2017 marks a critical juncture where I am paying attention to what I consume and create. For starters, I strive to shed new light as a writer. I also want to share conversations with exceptional people who devote their careers to not only distilling life’s greater truths AND help others hone their own voices. I also have found that as vital as it is to engage in society, some days the news makes me worry that my head might explode. It’s why I am particularly thankful to kick off 2017 bringing yo...
Jan 04, 2017•27 min
As a 6’2, 300-pound offensive guard for the Citadel, Morris Robinson scored first team All-Southern Conference, first team Kodak All-American, and second team Sports Network All-American. He wanted to play pro. Sports Illustrated profiled Robinson because the powerhouse also possessed a one-of-a-kind musical talent. At the South Carolina military academy, he’d sing the National Anthem. His deep voice was electric, and otherwise stoic boys would line up for autographs after Robinson’s concerts li...
Dec 28, 2016•22 min
Turturro, who is best known, as one of the most pliable, memorable actors of our time, spoke about needing to laugh post the election of Donald Trump. We certainly did a lot, as the Brooklyn native shared hilarious stories about working with Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorcese on Raging Bull to shooting a threesome with Bobby Cannavale and Audrey Tatou for his latest project GOING PLACES. He also shared some never released before photos from the set, as Turturro is currently editing the film. In i...
Dec 21, 2016•47 min
JON GLASER talks about Second City and whether SNL grabbed his joke by Catie Lazarus
Dec 14, 2016•41 min
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT is touring in Australia, the UK, Ireland, and Canada, just released her fourth solo studio album, GOODNIGHT CITIZEN. The bilingual, dual citizen has lived betwixt and between worlds, and when you hear her sing, you'll feel how her music deftly embodies the cacophony of emotions simultaneously. Now a mother, who grew up with parents, Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright, Martha talks about raising a child as an artist and touring. We also spoke about how hard it is for musician...
Dec 08, 2016•22 min
"Get comfortable with people hating you," Sarah Treem, who created THE AFFAIR, which is in the midst of its third season on SHOWTIME, says about what it takes to be a boss. Her keen awareness about the messiness of real life is palpable in this epic series. Of course, it helps having actors like Dominic West , Maura Tierney, Joshua Jackson, and Ruth Wilson depict what the cost of prison, murder, infidelity, children, death, mental illness play on even the strongest relationships. This season con...
Nov 23, 2016•45 min
The extraordinarily talented musician Mitski Miyawaki composed two albums before she had graduated from college. Her latest album Puberty 2 led her to her first live TV performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Most importantly, it gave her momentary reprieve from that awful feeling "impostor syndrome" which is not to be confused with a Napoleon complex. Mitski is hilarious, smart, and such a fantastic performer. It was a delight to discuss her punk background, touring, Twitter, and hea...
Nov 16, 2016•18 min
Donald Trump's legacy is already underway. Instead of calling for higher standards and ethics when it comes to how journalism treats privacy issues, a Florida judge awarded Hulk Hogan millions of dollars for recording his affair with his best friend's wife and bankrupted Gawker Media, as well as journalist AJ Daulerio and founder Nick Denton. There are other lawsuits which remain. Of course, Gawker is not innocent and Nick Denton spoke about his own desire to be profitable, which lead to reckles...
Nov 09, 2016•35 min
Nate Silver the leading political pollster in history, and is as deft with sports and social issues. Silver explores all three arenas as the Founder and Editor-in-Chief at 538, which he sold to ESPN, after a stint at The New York Times. In our interview, which was recorded live at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, Nate and I spoke about how this 2016 election is unprecedented, who gets polled and why, and what set Silver, a wunderkind, apart as a kid. Nate also spoke about managing his staff at E...
Nov 02, 2016•36 min
Jessica Bennett is a columnist at the New York Times Style section and wrote about Monica Lewinsky and online shaming to Hillary Clinton's closest confidantes to sororities and feminism. Her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Time, and was the cofounder and curator of the Lean In Collection – a partnership betwen LeanIn.Org and Getty Images, to change the way women are depicted in stock photography. We spoke about her first book, Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual (for a Sexist Workplace), w...
Oct 26, 2016•38 min
Isaac Oliver is the author of INTIMACY IDIOT, which was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2015. Even if you read it in 2016, you'll see why his writing has been featured on BuzzFeed, Gawker, and Out Magazine. A gifted storyteller, Isaac Oliver regularly performs his stories. It was delightful to interview him live at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater. If you enjoyed this episode of Employee of the Month, you can attend our live tapings at Joe's Pub or check out the podcast or follow @catielazarus, ...
