Director/writer/producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Funny People, Trainwreck) talks about his lifelong love of comedy and how Amy Schumer got him to return to stand-up after a 25 year absence from the stage. He shares some advice to young comedy writers, gives his take on Hollywood’s sexual harassment problem, and talks about fatherhood and his marriage to actress Leslie Mann. Plus Judd Apatow discusses the tao of Gary Shandling, "stalking" Steve Martin, and what to do when Kermit the Frog thinks ...
Dec 11, 2017•40 min
Legendary newsman Dan Rather talks about his 60 year career and how his travels and conversations have given him a “wide shot” of the American experience and the values that unite us. He condemns recent attacks on some on those values (including freedom of the press), he shares his own family's experience during the Great Depression as a lesson in empathy, and he recalls how his time spent with men like Martin Luther King Jr. and Medger Evers opened his eyes to institutionalized racism in Americ...
Dec 07, 2017•46 min
For Lawrence O’Donnell, host of MSNBC’s The Last Word, the 1968 U.S. Presidential election was his political awakening, and it has remained one of his abiding fascinations. Today he talks about the war that sunk LBJ’s presidency and the wild election that followed including the indignities suffered by Senator Senator Eugene McCarthy, how the assassination of Bobby Kennedy threw the Democratic primary into chaos, and the impossible political position of the eventual Democratic nominee Humbert Hum...
Dec 04, 2017•57 min
A.J. Jacobs recounts his attempt to throw the worlds biggest family reunion, and his efforts to connect with the billions of people he calls his "cousins" via a project called the world family tree. He discusses how this crazy project all began with an email from a dairy farmer in Israel, and quickly led him down a genealogical rabbit hole as he played "six degrees of A.J. Jacobs." He says any person on the planet is no further than 70th cousins with anyone else, and every one of the 7 billion p...
Nov 30, 2017•48 min
Vanity Fair, news, magazines, publishing, journalism, fashion, celebrity, New York, Conde Nast, media, photography, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 27, 2017•41 min
business, entrepreneurship, startup, silicon valley, lean startup, tech, companies, GE, Amazon, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 23, 2017•54 min
Comedian Brian Reagan talks about his very first standup act, the worst gig he ever had, and the double-edged sword of being labeled a "clean comic." He reveals why he doesn’t like to see his audience, why he never plays the town he lives in, and the incredibly weird audition that got him on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Plus Brian has a bone to pick with whoever invented tennis scoring, and he offers his sage advice for Middle East peace. Brian Regan's Netflix comedy special Nunchucks an...
Nov 20, 2017•49 min
Paul Reiser and Jeff Sotzing discuss their new show There's...Johnny!, a funny and heartwarming coming of age series set amid the backstage antics on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. They talk about bringing Carson to a new generation of TV viewers, meticulously recreating the look of The Tonight Show for There's...Johnny!, and building each episode around some of Johnny Carson's most iconic television moments. Paul recalls his first appearance on Carson, Johnny’s impeccable sense of comedic...
Nov 16, 2017•53 min
politics, family, President, Bush, George. W. Bush, White House, sisters, 9/11, Republican, inspiration, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 13, 2017•40 min
humor, politics, satire, parody, Saturday Night Live, comedy, political, Donald Trump, President, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 09, 2017•38 min
comedy, comedian, stand-up, funny, Last Comic Standing, humor, feminism, women, relationships, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 06, 2017•53 min
Comedian Gilbert Gottfried talks about his fear of being "outted" as family man in his new documentary GILBERT, recalls some of the worst gigs he ever had, and reveals why he used to look down on comics who "work dirty." He explains why nazis love him, tells traveling salesmen jokes, does his impressions Humphrey Bogart at the postoffice and Jackie Gleason as Rick in Casablanca, and tells his infamous Danny Thomas story. His documentary GILBERT opens at the IFC Center in NYC on 11/3, Laemmle Fin...
Nov 02, 2017•54 min
Aaron Mahnke, host of LORE podcast, shares the real history behind the legends of ghosts, vampires and werewolves, and how our scary folktales say a lot about our attitudes toward women, outsiders, and those who are different. He talks about the spiritualism craze of the turn of the century, the most sadistic witch hunters throughout the ages, as well as the Jersey Devil, the Beast of Bray road, gremlins, fairies and more. Subscribe to LORE podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts....
Oct 30, 2017•46 min
Pulitzer-winning author/historian Ron Chernow (Alexander Hamilton, Washington: A Life) wants Americans to rethink the 18th President with his new biography GRANT. He discusses Ulysses S. Grant’s drinking and early failures, his meteoric rise through the ranks during the Civil War, and how Grant struggled with his own personal civil war at home. He makes the case for General Grant as a brilliant military strategist, and argues that he deserves more credit for holding the Union together during Rec...
