Omar Epps & Clarence A. Haynes: coffee Omar and Clarence discuss their late nights collaborating on ideas for their epic fantasy book series NUBIA, reveal how Omar remains child-like (not childish) and taps into the innate creativity gifted to all young minds which propels both his acting and his writing, explore themes of African mythology mixed with futuristic technology like antigravity and artificial intelligence, name their favorite books and the strangest moment ever at a book event....
Oct 03, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Club soda with lemon Scott talks about the choices he made in leaving a Stanford Fellowship in creative writing to enroll at Harvard Law School where Alan Dershowitz was a young professor, the 1977 publication of his nonfiction book about law school, ONE L, his casework as an Assistant US Attorney in Chicago, the earth-shaking success of his 1987 fiction debut, PRESUMED INNOCENT, and thereafter the variety of strange reactions he got from judges, juries and opposing counsels when he entered the ...
Sep 26, 2023•45 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Douglas Brunt: Manhattan with Luxardo cherry Chris Bohjalian (Guest Host): Negroni Chris and Doug discuss THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF RUDOLF DIESEL, the charm of the Gilded Age period of the story, the thrilling investigation put forward in the book leading the the jaw-dropping conclusion, and the incredible characters that play a role in the book including Churchill, Kaiser Wilhelm II, John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, Adolphus Busch, Chester Nimitz, Tsar Nicholas II. Doug reveals the most difficu...
Sep 19, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Meryl Gordon: gin & tonic with lime Award winning journalist and author Meryl Gordon discusses her process for writing profiles and biographies, the 230 interviews she conducted in preparation for writing MRS. ASTOR REGRETS and her stunned disappointment with Anderson Cooper's new Astor book which cited her prior work 39 times over 31 pages, discusses her love of teaching a masters course in journalism and magazine writing, the thrill of seeing her students publish, the challenging economics...
Sep 12, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Jay Winik calls the book, "Equal parts Walter Isaacson and Sherlock Holmes...riveting history. Lee Child: "Outstanding - Brunt mixes a historians respect for research with a novelist's eye for character..." Dan Abrams: "A page turning crime thriller and an important addition to 20th century history." You can discover more about Rudolf Diesel and preorder at this link: https://tinyurl.com/282eafxv Doug recaps the 32 guests of Season 1 and reveals which is the most downloaded episode of the season...
Jun 20, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Special Episode also available on video - download the SiriusXM App here: ( https://www.siriusxm.com/streaming ) Former Navy SEAL and #1 bestselling author Jack Carr reveals who would win in the Octagon between Conor McGregor and Jocko Willink, how it's been working with Chris Pratt and Amazon on the hit show TERMINAL LIST which is based on his first novel, his thoughts on the great pioneers of the thriller genre that he read as a kid and also while deployed as a SEAL, the key step he takes when...
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Jo Nesbo: whiskey sour (2 1/2 ounces Bulleit bourbon, 1/2 ounce simple syrup, 1/2 ounce lemon juice, orange wheel, cherry) #1 bestselling author Jo Nesbo talks about the unpublished Harry Hole novel, the difference between political views and political agendas in literature, how he designs his intricate twists and plot reveals, the point at which anyone can consider oneself a writer, the best songwriter and best lead singer of all time, the reasons you should visit Oslo, Norway.
Jun 06, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Douglas Murray: rye Manhattan (2 1/2 ounces Bulleit rye, 1 1/2 ounces sweet vermouth, 2 dashes bitters, Luxardo cherry) Douglas lists the several people he'd most like to debate in a contest of ideas, reveals the one novel that transformed him into an adult reader, discusses the concept of the Genius Exception as it applies to Pablo Picasso, Woody Allen and others, describes the value of studying history and stoicism, assesses the position of the world's cultural pendulum, confesses the horrific...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Emily St. John Mandel: Earl Grey tea with milk Emily talks about the unstructured education of her childhood homeschooling and how that upbringing opened doors to literature, her growing confidence as an author, how she plunges into a new novel without an outline, the life-changing attention after STATION ELEVEN, the differences between writing for TV and writing a novel, and she reveals her beliefs about whether we're all living in a simulation.