Oct 19, 2016•19 min
Tony Award-winner LAURA BENANTI is playing all over the country so catch her singing live. You may recognize her from her impression of Melania Trump which went viral. She was also a smash hit in the 2016 Tony nominated role of Amalia Balash in the hit Broadway Musical, She Loves Me. Benanti became a broadway baby when she was a little older than a baby, at the tender age of 18. She also received a Drama Desk award, Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award Nomination for her starring role in ...
Oct 12, 2016•41 min
Maya Rudolph is pure joy. After wrapping the first season of NBC’s Maya and Marty, her comedy variety show with Martin Short, Maya toured with her college friend Gretchen Lieberum to sold out crowds. Their band Princess pays tribute to the late genius Prince, Princess and in our interview, we spoke about how Prince enjoyed their Valentine to his legacy. Maya and Gretchen even gave us glimpse into why their show is so fun. The secret is in the sauce. On Maya and Marty, Rudolph sings and breathes ...
Oct 05, 2016•49 min
Patti LuPone may be best know for her irresistible voice, but the two-time Grammy and Tony, and Olivier Award winner’s secret weapon is feeling everything. Lord knows, especially on stage, there are actors who overact and mug, in doing so, leave no room for audiences to respond. Then there are ones who are so muted, that if you stuck a needle in their limp arm, they wouldn’t flinch. LuPone thrives when she can be unflinchingly honest in a performance, which requires discipline to turn into art. ...
Jun 15, 2016•38 min
JON HAMM is best known for revolutionizing how society envisions masculinity, in all of its raw sensuality, insatiable competitive hunger, arrogance, and corrosive loneliness, in his deft portrayal of Don Draper, but he is equally deft at comedy. Happy to laugh at himself, a necessity when you look like (and were) a star high school football player, Hamm is clearly a team player which makes him enjoyable to work with, as evidenced in how often TV creators like Tina Fey and Robert Carlock find ex...
Jun 08, 2016•38 min
Peeno Noir is Expanding! Actor Tituss Burgess’s real wine company Pinot Noir, inspired by his Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s character viral music video, will unveil a new wine for Pride Week and a rosé. Whether your celebrating the LGBTQ or can’t get enough of the nimble actor and deliriously delightful singer, you’ll feel better about splurging on Pinot Noir after seeing how Burgess does in a blind taste test. Catie Lazarus, host of Employee of the Month, wanted to see if the 37 years old, Georgi...
Jun 03, 2016•27 min
Jen Marlowe has committed every ounce of her being to activism, be it Black Lives Matter, Palestinian rights, prisoner's rights, and many more. In our conversation, we spoke about the methods she finds most useful, namely documentary filmmaking, playwriting, books, and community based education. She also speaks about being fired and the financial struggles, as well as how her politics have evolved throughout her career.
May 27, 2016•44 min
I've never understood why MacArthur Foundation gives grants to geniuses, shouldn't they give them to the rest of us shlubs who are lucky if we can write a legible grocery list, never mind, pen rapturous plays? Luckily for the rare geniuses, MacArthur Foundation insists on honoring them. Employee of the Month was thrilled to follow MacArthur's lead and honor Suzan-Lori Parks, a playwright, novelist and screenwriter, and interview her about her illustrious career. Parks has repeatedly re-imaged pl...
May 23, 2016•26 min
The Artist’s Way is celebrating its 25th Anniversary, so it was a privilege to speak with a woman who democratized creativity. In our interview, Cameron talked about working with her daughter Domenica, an actor who made her directorial debut with the indie film Almost Paris, which screened as part of Tribeca Film Festival. Cameron also shared what she got out of writing fiction versus non-fiction, co-parenting with Martin Scorsese, and a musical which is in the works. She also revealed why walki...
May 11, 2016•23 min
Between Isaac Mizrahi’s pithy humor, remarkable insight, and insatiable desire to create and perform, he is a captivating presence. In our candid conversation, we spoke about, amongst other things, Isaac choosing not to come out to father to his tender relationship with choreographer and dancer Mark Morris and dealing with Jonathan Ames. A wunderkind, Isaac Mizrahi made his mark in fashion in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. The fashion world is notoriously competitive and volatile, even for the belo...
May 04, 2016•32 min
Josh Gondelman is a writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO and has contributed to Billy Eichner’s show Billy on the Street, The New Yorker, and McSweeney’s. His second stand up special Physical Whisper is currently out and he made his stand up debut on Conan. After writing and doing stand up in small rooms in Boston, he became best known for Tweeting under the name @Seinfeld Today, aka Modern Seinfeld, with a friend Jack Moore. We spoke one-on-one about the disgusting bathrooms in ...
