julie klausner on punks sampling john waters + misheard dead kennedys lyrics

Record Exchange is a series of conversations between see/saw and a fellow punk enthusiast. Each person brings two songs to discuss. The latest installment is a chat with Julie Klausner, the comedian whose podcasts How Was Your Week? and Double Threat are essential listening.

The Julie Klausner stans are eating. How Was Your Week, one of the best comedy podcasts in history, relaunched a few months ago after a long dormancy. Double Threat, her podcast with Tom Scharpling, remains an absolute treasure of pop cultural rabbit holes where two of the funniest people alive make each other cackle. Julie analyzing the lyrics of “I Speak Fluent Jazz” from the Broadway musical Boop? Julie scream-laughing at Mickey Rooney’s distressed reaction to a restaurant’s dessert options? It’s a ceaseless stream of comedic treasures.

She created and starred in Difficult People, a perfect show with too many iconic moments to briefly summarize. Take the classic season three episode where the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz appears as a deeply selfish version of himself. This man gives a tour de force performance as a scheming con artist and eventually snarls the line “I’m Micky fuckin’ Dolenz.” 

“There was a conversation like, ‘Does it have to be Micky Dolenz or can it be another celebrity?’ And I made the rare, put my foot down kind of thing where I said, ‘If it’s not Micky Dolenz, I’m throwing this story away and I’ll come up with something else.’ It just had to be him. There was just nothing in my mind that was funny about it unless it was him.”

The Monkees catalog is part of a larger tapestry of Julie’s formative pop culture obsessions, like Frank Zappa’s records, Adam West’s Batman, or the Bernadette Peters episode of The Muppet Show. “I watched the Christopher Reeve sketch recently with him and Miss Piggy and I was oddly horny, which is probably more information than you wanted, but Christopher Reeve was so sexy,” Julie said, cackling. “He was so hot! Oh my god. There’s definitely a lot of sexual tension. Kermit has that Conan-y quality like ‘I’m totally repressed’ and then Miss Piggy’s this Dionysian hag. I loved it. I couldn’t get enough.”

Despite playing one of the most deeply selfish characters in the history of television on Difficult People, Julie’s oeuvre is one of deep selflessness. I’ve been introduced to some of the funniest and most fascinating human beings on the planet through Julie’s work. My introduction to Cole Escola was through their unhinged breakout performance on Difficult People. I became a Roz Hernandez fan via both podcasts, and I click every time there’s a new episode of Julie and Shannon DeVito’s junk food reviews podcast RFK Jr. Presents Sweet Treats. 

In late 2024, Julie revealed a playlist of her 50 favorite songs of all time on How Was Your Week. “The Fabulous 50” included punk and new wave classics alongside world-beating pop hits and Broadway standards. Julie sat down, her Divine wallpaper mural looming over her shoulder, to share two favorite punk songs. We discussed boosting lesser-known voices, the eminently sample-worthy Mink Stole, and Jello Biafra’s mayoral campaign slogan.

Julie’s pick: Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday in Cambodia”

I went to a Jello Biafra spoken word show in college, and it was long. He went on for a long time. I remember being like, “Wow, he’s got a lot to say.” Spoken word was very hot in the ’90s. The Dead Kennedys songs I like are “California Über Alles,” obviously “Too Drunk to Fuck,” and “Nazi Punks Fuck Off,” which is oh so relevant and perennial. The other thing I know about Jello was that he put out those incredibly strange music compilations together for research. I had both of those. 

It’s so poppy, right? This is a pop song. It has that structure of verse, bridge, chorus, everybody comes on the chorus, a really strong bass line. With different production, it could’ve been a huge, huge song for a popular recording artist. 

By the way, I’m looking at Jello’s wiki and it looks like he ran for mayor under the catchphrase “there’s always room for Jello.” We’ve gotta give it up for this man, that’s really funny. Can you imagine “there’s always room for Eric Adams?” I’d consider voting for…no. No. I wouldn’t. “Where’s the Beef” would be amazing, too. I might change my name to Julie Beef just to run on that, and plus I might get more work in other ways!

