David Mamet discusses how the old gangster stories he heard as a child inspired him to write CHICAGO: A NOVEL. He talks about his love of classic noir and hot jazz, and dislike of social media, computers, and flowery prose. He shares why famous figures are better felt than heard in historical fiction, why he says Hollywood is dead, and why he never reads his own reviews. He teases his latest play about Harvey Weinstein, and reveals his longing to live as a reporter in the 1920’s and die as a who...
Mar 26, 2018•42 min
Futurist Michio Kaku says sooner or later humanity will face the possibility of extinction, and it’s up to scientists to come up with a plan B whether it’s another planet or even another galaxy. He explains why it’s important for us to return to the moon, how we would go about terraforming Mars, and what he calls the new "gold rush" that could fund NASA indefinitely. He shares his theory on why we haven’t encountered alien life and where humans fit in on his hierarchy of civilizations. Michio Ka...
Mar 22, 2018•44 min
Andrew Zimmern host of Bizarre Foods on The Travel Channel talks about how he became the man who’ll eat anything and some of the weirdest foods he’s tried over the years. He reveals some of the strangest delicacies that turned out to be surprisingly good and whether he’s finally learned to love his old nemesis - the infamously stinky durian fruit. He’ll discuss his broader mission to spread tolerance and understanding because as he puts it, "social change often starts with our stomachs." He reca...
Mar 19, 2018•51 min
Robert Malley, president of the International Crisis Group, discusses ICG's annual list of the 10 Conflicts to Watch in 2018. He cautions against Donald Trump’s bluster about decertifying the Iran Nuclear Deal, warns that the stakes in North Korea are too high to be ignored, and speculates on what will happen in Syria once ISIS has been defeated militarily. He reveals why he thinks a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is unlikely and how his childhood practically destined him...
Mar 15, 2018•52 min
Comedian Nikki Glaser talks about the worst week of her life, why she’s steering clear of politics for a while, and why she decided to move to NYC rather than get up early. She reveals why she likes long distance relationships, why she prefers to follow really good comedians, and why she’s banned from Urban Outfitters. Plus, how Nikki sorta saved my relationship. Her new radio show YOU UP WITH NIKKI GLASER airs Monday through Thursday from 10:00 A.M to Noon ET and 7-9A.M. PT to 9:00 A.M. PT on S...
Mar 12, 2018•51 min
The cast and creator of THE DEATH OF STALIN talk about mining one of Russia’s darkest chapters for comedy and some of absurd but true stories that make into THE DEATH OF STALIN. Writer/director Armando Ianucci (VEEP, THE THICK OF IT) talks about how fighting ruthless authoritarians is a family tradition for him, why Russian officials think his movie is part of a western plot destabilize that country, and why the creator of VEEP is finally ready to give politics a break for a while. Steve Buscemi...
Mar 08, 2018•49 min
Cass Sunstein attempts to answer the question "Can authoritarianism happen in America?" He discusses a few of America’s past flirtations with authoritarianism, some of the weaknesses in our system that could be exploited by an aspiring strongman, and why if it did happen, it would likely be a very gradual process instead of a bold power-grab. He talks about the ways that tribalism, nationalism and conspiracy theories create a fertile breeding ground for authoritarianism, he reveals whether he th...
Mar 05, 2018•48 min
Matt Ingebretson and Jake Weisman, the stars and co-creators of the new Comedy Central series CORPORATE talk about their own experiences in corporate America and the irony doing their new show for corporate conglomerate Viacom. They discuss why they wanted a darker tone than typical workplace comedies, how they convinced Lance Reddick to play their tyranical boss, and why they took on the one holiday you that can’t make fun of in their season finale. Plus Matt and Jake talk about development hel...
Mar 01, 2018•43 min
Attorney Gloria Allred was fighting for women long before anyone ever hashtagged Me Too or Time's Up, and she's the subject of a new Netflix documentary Seeing Allred. She reveals how her own personal experience inspired to fight for victims assault, harassment, and discrimination. She addresses critics who say she just does it all for the publicity, and explains that for many of her clients such as the Cosby accusers, a "trial" in the court of public opinion may be the only justice they can get...
