Flops, Failures and Fiascos, Part I

This episode is drawn from our "Flops, Failures and Fiascos" cabaret that explored and celebrated disasters of all shades through original songs and stories. The cabaret was curated by 2015-16 R&D Group directors Sanaz Ghajar and Colette Robert, with the support of the Civilians' Field Research Team.

Live at The Met Museum: The Way They Live, Part III

This episode of Let Me Ascertain you is the final of three culled from "The Way They Live," the final performance of the Civilians' season-long residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Way They Live" was written by Micharne Cloughley, based on interviews Civilians associates and members of the company's Field Research Team conducted with curators, artists and visitors in the Met's American Wing between 2014 and 2015.

Live at The Met Museum: The Way They Live, Part II

This episode of Let Me Ascertain you is the second of three culled from "The Way They Live," the final performance of the Civilians' season-long residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Way They Live" was written by Micharne Cloughley, based on interviews Civilians associates and members of the company's Field Research Team conducted with curators, artists and visitors in the Met's American Wing between 2014 and 2015.

Live at The Met Museum: The Way They Live, Part I

This episode of Let Me Ascertain you is the first of three culled from "The Way They Live," the final performance of the Civilians' season-long residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Way They Live" was written by Micharne Cloughley, based on interviews Civilians associates and members of the company's Field Research Team conducted with curators, artists and visitors in the Met's American Wing between 2014 and 2015.

Live at The Met Museum: Beauty, Love, Body

For this episode of Let Me Ascertain You, we bring you back to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where The Civilians are artists in residence. As part of our research, we were wandering through some of the museum's halls like the Petrie Court, looking at nude sculptures that fill that space, like Jacques Sarazin's gentle Leda and the Swan and Antonio Canova's indifferent Paris. Surrounded by such a rich history of the representation of the human form, we questioned how the human body and what we find beautiful have changed through time.

Live at The Met Museum: Curators and the Objects They Love

On this special podcast, we're back inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, investigating within the halls and installations of this iconic museum. Focusing on beauty, sex, love, and the body for this Let Me Ascertain You episode, we asked the curators to speak on these topics in relation to the artworks and share the compelling histories behind them. In September of 2014, we turned their interviews into monologues and songs, which we then performed in the Petrie Court Cafe at the Museum itself.

Live at The Met Museum: A Pretty Filthy Glimpse at the Other Hollywood

What you're about to hear has been workshopped and presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of The Civilians' artist residency. The performances come from interviews we did during our investigation for our upcoming musical, "Pretty Filthy," about the 'Other Hollywood' in the San Fernando Valley...porn capital of the world. We went behind-the-scenes and interviewed countless directors, porn stars, agents and beyond.

Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants, Part IV

This is our fourth and final episode of our Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941, taking inspiration from a study conducted in the 1930's by Dr. George Henry in which he interviewed a couple hundred individuals and cataloged data such as a complete family history with symbols to indicate who had what venereal disease, tuberculosis, alcoholism, who committed suicide, who was psychotic. We set some of these personal histories to song and brought others to life with monologues performed at Joe's Pub in NYC.

Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants, Part III

Welcome to episode three in our series Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941. Recorded live at Joe's Pub in New York City, this show takes its inspiration from the medical book Sex Variants: A study of Homosexual Patterns by Dr. George W. Henry. For each of his case studies, Dr. Henry recorded a detailed and intimate personal history, and we are sharing some of these with you now through performances by actors and in original songs.

F*ing & Dying: Love/Sex/Reproduction

Welcome to the final episode of our Let Me Ascertain You series on sex and death. According to Freud, the death drive is the drive towards self-destruction and the return to the "inorganic." Eros on the other hand is the drive to create and be productive. This episode explores these often competing drives.

F*ing & Dying: The Brink

Let Me Ascertain You is back with the third episode in our series about all things sex and death related. In this episode we are leaning towards the sex side of the sex and death equation, looking at those elements of life that in one context might seem unpleasant or downright awful, but in another context can be well, kind of sexy.

F*ing & Dying: The White Light

We are in the thick of exploring our competing sex and death drives, and that interesting space where the two overlap and even coalesce. In this episode, we are searching for the "white light," that surreal experience that can really open happen in sex or death, when we glimpse the soul.

