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FUSE: A BOMB Podcast

BOMB Magazine

Here’s how FUSE works: In each episode, BOMB invites an artist to choose a guest from any creative discipline—an art crush, a close collaborator, or even a stranger they’ve admired from afar—and we bring them together. The result? Candid, unfiltered conversations on art, what inspires it, how it’s made, and what we can learn from it.

Since 1981, BOMB Magazine has delivered the voices of the most iconic artists of our time, publishing conversations between artists, writers, musicians, performers, and directors. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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  • 17 episodes
  • Avg 39 min
  • English

Episodes 17

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  • S3 · E2
    Nov 7, 2023 · 57 min

    Chase Hall & Henry Taylor

    For this episode, we asked artist Chase Hall who he would most want to speak with and he selected mentor and visual artist, Henry Taylor. In this episode, they discuss their memorable first meeting, lucky brushes, and how an athlete-inspired work ethic influences their processes.

  • S2 · E7
    Nov 23, 2021 · 50 min

    Maggie Nelson & Tala Madani

    For this episode, we asked writer Maggie Nelson which artist she would most wish to speak with and she chose painter and animation artist Tala Madani. In the course of their conversation, Maggie reflects on the process of writing On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint. The pair discuss how to capture magic in adult life, balancing doubt and trust, and Maggie’s first experience writing about art. Maggie Nelson is the author of several books of poetry and prose, most recently the New York Times bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award winner The Argonauts. She teaches at the University of Southern California and lives in Los Angeles. Her latest work of nonfiction, On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint, is forthcoming from Graywolf Press. Tala Madani is a Los Angeles based artist who makes paintings and animations whose indelible images bring together wide-ranging modes of critique, prompting reflection on gender, political authority, and questions of who and what gets represented in art. Madani has had numerous solo exhibitions at museums worldwide, and in 2022, she will be the subject of a mid-career retrospective at MOCA, Los Angeles. FUSE is overseen and produced by Libby Flores, Associate Publisher at BOMB. It is edited and engineered by Will Smith with production assistance by Isis Pinheiro. Narration provided by Chantal McStay, Associate Editor at BOMB magazine. Our theme music is “Black Origami” by Jlin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S2 · E6
    Jun 30, 2021 · 51 min

    Tschabalala Self & Abdu Ali

    For this episode, we asked visual artist Tschabalala Self who she’d most like to speak with—she selected her friend Abdu Ali, the musician and multidisciplinary artist. The pair discuss the fantasy of permanent institutional spaces, unapologetic art, and the fraught desire for canonical recognition.

  • S2 · E5
    Jun 15, 2021 · 42 min

    David Byrne & Open Mike Eagle

    For this episode, we asked musician and songwriter David Byrne which artist he’d most wish to speak with. He chose hip-hop artist and comedian Open Mike Eagle. David reveals how he wrote the iconic Talking Heads song “Burning Down the House,” and the pair discuss gatekeeping in the music industry, anime as inspiration, and what punchlines can teach you about songwriting.

  • S2 · E4
    Jun 8, 2021 · 1 hr 4 min

    Miguel Gutierrez & Gabrielle Civil

    For this episode, we asked choreographer Miguel Gutierrez which artist he’d most like to speak with, and, without hesitation, he selected performance artist and writer Gabrielle Civil. Over the phone, Miguel and Gabrielle discuss their paths to artistic success, the pressures of first-generation exceptionalism, and the time Miguel memorized the choreography to The Nutcracker as a ten-year-old.