Apr 27, 2016•25 min
How do we nurture our art when we’ve got bills to pay and neurosis to slay? I spoke with singer, songwriter and composer Arthur Lewis about potential, success, baggage, inherited dreams, talent, and his career in music. Arthur Lewis is one of New York’s finest original musicians, which is why famed poet Sarah Kay and Pulitzer, Grammy, Tony, and MacArthur “Genius” winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton Fame, are fans. The two were two of the founding members of FreeStyle Love Supreme. Originally ...
Apr 16, 2016•50 min
Justin Vivian Bond is a Tony nominated, Obie, GLAAD and Essie winning cabaret star and trans-genre artist. Vocal about being transgender, Justin uses V as a preferred prefix. The first time Bond took the stage was as a wee babe in a Christmas show at V.'s family’s local Church of the Brethren in sleepy Hagerstown, Maryland, but the rest of the word would have to wait decades before hearing from the sumptuous voice and acerbic wit which made Bond a legend. After high school and a stint as a couns...
Apr 13, 2016•29 min
David Simon revolutionized television when he created THE WIRE. A veteran crime reporter for The Baltimore Sun, Simon offered audiences a rare and searing portrait of the underground drug market, while simultaneously transforming how television series are devised. Each season focused on the inner workings of the various players, be it the politicians or police or education system. Throughout the five seasons, Simon deftly revealed the interplay between government, police enforcement, addicts, de...
Apr 06, 2016•39 min
Growing up, I binge watched ANNIE HALL, and ate up the fraternal, Statler and Waldorf like chiding between Alvy Singer, played by Woody Allen, and Rob, played by Tony Roberts. So when Tony Robert’s publicist asked if I’d interview the two time Tony nominated actor as he was promoting his new memoir “DO YOU KNOW ME?” I, of course, said yes. You may recognize Tony Roberts from STARDUST MEMORIES, PLAY IT AGAIN SAM, or SERPICO, with Al Pacino. In addition to being in tons of films, Tony Roberts did ...
Mar 23, 2016•20 min
Emel Mathlouthi is a brilliant singer and songwriter with an intoxicating, ethereal voice, who became an international sensation as her music inspired fellow Tunisians fighting for their freedom during the Arab Spring. Tunisian govern banned her music from the country’s radio as her lyrics criticized the regime of then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. So in 2008, she fled for Paris and continued to sing defiant songs and post them on social media. A video of her singing her song Kelmti Horra (...
Mar 16, 2016•13 min
Despite getting rejected from Yale grad school, Golden Globe nominee Greta Gerwig has never wanted for work. As an actor and writer, Gerwig frequently collaborates with her boyfriend and filmmaker Noah Baumbach, and become known doing films with Joe Swanberg. This summer she will make her directorial debut and talks about the joy of having Scott Rudin as a producer. On Employee of the Month Show, Greta Gerwig tells Catie Lazarus what she really thinks of Yale rejecting her, tax breaks in Califor...
Mar 09, 2016•22 min
MICHAEL McKEAN may be best known as Lenny, Squiggy's best friend, played by David Lander, on the beloved sitcom LAVERNE & SHIRLEY, but he has acted in over 225 roles and, once you hear our interview, you’ll know why everyone from Christopher Guest to Vince Gilligan clamors to work with him. Most actors get so good and comfortable at reprising their shtick or are pushed to do so by agents and network executives, but McKean shrewdly and bravely keeps expanding his repertoire. He said no to Sat...
Mar 02, 2016•37 min
Ambition is a trait most politicians share, regardless of what they aspire to do with it. Luckily, Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, a consummate politician, also possesses a moral compass. While at Harvard Law, the Irish born, American raised scholar decided her academic research on America’s role in genocide, from the Holocaust to Armenian genocide to Darfur, merited a book. In 2002, she published A PROBLEM FROM HELL, which promptly became a Pulitzer Prize Winner and caught the attention of...
Feb 28, 2016•26 min
Before fans and critics knew Sharon Van Etten’s wry, whip-smart lyrics and enchanting harmonies, the singer/songwriter worked the fryer at McDonalds. Despite constant promotions, she moved on. She baked donuts at a donut shop, worked at wine stores, built Subway sandwiches, and revealed in our interview that Chipotle isn’t the only bad apple. As she started considering making a go of singing and songwriting, she connected with Kyp Malone, of TV on the Radio. Malone helped her make music her main...
Feb 17, 2016•26 min
