Cliff Sims recalls his time as President Trump's Director of Messaging Strategy in a chaotic White House that he likens to "Game of Thrones with the cast of VEEP." He shares the real story behind the fiasco around Trump’s inauguration numbers, how the administration takes disorganization to a whole new level, and how many times the President’s senior staff learn of about major policy decisions on cable news. He recalls helping President Trump draft his notorious "enemies list," how he learned th...
Jan 31, 2019•39 min
Science Communicator Professor Brian Cox reveals why he left a popular rock band for a career in particle physics, what he is learning through his participation in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, and why he says the LHC has disproven the existence of ghosts. He discusses Brexit, the vital link between democracy and science, and his concern over the growing education disparity. He talks about walking in the footsteps of his hero Carl Sagan as a leading science communicator, the...
Jan 28, 2019•58 min
Award-winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Brother's Keeper, The Paradise Lost trilogy) reexamines America's most notorious serial killer on the 30th anniversary of his execution in his new Netflix documentary Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. He discusses how one of Bundy’s first jobs gave him an inside view of the flaws in America’s law enforcement system, how Bundy exploited those weaknesses to his own devilish advantage, and how it led to dramatic changes in how the FBI hunts ser...
Jan 24, 2019•44 min
says that some of his guests still surprise him even after 2000+ episodes of his #1 daytime talk show . He recalls how losing a football game in junior high school inspired him to go into psychology, what it was like to go... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 21, 2019•53 min
A year ago, Dr. Steven Pinker's book Enlightenment Now made headlines for giving hard data that proved that the world is safer, happier, and freer than ever, but he was surprised by how many people just don't want to believe good news! Today Dr. Pinker returns to the podcast to review the metrics of societal progress that continue to show that the world just keeps getting better, but he also discusses two areas that give him cause for concern. Steven Pinker ponders whether the immigration debate...
Jan 17, 2019•56 min
Howie Mandel talks about making his first comedy special in 20 years, his childhood growing up in Toronto, and how the show Candid Camera inspired him to pull an elaborate prank that got him expelled form high school. He shares how "winging it" the first time he want on stage turned into his signature improvisational style, and how he still finds much of his comedic inspiration from interacting with his audience. He recalls opening for Diana Ross in Vegas, his very first TONIGHT SHOW appearance,...
Jan 14, 2019•58 min
Abbi Jacobson opens up about the frustrations of TV development hell, playing “herself” on Comedy Central’s Broad City, and being a woman in a position of power. She discusses her ongoing struggle with work-life balance, how it took a book deal just to make her take 3 weeks off to travel the country and get over a broken heart, and how that trip taught her that “the things we’re most afraid of, are the things that will most change us.” Abbi reveals how she and co-creator Ilana Wexler got Amy Poe...
Jan 10, 2019•52 min
Brad Meltzer is the #1 bestselling author of political thrillers like The Escape Artist and The Inner Circle. Today he talks about making his first foray into nonfiction for his latest book The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington, all the research that went into it, and his initial concern that a long forgotten rumor of a secret plot to assassinate America’s founding father might turn out to be just that - a rumor. He tells the story of America’s "other Benedict Arnold" a...
Jan 07, 2019•55 min
Actor Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Rushmore) discusses how his music and poetry album New Worlds evolved out of a chance meeting with classical cellist Jan Vogler on a flight from Berlin to NYC. 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. Please subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts and visit www.kickassnews.com for more ...
Jan 03, 2019•40 min
Today's episode is a rerun of my interview with journalist Bob Woodward that originally aired 11/04/15. Bob talks about his book "THE LAST OF THE PRESIDENT'S MEN" which chronicles the White House career of Alexander Butterfield, who served as deputy assistant to President Nixon. Through countless documents and hours of interviews, Butterfield gave Bob Woodward a revealing glimpse into the disfunction, paranoia, and corruption in the Nixon White House. Woodward talks about how Alex Butterfield ov...
Dec 31, 2018•42 min
Today's episode is a rerun of an interview with Anthony Bourdain that originally aired 10/12/17. Anthony 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 trav...
Dec 27, 2018•37 min
John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan discuss their childhood love of the Laurel & Hardy movies, stepping into the shoes of the legendary comedy duo for their new film Stan & Ollie, and the transformation that allowed John to step in the famously large pants of Oliver Hardy. They share how Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's 35 year showbiz partnership was a lot like a marriage, what it was like for Steve and John to find that same chemistry (having never worked together before), and how their dire...
Dec 24, 2018•45 min
talks about hard decisions, worthy fights, and "governing by leadership instead of by crisis." He recalls growing up in Monterey, California as the first generation of Italian immigrants and warns the Trump Administration’s harsh... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 20, 2018•39 min
Paul Lieberstein (THE OFFICE) talks about his 20 year struggle with crippling back pain inspired his funny and moving directorial debut film SONG OF BACK AND NECK. He shares how the king of indie filmmaking Mark Duplass convinced him to make the movie himself rather than selling it to a Hollywood studio, how he made something as seemingly mundane as back pain visually interesting on the screen, and the complications that arise when you're directing yourself. We talk about his nine seasons playin...
Dec 17, 2018•43 min
Comedian Pete Holmes talks about his new HBO comedy special PETE HOLMES: DIRTY CLEAN, paying his dues as a comic, and all of life’s weird and wonderful questions. Pete says standup is still his first love, but podcasting is how he makes friends these days, and he believes everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should start of podcast of their own. He talks about being a brand new father, why his audiences always want him to complain about his baby, and why he’s determined not to be...
