Live Wire with Luke Burbank

Host Luke Burbank recounts how a garter snake got “The Last Laugh” when it refused to leave his dining room; comedian Josh Gondelman attempts to be a nice guy in the competitive world of comedy; author Clyde W. Ford reflects on his father’s career as the first black software engineer in the nation; endurance athletes Alex Borsuk and Kaytlyn Gerbin discuss how they broke a record by conquering Mount Rainier’s Infinity Loop; and Americana duo The Lowest Pair perform “Rosie” from their album “The Sacred Heart Sessions.”

In this special Live Wire episode, host Luke Burbank catches up with comedian Pete Holmes on his "Comedy Sex God" book tour, where he explains how TV success took him in a new spiritual direction; poet Franny Choi discusses how she incorporated Google Translate and the Turing Test into her latest collection "Soft Science;" and powerhouse vocalist Jimmie Herrod, with Pink Martini, performs a rendition of the classic ballad “The Exodus Song.”

Humorist and former Live Wire host Courtenay Hameister reads from her recent nonfiction book "Okay Fine Whatever: The Year I Went from Being Afraid of Everything to Only Being Afraid of Most Things," which is a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Courtenay shared this essay on stage during Live Wire's 15th anniversary show in June 2019 at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon.