S2.18 feat. Jay Ruttenberg – Editor of The Lowbrow Reader and Connoisseur of Tasteless Humor.  Jay’s love of the movie Billy Madison prompted him to start a zine dedicated to lowbrow humor, and in the process he invented a new cultural space for the finest journalists in America to write about comedy.

Jay discusses:

• How the movie Billy Madison changed his life
• How he transitioned from writing about indie rock to starting a comedy zine
• How the rough exterior of punk rock was a trojan horse for smart culture, and how comedy works the same way
• The difference between working with friends and famous people
• Interviewing one of the Beatles
• How he got connected to Drag City, and how the Drag City aesthetic influenced his thinking
• Why the Lowbrow Reader has to be great or it isn’t worth doing at all
• Balancing a two-decade zine project with his day job of writing for publications like New Yorker magazine
• Lessons learned the hard way
• People who changed his life but didn’t know it

Featured Music:

With permission of Drag City Records, this episode features the title cut off of King Kong’s album Me Hungry.

Get Connected:

The Lowbrow Reader Website

Drag City Website

Drag City Records on Facebook

Drag City Records on Twitter

Drag City Records on Instagram

King Kong on Bandcamp