F*ing & Dying: Turned On

Let Me Ascertain You is back with a new series examining two of The Civilians' favorite fixations: sex and death. This first podcast in the series focuses on death as the ultimate turn-on.

Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants, Part II

We're back with the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941 recorded live here in NYC at Joe's Pub. This series takes its inspiration from a 1941 medical book by Dr. George W. Henry. Subtitled "A Study of Homosexual Pattern," Dr. Henry classified these case studies as homosexuals, bi-sexuals, or narcissists.

Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants, Part I

We're kicking off a new series here at Let Me Ascertain You. These podcasts are taken from our live shows performed at Joe's Pub here in New York City, and our most recent show was called Sex Variants 1941. As you may know, our shows are typically inspired by interviews we do ourselves but for this one we are borrowing our inspiration from a medical study entitled Sex Variants: a study of homosexual patterns. The book is a collection of case studies conducted by Dr. George W. Henry of Cornell University. Dr. Henry interviewed over 200 people about the sex lives, their childhoods, their family history - pretty much no stone was left unturned. There are also some really amazing drawings of the subjects' genitalia, though only those of the female subjects. It's unclear as to why that is exactly. We are bringing it all back to life in this podcast series. Dr. Henry provided his written analysis of each case study, starting off with his general impressions.

Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! Part IV

This is our fourth and final episode of "Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony" from our investigations into American Weddings. In celebration of the defeat of DOMA in the Supreme Court this past summer we decided to poke around in the grand old institution of marriage and then as we do with each of our Let Me Ascertain You shows, we have actors perform these verbatim interviews in front of a live audience. This show took place in our home away from home, Joe's Pub at the Public Theater.

Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! Part III

We're here with episode three of four podcasts of our Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! series looking at all things about weddings. Our crew of artists talked to real-life couples as well as the people in the amazing and strange world of the wedding industry. And all these interviews were performed live by actors at Joe's Pub in our hometown of New York City.

Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! Part II

We're back with the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! For this series we did a deep dive into the wonderful world of weddings in America. Or maybe more like a face plant into a three tiered wedding cake. So with icing on our faces and hangover from too much cheap wine. here are a few more interviews performed by actors live at Joe's Pub in New York City. In this episode, we're going from Minnesota to the Mississippi Delta and then we're going off the grid to a Hippy wedding on the land.

Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! Part I

We're starting up a new series here at Let Me Ascertain You called "Holy Matrimony!" With DOMA getting taken down by the Supreme Court this past summer and with marriage equality spreading state by state, we thought it was a good time to look in our own Civiliansy way at that very special occasion - the wedding. For the past few months, our intrepid team of interviewers gathered stories from all over America for glimpses into weddings in a Vegas Wedding Chapel, a Courthouse in Louisiana, and even a Taco Bell in Normal, Illinois. Everything was recorded live at Joe's Pub here in New York City.

Let Me Ascertain You: Be The Death of Me, Part IV

This is our fourth and final episode of our Let Me Ascertain You: Be The Death of Me Series. These interviews are part of an ongoing investigation about death, dying and whatever comes after that. We talked to more than a hundred people so far, and many of these conversations centered on how we remember and how we memorialize those that we've lost.

Let Me Ascertain You: Be The Death of Me, Part III

Here's episode three in our new podcast series Let Me Ascertain You: Be The Death of Me. What you'll hear are excerpts from a larger ongoing project about life, death, and whatever happens after that. As part of this investigation, our team spoke to those who work every day in matters of life and death - people who spend their days in the places that witness the demise of our bodies. We've put three of those stories together for this episode.

Let Me Ascertain You: Be The Death of Me, Part II

We're back with the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You: Be The Death of Me. For this Civilians' project we took a prismatic look into the end of life and talked with a cross-section of New Yorkers - ER nurses, priests, funeral directors, vampires, shamans, crime-scene cleaners, and many ordinary people dealing with the extraordinary experience of loss. In this episode we share three of those stories.

Let Me Ascertain You: Be The Death of Me, Part I

We're starting up a new series here at Let Me Ascertain You taken from a couple of live events we did recently about death. The show called "Be The Death of Me" is about facing that final curtain and maybe what lies on the other side. A small army of artists spent six months interviewing all sorts of people here in New York City. A cast of 33 brilliant actors performed these pieces at the Irondale Center in our home neighborhood of Fort Greene Brooklyn. And over the next few episodes, we're going to share some of these stories with you. Most people, it stands to reason, have some fear of dying - but not everyone does. As you'll hear in this episode, some are planning on doing what no man or woman has done before: escape it altogether.