Feb 26, 2018•45 min
20 years ago comedian Ali Siddiq served six years in the Texas state penitentiary, and now he’s returning to the cellblock for his new Comedy Central standup special Ali Siddiq: It’s Bigger Than These Bars. On today’s podcast, Ali talks about the incident that landed behind bars, and why he says “mental prison” is far worse than physical prison. He discusses how he started his comedy career by telling funny stories to his fellow prisoners, how he convinced the Bell County Jail to let him back in...
Feb 22, 2018•48 min
Malcolm McDowell has starred in over 260 films and television shows from classics like Clockwork Orange to his latest role as an egotistical conductor on Mozart in the Jungle. He shares stories about "mostly drunken gambling and whoring" at the Royal Shakespeare Company, how he came up with the infamous Singin' in the Rain scene for Clockwork Orange, and how he got stiffed by the film’s notoriously cheap director Stanley Kubrick. The maestro discusses his strategy for conducting the symphony on ...
Feb 20, 2018•48 min
Comedians Randy and Jason Sklar talk about how they got into comedy and why they don’t just want to be known as the "twin comics." They talk about their podcast Dumb People Town that riffs on the dumbing down of America, talk about a few of the DPT characters who’ve become folk heroes to their fans, and what it says about life in the age of Donald Trump. Plus they talk about their new docu-comedy Poop Talk that uses humor to address one the biggest social taboos of all. The Sklar Brothers' new f...
Feb 16, 2018•57 min
Elan Gale, executive-producer of The Bachelor, says if you want to improve your life, be your own worst critic, not your own best cheerleader, and get to know your new best friends...shame, anxiety, and desperation. He takes on some of the most popular and meaningless inspirational phrases explaining why only narcissists believe "everything happens for a reason and "living without regrets" is a recipe for complacency. Plus Elan Gale on why Trump never learns anything, the best question to ask in...
Feb 12, 2018•49 min
Comedian Whitney Cummings talks about the humbling experience of being a first time director on her film The Female Brain, how she learned that every moment doesn’t have to be a joke, and why she says The Female Brain isn’t just for the ladies. She shares how she broke free of a cycle of co-depency once she started understanding the neurochemistry behind her bad choices and why she says it’s a lot harder to come up with jokes when you don’t have all that none-stop drama. Whitney weighs in on the...
Feb 08, 2018•48 min
David Frum, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, discusses his new book TRUMPOCRACY: THE CORRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC. He documents how Trump and his administration is steadily damaging the tenets of American democracy, warns that Trump’s military generals could become a liability to the President, and how the Trump Administration’s buffoonery may be incompetence by design with an end game of subverting the rule of law and undermining our Democratic institutions. Plus, Frum t...
Feb 05, 2018•39 min
David Cay Johnston, bestselling author of The Making of Donald Trump, returns to the podcast to say "I told you so" and discuss his new book It’s Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America. The Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist says the President who promised to "drain the swamp" has become the biggest swamp monster of all. He describes how Trump is packing government agencies with "political termites" who are eating away at the very institutions they’re supp...
Feb 01, 2018•46 min
Dr. Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic Magazine, talks about his new book Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality & Utopia. He reveals the surprising history of our concept of heaven, he proves that out-of-body experiences are nothing more than hallucinations, and he questions why reincarnated souls only seem to hang around India. He discusses why it’s unlikely that you or anyone else will ever live past 125, why utopian societies always end badly, and why scie...
Jan 29, 2018•49 min
Phil Rosenthal, creator of Everybody Loves Raymond, reveals how the idea for his new travel show Somebody Feed Phil came from a trip he and Ray Romano took to Italy, he recalls some of the cultural roadblocks he encountered when he later produced the Russian version of Everybody Loves Raymond, and talks about the places he likes to call the "world’s greatest hits." He praises TelAviv as a perfect example of food’s power to overcome all differences, says Portugal is way more than just Spain’s lit...
Jan 25, 2018•48 min
Former Secretary of State George Shultz recalls his close friendship with President Ronald Reagan, the moment he realized that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was someone the U.S. could do business with, and Reagan's Pershing missile moment as a masterclass in peace through strength. He suggests that President Trump may soon need to have a "Pershing moment" of his own, reveals what he learned in a meeting years ago with a young Vladimir Putin, and weighs in as an economist on the Trump tax re...
Jan 22, 2018•34 min
Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Greg Barker (Ghosts of Rwanda, Manhunt, Homegrown) talks about following President Barack Obama and other senior White House officials during the final 12 months of the Obama Administration for his new film THE FINAL YEAR. He reveals some of the heartbreaking humanitarian nightmares faced by UN Ambassador Samantha Power, what it was like for Secretary of State John Kerry to return to Vietnam 45 years after fought in the war there, and why President Obama chose ...