Oct 26, 2017•51 min
Sir Richard Branson talks about The Virgin Group philosophy, why he likes to act fast when launching a new business, and how many of his best ideas came from his own desires and frustrations as a consumer. He gives advice to young entrepreneurs and shares what he’s learned from his mistakes. He reveals his reasons for selling Virgin America to Alaska Air, and he outlines his vision of the future with Virgin Galactic and his latest venture Virgin Hyperloop One. Plus he talks about his strange lun...
Oct 23, 2017•42 min
Richard Turner is the greatest card magician in the world and the subject of a new documentary called DEALT. He’s virtually never seen without a deck in his hands, and today he fesses up to shuffling cards in the movies, during church and even while making love to his wife! He shares why he doesn’t like to be called a magician or an illusionist, he discuss some of the less than ethical origins of card trickery, and talks about the man who mentored him in card manipulation. Then after the break, ...
Oct 19, 2017•49 min
Astronaut Captain Scott Kelly talks about his year on the International Space Station, including how it pushed his body the limit, why the hardest physical test was re-adjusting to life on earth, and how his experience could get NASA one step closer to a manned mission to Mars. He reveals how he combatted boredom in space, what he missed most about earth, and how he got along with his Russian crew-mates amid strained US-Russia relations. Plus Scott tells me if the "overview effect" ever wears of...
Oct 16, 2017•48 min
Anthony Bourdain speaks candidly about the problem of food waste, who is to blame, and who is working on solutions. He discusses how he and his fellow chefs have been fighting this battle for years in their own kitchens, including embracing the "snout to tail" movement, renaming so called "trash fish," and even turning table scraps into delicious pork. He also shares how he manages to juggle his a hectic travel schedule, waxes about his love of Vietnam, and reveals some of his most cherished com...
Oct 12, 2017•37 min
politics, history, America, founding fathers, Constitution, law, Supreme Court, television, comedy, federalist, liberal, political, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 10, 2017•50 min
funerals, death, mortality, Halloween, travel, funeral homes, reform, burial, rituals, Libertarian, Ask a Mortician, cremation, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 05, 2017•53 min
Actor Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Rushmore) & classical cellist Jan Vogler discuss how their album New Worlds evolved out of a chance meeting on a flight from Berlin to NYC and a mutual love of music and poetry. Plus, Bill Murray shares his philosophy of life, his favorite American humorists, and his thoughts on being an internet folk hero. New Worlds is available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, or wherever you buy music. Bill and Jan's concert tour begins Friday, October 6 in Santa Barbar...
Oct 02, 2017•40 min
Presidential speechwriter David Litt reflects on his political coming of age in the Obama White House, fiction vs. reality on The West Wing, and his sometimes nemesis in the White House research department. He talks about President Obama's sense of humor, writing for the White House Correspondents Dinner speeches, and self-deprecation as a political tool. Plus, he shares some of the jokes that DIDN’T make it into the President’s speeches. Order David Litt's book Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey ...
Sep 28, 2017•55 min
comedy, comedians, entertainment, The Tonight Show, improv, standup, Hollywood, funny, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 26, 2017•41 min
60 Minutes, News, CBS, broadcasting, journalism, politics, world affairs, president, Watergate, television, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 21, 2017•46 min
tennis, sports, Wimbledon, Russia, Serena Williams, Olympics, U.S. Open, immigration, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 18, 2017•38 min
Acclaimed documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (The Civil War, Baseball, The War) discuss their epic 10-part film The Vietnam War which airs 9/17 on PBS. They discuss how the Vietnam War continues to evolve 40 years later, the ways their own perceptions have changed since they were young people growing up in the turbulent 1960’s, and how hindsight has given birth to some humbling and surprising epiphanies among those who fought on both sides. They ponder if some of the lessons of Vie...
Sep 14, 2017•53 min
science, astronaut, space, NASA, Star Trek, solar system, StarTalk, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 11, 2017•45 min
Actor, writer, director Danny Strong talks about his new movie Rebel in the Rye about the life of author J.D. Salinger. He discusses the challenges of portraying a man who spent so much of his life out of the public spotlight, the autobiographical aspects of his novel Catcher in the Rye, and why this film is probably the closest we will ever get to a Catcher in the Rye movie. Plus, Danny reveals how a young video clerk named Quentin Tarantino stoked his early love of film, and we talk about Dann...
Sep 07, 2017•46 min
Breaking Bad, AMC, acting, theater, television, film, Seinfeld, TV, fame, actor, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 05, 2017•54 min
Today's episode is a rerun of my interview acclaimed astrophysicist, author, and a highly popular science communicator Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. Today Dr. Tyson talks about his new #1 New York Times Bestseller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and why he wants to make science accessible and understandable for all. He shares his thoughts on how movies and television portray science. He reveals just how rapidly the universe was born and why the debate over the big bang theory vs intelligent design...
Sep 01, 2017•39 min
