A mixed bag today. First up is a new limited podcast about Nancy Pelosi called The Speaker: Trailblazer. Lightning rod. First woman Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi never intended to run for office — but in 1987, a twist of fate thrust her into San Francisco’s political arena. In Congress, she seized power and … Continue reading Nancy, Reversals, and Pepper
Podcasts
Forget Me Not
Here’s a second Graham Norton post right after yesterday’s, but if you haven't listened to or watched this episode of Wanging On, I wanted to bring it to your attention. Now that his chat show has resumed, Maria asks him about it and he reveals that without the teleprompter he’s apt to forget the names … Continue reading Forget Me Not
The One With Aaron Sorkin
The guest on episode 753 of Scriptnotes is the legendary Aaron Sorkin, known for A Few Good Men, The West Wing, The Social Network and the forthcoming The Social Reckoning. John and Aaron discuss several of his most famous works and even take apart individual scenes. Then the topic turns to the forthcoming film and … Continue reading The One With Aaron Sorkin
Dilemmas, Diets, and Dick
Here are some recommendations for podcasts and videos that have lately become available. First up is a recent episode of Wanging On with Graham Norton and Maria McErlane. Graham has an anecdote about his first show on the BBC being interrupted when the pope died, and then he and Maria field dilemmas from a mother who … Continue reading Dilemmas, Diets, and Dick
Alan, Angie, and Clarke
There are a couple of recent Fresh Air episodes that I want to highlight. First, there’s a retrospective episode of interviews from several years ago with Alan Cumming and Angela Lansbury. Cumming talks about his appearance in Caberet among other things, and the Lansbury interview is from 1980, so she’s talking about her role in Sondheim’s … Continue reading Alan, Angie, and Clarke
The One with David E. Kelley
David E. Kelley has been responsible for more TV shows than just about other single writer-producer. From LA Law (created by Steven Bochco) to The Practice to Ally McBeal to Boston Legal to Chicago Hope to Harry’s Law to Love and Death to The Lincoln Lawyer to Big Little Lies to— The list goes on. … Continue reading The One with David E. Kelley
Smile
There’s something that Graham Norton and I have in common. We each hate it when someone tells us to smile. Thankfully it hasn’t happened to me recently, because now I would most likely growl at anyone who had the temerity to say that to me, but it used to occur on a semi-regular basis years … Continue reading Smile
More Short Takes
There is a bonus episode of the Pluribus podcast featuring Rhea Seehorn and Carol Burnett. It has absolutely nothing to do with the show; it’s simply those two fine women exchanging embarrassing and hilarious anecdotes. Give it a listen: “Carol” and Carol: A Conversation I’ve heard Carol Burnett tell the story about her performance in The … Continue reading More Short Takes
How Do You Get To Silent Night?
Of all the pointless wars ever fought The Great War, or World War I as it eventually became known, was one of the most pointless. On the first Christmas Eve, 1914, during a lull in the fighting, with German troops on one side of the trench and French and British troops on the other, the … Continue reading How Do You Get To Silent Night?
The Subway Vigilante
When I was going to New York City fairly frequently during the 1970s and into the early 1980s to see Broadway shows, concerts, and operas, the city was going through one of its worst eras. Street crime was rampant and the murder rate was climbing practically every year. Two of the worst areas for crime … Continue reading The Subway Vigilante