Episode 1624 - W. Kamau Bell

W. Kamau Bell and Marc are similar comedians in that neither of them will ignore the current political environment in their acts.  Kamau and Marc talk about how that’s shaping up today versus how it was during the first Trump administration and what they each feel about the balance between civic responsibility and entertainment. They also talk about Kamau’s decision to play the Kennedy Center despite the Trump takeover, his five year break from comedy, and what happened after he released his documentary about Bill Cosby.

Episode 1623 - Will Oldham

Prolific singer-songwriter Will Oldham has been able to maintain what Marc calls “a haunting and elated tone” over the course of his career, whether in his collaborations with other artists or under the name Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Will talks with Marc about how his music stems from the example of his artist mother, records checked out of the library, and his Kentucky roots. They also talk about his recent album The Purple Bird as well as Will’s acting career, which launched when he was a teenager and John Sayles cast him in the film Matewan.

Episode 1622 - Don Johnson

Don Johnson’s life took him far from where he thought it was going growing up in Missouri and Kansas. But at this point, he’s confident that nearly everything he knows in life he learned from the women in it. Don talks with Marc about his wild days in San Francisco and LA, how he handled his sudden fame from Miami Vice, his friendship with Hunter S. Thompson, his career all the way up through his current show Doctor Odyssey, and his hard-fought journey toward enlightenment.

Episode 1621 - Chris Hayes

When Chris Hayes was last on the show almost ten years ago, it was a much different world. Barack Obama had just recently been in the garage and Donald Trump had just declared his candidacy for President. Making sense of that changing world is what Chris does nightly on MSNBC, but he’s also written a new book about our changing brains. Chris and Marc talk about that book, The Sirens’ Call, and our rapidly evolving relationships with attention, information, media and our phones.

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Episode 1620 - Carrie Coon

As someone from a working class Ohio family, Carrie Coon didn’t think much about acting as a plausible career path. But her post-college work in regional theater led her to Steppenwolf in Chicago, which in turn led her to Broadway, and ultimately to a Hollywood career. Carrie and Marc talk about her first movie being being a baptism by David Fincher’s unique fire, meeting her husband Tracy Letts, learning that acting is not pretending, and spending six months in Thailand for the new season of The White Lotus.

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Episode 1619 - Mo Amer

Mo Amer was new to America when he was nine years old and his brother took him to see his first standup show. From that point on, he knew what he wanted to do with his life. Then at age 17, he took advice that helped him map out his entire career. Mo talks with Marc about his love for Houston, its diversity, and its comedy scene. He also explains how he’s honoring his family and his Palestinian heritage in his Netflix series Mo and why the show had to be told from his personal perspective.

Episode 1618 - Brady Corbet

Brady Corbet spent years in front of the camera until he resigned from the job of actor. The new career he took up, that of filmmaker, has led to ten Oscar nominations for his newest movie The Brutalist. Brady talks with Marc about what made him devote eight years of his life to this epic exploration of the male ego. They also talk about the economics of being an independent filmmaker, the balance between being a collaborator and an auteur, and Brady's conflicted feelings about the creative process.

Episode 1617 - James Mangold

James Mangold writes and directs films across multiple genres, but the one style he uses as a prism for so much of his work is the American Western. James and Marc talk about how A Complete Unknown fits into the Western mold and why the placement of the camera was of utmost importance in telling this specific story about Bob Dylan. James also explains his directorial strategy and how it factored into the making of his films like Heavy, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma and Ford v Ferrari.

Episode 1616 - Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande can link one song to her entire life as a performer, from her childhood days singing for her grandpa to her life as a global pop superstar to her performance as Galinda in Wicked. That song is Over the Rainbow. Ariana talks with Marc about the constant presence of music in her life, how she developed her songwriting process, why she sought out a vocal coach for Wicked, how she protects her mental health in an emotionally demanding business, and more.

Episode 1615 - Demi Moore

Demi Moore has been a searcher since she was a kid, with intense interest throughout her life in things like spiritualism, psychology and, of course, acting. Demi talks with Marc about how she never stopped searching for herself, from her difficult upbringing through her entry into Hollywood and even during the peak of her global fame, and how this journey of self-discovery dovetailed with her Oscar-nominated performance as Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance.

Episode 1614 - Ke Huy Quan

Ke Huy Quan’s remarkable Hollywood story continues to add more storybook chapters. From coming to America as a refugee to his global stardom as a child actor to leaving acting behind for several decades to a comeback that earned him an Oscar. Now he follows that up with his name above the title of a new action comedy, Love Hurts. Ke tells Marc how all of these memories play out for him and how the vivid recent ones illuminate older memories such as fleeing Vietnam, reuniting with his family in LA, and his dejection when he couldn’t see a way to get back into acting.

Episode 1613 - Noah Wyle

Noah Wyle spent 11 seasons in a fictional medical environment on the show ER. So what made him want to return to a trauma ward setting for his new series The Pitt? Noah tells Marc the reason, which had a lot to do with what he heard from real doctors, as well as why it’s meaningful for him, as a third generation Los Angeleno, to shoot the show in LA. They also talk about Noah’s compulsion to amass memorabilia and arcane collections and whether it counts as hoarding.

Episode 1612 - Erin Brockovich

A lot of people know Erin Brockovich’s story thanks to the movie based on her legal work in a groundwater contamination case. But the story that really guided her life is one central to her Kansas roots: The Wizard of Oz. Recorded while the worst of the LA wildfires were still raging, Erin talked with Marc about the lessons she took not just from fantasy stories but from the reality of communities that turned hopelessness into action and from the clarity that can emerge in moments of crisis.

Episode 1611 - Sophie Buddle

Sophie Buddle is living in LA and doing comedy all around the United States, but since she spent most of her life in Canada, she’s in a unique vantage point to give Marc the lowdown about the country to the north that he might one day call home. Sophie and Marc also talk about go bags, crisis management, work visas, crowd work, monologue writing, and tall poppy syndrome.

Episode 1610 - Bill Burr

Bill Burr is trying to put things to bed. Whether it’s the anger he’s held onto throughout his life, or the sadness from he’s uncovered from his childhood, or even his old tensions with Marc, Bill’s been working to move on from the past. Bill and Marc talk about reaching the age where it’s time to put up or shut up, staying calm during chaotic moments, and taking stock of losing many of their peers. They also discuss Bill’s upcoming Hulu special and his Broadway debut in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Episode 1609 - Mo Welch

After evacuating her home and consoling family members who lost their house in the LA fires, comedian Mo Welch acknowledges that she’s visiting Marc’s garage while still somewhere on the trauma spectrum. But she’s not a stranger to that spectrum, nor to processing it, having just made a standup special that’s also a documentary about meeting her estranged father. Mo and Marc talk about her childhood instability and the comedy path that was her salvation.

Episode 1608 - Richard Gadd

Richard Gadd created the Netflix series Baby Reindeer as a way to work through traumatic events in his life that were hard to process. But it became equally difficult to process the runaway success of the show and the impact it had on his life. Richard talks with Marc about how his early days doing standup in the UK and writing stage shows for himself were underscored by a lack of boundaries and a feeling that something was missing inside of him. He also explains why his follow-up to Baby Reindeer is a personal gamble.

Episode 1607 - Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh’s films are known for their observant depictions of the working class, their tragicomic tones, and their improvisational construction. But there are some misconceptions about his work that Mike would like to clear up. He does so while talking with Marc about his life-changing introduction to foreign films, his method of collaboration with his actors, the difference between realism and naturalism, and some details about the making of Secrets and Lies, Vera Drake, Topsy-Turvy, Naked and his new film Hard Truths.