When I was in high school, we couldn’t go on Genius.com and be like “oh, when the Beastie Boys were throwing eggs around L.A. with the Dust Brothers, that’s what this lyric is about in ‘Eggman!’” Anyway, so obviously because it’s “Holiday in Cambodia” he’s saying “Pol Pot,” who was the leader of the Khmer Rouge and dictator of Cambodia. I thought he was singing “cold, hot!” [laughs] They could’ve licensed it for a McDLT commercial. Isn’t that embarrassing? “Cold hot cold hot cold hot cold hot!” Like they’re playing a game of “how close am I? Colder? Colder?” I am so embarrassed. I feel very vulnerable right now.

There’s something on this Wikipedia I also want to mention: After Barack Obama won the general election, Biafra wrote an open letter making suggestions on how to run his term as president, and he criticized him and dubbed him “Barackster O’Bummer.” That’s really funny.

see/saw’s pick: Egg Girl Girl’s “Rich Inner World”

That’s great. It kind of reminds me of God Is My Co-Pilot, a little. 

I love a song that’s held together by threads.

Completely, scotch tape and spit.

One thing I’ve always loved about your work, both in TV and on the podcasts, is that there’s a dedicated effort to amplify the voices of lesser known and often queer artists in the comedy and acting space.

Thank you, I just like shining light on the overly shaded talents that don’t get as much attention. I remember once I was writing for a show in L.A. and they were talking about who we should cast in this role, and I was like, “she’s in everything.” And they were like, “Well, doesn’t that mean she’s really hot?” And I was like, “I guess, there’s also a world in which you give it to someone who’s really great and would be really grateful and maybe introduce that person to more faces.”

I don’t know, that’s just my go-to because I’m always bummed whenever there’s a bandwagon. Like look, I’m thrilled that people know who Parker Posey is and that everyone’s really excited about her, but it’s just kind of strange, like where have you been? Like, good morning! Obviously she’s really great. I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t. But yeah, I definitely do try to amplify the voices of the disenfranchised or the otherwise ignored. I think that’s just kind of written into my DNA, like if they’re an underdog, I’m way, way more likely to like them.

Julie’s pick: The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog”

Wait, is this the same melody as “Holiday in Cambodia?” I was like, “I’ll bring a variety of songs to talk about!” Great job, Julie.

I remember hearing this in Cruella. There were two songs they were waiting for in this movie. It starts with “Bloody Well Right” by Supertramp,” but they have a lot of restraint considering where they’re headed that they actually hold off on “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Sympathy for the Devil.”

You’ve talked about dogs a ton on the podcasts. Shout out to cat people who love dogs.

Yeah, it’s like a bisexual with a boyfriend. What are you gonna do? I guess this song is a little doggy. Iggy Pop is definitely more of a dog than a cat. David Bowie is more of a cat than a dog. But I just remember “this is such a delicious, catchy bass line.” I think it’s a sexy, funny song on a perfect album.

When Jimmy Jazz goes to lay right down in his favorite place, where is that?

Anywhere where there’s a sunny spot. He’s solar powered. He’s a baked potato. He’s very different from his mom in that way.

see/saw’s pick: Coffee Stain’s “Star Gate”

Oh yeah, that sample is Mink Stole in Female Trouble. She plays Divine’s daughter. Anything Mink Stole says in any movie could be used as a sample in any punk song. I really think she’s the strongest utility actor of anyone from his ensemble. She’s the MVP, to borrow a sports metaphor, which I know John Waters would hate. 

When you think about John Waters’ catalog, can you quickly say “this one’s my favorite” or do you have to parse it out into different eras?

Yes, definitely, absolutely, with Polyester being a bridge. Hairspray is a completely different kind of movie than his earlier films, and I love that about him because whenever someone asks me what my favorite is, it’s like the Beatles, you kind of have to be like “Rubber Soul and the White Album.” You have to balance them out. I couldn’t ever choose between Female Trouble and Cry-Baby just like I could never choose between Hairspray and Pink Flamingos. You have to have both of them. I know that John Waters doesn’t like the Beatles, but to me it’s the closest parallel [laughs].

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