Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich reports on the Coronavirus crisis from Italy, where his wife Callista serves as U.S. Ambassador the Vatican. He offers some lessons for America from Italy’s early failure to stop the spread, some tips from what he say of South Korea’s successful containment of the virus, and his own theory of how COVID-19 made it’s way from China to Milan. He also talks about how the pandemic will affect US-China relations, how he hopes it could lead to regime change in ...
Mar 30, 2020•28 min
Vice Media’s President of Global News and Entertainment Jesse Angelo and Vice reporter Isobel Yeung discuss the move of Vice's flagship television program VICE from HBO to Showtime. Isobel talks about her groundbreaking coverage of the Syrian civil war and China’s forced detention of Uighur muslims. She shares what’s it like doing serious journalism in authoritarian nations where media is tightly controlled, and Jesse discusses the complicated process of keeping his reporters safe in those place...
Mar 26, 2020•43 min
Director Barry Sonnenfeld (The Addams Family, Men in Black, Get Shorty) talks recalls his first gig out of film school as a cameraman for adult films, working with Joel and Ethan Coen on their debut picture Blood Simple, and why you never want to receive a cake on a Coen Bros movie. Barry discusses his difficulties working with Penny Marshall on Big, how Rob Reiner taught him about something called “the silent schmuck,” and why he and Danny Devito had such a hard time convincing a studio to make...
Mar 24, 2020•49 min
Pod Save America's Dan Pfeiffer says it's not just enough for Democrats to defeat Donald Trump in 2020, but they have to defeat Trumpism in the long-run. He recalls witnessing some of the early signs of Trumpism when he was White House Communications Director under President Obama, and he explains how the Democratic party was allowed to collapse during the Obama years. Dan believes that voter expansion is the key to Democrats victory in 2020 and beyond, he suggests a host of ideas to grow the vo...
Mar 19, 2020•47 min
Hank Azaria talks about his 31 seasons on The Simpsons, a few of the 150 plus characters he’s played on the show, and some of the classic movie stars who inspired some of his popular voices for The Simpsons. Hank reveals how he came up with his distinctive sports announcer voice for IFC's Brockmire, he does his best to sell me on the great American pastime, but admits that often times Major League Baseball can’t get out of its own way. We discuss Brockmire Season 4’s dystopian vision of the futu...
Mar 16, 2020•37 min
This is a rebroadcast of a 2017 interview with John McEnroe, who talks about tennis, his famous temper, and his book But Seriously. He discusses winning his first grand slam at age 20, his life after the pros, and a recurring nightmare he has about his 1984 French Open match with Ivan Lendl. McEnroe talks about some of his famous arguments with tennis umpires, and how his temper helped his game in his younger years but he says it held him back later in his career. He’ll handicap this year’s Wimb...
Mar 12, 2020•44 min
Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Cohen tells how a child-hood basketball game first got him interested in the mystery of winning streaks, how his work as a sports writer only further convinced him that there is such a thing as being "in the zone," and what recent science has to say about it. He also describes how streaks can negatively bias everyone from baseball umpires to asylum judges, warns there’s an important corollary to the "Hot Hand" that can cost you big-time, and cautions that there’s...
Mar 09, 2020•43 min
Rob Riggle returns to shares his lifelong love of history and why he wanted to blend comedy and education for his new series Rob Riggle: Global Investigator. He discusses a few of his recent adventures from searching for the Holy Grail to diving for pirate treasure. Rob what it’s like to play a “heightened version of himself” on the show, and what happens when some fans don’t know the difference between the real Rob and his character. Plus Rob braves snakes, caves, sharks, quicksand, UFO’s, and ...
Mar 05, 2020•45 min
Actor Bryan Cranston recalls a difficult childhood and the two year road trip that changed his life. He shares some of his adventures before acting including traveling as a carny, catching shoplifters as security guard, and the time he ended up a suspect in a murder investigation. He talks about getting a crash course in comedy from Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, landing the role of a lifetime on Breaking Bad, and how he built one of the most iconic characters in the history of television. Brya...