Let Me Ascertain You: LGBTQ All Out! Part IV

Check out our fourth and final episode of our "Let Me Ascertain You: LGBTQ All Out!" podcast series. This was recorded live at the Barrow Street Theater in NY where actors performed various real people we interviewed about their experiences related to sexuality and gender. One of our special guest performers that night was Laverne Cox who stars in the TV show "Orange Is the New Black."

Let Me Ascertain You: LGBTQ All Out! Part III

Up next is our third podcast of our series "Let Me Ascertain You: LGBTQ All Out!" dedicated to sexuality and gender.

Let Me Ascertain You: LGBTQ All Out! Part II

We're back with the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You: LGBTQ All Out recorded live at the Barrow Street Theater; actors perform various real people we interviewed about their experiences related to sexuality and gender.

Let Me Ascertain You: LGBTQ All Out! Part I

We've got a new topic here at Let Me Ascertain You that we're calling "LGBTQ All Out!" and it's all about those who have battled for, celebrated, and championed their sexual orientation and gender identity. We dig into the personal stories, struggles and triumphs of a group of individuals in the LGBTQ community. Here, our Associate Artists and special guests perform interviews that we conducted recently. This podcast was recorded live at Barrow Street Theater in NYC.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy #S17, Part V

Now for the finale of our Occupy #S17 series! This episode contains recordings of a live performance of interviews with Occupy protesters that we presented at Joe's Pub for the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy #S17, Part IV

Here are more of our interviews from the Occupy Wall Street movement, presenting interviews we've conducted with activists since the beginning at of it all at Zuccotti Park on September 17, 2011. We created an event at Joe's Pub in NYC and invited theaters, schools, and other non-profits from around the country to join us in performing an Occupy anniversary show simultaneously the night of the 17th.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy #S17, Part III

Welcome to our third podcast episode commemorating the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. The Civilians conducted interviews with activists in the movement since its start last year at Zuccotti up to this one year anniversary on September 17, 2012 (referred to as #S17 in the Twitter-sphere).

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy #S17, Part II

Occupy Wall Street had its one-year anniversary on September 17, 2012. Civilians artists were out for that entire year conducting interviews with the protesters. We presented some of those interviews on September 17 at Joe's Pub, along with thirteen other colleges and theater groups from around the country, who also put on their own performances of Occupy interviews on the same day.

Let Me Ascertain You: Bogotá Prison Pageant, Part II

Our artists conducted interviews with the women in El Buen Pastor, the national women's prison in Bogotá, Colombia. Every year, the prison hosts a beauty pageant in which each cell block elects its own candidates to represent them - a queen and a queen mother - and they work together to create costumes, floats and dances for the main event, which is kind of like Carnival. Our last Bogotá Prison Pageant episode focused on the High Security section of the prison. The prison is divided into different cell blocks according to crimes committed. This week, we're heading into the General Population at El Buen Pastor to give you an intimate look into these women's daily lives and their preparation for the pageant. This material was performed and recorded live at 92YTribeca in NY.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy #S17, Part I

The one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street was on September 17 of this year. We have been conducting interviews with protesters throughout the year, and our special performance for #S17 on September 17 at Joe's Pub focused on how the movement had transformed from its early days and what it's future might look like.

Let Me Ascertain You: Bogotá Prison Pageant, Part I

The beauty pageant that takes place in the national women's prison in Bogotá, Colombia is the subject of this week's episode. Steve Cosson spent a month visiting the prison during the lead up to the pageant, working with a group of Colombians, playwright José Rivera, and songwriter/musician Hector Buitrago of the Latin Grammy award winning band Aterciopelados. They interviewed the pageant's contestants, other inmates, and prison staff. In this podcast, you'll get a chance to hear some of our raw interviews, which were translated into English and performed for the first time at the 92YTribeca in June of this year.

Let Me Ascertain You: Death, Part III

Here is our last episode about death, featuring an interview performed in a cabaret at Joe's Pub.

