EP 331: David Priess Reveals How to Get Rid of a President
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 Presidents 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
Author Michael Connelly on Cops, Crime Reporting, and Classic Noir
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 t
Dan Rather on the Values That Unite America
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. 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 America. He t
General Stanley McChrystal on Myths and Realities of Great Leaders
General Stanley McChrystal talks about the myths and reality of great leaders. He shares how he came to reassess the legacy of his own 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 realiz
EP 328: Willem Dafoe on Art, Acting and "Embracing the Mystery"
Oscar-nominated Actor Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Spiderman, The Florida Project) shares how his beginnings in experimental theater inform his acting, what draws him to independent films, and what was 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 f
EP 327: Washington Post Reporter Greg Miller on Trump, Russia, and the Assault on the Free Press
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.
EP 326: Comedian Chris Gethard on the Art of Losing
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 durin
EP 325: Roger Daltrey on The Who, Woodstock, and his Rock 'n Roll Life
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 posterboys for the British “mod” movement (and why he never fully embraced that 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
EP 324: Sir Michael Caine on Old Movie Stars, Young Cockneys, & a Few Life Lessons
Legendary actor Michael Caine 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 used to believe 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 di