Jan 18, 2018•42 min
General David Petraeus talks about implementing the successful "Surge" strategy in Iraq, and some of the unique complexities he encountered when translating that plan to the war in Afghanistan. He discusses the fundamentals of counterinsurgency, his personal disdain for yes men, the paradox of nation building, and how a grad school dissertation on the Vietnam War helped shape his world view. Plus General Petraeus weighs in on President Trump and the return of large geopolitical rivalries. Today'...
Jan 15, 2018•46 min
ABC Nightline's Dan Harris has become a self-professed meditation evangelist ever since his infamous on-air panic attack in 2004 and today he tries to win over the ultimate skeptic...ME. He reveals how daily meditation has improved life at home and at work, he dispels some of the myths surrounding meditation, and he discusses the science behind the physical, mental and emotional health benefits of meditation. He gives a crash course in how you can begin meditating with as little as one minute of...
Jan 11, 2018•46 min
Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, reveals how helped design America's top secret nuclear war plan and why he has since dedicated his life to dismantling it. He explains why the movie Dr. Strangelove is not far from the truth, discloses that the President isn’t the only one with his finger on the nuclear button, and explains just how far down the chain of command that authority may reverberate. He reveals the potentially staggering human cost of America’s first strike...
Jan 08, 2018•41 min
Mike Duncan, host of The History of Rome podcast and Revolutions, constantly gets asked "Is America doomed to the same fate as the Roman Empire?" Today he points to some startling parallels to US current events including populist demagoguery, economic inequality, the erosion of societal norms, and debate over who deserves to be a citizen. He also offers ideas on how the American Republic can avoid the same fate as the Roman Republic before it's too late. Order Mike Duncan's book The Storm Before...
Jan 04, 2018•42 min
Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoons, talks about his new book Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter. He reveals why facts and ideology no longer matter, why Donald Trump makes what he says are intentional misstatements, and how Trump uses what he calls “linguistic kill shots” to flatten his opponents. He also weighs in why Trump’s "persuasion skills" haven’t been very effective on Congress and whether or not Trump supporters should be insulted at being manipulated by...
Jan 01, 2018•45 min
Academy Award-nominated director Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, The Martian) joins me on the podcast to discuss how he saved his movie ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD from the Kevin Spacey scandal by making the unprecedented decision to recast the role with the legendary Christopher Plummer and reshoot much of the film just 6 weeks before it hits theaters. He talks about the late billionaire J. Paul Getty, why the richest man in the world refused to pay his own grandsons’ ransom, and wh...
Dec 28, 2017•36 min
Father Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in the world. He reveals what inspired him to start Homeboy Industries, how he fosters kinship between the most unlikely of friends - rival gang members, and how more often then not it’s just a matter of getting two people in the same room. He shares how law enforcement leaders are getting involved, what he’s learned from testifying in 50 death penalty trials, and how the...
Dec 25, 2017•46 min
David Hallberg is a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre and the first American ever to be admitted into Russia's legendary Bolshoi Ballet. David talks about the discipline and dedication needed to make to the top as a dancer, the unique chemistry of partnering with the right ballerina, and the behind the scenes coaches who have passed down ballet’s greatest roles since the very beginning. He recalls his tough adjustment to life in Moscow, some of the charming age-old traditions at ...
Dec 21, 2017•45 min
Brian Kilmeade, co-host of Fox & Friends, talks about his new book Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America's Destiny. He describes a confrontation with a British officer that became a defining moment for a young Andrew Jackson, how Jackson lead an army with a bullet wound to his shoulder and dysentery, and how Jackson never deserted his men and threatened to shoot any man who deserted him! Brian reveals why New Orleans was so strategically important, how...
Dec 18, 2017•47 min
Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie served as campaign manager and deputy campaign for Donald Trump's successful Presidential campaign and they write about that wild ride in their new book Let Trump Be Trump: The Inside Story of His Rise to the Presidency. Today they talk about the man they still call "the boss," his seemingly limitless energy, and his obsession with leaks and loyalty. They discuss some of tense moments on the campaign from Trump's attack on Senator John McCain’s military service...
Dec 14, 2017•37 min