Let Me Ascertain You: Paris Commune and Social Space

A special guest joins us in this week's episode: Kristin Ross, Professor of Comparative Literature at New York University. She has written extensively about Paris Commune. Her book "The Emergence of Social Space: Rimbaud and the Paris Commune" was what inspired Steve Cosson and Michael Friedman to start working on PARIS COMMUNE, which premiered at ArtsEmerson and had a run in BAM's 30th Next Wave Festival. The play investigates the Parisian working-class uprising in 1871, and we want to extend a special thanks to Kristin for sharing her expertise on the commune, shared social space, revolution, and more with us in this podcast.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Your Mind, Part III

Following the last two episodes focused on the French revolution of 1871, this week's episode finds us back with our local Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Let Me Ascertain You: Paris Commune

This podcast gives you a look behind-the-scenes at our efforts to recreate thes historic events for the Civilians show PARIS COMMUNE. The play is about the explosive Parisian uprising of the working class in 1871, in which French citizens launched an attempt to overthrow the government and reinvent society.

You Better Sit Down: Salon Night Episode 2

A talk-back with the cast of You Better Sit Down: Tales from My Parents' Divorce kicks off this week's episode. The show, which recently completed its New York premiere at the Flea Theater, featured actors Matt Maher, Caitlin Miller, Jennifer R. Morris, and Robbie Collier Sublett, who all interviewed their parents, and each plays his or her own parent (or parents). In the talk-back, they discuss the process of creating the show, talking about these topics with their parents, and their parents' reactions to the show. Then, The Flea Theater's resident acting company, The Bats, presents a short piece created from online and live audience responses that they put together during You Better Sit Down and performed after the play on the same night. Next is a monologue crafted from responses by our R&D Group artist Mia Rovegno and performed by Associate Artist Dan Domingues. The episode closes out with a song written and performed by Matt Berger.

Let Me Ascertain You: Death, Part II

People who encounter death as part of their daily lives are featured in this week's episode, which was recorded live during our cabaret at Joe's Pub.

Mr Burns: Behind the Scenes

In Anne Washburn's MR BURNS, Armageddon has struck and the electric grid has gone down permanently. For one group of tenacious survivors, sitting around a fire and reminiscing about The Simpsons proves to be the greatest escape from despair. Almost all of the episode recollection that the characters do in the first act is from a Civilians workshop in 2008, in which a group of Associate Artists led by Anne Washburn and Steve Cosson attempted to recreate the Cape Feare episode of The Simpsons from memory. This episode features some of the hilarious audio taken during that workshop.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Your Mind, Part II

Our Judson Church performance of Let Me Ascertain You featured monologues about the Occupy movement. The interviews were conducted as part of our open-sourced investigative call to action, Occupy Your Mind.

Let Me Ascertain You: Death, Part I

The Body Farm in Knoxville, TN is the world's first research facility dedicated to the study of human decomposition. The two monologues in this episode are from interviews conducted there by Civilians Associate Artist Alix Lambert as part of ongoing projects of her own. We're very grateful that she has shared this fascinating material with us. Greg McFadden plays Bill Bass, the founder of the Body Farm, then Emily Ackerman plays a forensic artist. Lastly, Meghan McGreary sings a song by Shaina Taub called "Sleep and Death" accompanied by Kris Kukel. This episode was recorded during our Let Me Ascertain You: Death cabaret at Joe's Pub.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Your Mind, Part I

Occupy Your Mind is an open-sourced living history of Occupy. Anyone, anywhere can participate by conducting an interview, performing it, and posting it to the Occupy Your Mind Tumblr, occupythecivilians.tumblr.com.

Let Me Ascertain You: The High Line

The elevated public park, the High Line, is built on historic freight rails elevated above the New York City streets. This episode features a show about Robert Hammond, a co-founder of the High Line, and the process behind getting the park built. Interviewees featured in the show include Robert, Robert's mom and dad, staff at Friends of the High Line, Bronson Van Wyck, 2005 NYC Democratic mayoral candidate Gifford Miller, Director of the Department of City Planning Amanda Burden, and Florent Morellet. The show was created for our Annual Spring Benefit at The Highline Ballroom in the spring of 2012.

You Better Sit Down: Salon Night, Episode I

You Better Sit Down: Tales from My Parents' Divorce had its world premiere at The Flea Theater in New York. The play consisted of four actors playing their parents in verbatim conversations each actor had with his or her parent or parents about the parents' divorces. Following the performances, the company presented a series of Salon Nights, in which artists created new monologues or songs from audience responses, online comments, and interviews. This episode features some of that material.

