The Spark Parade

Bethenny Frankel doesn't really watch much TV, but she found The Handmaid's Tale during the pandemic and was so drawn to its compelling performances and topical themes that she breezed through the en…

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Judith Hill has loved Captain EO, the Michael Jackson starring short film that accompanied an attraction at Disney's theme parks, since she was a small ch…

Singer, songwriter and queer icon Daphne Guinness first listened to David Bowie's sensational fourteenth album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) when she bought it with her saved up pocket money as a…

Singer/songwriter Girli started watching the classic Reese Witherspoon movie Legally Blonde as a small child and loved that it embraced a traditionally girlie femininity while still embraces feminist…

This week on The Spark Parade, the multi-talented Maya Hawke celebrates Chaos Angel by diving into an old, and we mean old, piece of art that has remained a source of inspired for years -- Euripides'…

Singer/songwriter Sasha Alex Sloan was so taken by the limited series Fleishman Is In Trouble that it inspired a song on her new album Me Again. Sloan connected with the series' themes of facing midd…

Shannon and The Clams vocalist Shannon Shaw has been drawn to Patsy Cline's smooth, sad, devastating voice since she was a small child and the songs on Patsy Cline's 12 Greatest Hits have had a huge …

Dark Matter author, screenwriter, and showrunner Blake Crouch was more than familiar with Cormac McCarthy's bleak but beloved novel No Country for Old Men by the time the Coen brothers adapted it for…

Canadian singer-songwriter Jade Bird first took the jagged little pill as a kid -- yes, that Jagged Little Pill. It might have tasted bitter at the time, but ever since, her admiration for Alanis Mor…

Rapper Rico Nasty and producer/DJ Boys Noize have made a habit out of turning genres on their head, stepping outside of drawn lines, and adding a somewhat aggressive bent to whatever project they hap…

X Ambassador's frontman Sam Nelson Harris was so blown away by Richard Linklater's bold and wildly ambitious film Boyhood that he saw it twice in the same day. And it's a three-hour movie! Sam was st…

Fallout actors Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten understand the power of artistic re-interpretation. So, when it comes to their respective 'sparks,' both actors chose songs performed by someone other than…

Night Court actor Nyambi Nyambi was enthralled with Kim Jung Gi's sprawling, interconnected covers for Marvel Comics' Civil War II series not just for their artistry, but for the masterful artistic p…

Chicano Batman guitarist Carlos Arévalo was given Radiohead’s seminal album Kid A as a Halloween present from his mother, and amidst the sugar rush, the album absolutely blew his mind. The dramatic s…

Ghosts actor Asher Grodman loves everything about Sidney Lumet's classic Al Pacino starring film Dog Day Afternoon. The story and its themes touch him deeply, but its the legendary performances by th…

Ever since hearing their self-titled debut, SHAED felt a special kinship with Sylvan Esso. Both bands came from a folky, acoustic background and were experimenting with electronic sounds -- not to me…

Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto loves everything about Missy Elliott’s second album Da Real World. The non-stop bangers, the icy production from Timbaland, the tight vocal harmonies -- it's basically fl…

Comedian Bassem Youssef, known for his sharp wit and political commentary, discovered Billy Joel's "Pressure" in an unlikely place -- midway through an episode of Amazon's superhero satire The Boys. …

Self-described drag clown and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner JIMBO first got into Pee-wee's Playhouse, predictably, as a child. And yet, even as an adult, the program's unparalleled creativity c…

Singer, songwriter, and visual artist Allie X loves Christopher Guest’s highly influential mockumentary Waiting For Guffman so much that it’s become a somewhat of litmus test for her. If she meets so…