Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchDjango Gold: The Comedian Who Wants to Dim Your Shine
In a special Christmas Eve edition, Mike brings you a "gift" from the comedy vault: an interview with the brilliantly off-kilter Django Gold. A veteran of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The O…
Published on 23 hours ago
Thomas Chatterton Williams: Why the Summer of 2020 Wasn't Inevitable
Thomas Chatterton Williams joins to discuss his new book, The Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse. He argues that the racial reckoning of 2020 was not an inevit…
Published on 1 day, 23 hours ago
Quico Toro: "Charlatans Burrow Into Your Life and Don't Leave."
Quico Toro joins to discuss Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Hucksters Bamboozle the Media, the Markets, and the Masses, distinguishing the "parasitic" nature of the charlatan from the hit-an…
Published on 2 days, 23 hours ago
Rob Reiner: "I Just Viewed My Child in Pain"
In light of the recent tragedy, Mike unlocks a 2016 interview with the late Rob Reiner. It is a conversation that now plays differently: Reiner discusses his film Being Charlie, which was written by …
Published on 5 days, 5 hours ago
Jay Jurden: High Profundities Per Minute
Comedian Jay Jurden explains why nine years of theater training is his "superpower" on the stand-up stage—and why he treats every punchline like a line of dialogue rather than a personal diary entry.…
Published on 5 days, 23 hours ago
Nicholas Wright: When Ancient Brains Meet Modern War
Neuroscientist Nicholas Wright explains why big powers "lose" wars they dominate on the kill ratio—and why counterinsurgencies (Vietnam, Afghanistan, maybe Iraq) reliably punish the side with less at…
Published on 6 days, 23 hours ago
James Clyburn: "The World Would Much Rather See a Sermon Than Hear One."
Clyburn discusses The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation, explaining how Reconstruction-era Black lawmakers navigated power, compromise, and backl…
Published on 1 week ago
Mikhail Zygar: From Glasnost Whiplash to Social-Media Smog
Russian journalist in exile Mikhail Zygar traces an information system so sealed even Gorbachev couldn't get the facts in The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia's Short-Lived Victory Over Totalitarianism…
Published on 1 week, 1 day ago
Chris Dalla Riva: "Billboard's become a Christmas chart."
Data journalist Chris Dalla Riva brings charts, facts, and plenty of fight to Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us About the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves, a tour through every Billboard Hot 1…
Published on 1 week, 2 days ago
Finding the Next Terry Gross with Daniel Oppenheimer
In this special Saturday edition, Mike sits down with Daniel Oppenheimer of Eminent Americans to tackle a high-stakes question: Who is worthy of the Fresh Air throne? They dissect the craft of interv…
Published on 1 week, 5 days ago