Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

From my house in Los Angeles, it's Bullseye. I'm Jesse Thorn. We are, as they say, living

in the golden age of television. Pick pretty much any platform and you'll be able to stream

a drama that just a couple decades ago would have topped every critics year and last. Game

of Thrones, Mad Men, Ozark, whatever. I submit to you that even in a lineup as stacked

as the one that is before us on every streaming service we have, the show Fargo is really

something. It gets its title from the Cohen Brothers movie in the same name and at moments

it is a continuation of the story of the film. At other times there are references to other

movies by the Cohen's, the Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, no country for old men. Fargo

is more than a tribute though. It's a beautiful, perfectly paced work of TV drama. Each season

tells a different story, one that centers around a crime, usually murder. The web around the

murder gets more complex. The body count tends to rise and some things happen that just can't

be explained. Maybe it's a UFO sighting or a man reincarnated as a kitten or a hitman

with an almost supernatural ability to find his victim. It's a very unique show. Fargo

is created and written by Noah Hawley, our guest and he'll be interviewed by Julie Clowesner.

Julie is the creator of a TV show of her own, who lose difficult people. Fargo's fourth season

kicks off at the end of this month. This time around it focuses on organized crime in 1950s

Kansas City. We follow the story of the Canon family, an all black crime syndicate headed

by Lloyd Cannon, played by Chris Rock. While working to increase their power and influence

they come up against both the racism of the time and the powerful Fata family. Kansas

City's ruling Italian mob. In this scene we hear from Ethel Rita, a young teenage girl

whose family gets involved with the cannons. Ethel Rita, played by newcomer Amari Crutchfield,

...