May 09, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Jay Fielden: Rob Roy (2 1/2 ounces Dewar's 12 year scotch, 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth, bitters, Luxardo cherry) The former editor-in-chief of Men's Vogue, Town & Country, Esquire Magazine tells what it was like working alongside Anna Wintour at Vogue and whether Devil Wears Prada was close to the truth, his view of Tom Brady's fashion sense, his thoughts on the changing media landscape and how print can compete with the dynamism of social media, observations of the disappearance of newsstands ...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Scott Brick: Old Fashioned (2 1/2 ounces bourbon, sugar, bitters, water, Luxardo cherry) The world's top audiobook narrator, nicknamed "The Golden Voice", joins us fresh from a late night at the Audie Awards to tell us his Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall story, his analysis of the strange voice of Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos, the best voices in Hollywood of all time, his process to find the voice and get into character for his book narration projects, the importance of identifying the protago...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Diana Gabaldon: Bailey's Irish Cream over ice The author of the OUTLANDER series discusses how she and George R.R. Martin feel about having a successful TV series running in parallel to their book series, the difference between her character Claire Randall in the book versus the show, how she has always known that she was meant to be a novelist, the ways she supports her fandom, and how to write strong female characters, and discusses the Chinese MudSkipper Fish.
Apr 11, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Jenny Jackson: tequila soda (2 1/2 ounces Casamigos blanco, club soda, lime) The highly regarded executive editor and now debut author of the stunning novel PINEAPPLE STREET discusses her thoughts on the changing generational views of wealth and inheritance, her technique in switching POVs in her novel, what it was like returning to the office at Penguin Random after maternity leave, her top literary influences, how she won the bid for CRAZY RICH ASIANS, what it's like editing top authors like E...
Apr 04, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Rick Springfield: coffee or Kola Spiced Beach Bar rum Rick and I tell the story of sharing the same editor at Simon & Schuster, Rick describes what life was like as both his music and acting careers simultaneously went big in 1981, how a great song gets written in two phases, reveals who is Jessie and who is his girl, reacts to the news that Kellyanne Conway listed in her high school yearbook that her life's ambition is to kiss Rick Springfield, talks about how he has managed to make his str...
Mar 28, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Amor Towles: Negroni (1 ounce Barr Hill gin, 1 ounce Campari, 1 ounce sweet vermouth with an orange peel) Amor discusses his notebook of story ideas, the piece of hotel stationery that contains the original sketch for A Gentleman in Moscow, the original titles of each of this three books, how he uses the technique of outlining to drive his creative process and the physiological reason it works for him, an editing trick to elevate his work to the best it can be, what he means by 'an Impressionist...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 1Ep. 23
James Patterson: red wine #1 bestselling author of all time discusses his early struggles as a writer when his first manuscript was rejected by 31 publishers, his eventual career transition from advertising executive to full-time writer, the frustrating lack of media attention for his new book about cops, Walk the Blue Line, which was co-authored with Matt Eversmann (retired Army Ranger, winner of the Bronze Star, group leader of the Black Hawk Down, Mogadishu raid), how Amazon is changing the c...
Mar 14, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Min Jin Lee: Ito En unsweetened green tea Min Jin Lee discusses the grey area between accountability and ‘cancel culture’, how she left the law for fiction writing, the power of fiction to educate, her favorite K-dramas streaming on TV, an update on her next novel and what she and Donna Tartt have in common.
Mar 07, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Brad Thor: Revolver (2 ½ ounces Bulleit bourbon, ½ ounce Kahula, dash of bitters with an orange rind) Hear how Brad Thor predicted Chinese balloons in his novel ten years ago and the other threats he predicted when working for Homeland Security’s Red Cell Unit that later came to pass, whether he will (again) run for President of the USA in 2024, which A-list Chris of Hollywood could play Scot Harvath on the screen, and who wins the MMA bout between Scot Harvath and Jack Reacher.
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 20
John Stossel: vodka martini (2 1/2 ounces vodka, 1/2 ounce dry vermouth, lemon twist) 19-time Emmy Award winning John Stossel shares how his Jewish parents emigrated from Germany to the USA in the 1920s, recalls his first job working as an office gopher in an Oregon newsroom in 1969, moving to NYC to work for CBS and having fun while renting Hamptons summer homes with John Tesh and Arnold Diaz in the 1980s, considers the talents of Barbara Walters, tells how he conquered his childhood stutter bu...
Feb 21, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Marlon James: Dark & Stormy Named to Time Magazine's list of '100 Most Influential People in the World' Marlon tells why he felt he'd leave Jamaica in either a coffin or a plane, remembers the story of the 78 rejections of his first novel and the amazing save of the manuscript that eventually found a home, relates the tale of a harrowing 'Voluntary Exorcism', discusses the universe of the Dark Star trilogy, how he feels about Postcolonial as a literary movement, and his literary influences t...
