9. Putting Down the Cheese, With Simon Rich

The Strokes. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Interpol. New York’s indie rock scene of the early 2000s was a hive of creativity, and Simon was one of the most gifted young bassists in Manhattan. But when his new band signed up to play his high school talent show, his increasingly bizarre lies threw his entire identity as a musician into doubt.

Host: Brian Phillips
Producers: Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins, and Vikram Patel
Sound Design: Kaya McMullen
Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

You’re going to want to listen to the Vigils after hearing this episode, but you can’t, because the Vigils were far too artistic to do anything as pedestrian as make a recording. You can buy Simon’s latest short-story collection, Glory Days, or check out his TV series, Miracle Workers. (Simon is still artistic, but these days he does occasionally like to leave a record of his work.)