Ambassador John Bolton reveals what he witnessed during his 17 tumultuous months as National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump. Bolton shares how he reacted to Trump’s eagerness to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, why the second North Korea summit was so hastily put together, and what took place behind closed doors in Trump’s infamous one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. He says the President rarely ever reads and recalls his frustrations at trying to educate ...
Jul 13, 2020•25 min
Adam Savage (Mythbusters, MythBusters Junior) talks about building a working prototype of Marvel’s Iron Man suit for his series Savage Builds and what it was like to fly around with tiny jet engines strapped to his forearms. He discusses how Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson helped him take to the skies in a real World War I dogfight, why Adam's attempt recreate one of World War II’s most bizarre contraptions was less than successful, and how it served as a lesson in the importance of embraci...
Jul 09, 2020•52 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 Lear...
Jul 06, 2020•46 min
This Monday June 29, the world lost comedy legend Carl Reiner at the ripe old age 98. In his honor, we’re sharing a conversation that I had with Carl in 2017. He talks about working with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows, making The 2000 Year Old Man, and directing Steve Martin in The Jerk. He also discusses his pride over his son director Rob Reiner's career, his thoughts on politics and Donald Trump, his enduring friendship with Mel Brooks, and how he stays sharp and spry well into his 90s. See...
Jul 02, 2020•42 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 ...
Jun 29, 2020•34 min
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that America overuses (and often MIS-uses) the military to achieve its strategic goals while neglecting other (and often better) non-military options. He discusses how Congress and the last 5 Presidents have allowed many of those non-military instruments of power to wither and die in the three decades after the Cold War. He suggests that the United States needs to be "less monastic and more Madison Avenue" in how we talk about the good we do around t...
Jun 25, 2020•47 min
Director Peter Medak looks back on his filming of the famously disastrous Peter Sellers movie Ghost in the Noonday Sun for his new documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers. He discusses emotional toll that working with Peter Sellers took on him, why he thought that he would be the one director who could tame Sellers, and why he wanted to revisit that painful experience all these years later. He talks about the mad genius and superstitions of Peter Sellers, and why Sellers was one only happy playin...
Jun 22, 2020•35 min
Comedian Mike Birbiglia discusses his new book The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad including the seven reasons he originally never wanted to be a parent, the lies couples tell themselves when they decide to have a baby, and the scourge of parents who try to push babies on other people. He opens up about he and his wife's initial troubles conceiving, reveals that President Barack Obama was the first person to learn that they were pregnant, and shares some pretty good parentin...
Jun 18, 2020•49 min
(, , podcast) talks about growing up in a Mennonite community in Ontario, Canada, his brief flirtation with conservatism in his youth, and how his father’s boundless curiosity inspired him to always ask questions. We delve... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 15, 2020•43 min
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace talks his five decades in broadcast journalism, following in the very big footsteps of his father Mike Wallace, what he’s learned from interviewing 7 different U.S. Presidents, and what it was like to date Walter Cronkite's daughter when he was a 16-year-old intern at CBS News. Then he discusses his new book Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World. He reveals how Harry Truman agonized over the decision ...
Jun 11, 2020•36 min
Actor Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire, The Shape of Water) discusses his new film about the complicated marriage of horror writer Shirley Jackson and literary critic Stanley Heyman, how Heyman influenced Shirley Jackson’s work, and how the filmmakers of Shirley imbued the movie with a distinctively Jackson-esque style. Michael also talks about his prolific career on stage and screen from training in mime with Marcel Marceau to working with directors like Guillermo del Toro and the Coen Broth...
Jun 08, 2020•37 min
On the 40th Anniversary of CNN, journalist Lisa Napoli discusses the founding and "wild west" early years of the upstart network that set out to change how the news gets delivered and consumed. Lisa reveals that few people to took Ted Turner seriously when he entered broadcasting and how Turner went from hating the news to founding the first all-news network in the basement of run-down former country club in Atlanta. She talks about the skeptics who questioned whether there was a enough news to ...
Jun 04, 2020•51 min
Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says America is facing a loneliness crisis. He discusses the many physical and mental impacts of feeling lonely and reveals that chronic loneliness is just as bad for you as smoking and obesity. He opens up about his bouts of loneliness during his life, how he came to realize that it’s much larger problem than he ever realized, and the U.S. Congressman who confided in him about his own struggle with loneliness. Vivek explains the difference between someone...
Jun 02, 2020•41 min
Actress Sian Clifford (Fleabag, Vanity Fair) talks about starring as Diana Ingram, the British woman accused of helping cheat Who Wants to Be a Millionaire out of a million bucks, in AMC's 3-part limited series Quiz. She recalls her memories of growing up watching Who Wants to Be A Millionaire with her own family and how the game show became a national obsession across the UK (and then all across the world). She talks about working with Michael Sheen and Matthew McFadden on Quiz, what it felt li...
May 28, 2020•31 min
David Frum, former speechwriter and special assistant to President George W Bush, talks about his new book Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy. He discusses Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, how Trump is encouraging disinformation and dangerous conspiracy theories about this deadly virus, and whether Republicans may finally get on board with voting rights reforms now that it’s a literal matter of life and death. He illuminates how President Trump’s dangerous pattern of decision ma...
May 25, 2020•55 min
This is a rebroadcast of a November 5, 2018 interview with Roger Daltrey, founder/lead singer of The Who. Roger 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 t...