Mar 02, 2020•54 min
Vox co-founder Ezra Klein reveals how America's political system is polarizing us and how we are polarizing it with disastrous results. He explains that the Founding Fathers planned for many things, but they did not designed a system of government that was intended to function effectively in times of hyper partisanship. He points out that politics came into being to represent deep social cleavages, but now politics is the cleavage, and our political affiliation has grown into a mega-identity tha...
Feb 27, 2020•52 min
Adam Davidson, creator of NPR's Planet Money podcast and award-winning New Yorker staff writer, says that the 21st-century economic paradigm offers new ways of making money, fresh paths toward professional fulfillment, and unprecedented opportunities for curious, ambitious individuals to combine the things they love with their careers. He talks about his father and grandfather as examples of two different approaches to work and money, and says we’re entering an economy that combines the best of ...
Feb 24, 2020•59 min
Comedian Whitmer Thomas talks about returning to his hometown to film his first hour-long comedy special at Alabama's legendary Flora-Bama Lounge where his late mother used to perform with her band Syntwister. He says his music and comedy is his way of honoring his mom, and in a way, he’s now fulfilling her dream by pursuing his own. We also discuss some of his most recent skating injuries, what it was like touring with comedian Bo Burnham, and how he went from being an angst-ridden emo kid in h...
Feb 20, 2020•45 min
Actor Scoot McNairy talks about starring in season 2 of Narcos: Mexico as a DEA agent who heads an "off-the-books" operation to avenge the death of a fellow agent and take down a ruthless drug lord. He recalls growing up in Texas, coping with dyslexia as a kid, and his early ambition to be a wildlife cinematographer. He discusses how he prepares for a role and how most of his characters are drawn from a personal friend or acquaintance. He discusses spending time with real DEA agents for Narcos: ...
Feb 17, 2020•34 min
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin talks about executive producing the History Channel miniseries Washington, some things she’s observed from watching Steven Spielberg on the set of Lincoln, and how the collaborative process of making Washington helped her through her husband's death. She discuss why she wanted to go beyond the highlights of George Washington’s life to explore the real man, and she debunks and confirms some common legends about our founding father. Doris reveals the long held person...
Feb 13, 2020•39 min
The Washington Post's DC bureau chief Philip Rucker discusses his new book A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America. He shares stories from White House insiders about the time President Trump tried to overturn the Foreign Corrupt Practices act so American businesses could bribe foreign governments, the time Trump wanted to turn a profit on the US military by turning our troops into a mercenary force, and the Pentagon meeting when Trump called his decorated generals a bunch of "...
Feb 10, 2020•46 min
In this age of insurmountable consumption of media where bad news travels fast from all directions, comedian Tom Papa wants to remind us to take care of ourselves, embrace who you’ve become, and absorb the beauty of life in his new Netflix special Tom Papa: You're Doing Great! He reveals where his trademark optimism comes from, why he rejects the cynicism often associated with standup comedy, and what he learned about being true to your comedic voice while touring with Jerry Seinfeld. He opens u...
Feb 06, 2020•52 min
Professor Allan J. Lichtman explains why he feels that it is necessary for America to repeal the Second Amendment to clear the way for sensible gun reforms and clarifies that repealing the Second Amendment does not mean that the Federal government is going to take your guns away. Professor Lichtman discusses why the outrage following every mass shooting quickly devolves into inaction by politicians, how the gun regulation lobby more effective can become more effective, and how to debunk some of ...
Feb 03, 2020•43 min
Comedian Russell Peters talks about his life as a middle-aged man dealing with health issues, relationships and fatherhood. He discusses filming his new standup special Russell Peters: Deported in Mumbai, whether he’d consider doing a Bollywood movie, and why he was exposed to black culture more than his own Indian heritage when he was growing up in Toronto. Russell recalls getting some early mentorship from the late George Carlin, becoming the first comedian to hit it big on YouTube, and how he...
Jan 30, 2020•42 min
Republican political strategist Rick Wilson follows up his #1 Bestseller Everything Trump Touches Dies with a detailed playbook for how Democrats can defeat Trump in 2020. He warns Democratic candidates that this election is not about policy but a simple referendum on the presidency of Donald Trump. He also suggests that this race will be settled in fewer than 15 states, and Democrats need to focus on winning in the electoral college instead getting lulled into a false sense of security by Trump...
