December - 2020

EP 525: Comedy Writer Bess Kalb Buries 2020

After eight years as a comedy writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Bess Kalb recently wrote and produced a new comedy special that "eulogizes" the year 2020. Yearly Departed is available on Amazon Prime Video beginning 12/30. Bess comes on the podcast to talk about her own trials and tribulations over the past year, including a recent Covid-scare at the pediatrician, how she finds catharsis through laughter, and how that inspired her to bid adieu to 2020 with a rollicking roast-st

EP 524: Joel McHale Rings in the New Year

Joel McHale (Community, The Soup) shares his excitement for his first time co-hosting a New Years Eve special and how he’s looking forward to relentlessly roasting his pal Ken Jeong for a full three and half hours on Fox’s New Year’s Roast & Toast 2021. Joel reveals why he and Ken just can’t quit each other and the origins of their recent pandemic themed podcast The Darkest Timeline. We also discuss how Netflix has breathed new life into Joel and Ken’s series Community, wha

EP 523: Loudon Wainwright III and Vince Giordano Celebrate the Great American Songbook

Loudon Wainwright III is best known as a folk singer and songwriter, but now he is lending his unique interpretation to the music of the great American songbook on a new album that he recorded with big band bandleader Vince Giordano and his Nighthawk Orchestra. They talk about their deep affection for the music of composers like Irving Berlin and Rodgers & Hart and some of their favorite tracks from their album I’d Rather Lead a Band. Loudon recalls fond memories of his fa

EP 522: Hilary Swank and Deon Taylor Revive Noir

Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank and filmmaker Deon Taylor talk about their new film Fatale and their love of classic film noir directors from Alfred Hitchcock to Brian Depalma. Hilary explains what drew her to finally play an antagonist on screen and how she found a way into that character that strikes right at the heart of worst fears and most basic instincts. Plus we talk about expanding the range of female villains beyond shallow "psycho woman" roles and the social re

EP 521: Michael Eric Dyson on Reckoning with Race in America

Bestselling author, professor, and leading public intellectual Dr. Michael Eric Dyson talks about his decision to address race in America through a series of letters to black martyrs, why we all know the name George Flloyd, but we might not know the name Elijah McClain, and how he’s seeking to educate white people about the centuries violence against blacks that have led up to this moment in his new book Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America. He explains the origi

EP 520: Jon Hamm on Mad Men, SNL, and the Luck of the Irish

Jon Hamm talks about making his first trip to Ireland for his new movie Wild Mountain Thyme, filming in the ancestral hometown of President-elect Joe Biden, and why he was blissfully relieved that he didn’t have to attempt an Irish accent. Jon recalls his childhood growing up in St. Louis, the unusual side job he had when he was starting out as a struggling actor, and the deadline he gave himself to make it in Hollywood. Jon discusses the lengthy audition process for the ro

EP 519: The Doors Drummer John Densmore

In his more than 50 years in music, drummer John Densmore has played with and gotten to know some of the greatest musicians of our time, from Janis Joplin and Paul Simon to Ravi Shankar and Willie Nelson, as well as some inspiring non-musicians from the Dalai Lama to screenwriter Joseph Campbell. He has managed to learn something from many of those interactions - lessons he writes about in his new book THE SEEKERS: MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MUSICIANS (AND OTHER ARTISTS). Joh

EP 518: My Podcast with André

Acclaimed actor, writer, and theatre director André Gregory joins me on the show to talk about his unusual life from his Jewish father’s possible collaboration with the Nazis and his mom’s affair with Errol Flynn to the 14 year rehearsal for his production of Ibsen’s The Master Builder and the time the local Sheriff escorted him out of his own repertory theatre and dumped him across the state line in the middle of nowhere. We get into his longtime collaboration with actor/wr

EP 517: Chef Magnus Nilsson

In 2019, Chef Magnus Nilsson closed Fäviken, his one-of-a-kind Michelin-starred restaurant in remote Sweden at the peak of its success. He shares how Fäviken became one of the top restaurants in the world, how the industry it was a part of has changed, and why he eventually elected to pursue new projects. He talks about his reliance on fresh local seasonal ingredients, the difference between great produce and "exceptional produce," and why he’d rather eat an exceptional car

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