May 21, 2020•45 min
Patton Oswalt recalls coming up as a comedian at the dawn of the alt comedy scene, his first gig in Hollywood as a writer for Mad TV, and his prolific side gig as a script doctor on some of the biggest box-office hits of the past two decades. He reminisces about his friendship with the owner of LA’s most famous revival cinema and his love of the films of Billy Wilder and Sidney Lumet. Then Patton discusses his new Netflix special Patton Oswalt: I Love Everything, finding love again after the dea...
May 18, 2020•34 min
Dr. Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, returns to discuss his new book The World: A Brief Introduction. He explains the foreign relations implications of the current pandemic, his concerns that the crisis may lead to more nationalism and isolationism instead of greater cooperation, and what the pandemic might mean for US-China relations. He addresses why terms like "world order" and "globalism" are such hot buttons for many Americans and why the negatives of globalism ...
May 14, 2020•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...
May 11, 2020•50 min
Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz talk about TCM's new podcast The Plot Thickens: I'm Still Peter Bogdanovich. Ben reveals that he was initially nervous to meet Peter because of a longstanding controversy involving Ben’s grandfather, Orson Welles, and Citizen Kane. Peter shares stories about his friendships with Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, John Ford, and many others, and how their advice kept him from making some rookie mistakes when he eventua...
May 07, 2020•52 min
Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley) and Ben Schwartz (Parks and Rec) talk about their improv training at Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade, the fateful day they joined forces to become the improv team of Middleditch & Schwartz, and how they still get a kick out of trying to make each other crack up on stage. They reveal what it’s like to make-up a 45 minute play as they go along, how they keep as many as 20 characters straight (and even switch characters during a performance), and wha...
May 04, 2020•44 min
Comedy writer Alan Zweibel starting his career selling jokes for seven dollars apiece to the last of the Borscht Belt standups, some of the old comedians who are still using the same material that he wrote for them 40 years ago, and his very first manager, who served as the inspiration for Woody Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose. He recalls his early attempt at performing, carpooling to clubs with a young Billy Crystal, and the night he bombed on stage but caught the attention of Lorne Michaels. He hi...
Apr 30, 2020•59 min
Wagner Moura discusses how his first career as a journalist informs his acting, what it was like to play ruthless drug lord Pablo Escobar on Netflix’s Narcos, and how he gained (and then lost) all of that weight for the role. He talks about his fascination with the late UN diplomat Sergio de Mello, playing him in the new film Sergio, and how Iraq might have turned out very differently if de Mello had lived to complete his mission there. He says working with war correspondent and documentary film...
Apr 27, 2020•37 min
Nathan Lane talks about why his fans always think he’s Jewish, how his older brother inspired him to get into acting, and some of roles he’s played on Broadway in shows like from Guys and Dolls to The Producers. He laments the that the Coronavirus could have a lasting impact on the theatre, but says that he is hoping to soon realize his lifelong dream of starring in Death of a Salesman on Broadway. He discusses starring in the return of Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, how the new season transports th...
Apr 23, 2020•46 min
Alicia Silverstone and Rob Corddry talk about their new film Bad Therapy, and how the filmmaker's own nightmare experience with a couples counselor inspired the movie. Alicia shares memories from Clueless, and stories from working with playwright David Mamet and the late Peter O’Toole. Rob talks about his original audition for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, some of the low-budget, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants field pieces that he did in the early days of the show, and why he always gets cast ...
Apr 20, 2020•40 min
Comedian Dan Whitney talks about the origins of his popular character "Larry the Cable Guy," his education in southern redneck culture while going to college in Florida, and how Larry went from being a bit he did on talk radio shows to a wildly popular stage act. He shares some of his comedic inspirations, how he tests out new jokes on Twitter, and what he does when people on social media don’t like his politics. He also discusses what touring with his pal Jeff Foxworthy and his unlikely friends...
Apr 16, 2020•48 min
Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning best-selling author and a doctor at the forefront of cancer and genetic research. He talks about a new two-part documentary that he and Ken Burns produced for PBS titled The Gene: An Intimate History. He discusses the fascinating history of the genetic research and those scientists who have worked to understand heredity. He shares how the eugenics movement set legitimate genetic research back in the early 20th Century and why, even today, the ...
Apr 13, 2020•36 min
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler discusses how his own battle to control his weight helped inspire him to write a book about the health dangers of processed foods. He explains the difference between how our bodies digest fast carbs and slow carbs and why fad diets that cut out carbs all together might not be such a good idea. David outlines the long list of diseases that can be traced to heavy consumption of processed foods, some of the tricks that the food industry employs to mislead c...
Apr 09, 2020•45 min
Actor Vincent Cassel (Ocean's 12, Black Swan, Jason Bourne) talks about joining the cast of one of his favorite TV series Westworld, playing a reclusive billionaire with a dark view of humanity, and how his character attempts to make order out of chaos. Vincent discusses how Westworld Season 3 deals with the very real problem of big data (and who controls it) and says that it has inspired him to be a lot more careful about the information that he shares on his devices. He also reminisces about t...
Apr 06, 2020•30 min
Actor Tom Pelphrey talks about playing Laura Linney's brother in Season 3 of Ozark and what it’s like to work with Jason Bateman as a director. He also discusses his upcoming role as legendary Hollywood director Joseph Mankiewicz in David Fincher’s film Mank. He recalls his early days working on the soap operas Guiding Light and As the World Turns, keeping up with the grueling production schedule of daytime television, and how it requires an actor to memorize fast and think on their feet. He dis...
Apr 02, 2020•36 min
