Mad Influence

GQ & AT WILL MEDIA•rss.com

For decades, GQ magazine has convened unforgettable discussions with the world’s leading cultural figures—now that tradition takes a new form. Mad Influence, hosted by GQ’s Editor in Chief Jim Nelson, features some of the most acclaimed actors, artists, and personalities of our time in lively and revealing conversation about the decisive moments that have defined their lives and shaped their careers. Where does inspiration come from? How are creative breakthroughs achieved? And what lessons can we learn from the feats—and the failures—of the world’s greatest performers?

Last refreshed: July 6th, 2025 at 8:40 PM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Frank Rich

One of America’s most enduring critics and essayists, Frank Rich has more recently found new success as a producer of television. As a consultant for HBO for the past decade, Rich has produced Veep and now Succession . He first rose to prominence as the theater critic at the New York Times , where he later served for many years as a celebrated columnist, driving the national conversation around politics and the media. In this lively discussion with GQ ’s Jim Nelson, Rich details his early obsess...

Dec 24, 2018•43 min•Ep. 8

Barry Jenkins

One of Hollywood’s most dazzling young directors, Barry Jenkins burst to notoriety with his 2016 film Moonlight, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was only his second feature film. Now the 39-year-old director returns with a new film that is already receiving Oscar-buzz. Adapted from the James Baldwin novel, If Beale Street Could Talk is a powerful, beautiful story of love and injustice. Here, Jenkins shares an insightful conversation with GQ’s Jim Nelson, discussing, among other ...

Dec 17, 2018•36 min•Ep. 7

Jeff Goldblum

For four decades now, Jeff Goldblum has been one of the most interesting and beloved actors in Hollywood. He’s starred in some of the biggest hits of all time (the Jurassic Park franchise; the Independence Day movies), while charming audiences in films like The Big Chill , The Fly , and The Grand Budapest Hotel . A celebrated jazz pianist, he also released his debut in fall of 2018. In this high-energy conversation with GQ’s Jim Nelson, Goldblum explains how he got started, what he learned from ...

Dec 10, 2018•44 min•Ep. 6

David Chang

One of the world’s most inventive and outspoken chefs, David Chang has been challenging culinary conventions since 2004 when he opened Momofuku Noodle Bar, in New York City. In the years that followed, he built a veritable restaurant empire that now dots the globe. In a revealing conversation with GQ ’s Jim Nelson, Chang opens up about how hard—and how rewarding—that path has been. Chang describes, among other things, what he’s learned from failure, how he’s addressed his notorious temper, and w...

Nov 26, 2018•43 min•Ep. 5

Paul Smith

He’s been one of the most distinctive and energetic designers in fashion for decades—the architect of a business empire that blends whimsy and irreverence with high style. But Paul Smith never set out to do any of that, really. In a fun and wide-ranging conversation with GQ’s Jim Nelson, Smith explains how he developed his unique habits and perspective; how he stays forever open to possibility and in constant search for inspiration. The two explore Smith’s earliest fascinations with fashion, the...

Nov 12, 2018•43 min•Ep. 4

Blondie's Debbie Harry & Chris Stein

How do edgy trail-blazers from New York’s early punk scene become pop stars, sell millions of records, notch number 1 songs in three different decades, and never lose the underground energy that made them so cool from the start? Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, founding members of Blondie, explain how in a wide-ranging conversation with GQ ’s Jim Nelson. Architects of one of the most interesting and indelible sounds in music, the two have been evolving together as artists since the 1970s. Here they...

Oct 29, 2018•28 min•Ep. 3

Damien Chazelle

The youngest winner of the Academy Award for Best Director, Damien Chazelle is only 33. But already he’s staked a claim as one of the most visionary directors in generations. His latest film First Man , the boldly-imagined story of Neil Armstrong's lunar conquest, is his grandest yet—and marks a stylistic departure from his two previous movies, Whiplash and La La Land . Chazelle talks with GQ’s Jim Nelson about his boyhood aspirations to someday make movies; about how he managed to pull off the ...

Oct 15, 2018•39 min•Ep. 2

Ethan Hawke

It’s been nearly 30 years since Ethan Hawke’s breakout performance in Dead Poet’s Society —and in that time, he’s become one of America’s most acclaimed and versatile actors. But it’s rarely been as easy as Hawke sometimes makes it look. In the first episode of GQ ’s Mad Influence, the four-time Academy Award-nominee talks with Jim Nelson about the hard choices and tough lessons that have shaped his career. It’s a funny and illuminating conversation in which Hawke explains—among other things—how...

Oct 01, 2018•52 min•Ep. 1

Mad Influence Preview

For decades, GQ magazine has convened unforgettable discussions with the world’s leading cultural figures—now that tradition takes a new form. Mad Influence, hosted by Jim Nelson, GQ’s Editor in Chief, features some of the most acclaimed actors, artists, and personalities of our time in lively and revealing conversation about the decisive moments that have defined their lives and shaped their careers. Where does inspiration come from? How are creative breakthroughs achieved? And what lessons can...

Sep 26, 2018•1 min0

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android