Let Me Ascertain You: Modern Society

How do we deal with the pressures of modern society? This week's episode looks at interviews focused on the ways we try to escape, including running away, drugs, suicide, and hot nude yoga.

Let Me Ascertain You: This Beautiful City

Colorado Springs is home to many national Evangelical Organizations, including Focus on the Family and New Life Church. Our artists spent time there investigating the shifting lines between church and state, viewing the city as a microcosm for many issues still present in America. The verbatim interviews were used in our play, This Beautiful City. You are about to hear some of our favorite interviews that didn't make it into the play.

Let Me Ascertain You: Nobody's Lunch

How do we know what we know when everyone in power seems to be lying? (I Am) Nobody's Lunch was a Civilians investigation asking this question in the early 2000's, during the years of Homeland Security and George W. Bush's "truthiness."

Let Me Ascertain You: Canard Canard Goose

The Civilians' first show ever was Canard, Canard, Goose, created in 2001 to explore alleged geese abuse in the Adirondacks. The investigation, inspired by a rumor about the geese in the feature film Fly Away Home, brought up questions about home, truth, and how we know we know - all themes that were particularly relevant for these New York artists in the post-9/11 winter of 2001. This episode is the concert version of the entire show performed at Joe's Pub in 2011 for our tenth anniversary season performed by Aysan Celik, Matthew Dellapina, Greg McFadden, Jennifer R. Morris, Brandon Miller, Caitlin Miller, and Maria Elena Ramirez. Jenny and Aysan were members of the original cast in 2002. The play includes songs by Michael Friedman, and marks the first show for which he ever wrote songs.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Wall Street, Part VII

From the Occupy Wall Street Journal to the raid on Zuccotti Park to Occupy Our Homes in East New York to the Lincoln Center Opera House, this week's episode continues to chronicle the events of Occupy Wall Street through performances of interviews with actual protesters.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Wall Street, Part VI

These monologues crafted from interviews with Occupy Wall Street Protesters cover the raid on Zuccotti Park in November and how the movement changed in the weeks after it.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Wall Street, Part V

More Zuccotti Park protesters are featured in this next episode crafted from interviews with Occupy Wall Street demonstrators.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Wall Street, Part IV

Following our first OWS cabaret in October of 2011, our artists continued to conduct interviews with Occupy protesters about people's reasons for demonstrating and what it has been like participating in the movement. This episode picks up where our last cabaret left off with monologues and a song crafted from interviews with demonstrators.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part IX

Here is our final adult entertainment podcast episode! Special thanks to our interviewing team: Mia Barron, Laura Nix, Taylor Wilcox, and Matt Maher.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part VIII

What's it like to be a male adult entertainment performer? Find out in Michael Friedman's doo-wop-like song "Waiting for Wood" performed by Heath Calbert, Robbie Collier Sublett, and Andrew Kober. This week's episode also features interviews with power couple Elizabeth Starr and Tommy Gunn performed by Jennifer R. Morris and Brian Sgambati. Plus, we've got more audience participation in this one: audience answers to the question "What is the dirtiest thing you've ever done in real life?" These recordings are from a live performance at Joe's Pub in New York.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part VII

Big adult entertainment stars are featured in this week's episode, including performer and director Avy Scott played by Emily Rossell, POV director Dan Silver played by Greg Hildreth, and performer/director Kylie Ireland performed by Colleen Werthmann. We've also got the winning titles for Pornified Broadway, in which we asked the live audience at Joe's Pub to write down pornified names of Billy Elliot, Phantom of the Opera, and Mary Poppins. Plus Emily Rossell sings "First Contract Girl" by Michael Friedman. All monologues are from interviews conducted by our artists for Pretty Filthy, a new musical by Bess Wohl and Michael Friedman.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part VI

The legendary Axel Braun starts off this week's episode. Our interview with him inspired both this monologue, performed by Brad Heberlee, and the song "Squirting 101" in A Pretty Filthy Podcast: Part IV. This week also has Porn Charades, Round 2 (in which an audience member tries to act out a porn movie title and the cast and audience try to guess what it is), Kelly McCreary as Ms. Brown Sugar, and Lexy Fridell singing "ABC, 123" by Michael Friedman. The live performance took place at Joe's Pub. These interviews were conducted by our artists with real adult entertainment professionals for Pretty Filthy, a new musical by Bess Wohl and Michael Friedman.

