Category: Journalists

Janeane Garofalo & Larry “Bubbles” Brown

Winner of the American Book Award Journalist Emil Guillermo, plus David interviews an angry listener.

Janeane Garofalo stars in David’s daughter’s favorite movie Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. Janeane is one of the bravest voices of our generation. Do you need to know anything else about her? Other than we love Janeane Garofalo? There are comics who have never thrown a punch in their lives who have actually punched people for saying anything bad about Janeane. In fact I should have one of those guys on the show. Come on, do I really need to tell you about Janeane? You know her from The Ben Stiller Show, The Larry Sanders Show, and Saturday Night Live, then appeared in more than 50 movies, with leading or major roles in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Wet Hot American Summer, The Matchmaker, Reality Bites, Steal This Movie!, Clay Pigeons, Sweethearts, Mystery Men, and The Independent, among numerous others. She has also been a series regular on television programs such as Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, 24, and Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce. Garofalo is an outspoken progressive activist. From March 2004 to July 2006, she hosted Air America Radio’s The Majority Report with Sam Seder.

Also on the show Larry Bubbles Brown who holds the record for longest gap between appearances on The David Letterman Show. Larry is considered to be one of the funniest people in the world by comedians.

Emil Guillermo is an American print and broadcast journalist, commentator and humorist. His column, “Emil Amok”, appeared for more than 14 years in AsianWeek—at one time, the most widely read and largest circulating Asian American newsweekly in the U.S. The column has now migrated to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund site blog.Born in San Francisco, Guillermo is an alumnus of Harvard University, where he studied history and film, and was a member of the Harvard Lampoon. He delivered the Ivy Oration as class humorist in 1977.

From 1989-1991, he was host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He was the first Asian American male, and first Filipino American, to host a regularly scheduled national news broadcast.He has also worked as a television reporter in San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. He has hosted his own radio talk show in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Sacramento. His writing and commentary has been widely published in newspapers around the country, and has earned him national and regional journalism awards. In 2015, Guillermo received the Asian American Journalists Association’s Dr. Suzanne Ahn Award for Civil Rights & Social Justice, in recognition of excellence in coverage of Asian American Pacific Islander civil rights and social justice issues.

Guillermo is the author of Amok: Essays from an Asian American Perspective—a compilation of essays originally published in Asian Week—that won an American Book Award in 2000.

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Barry Crimmins & Jimmy Pardo

Comics Rhonda Hansome and Tom Ryan plus Professor Corey Brettschneider.
Today’s show covers Boston’s comedy scene, the Catholic Church, Matt Drudge, and Trump’s Travel Ban.

Barry Crimmins is one of American history’s greatest political satirists. Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait directed a documentary about Barry, it’s called Call Me Lucky and you can download it on all the streaming services. Louis CK just directed Barry’s new standup special it’s called Barry Crimmins: Whatever Threatens You and you can stream it over at www.LouieCK.net.

Jimmy Pardo is the host of the wildly popular podcast Never Not Funny. In addition to his comedy CDs Uno, Pompous Clown and Sprezzatura, in 2007 Pardo appeared on the comedy compilation CD Comedy Death-Ray. He last hosted the game show Race to Escape on the Science Channel.

Rhonda Handsome is an outstanding comedian BackStage Bistro Award winner and she has appeared on a few hit shows: Louie, Saturday Night Live, Caroline’s Comedy Hour, Stand-Up Spotlight, Arsenio Hall, Evening at the Improv, Showtime at the Apollo, and The Joan Rivers Show as her movie reviewer. She’s also opened for Anita Baker, Diana Ross & Aretha Franklin.

Tom Ryan has two Late Show with David Letterman appearances and currently opens for Larry the Cable Guy and Brian Regan in the U.S., and has twenty years of standup comedy experience under his belt. In addition to being the opening act for Jerry Seinfeld, Aretha Franklin and BB King, Larry the Cable Guy, Brian Regan and many more, Tom Ryan performs for corporate events and is a regular at all the top comedy clubs in the country.

Tom’s no stranger to television either having appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central, NBC’s Late Friday and Showtime’s Comedy Club Network. He now resides in New York City and recently released his first comedy CD entitled Downtime Enthusiast.

Corey Brettschneider is a Professor of Political Science at Brown University, where he teaches courses in political theory and public law. He’s also Professor, by courtesy, of Philosophy. He holds a Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Professor Brettschneider works at the intersection of constitutional law and democratic theory. He has also been a visiting professor at law schools, including The University of Chicago, Fordham and Harvard.

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BBC’s Louis Theroux

BBC Documentarian Louis Theroux’s new film is entitled My Scientology Movie. Entertainment Weekly calls it one of the best documentaries of 2017. Plus, Kelly Carlin, Dan Pasternack, Professor Corey Brettschneider and Film Critic Michael Snyder.

Louis Theroux is one of the world’s great documentarians who, for the BBC, has explored survivalists, black nationalists, white supremacists and porn stars. His new documentary My Scientology Movie is breathtaking; he joins us from London. Kelly Carlin is back, her new book a Carlin Home Companion is now out in paperback. Dan Pasternack writes for Splitsider and McSweeney’s, and is one of the world’s leading experts on comedy. As program director for IFC Dan is responsible for Portlandia, Maron and Comedy Bang Bang. Law Professor Corey Brettschneider stops by for David’s weekly lesson in the constitution, and film Critic Michael Snyder tells us what movies and TV shows you should be seeing.

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Merrill Markoe

Comedy Writer and Author Merrill Markoe is prominently featured on CNN’s critically acclaimed new history of comedy. She is a multiple Emmy award winning comedy writer who was instrumental in the creation of David Letterman’s landmark series on NBC. Merrill is also the author of several bestselling books including Cool Calm and Contentious, Nose Down Eyes Up, Walking In Circles Before Lying Down and What Dogs Have Taught Me. Howie Klein is the founder and treasurer of the Blue America PAC which raises money for progressive candidates and writes the Down With The Tyranny Blog.

On our show Merrill talks dogs, dogs and more dogs. And Trump, gall bladders, mothers, and dogs. Howie talks special elections coming up and whose head will soon be on a stick outside the White House.

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Chuck Klosterman & Kevin Avery

Also Frank Conniff, Professor Corey Brettschneider, and Comedian Erik Bransteen.

Author Chuck Klosterman tells us why Chuck Berry will one day become synonymous with Rock. Kevin Avery describes the worst bomb in comedy history. Frank Conniff on his cats. Professor Corey Brettschneider on Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s recent pick for the Supreme Court. Comic Erik Bransteen on surviving Trump.

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Keith and The Girls 12th Anniversary

Also Comic Judy Gold and Novelist Jerry Stahl. It’s another powerhouse episode. Keith and The Girl started their podcast on March 7, 2005. For 12 years, five days a week, they have delivered one of the funniest and most authentic shows in podcast history. Subscribe to their podcast immediately! Judy Gold hosts Kill Me Now her weekly podcast. Jerry Stahl is the author of Permanent Midnight, and has just finished up a six-part series for Vice A Tour From Hell about his recent 14-day holocaust bus tour.

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