EP 487: The Today Show's Al Roker
Al Roker returns to the show to tell stories from The Today Show and his early days in local television including how he annoyed his way into his first gig as a TV weatherman, some of his worst on-air flubs, and what he loved about doing those quirky, feel-good segments at the end of your evening news. He says every local news team has there own version of Ron Burgundy, recalls working with a young Maury Povich back when Maury was serious DC newsman, and how he once handled
EP 486: Oliver Stone on Writing, Directing and Surviving Platoon
Oscar-winning writer/director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street, JFK) discusses why he dropped out of Yale and volunteered to go fight in Vietnam, some of the horrors that he witnessed during that war, and how the black soldiers in his platoon opened his eyes to injustice and saved his life. He talks about how writing a screenplay about the experience helped him process what he had been through in Vietnam, why it took him 16 years to get Platoon made, and how the ouster of
EP 485: Jennifer Palmieri Declares Independence from a Man's World
Jennifer Palmieri served as the former Communications Director to President Barack Obama and then for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. She spent most of her career advocating for herself and for other women from "within the system," but now she says it is time from women to break from that system and rewrite the playbook in her new book She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independence from a Man's World. Jennifer looks back at the roots of the American feminist m
EP 484: Max Brooks Talks Sasquatches and Survival
Max Brooks (World War Z) discusses what a fictional Sasquatch massacre can teach us about the perils of eco-utopianism, what happens when man encroaches on nature, and those people who still refuse to wear a mask in public. Max says people in the 21st Century are exchanging resilience and know-how for technological convenience - a trade-off that may not serve us very well when we’re put to the test in a true emergency like the COVID-19 crisis. He talks about his childhood f
EP 483: Ambassador John Bolton
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