Let Me Ascertain You: Crime, Part IV

Extraordinary crime is the specialty of this week's interviewee, who has seen it all in 35 years as a practicing forensic psychologist and who is a professor of criminal psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Tony-nominee Maria Dizzia performs this interview, discussing topics such as sexual murders, crime scene behaviors, and the implications of this work in the court room. This interview was conducted for Crime, USA, a new play by our Associate Artist Alix Lambert, who also interviewed FBI agents, gang members, pawn shop owners, and more.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part V

Porn charades? We've got it in this week's podcast: a recording of a game of porn charades in which one of our audience members was a cting out a porn title and the cast members of the live evening at Joe's Pub were guessing. Plus this week, we have Aysan Celik as a female adult entertainment performer and parent, Brandon Miller as male talent Bill Margold, and Michael Friedman singing his song "We Were Giants." This material is crafted from interviews with real people for the new musical PRETTY FILTHY, by Bess Wohl and Michael Friedman.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part IV

Adult Entertainment 101: Revealing some of the tricks of the trade and behind-the-scenes stories, this week's episode is back to our investigation about the adult entertainment industry. Associate Artist Alix Lambert performs an interview with adult entertainment performer Tabitha Stevens who discusses plastic surgery; Mia Barron plays an anonymous female talent; and Andrew Kober sings "Squirting 101" by Michael Friedman, a new song about female ejaculation from an interview with Axel Braun about his revolutionary techniques. This material is from interviews conducted by Civilians artists with adult entertainment performers, directors, agents, and more in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part II

Back in the world of adult entertainment, we have another episode crafted from our interviews with professionals in the San Fernando Valley and Las Vegas. This performance was recorded at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles. This week features Sam Shelton as a female performer, Steven Weber as male talent Jack Lawrence, and Michael Friedman singing his song "These Girls," which is from an interview with an agent.

Let Me Ascertain You: Crime, Part III

A lawyer from the Department of Justice who specializes in organized crime cases discusses how he got into his field and some of the criminal schemes he has come up against in the courtroom. He also talks about the reasons that people cooperate with the American legal system and the relationship between cooperation and culture. This interview is performed by Brandon Miller, and was recorded at Joe's Pub. Associate Artist Alix Lambert conducting this interview for her play Crime: USA, which is crafted from interviews with gang members, pawn shop owners, FBI agents, and more.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Podcast, Part III

True Blood's Sam Trammell portrays adult entertainment super-star Evan Stone; legendary performer Ginger Lynn introduces the monologue from her interview with our artists, performed by actress Kathryn Hahn (Hung, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days); and Rutina Wesley (True Blood) and Peter Porte perform the song "Applesauce" from the new musical Pretty Filthy by Michael Friedman and Bess Wohl. This material is from interviews conducted by Civilians artists with adult entertainment performers, directors, agents, and more in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. This performance was recorded at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

Let Me Ascertain You: Crime, Part II

Ever wonder what it's like to be in the FBI? This week features performances of interviews with two retired FBI agents. They talk about how they entered this line of work, being a female agent, the mafia, what their jobs are like on a day-to-day basis, plus other stories and observations about serving on the force. The episode is performed by Maria Dizzia and Matthew Maher, and was recorded at Joe's Pub. The interviews were conducted as part of Alix Lambert's play Crime: USA, which is crafted from interviews with gang members, pawn shop owners, FBI agents, and more.

Let Me Ascertain You: Atlantic Yards, Part II

We're back in Brooklyn this week with our investigation into Atlantic Yards, the largest development project in Brooklyn's history where the new Nets basketball stadium is currently being built. Billy Eugene Jones plays a homeowner who lived in the footprint, talking about the process of negotiating with Forest City Ratner, the developer. Marsha Stephanie Blake plays City Council Member Letitia James and Atlantic Yards opponent. Sam Breslin Wright plays Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz, and Billy Eugene Jones returns to sing "The Circle Song" by Michael Friedman.

