I'm Yossi Salik, and I'm the host of Bansplain, a show where we explain cult bands and iconic artists by going deep into their histories and discographies.

We're back with a brand new season at our brand new home, the Ringer podcast network, tackling a whole new batch of artists, from grunge gods to power pop pioneers to new metal legends and many, many more.

Listen to new episodes every Thursday, only on Spotify.

It is Friday, September 30th.

The 48th season of Saturday Night Live premieres tomorrow night, and Lorne Michaels

recently told the New York Times that this is a, quote, year of reinvention. Eight cast members

are gone, including longtime stars, 80 Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney, Craig's guy, Pete Davidson,

along with other newer cast members like Alex Moffat, Melissa Vesignor, Chris Red,

and someone named Aristotle Athari, who I wouldn't know if he was sitting right next to me

in the subway. That's kind of been the problem the past few seasons. The cast has ballooned to 24

people, way too many. It's partly COVID. People couldn't leave, and they needed a big cast in

in case anyone tested positive. But it's also because SNL has kind of drifted away from

its initial not ready for primetime players. There are only seven of them. It's harder for people

to break out these days, become a fixture, become a legitimate star. There are other reasons

for that. But the lack of air time S&L when they're there is a big

reason.

Because there's been no better launch pad to stardom in America over the past 50 years than S&L.

Think about it.

Many of your favorite comedy people trace their careers back to them, even people who weren't

big on S&L when they were there, like Chris Rock or Julia Louis Dreyfus or Larry David.

There's four new featured players hoping to make that happen this year, bringing the total

cast to about 17.

...