Feb 14, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Melissa Francis: French Tart (2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce elderflower liquor, 1 ounce grapefruit juice, 1/4 ounce lemon juice, 1/4 ounce rosemary simple syrup, served up and garnished with rosemary sprig) Melissa talks about a poolside, cigarette-filled run-in with Giselle, discusses beginning her acting career at the age of six months, praises the way Michael Landon paved the way for other actors to bring their own ideas to the screen, reveals her admiration for the work of former co-star Jason Bat...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Steve Forbes: pilsner Steve Forbes names his picks for the two best business leaders in American history, discusses the future of crypto currency, identifies the foreign economies poised to grow and the American real estate markets that are currently undervalued, analyzes the parallels of Grover Cleveland (1892) and Donald Trump (2024), sheds light on how to fix the nation's inflation problem, and reveals the story of how the Forbes 400 came about.
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Chris Bohjalian: Negroni (1 1/2 ounces Barr Hill gin, 1 1/12 ounces Campari, 1 1/12 ounces sweet vermouth, orange twist) Chris tells us his thoughts on Kaley Cuoco playing the lead role in the HBO adaptation of his novel THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, lists the three things he does to get ready to begin each of his novels, discusses how he's evolved as a writer in the 35 years since the best selling novelist of all time blurbed his debut novel, reveals how he made the leap from working in advertising at ...
Jan 24, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Leigh Bardugo: French 75 (1 ounce gin, 1/2 ounce lemon juice, 1/4 ounce simple syrup mixed in shaker then poured in champagne flute, topped with champagne and lemon twist) Leigh discusses Skull & Bones, Wolf's Head and the secret societies of Yale that are the backdrop of her books, whether people in the secret societies have embraced her books or gotten angry, having to put legal disclaimers on her books as real people are mentioned, her writing process for creating the universe that her bo...
Jan 16, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Craig Mazin: Old Fashioned (1 teaspoon sugar, 3 dashes bitters, 1 teaspoon water, 2 1/2 ounces bourbon, orange twist, Luxardo cherry optional) 2-time Emmy Award winner Craig Mazin discusses his new HBO show THE LAST OF US based in the very popular video game, The Sopranos and the Golden Age of TV, the brilliance of the 'Limited Series' format for scripted and unscripted content, the HBO limited series CHERNOBYL and the very fraught sliding scale of journalistic responsibility shown by the creato...
Jan 10, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Dennis Lehane: Chopin vodka over crushed ice Can't say I loved this drink, but it grew on me (a little) over the course of our conversation. Dennis discusses his book to film experiences with his novels MYSTIC RIVER, SHUTTER ISLAND, GONE BABY GONE, LIVE BY NIGHT and working with Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Ben Affleck, Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio; how his life changed dramatically with the smash success of MYSTIC RIVER in 2001, making his bones writing in the 1990s while competing with and...
Jan 03, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Anna Quindlen: mocktail to-be-named (seltzer, simple syrup, lime juice, fresh basil) Anna discusses her novel One True Thing and how she felt about her friend Meryl Streep in the lead role of the film adaptation; her unsparing thoughts on social media; her morning routine and process for writing books; the lasting effects of her mother’s remark to her; the New Jersey Hall of Fame; a beautiful piece of advice. [Also a comparison of Anna to Rocky Balboa which I should have described as unusual rat...
Dec 27, 2022•39 min•Season 1Ep. 11
David Duchovny: Paloma, or Tequila Greyhound (2 ounces tequila blanco, 2 ounces grapefruit juice, splash of club soda) David discusses bunking up with JFK Junior while in high school, shares important lessons learned from Don Rickles and Gary Shandling, reviews his thesis for his PhD at Yale, reveals why he won't write a memoir, describes how he kept faith in himself as an artist during the early years of his career, tells about an entertaining encounter playing tennis next to John McEnroe, give...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 10
Penn Jillette - The Air We Breathe (no alcohol, no caffeine) Penn describes what performing magic and writing a novel have in common, talks about Bill Maher and the difference between a cynic and a skeptic, identifies his favorite illustration of America's First Amendment, warns of the peril of technology's capacity to take geography out of tribalism, and discusses the concept behind his new novel, Random.
Dec 13, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Joseph Kanon: Louis Latour - white Burgundy wine Joe has seen it all - he was CEO of the most prestigious publishing house in the world prior to becoming a bestselling author of spy novels including The Good German which was made into a movie starring George Clooney and Kate Blanchett. Joe talks about the history and future of the novel and the publishing business, writing for TV and film, and how to write novels of moral intrigue (what do you do when forced to chose between two wrongs?)....
Dec 06, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 8