  • S2 · E3
    Jun 1, 2021 · 36 min

    Eiko Otake & David Harrington

    We asked Eiko Otake, the movement-based interdisciplinary artist, who she’d most like to speak with and she named her former collaborator and artistic director, David Harrington, founder and violinist of Kronos Quartet. In the course of their conversation, Eiko explores her reluctance to use music with her choreography, David divulges the most disturbing piece of music he’s ever heard, and they ponder art’s resonance in the body by asking, “Where does a sound go once you've finished making that

  • May 18, 2021 · 2 min

    FUSE Season 2 Trailer

    FUSE: A BOMB Podcast returns for a second season. Here’s how it works: In each episode, BOMB invites an artist to choose a guest from any creative discipline— an art crush, a close collaborator, or even a stranger they’ve admired from afar —and we bring them together. The result? Candid, unfiltered conversations on art: what inspires it, how it’s made, and what we can learn from it. Don't miss an episode. Subscribe to FUSE wherever you listen.

  • S2 · E2
    May 18, 2021 · 59 min

    Olivia Laing & Matt Wolf

    For this episode, Olivia Laing, author of Everybody: A Book About Freedom and Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency, selected her old friend and documentarian Matt Wolf (Spaceship Earth) as the artist she most wanted to speak with. They discuss their abhorrence of the word “storytelling,” mining cultural history for inspiration, and the queerness of living unconventionally—in Olivia’s case, living in a tree.

  • S2 · E1
    May 18, 2021 · 40 min

    Okay Kaya & John Wilson

    For this episode, we asked musician Okay Kaya which artist she would most like to speak with, and she selected filmmaker John Wilson, creator of HBO’s How To with John Wilson. Listen in on their conversation to discover the genesis of John's voyeuristic style, and how a late-night karaoke fail led Kaya to write a song “you can dance to.” With humor and vulnerability, the pair discuss finding inspiration in everyday moments, the transformation of shame into art, and, of course, how to approach st

  • S1 · E4
    Jun 29, 2020 · 38 min

    Ja’Tovia Gary & Kaitlyn Greenidge

    In an expansive examination of academia and the archive, Gary and Greenidge underscore the importance of expanding access and redistributing power. They talk about how a historically based practice shapes representations of Black womanhood in their respective works.

  • S1 · E5
    Jun 28, 2020 · 39 min

    Becca Blackwell & Okwui Okpokwasili

    The two performers discuss how they build relationships with their audiences, challenging gender norms, fighting fear with art making, and the power of body language in their work.

  • S1 · E6
    Jun 27, 2020 · 35 min

    Deborah Eisenberg & Francine Prose

    The two writers address the state of fiction twenty years later, the importance of forgoing “safe” characters, their candid take on the word “process,” and the 2015 PEN/Charlie Hebdo scandal.

  • May 27, 2020 · 2 min

    FUSE Trailer

    Since 1981, BOMB Magazine has delivered the voices of the most iconic artists of our time, publishing conversations between visual, literary, and performing artists. BOMB seeks to further its mission by fostering meaningful discussions among creative luminaries. FUSE departs from a typical podcast format, with neither a host nor a moderator. Episodes present an uninhibited, probing glimpse into the histories and creative processes of some of this generation’s most seminal artistic figures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • S1 · E1
    May 26, 2020 · 33 min

    Simone Leigh & Madeleine Hunt Ehrlich

    Simone Leigh selected longtime collaborator and friend Madeleine Hunt Ehrlich to talk about experimenting with new media, the importance of failure in one’s career, and what it means to be a “race woman.”

  • S1 · E2
    May 25, 2020 · 30 min

    Nick Hornby & Maria Schneider

    We asked Nick Hornby, author of the memoir Fever Pitch and the novels High Fidelity and About a Boy, who he’d most like to speak with. Without hesitation, he named Grammy-winning composer and jazz orchestra leader Maria Schneider. The pair discuss writing “big stuff,” small towns, childhood fantasies, flailing, building an archive, hang gliding, and finding one’s voice.

  • S1 · E3
    May 23, 2020 · 38 min

    Mira Jacob & Scott Cheshire

    Mira Jacob selected fellow novelist Scott Cheshire to discuss process, epiphany, and race in the era of Trump. Jacob considers how to write unflinchingly about the realities of contemporary American life—with horror and humor—as well as the hard choice between vengeance and clarity.

Showing 1–17 of 17 episodes