Let Me Ascertain You: Crime, Part 1

This episode comes from Alix Lambert's new play, Crime, USA, which explores crime in America through a series of interviews with criminals, gang members, pawn shop owners, lawyers, FBI agents, and more in different cities across the country. A former gang member talks about about the first time he got in a fight when he was in the first grade, the first time he carried a gun, his experiences as a gang member, and his life outside the gang. This episode features actor Frank Harts as Antonio performed at Joe's Pub.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Wall Street, Part III

This episode concludes our three-part series about Occupy Wall Street. The monologues you are about to hear were crafted from interviews conducted by our artists in Zuccotti Park with demonstrators about their reasons for protesting and what the early days of the movement were like. This episode features Emily Ackerman as Michele Kelley, an experienced activist; Billy Eugene Jones and Jordan Mahome as Omar Omes and Michael Curtis, two teamsters; and a group of young protesters played by Matt Dellapina, Kelly McCreary, Dan Domingues, and Matt Stadelmann. Michael Friedman then leads the cast in a sing-along of "Dump the Bosses Off Your Back" by John Brill, written in 1911. What you are about to hear is from our live performance at Joe's Pub on October 28, which was featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Faster Times, and New York Times.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Wall Street, Part II

This week finds us back at Occupy Wall Street. The company's artists were downtown last month in Zuccotti Park interviewing the demonstrators about their reasons for protesting and what it was like living in the Park during the first few weeks of this historic movement. This episode features Greg McFadden as Richard O'Mara, a member of the Tea Party; Emily Rossell as Maddy Enlow, a young woman; Dan Domingues and Colleen Werthmann as Chris Carter and Lily Johnston, who are on OWS's medical team; and Michael Friedman singing his song, "The Signs." What you are about to hear is from our live performance at Joe's Pub less than a month ago (on October 28), which was featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Faster Times, and New York Times.

Let Me Ascertain You: A Pretty Filthy Episode

This episode begins our investigation of the business of adult entertainment. A team of Civilians' artists conducted interviews with performers, directors, agents, producers, and more in Las Vegas and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. This episode features monologues and a song crafted from interviews with several adult entertainment stars discussing the do's, don'ts, and won'ts of shaping a career, how they got into the business, and more. Mia Barron plays Katie Graham, Emily Swallow plays another female performer, Paul Provenza and Bess Wohl play one of porn's on and off-screen leading couples, and finally Emily Swallow sings "Beautiful" by Michael Friedman. These interviews are inspiring a new musical entitled Pretty Filthy, book by Bess Wohl, music by Michael Friedman. The material in this podcast was recorded in a live performance at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy Wall Street, Part 1

Voices from Occupy Wall Street populate the latest episode of Let Me Ascertain You. The company's artists were out in Zuccotti Park interviewing the demonstrators about their reasons for protesting and what it was like living in the Park during the first few weeks of this historic movement. This episode features Matt Stadelmann as Robert Grote who was on the Brooklyn Bridge during the mass arrests; Matt Dellapina as Buddy Bolton, an out-of-work creative director for children's television; Alix Lambert at Charlotte Souza, a college-aged protester; Jordan Mahome as Preach of Occupy the Hood; and Kelly McCreary singing "I Have Not Slept" by Michael Friedman. What you are about to hear is from our live performance at Joe's Pub less than a month ago (on October 28), which was featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Faster Times, and New York Times.

Let Me Ascertain You: Atlantic Yards, Part I

"Let Me Ascertain You: The Civilians Podcast Series" launches with an episode featuring performances of interviews with Brooklynites about the controversy over the largest development project in Brooklyn's history. The site where the new Brooklyn Nets (formerly the New Jersey Nets) stadium is being built has been the source of extended and heated conflict, resulting in the enactment of eminent domain in New York State. This episode features the performance of interviews with Atlantic Yards bloggers, local business owners, residents, and activists, examining how the fate of Brooklyn and New York City is decided and what can be learned from this ongoing saga of politics, money, and the places we call home. The material was collected for the company's play In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards, which was included in year-end Top 10 Theater lists in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Time Out New York. This episode features: Aysan Celik as a blogger, Colleen Werthmann as activist Patti Hagan, "White People" written by Michael Friedman and performed by Marsha Stephanie Blake, a scene at Levels Barbershop performed by Billy Eugene Jones and Marsha Stephanie Blake, and "The Four Brooklyns" written and performed by Michael Friedman.