John Doe—singer/songwriter/co-founder of the band X and author, most recently of “More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk”—conducts this live interview from the Austin horse barn, where his horses Red and Sugar had just received a trim from the farrier.
This provides a natural jumping off point to explore the current realm of the Bureau of Land 
Management’s wild horse and burro roundup program, and his continuing support, including financial, of the horse advocacy organization, Protect Mustangs. We spend quite a bit of time discussing “More Fun in the New World,” like its 2016 predecessor, is co-authored by Tom DeSavia and features potent, often poignant contributions from 20 or so denizens of the late-70s/early-80s punk scene, including Henry Rollings, Social Distortion’s Mike Ness, The Go-Gos’ Jane Wiedlin, Dave Alvin, and such aficionados of that scene as filmmaker Allison Anders and actor Tim Robbins. We touch on essays by The Go-Gos’ Charlotte Caffey (about being in the grip of a lengthy, severe drug addiction and breaking free of that addiction), and Doe’s revelatory, fascinating, and timely conversation with some members of Fishbone. Doe also addresses a number of other topics, including his move to Austin (and investing in a bar there, The Long Play Lounge), new material that X has recorded (first time back in the studio in 30-plus years), and spending time earlier this year in St. Augustine, Florida, shooting a remake of the film noir, “D.O.A.,” in which Doe is the lead. Red and Sugar generally stayed still and quiet during the conversation, apparently listening intently throughout. (http://www.theejohndoe.com, https://www.xtheband.com, https://www.thelongplaylounge.com/)
ALSO: I spoke with Allison McCulloch, who brings a distinctive wrinkle to the film reviews she writes for the movie-minded social networking platform Letterboxd: She laces her critiques with so-called “vegan alerts,” tips intended to caution fellow vegans to scenes or elements of scenes they may find upsetting or offensive. She discusses the inspiration for adding these alerts, along with her supreme passion for movies, which in earlier years might involve seeing seven films on a weekend day. McCulloch notes that she’s now down to a measly four flicks on those days. She says her vegan alerts have drawn a wide array of responses from Letterboxd readers. (https://letterboxd.com/, https://www.facebook.com/veganmoviereviews/)
COMEDY CORNER: Eddie Izzard’s “Horse Whisperer” (https://www.eddieizzard.com/en)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: John Doe’s “There’s A Black Horse”
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