Jan 27, 2020•54 min
Neuroscientist and cognitive psychologist Dr. Daniel Levitin reveals that growing old is a lot more than just a gradual period of decline and indeed we get better at many aspects of life as we age. He explains how memory really works, why online brain games probably don’t do all that they promise, and how taking up a new hobby or starting a second career could be the best thing for keeping the mind sharp. Dan debunks most longevity diets and supplements as well as a whole bunch of common myths f...
Jan 23, 2020•50 min
Seven Worlds, One Planet is a seven part television event that marks the first time that BBC Studio’s Emmy-winning Natural History Unit has explored all the planet’s continents in a single series. Executive producer Jonny Keeling, and producers Emma Napper and Chadden Hunter discuss how BBC documentaries have turned nature programming into global television events, the logistics of filming on seven continents at once, and how their first episode is hoping raise awareness and support for fire rel...
Jan 20, 2020•32 min
Director/writer Greta Gerwig discusses her Oscar nominated film adaptation of the beloved classic Little Women, how she imbued her movie with even more of author Louisa May Alcott's own personality, and why it was important for her to give a nod to the author's original intended ending. She talks about the status of female directors and writers in Hollywood, recalls a conversation she once had with a studio executive about how women talk, and how Meryll Streep inspired some of the film's most in...
Jan 16, 2020•38 min
Drs. Daniel J. Siegel and TIna Payne Bryson, the bestselling authors of The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline discuss their new book The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired. They explain what it means to really show up for your children and how your interactions with your kids shape the course of their lives and literally altering their physical brain. They discuss the latest discoveries in attachment science, some tips for...
Jan 13, 2020•54 min
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power recalls her early years as a freelance journalist covering the Siege of Sarajevo, how her Pulitzer-winning book about genocide got the attention of a young Senator Barack Obama, and what it was like for her to go from being an idealistic human rights advocate on the outside of government to working for change in the White House and at the U.N. She gives an inside account of the discussions in the Oval Office over how to handle the Syria...
Jan 09, 2020•49 min
Dan Buettner has become an expert on longevity ever since he wrote his groundbreaking National Geographic article on the Blue Zones, the five places in the world where the most people live to 100 or older. One of the key factors is diet, and Dan has been studying what the oldest people in the world eat for more than 15 years. He reveals the health benefits of dietary monotony and periodic fasting, why HOW you eat is just as important as WHAT you eat, and why you want to load up on beans and vegg...
Jan 06, 2020•46 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
Dec 30, 2019•53 min
Actor/director Tim Robbins discusses why his classic political mockumentary BOB ROBERTS is more relevant now than ever. He says Harvey Weinstein reminds him of the shady operators he knew growing up in New York’s Greenwich Village, he recalls studying real studio execs for his role in Robert Altman’s THE PLAYER, and he remembers Altman's mentoring Tim's leap from actor to director. He discusses how he funded his first play while he was still a struggling actor, how his play THE NEW COLOSSUS is p...
Dec 26, 2019•52 min
For three days in November, 1943, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met in Tehran, Iran and made decisions that would change the course of World War II. It's the subject of a new book by Fox News' Bret Baier titled Three Days at the Brink: FDR's Daring Gamble to Win World War II, and today Bret Baier shares how his latest book fits into his Three Days in History trilogy, why the Tehran Conference was so crucial to Allied victory, and how it also set the stage for the Cold War. He reveals why Stal...
Dec 23, 2019•34 min
Ash Carter and Sam Kashner discuss their new book about the EGOT-winning director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Birdcage). They talk about his early years as one of the founders of the improv group that would become Second City, the story of how Nichols joined up with Elaine May to make comedy history, and how the creative differences that broke up Nichols and May opened the door for Mike Nichols to direct for Broadway and Hollywood. They reveal how the first ti...
Dec 19, 2019•59 min
Craig Ferguson talks about his new limited series Hobo Fabulous, why he wanted to do a rockumentary-style show about his US comedy tour, and how he's ready to take a long break from the road after a 2 month American bus tour. Craig recalls that he never watched a late night television show in his life before taking over The Late Late Show on CBS, what it was like working with David Letterman as a producer, and how doing the show 5 nights a week for 10 years made him fall out of love with show-bu...
Dec 16, 2019•53 min
