EP 346: White House Aide Cliff Sims Tells All
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 li
EP 345: Rock Star Scientist Professor Brian Cox
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 sci
EP 344: Filmmaker Joe Berlinger Goes in the Dark Mind of Ted Bundy
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
EP 434: Dr. Phil Says People Never Stop Surprising Him
Dr. Phil McGraw says that some of his guests still surprise him even after 2000+ episodes of his #1 daytime talk show The Dr. Phil Show. He recalls how losing a football game in junior high school inspired him to go into psychology, what it was like to go into practice with his father, and why he eventually decided to go from getting into the minds of his patients to getting into the minds of juries as a trial consultant. He explains how that put him into contact with Oprah
Ep 342: Dr. Steven Pinker Says Good News Is a Hard Sell
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 at 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
EP 341: Howie Mandel's Audience Is His Muse
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 from high school. He shares how "winging it" the first time he went on stage turned into his signature improvisational style, and how he still finds much of his comedic inspiration for interacting with his audience. He recalls opening for Diana Ross in Vegas, his very first TONI
EP 340: Broad City's Abbi Jacobson on the Road Trip as Therapy
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 Il
EP 339: Brad Meltzer on the Secret Plot to Kill George Washington
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 "ot
