Tormented by one of the last remaining media that she hadn’t yet ventured into—after TV, movies, books, comics, and podcasts—Lena Dunham has just debuted her own radio drama. She wrote the script, and performs it with her boyfriend Jack Antonoff.
The drama premiered on The Organist, “a weekly experimental arts-and-culture program from McSweeney’s and KCRW,” L.A.’s National Public Radio station. “Hey Jonathan” is a seven-minute episode that consists of an escalating series of voicemails, as “Chloe” (Dunham) keeps leaving messages for what sounds like her ex-boyfriend as she gets closer and closer to his apartment. As the vitriol grows, Dunham tosses off a few witty but disturbing insults at her ex, like “sex with you is like sitting in a kiddie pool of freezing mud,” and comparing his penis to a pinky. Antonoff’s contribution is limited to the outgoing message that Chloe keeps responding to, but the whole segment may make him think very carefully about ever breaking up with Dunham.
At the end of this short episode, Dunham thanks The Organist for being “the only outlet for my creepy radio dramas.” “Hey Jonathan” is actually the first in a series that Dunham mentions, which will also include appearances by pals like Jenny Slater. As we are huge fans of the fading medium of radio drama, we’ll likely be listening, even if we still can’t stand Girls.