! We also talk about the ‘90s Champaign scene, the ‘90s Chicago scene, Menthol is Mother, Poster Children, Hum, Honcho Overload, Menthol’s beleaguered and brilliant second (third?) record DANGER: ROCK SCIENCE!, working at R. Kelly’s studio, working for the Smashing Pumpkins, and OH, YEAH! Menthol is playing with Smoking Popes and Scott tonight in Milwaukee at X-Ray Arcade. Don’t forget your amp, Baltie!
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    1 h y 53 m
  • 248. LIFERS - The Doozie

    248. LIFERS - The Doozie
    Feb 20 2026
    Scott’s back from his vacation and if you think that means he’s going to be all mellow and well-rested — well, then you don’t know Scott. This week’s episode is going scorched earth as we cover all the drama around the 30th Anniversary AS GOOD AS DEAD reissue debacle — which means plenty of rants about major labels, indie labels, and bootlegger bootlickers. But that’s not all! Scott is mad as hell and he’s not gonna take it anymore — so he also unleashes his inner-Howard Beal on internet trolls, mean music festivals, loud yawners, contractual indecencies, AI dogs, and (especially) those dipshit comment sections. It’s one battle after another over here at The LIFERS Podcast and nobody is safe.
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    1 h y 20 m
  • 247. LIFERS - The Joy of Sax with John McCauley

    247. LIFERS - The Joy of Sax with John McCauley
    Jan 30 2026
    Saxophones. Am I right? Some people hate ‘em. Some people tolerate ‘em. Join us as we welcome returning champion John McCauley (of Deer Tick!) back to the podcast to discuss the BEST sax solos to ever sex up a rock song. Warning: This episode could get you pregnant.
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    1 h y 20 m
  • 246. LIFERS - Russ Spice and the East Side Kids of 1983

    246. LIFERS - Russ Spice and the East Side Kids of 1983
    Jan 23 2026
    Picture the scene: It’s 1983 on the East side of town in Zion, Illinois! You’re hanging out at your buddy Russ Spice’s house. Playing Judas Priest songs on your Harmony guitars and watching “The Song Remains The Same” on MTV. Instead of James Dean in “Rebel Without A Cause”, our movie idol is Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli (is it still playing at the Dunes?). Maybe later we’ll ride our bikes down to the lake and swim in the heated shadow of the nuclear power plant and pray that we don’t grow up to be toxic avenging freaks. And then, hopefully, we can scrape enough pot seeds together so we can smoke ‘em through a beer can and get a cheap buzz going — after which, we’ll convince ourselves we have the munchies and try to get Curt to spend his News-Sun paper route money on lunch at Pizza House. It was a glorious time…
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    1 h y 27 m
  • 245. LIFERS - Selena Fragassi

    245. LIFERS - Selena Fragassi
    Jan 16 2026
    Selena Fragassi publishes more books before 9am than most people do all day. Just last year, the always hustling music writer and journalist wrote and published books about Alanis Morissette, Sabrina Carpenter, Greta Gerwig AND her latest: PEARL JAM LIVE — a hefty and thorough tome covering the band’s 35 year history as one of the world’s best live acts (it also features a forward written by Scott, but we digress). In between all the manic book writing, Selena somehow finds time for her regular gigs writing for the Chicago Sun Times, monthly appearances on WFLD 32 and contributing to every publication and outlet from SPIN to Loudwire. This week we talk to Selena about life moments with Cameron Crowe, fan letters to Donnie Wahlberg, looking Chrissie Hynde in the eye, what to do when Jim DeRogatis trashes all your favorite bands, the ineffable awesomeness of Bonnie Raitt, the sue-happy UN-awesomeness of Gene Simmons, and getting mammogram advice from Debbie Harry. Pretty awesome. PLUS: Ben gets gonged and our buddy John Oakes calls in with a report from the front lines in Minneapolis.
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    1 h y 23 m
  • 244. LIFERS - Richard Shepard and the Best Movies of 2025

    244. LIFERS - Richard Shepard and the Best Movies of 2025
    Jan 8 2026
    This week’s episode is a two-parter. In Part 1: Writer-director Richard Shepard is certainly NOT the kind of director that insists upon himself. He rejects the idea of being labeled an auteur and chooses the path of the journeyman — splitting his time between directing for television, while quietly chipping away at a filmography that is no more insistent than he is. Are you a fan of GIRLS, UGLY BETTY or HANDMAIDEN’S TALE? Then you’ve seen Richard’s work. Do you have a history of stalking around arthouse movie theaters since the halcyon indie-film days of the ‘90s? Then you’ve DEFINITELY seen Richard’s work: THE MATADOR, DOM HEMINGWAY, THE LINGUINI INCIDENT, THE PERFECTION. Do you have a weakness for essayistic documentaries about the even more revered cinema of the ‘70s? Then you LOVE Richard’s work. His seminal documentary on John Cazale (I KNEW IT WAS YOU: REDISCOVERING JOHN CAZALE) is a must for anyone wanting to know more about the late, great character actor. But if you want to know anything at all about Richard Shepard — look no further than Richard’s wonderful autobiographical FILM GEEK (now showing on HBOMax) — a personal remembrance of his father and the ‘70s movie theaters (and movies) that turned a young kid into a movie directing lifer. Not that you shouldn’t listen to this episode. You should totally listen to this episode. (Plus, Richard’s got a great David Bowie story for you.) And there’s Part 2!: 2025 was a great year for movies (if not the movie business). Grab a pencil and take notes as Scott, Ben and Richard discuss their favorite films of 2025. It’s an informal WHAT’S THE BEST?!? that will give you some great ideas about what to watch next. Also, Gabe coughs a lot and sometimes uses the mute button.
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    2 h y 5 m