Dec 14, 2018•57 min
The legendary Tina Brown returns to talk about growing up in an entertainment family, how she got expelled from 3 different boarding schools for being a “subversive influence,” and how that same subversiveness served her well as editor of Vanity Fair. Tina talks about her 37 year marriage to the former editor of The Sunday Times - Harry Evans, and their morning ritual of having a “news buffet.” She talks about turning around The New Yorker after her successful run at Vanity Fair, how she adapted...
Dec 10, 2018•50 min
Historian H.W. Brands discusses his new book Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants. Professor Brands talks about how these three political giants crafted the Compromise of 1850 which barely held the Union together, why none of these three men was ever elected President, and how compromise went from being politics at its finest to a dirty word in today’s Washington. He discusses John Calhoun’s beliefs that ...
Dec 06, 2018•48 min
Trevor Noah talks about his new standup special TREVOR NOAH: SON OF PATRICIA and why he dedicated it to his mom whom he calls “the first comedian that he ever saw” and “most gangster human being you’ll ever meet in your life.” He discusses growing up in South Africa during Apartheid, the power of humor to fight oppression, and why he believes that hateful words aren’t nearly as important as addressing with the hate itself. He shares how the 2016 election affected his own vision for THE DAILY SHO...
Dec 03, 2018•43 min
David Priess returns to deliver a colorful political history of the schemes, maneuvers, and conspiracies that have attempted to remove unwanted presidents. He discusses the various President’s who’ve died in office of natural and unnatural causes including two President’s who some suspect may have been poisoned and a bizarre conspiracy by a cabal of wealthy businessman to overthrow President Franklin Roosevelt. He explains the 25th Amendment which allows for the President’s Cabinet and Congress ...
Nov 29, 2018•44 min
Best-selling crime novelist Michael Connelly talks about his literary hero Raymond Chandler, how he followed in the footsteps of the king of detective noir when he first came to Los Angeles, and how Chandler’s novels influenced his own writing. He reveals why he spent over two decades working as a crime reporter before diving into fiction, how he went about cultivating relationships with LAPD’s top homicide detectives, and how those sources still inform his work today. He talks about creating hi...
Nov 26, 2018•50 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...
Nov 22, 2018•49 min
General Stanley McChrystal talks about the myths and reality of leadership. He shares how he came to reassess the legacy of his military hero General Robert E. Lee in the aftermath of Charlottseville, how he personally learned that the man at the top often gets credit he doesn’t deserve, and why leaders aren’t always judged by their results. He discusses a 15th century Chinese admiral who has become the symbol for that country’s global ambitions, why he didn’t realize that Coco Chanel was a real...
Nov 19, 2018•50 min
Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Spiderman, The Grand Budapest Hotel) shares how his beginnings in experimental theater inform his acting, what draws him to independent films, and what it’s like to make his 100th movie. He talks about how his latest film At Eternity's Gate challenges the image of Vincent Van Gogh as a unappreciated mad genius and rethinks the constructs of the traditional biopic. He reveals what it was like to immerse himself in Van Gogh’s world and find his inspirat...
Nov 16, 2018•43 min
Greg Miller is one of the reporters for The Washington Post who received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for his groundbreaking stories on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, and the resulting investigations of the Trump campaign and administration. Today he shares how he cornered the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at a science conference in Washington and caught General Michael Flynn in a blatant lie about his dealings with Russian officials. He describes the almo...
Nov 12, 2018•54 min
Comedian Chris Gethard illustrates his personal and professional manifesto "lose well" with hilarious and ultimately empowering tales about his own missteps, misadventures, and public failures from the cancellation of his Comedy Central sitcom after ten episodes to rediscovering his comedic voice and life’s purpose on a public access channel. He recalls how getting miscast in a school production of Bye Bye Birdie changed his life, the time he invited a heckler on stage during his comedy set, and...
Nov 08, 2018•54 min
Roger Daltrey, founder/lead singer of The Who, discusses how the hardships experienced by Brits in WWII paved the way for the musical revolution of the 1960s, he recalls what it was like to be the poster-boys for the British “mod” movement (and why he never fully embraced the fad), and he remembers the “utter chaos” of performing at Woodstock. He talks about how he and Peter Townsend pushed each other’s creative boundaries during the making of the first rock opera Tommy, how he managed to resist...
Nov 06, 2018•45 min
Sir Michael Caine has starred in over 100 movies and won two Academy Awards, and today he shares stories and advice from his remarkable career. He reveals why he never believed in taking advice from older movie stars, why he never wanted to be James Bond, and how the 1960’s made it cool to be a young cockney in the movies. He recalls his humble working class beginnings in the projects of London known as the Elephant Castle, shares how he learned his famous discipline while serving in the Korean ...
Nov 01, 2018•37 min
Senator Ben Sasse does a deep dive into the societal shifts affecting modern American life and the roots of our political divisiveness. He talk about the outsized role politics plays in our daily lives, how "polititainment" celebrities like Sean Hannity are fueling dangerous tribalism in America, and how to build a healthier tribe of family and friends instead of political outrage. He shares recent data that indicates that Americans are feeling increasingly lonely, and explains how the digital e...
Oct 29, 2018•55 min
Anthony Atamanuik, host of Comedy Central's The President Show returns to the podcast to talk about his new book American Tantrum: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Archives, why the President wants to open his Presidential Library while he's still in office, and what kind of secrets we might find in there. He shares the reason why he stopped doing field pieces in public as Donald Trump, he delves into the strange psyche of the man, and theorizes that Trump might actually welcome news of his extr...
Oct 25, 2018•47 min
Julian Castro graduated high school a year early, won election to city council while he was still in law school, and became San Antonio's youngest mayor at age 27, before eventually serving as President Obama's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and making Hillary Clinton's short-list for VP in 2016. He talks about his family's American dream including the remarkable story of how his Grandmother fled the violence of the Mexican Civil War for America and the values that his political acti...
Oct 22, 2018•49 min
