Silicon Valley is known for its young billionaire entrepreneurs, catered lunches, in-house yoga classes and Whiskey Wednesdays. Writer Anna Wiener worked at several start-ups where she had a front row seat to the industry’s culture. Men have always done a lot better than women in tech who earn less than their male colleagues and have a harder time getting to the top.
Read MoreEpisode 58: Elizabeth Kolbert
Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Elizabeth Kolbert has watched an invasive species of Asian carp jump 10 feet into the air when they’re shocked. She’s gone to the Mojave Desert to see how researchers are trying to save tiny little pupfish. And she’s traveled to the Great Barrier Reef to see coral that’s turned as white as a ghost because of rising water temperatures.
Read MoreEpisode 57: Gabriel Byrne
You probably know Gabriel Byrne as an accomplished actor from Ireland who’s appeared in more than 80 films. But before Byrne took to the stage he had a series of odd jobs like being a plumber and a petty thief. Byrne was 40 before he appeared in his first American film Miller’s Crossing.
Read MoreEpisode 56: David Duchovny
David Duchovny spent 9 years investigating paranormal phenomenon on the X-Files, the series that turned him into a star in the 90s. The actor also has other passions. He’s written 4 novels in the past five years. His latest is called Truly Like Lightning.
Read MoreEpisode 55: Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is one of those people who’s bigger than life. He’s a self-made billionaire whose father worked in an upholstery shop. Cuban started buying and selling companies when he was in his 20s in the heart of the Internet boom. Then he moved on to sports, acquiring the Dallas Mavericks and winning an NBA championship.
Read MoreEpisode 54: Roman Mars
Roman Mars likes to tell stories. He tells lots on them on his podcast 99% Invisible which is about design and architecture. For instance, you may find those inflatable figures waving around at gas stations annoying. Mars says the creator was actually a puppeteer who made them for the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
Read MoreEpisode 53: Garry Trudeau
He’s the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer Prize. The recognition was for Doonesbury which is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary. Garry Trudeau captured the counter culture by creating characters like the aging hippie Zonker and the feminist lawyer Joanie Caucus. He also got a jump on writing about another aspect of American life: the rise of Donald Trump.
Read MoreEpisode 52: David Sedaris
One of his most famous stories describes the Christmas David Sedaris dressed up as an elf when he worked at Macy’s Santaland. His monthly appearances on NPR recounting zany adventures, led to his first book contract. Since then, Sedaris has written many books that have sold more than 12 million copies.
Read MoreEpisode 51: Ethan Hawke
60 films, been nominated for 4 Academy Awards and written 3 novels. And that’s probably all before breakfast. Hawke was 19 when he landed his breakout role in the Dead Poets Society starring Robin Williams. Then came the Sunset trilogy that began a life-long collaboration with the director Richard Linklater. Now Hawke is starring in The Good Lord Bird, a passion project that he’s worked on for years.
Read MoreEpisode 50: Jonathan Lethem
He’s the best-selling author of books like Motherless Brooklyn. His latest is The Arrest, about a world in which technology stops working. Jonathan Lethem is a storyteller who mixes genres like hard-boiled crime novels, post-apocalyptic science fiction and superhero comics.
Read MoreEpisode 49: Edie Falco
She’s had great roles on Broadway, in film and on television. Early in her career, Edie Falco appeared on Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Streets. She played a prison officer in Oz and the drug-addicted Jackie Peyton on Nurse Jackie. But Falco’s breakout role was starring as Carmela Soprano, the long-suffering wife of mob boss Tony Soprano on The Sopranos.
Read MoreEpisode 48: Jane Fonda
She’ll be 83 in December and you’d have to say that Jane Fonda has lived about as full a life as anyone on this planet. Born to Hollywood royalty, Jane became a star in her own right taking home 2 Academy Awards for Best Actress. She was also an exercise guru with those best selling workout videos. And then there’s Jane the activist who’s passionate about fighting climate change.
Read MoreEpisode 47: Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor has scored a number of firsts. She was the first woman to win a Tony award for Best Direction of a Musical, The Lion King, which has earned more money than any entertainment title in box office history. Taymor is also known for her magical use of puppets and masks.
Read MoreEpisode 46: Dr. David and Caitlin Fajgenbaum
When David Fajgenbaum was 25, he went from being a monster athlete to death’s door. Fajgenbaum found out he had a potentially fatal disease called Castleman which was attacking his immune system. The doctors couldn’t help him so Fajgenbaum found his own treatment.
Read MoreEpisode 45: Katie Hill
What happens when nude photos of you begin showing up on swinger websites? If you’re a 31-year old Congresswoman in your first term, you give up your dream job and resign. At least that’s what Katie Hill did. In her book “She Will Rise,” Hill says she was the victim of revenge porn by her estranged husband.
Read MoreEpisode 44: Gary Hart
It’s been more than 3 decades since former Senator Gary Hart dropped out of the race for President. Hart has earned a PhD in Politics at Oxford and has written more than 20 books including 5 novels and a biography of James Monroe.
Read MoreEpisode 43: Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone has a reputation as one of Hollywood's bad boys … the ultimate risk taker. He’s opinionated. He can be brash as well as arrogant. But Stone has also been called one of the great directors of his generation for making Vietnam films like Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, movies which earned him Academy Awards for Best Director.
Read MoreEpisode 42: Alice Waters
Sometimes you meet someone who is so dedicated, so inspired by an idea that it practically knocks you over. In the 1960s, Alice Waters got inspired by organic food and the farmers who grow it when she opened her iconic Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California. Known as a pioneer of the farm to table movement, Waters has dedicated her life to the idea that the land is sacred and so is the food you grow on it.
Read MoreEpisode 41: Robert Reich
With the virus breathing down our throats, poor leadership in Washington and a big racial divide to bridge in this country, I needed inspiration. That’s when I decided to reach out to Robert Reich.
Read MoreEpisode 40: Alan Zweibel
He started out writing jokes for Borscht Belt comedians for $7 a piece. Then Lorne Michaels hired Alan Zweibel to be a writer on the first season of Saturday Night Live. That’s where he met Gilda Radner and they created memorable characters like Emily Litella and health reporter Roseanne Roseannadanna who often had disgusting things to say.
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