Punk Chores
While ”punk” is a lifestyle stemming from the wild ass music and mohawks from the early 1970s, in the last fifty odd years it has come to mean a lot more than describing a style of dress and music. Punk is an umbrella term for all of the growths sprouting out of ”do it yourself” outsider culture. House shows, stick and poke tattoos, riding freight trains, making zines, building boats to sail down the Mississippi, welding bike frames together, getting scabies from sleeping on a couch on tour. Our culture is kept alive by the myriad of hustles we’ve cobbled together to avoid commitment to careers allowing for giant swaths of time to travel, make art, fuck around, find out. Punk jobs exist in the yellowy amber goop Venn diagram of craigslist, word of mouth and sheer luck. Sometimes well paid, sometimes not. Disgusting, terrifying, monotonous, or mind boggling but above all, good for stories. So grab your lighter, re-associate with your cat you haven’t seen in 6 months since working on a weed farm and buckle up. It’s time for your punk chores.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 05, 2025
Tuesday Aug 05, 2025
Cat and Morgan are at Diamond Beach punk rock marina in Pittsburgh talking about Morgan's time as a dinosaur mechanic, working at Burning Man, getting hit by a bus on a bike, the insignificance of being a human, and the friends we made along the way!
Intro by Nature Boys
Outro by Inquisition
Tuesday Jul 29, 2025
Tuesday Jul 29, 2025
No interview episode this week, too haggard and wrecked from boat time. Tune in for my short update about the salty seas.
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Tuesday Jul 22, 2025
Cat & Laurel discuss working on the oldest short line train in the U.S., being destined to be a train guy by your ancestors, communicating with the dead , haunted bibles, partying in dream world, and alien forces in the desert. I want to believe!!!!
Intro: Nature Boys
Outro: Roots and Recognition
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
Cat & Matt & Jimmy who work at The Book House in Minneapolis talk about the Rare Books biz, being a poet in south Minneapolis, how the rare book business works, what to do when Grey's Anatomy implants itself in your psyche, and how poems translate into hardcore songs.
Intro by Nature Boys
Outro by Texture Freq
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Cat & Carhartt talk about hitchhiking, sleeping under bridges, being a little punker growing up in Wisconsin washing dishes, piling beets at the beet harvest, sending punk mail, etc etc. Please excuse my rude interrupting interview nerves, Carhartt was the second interview I ever did and was bumbling through it.
Collage by Carhartt
Intro by Nature Boys
Outro by Miracle Debt
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Cat & Allie have an unhinged conversation about growing up a Quaker, puking corn chips off boats, getting your boat anchor back from a wing nut live aboard sailor, almost dying at sea, running away with a golf cart in Hawaii.
Intro by Nature Boys
Outro by Yoni Bologna
Tuesday Jun 24, 2025
Tuesday Jun 24, 2025
Cat & Jessie sit on a wooden platform in North Carolina and talk about being a living statue for money, riding trains in Canada, hitchhiking in South America, getting sick in India, getting freaked out in the southern U.S.,
living the dream!
intro Nature Boys
outro Jessie and the Jinx
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Cat & Butch talk about diaper police, a fake British lady with a rotting off foot, getting your shoe sole sawn off by a train, Hurricane Helene super hero efforts, punk rock & mutual aid in Asheville,
bears, alligators, rats, doggies, donkies, kitties, oh my!
GET A KITCHEN JOB, BE NORMAL!
Intro by Nature Boys
Outro by Swamp Ape
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
Cat & Meg sit in a garage and talk about working at girls rock camps, growing up in punk world in Tennessee, touring with no money, Iron Maiden in Costa Rica, the seasonal gig of "Cranberries", poison ivy on your junk, and becoming a law wizard when your former boss is trying to fuck you over.
Intro by Nature Boys
Outro by Liar Mute
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Emma, Gabriela, & Cat battle helicopters, car alarms, and dogs barking (why do i keep trying to record outside?!) while discussing Gabriela's time working as a welder for Burning Man, trimming weed, and becoming a bio designer working with mycelium in the Netherlands. Not to mention her bad things come in threes story about an angle grinder to the face, a kidney stone at the Burn, and a ripped up oil pan whilst hauling DJ gear through the rain. Yehaw.
Intro by Nature Boys
Outro by The Mall