In an interview, John Cameron Mitchell, the writer, director and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, discusses his career and forthcoming Australian appearances, including his David Bowie-inspired song cycle I'm Afraid of Americans and a masterclass on punk. He reflects on how the cult film found its audience through word of mouth rather than fame, recalling a fan who once handed him a note on a subway platform reading "Thank you. Hedwig saved my life."

Mitchell reveals he turned down an offer from Bowie himself to bring Ziggy Stardust to the stage, a decision he now regrets, having just finished a decade of touring with Hedwig. He names Heroes as his favourite Bowie song for its complexity and dark origins in an affair Bowie witnessed near the Berlin Wall, and cites Minneapolis residents who resisted ICE raids as a modern example of punk spirit. He also describes his nightly ritual after performing in Broadway's Oh, Mary!, and argues that switching off one's phone is itself a punk act, since digital mediation shrinks attention spans and dulls empathy.