Mr. Media Interviews By Bob Andelman

Today's Guest: Ben Linden, musician, Fools Rush In Australian-based band Fools Rush In If I talk to someone from Australia or England, it’s pretty easy for each of us to think, “That guy’s from London” or “That guy’s from Down Under.” But when that same person sings, the accent largely disappears What’s up with that? BEN LINDEN podcast excerpt: "It's interesting turning up at show and people say, 'Where's the fourth member of the band? Can you get the girlfriend off the stage!' Actually, she's not one of the girlfriends; she's the guitar player. And she's a bit of a shredder. She shows a bunch of the boys up."  Order the CD from Amazon.com by clicking the CD cover above! Anyway, I always enjoy introducing Mr. Media listeners to new music and tonight is one of those shows. Joining me in a moment is Ben Linden of the Australian band, Fools Rush In. Why is Fools Rush In being featured over a thousand other bands? It’s not complicated: I heard some cuts from their album, Chase The Sun, liked them and decided to

Today's Guest: Regina King, actress, "Southland," "American Crime," "The Leftovers" Regina King starred as Detective Lydia Adams on "Southland," first on NBC, then on TNT. Order 'Southland: The Complete Second, Third and Fourth Seasons' starring Michael Cudlitz, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the DVD above! Regina King plays Lydia Adams, a dedicated daughter and detective in NBC's new drama series "Southland." But like her partner on the show, Tom Everett Scott, she comes to “Southland” best known from an armload of successful film roles including the Oscar-nominated film Ray and the antithesis of that film but a favorite of mine nonetheless, Daddy Day Care. Her most memorable role may have been as Cuba Gooding Jr.'s wife, Marci, in Jerry Maguire. Regina King Twitter • Wikipedia • IMDB • Order Southland: The Complete Second, Third and Fourth Seasons from Amazon.com Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As A Stand-up in the 1980s Comedy Boom by Ritch Shydner. Order your copy today by clicking on the

Today's Guest: Jeff Kreisler, comedian, author, Get Rich Cheating Order 'My Wall Street Journal,' a parody available from Amazon.com by clicking on the cover image above!   Jeff Kreisler, Get Rich Cheating, comedian, Mr. Media Interviews Joining me today is one of the executive editors of My Wall Street Journal - which he will insist is a parody, but seems true enough to me. Jeff Kreisler’s name may not be familiar to you, but if you’re a fan of comedy, you’ve certainly seen or heard his work. He writes for Comedy Central’s Indecision 2008, has a syndicated business humor column and video, "Funny Money," via Jim Cramer’s TheStreet.com, is author of the forthcoming book, Get Rich Cheating, and has joined the staff and cast of a new show from the creator of "The Daily Show." You can get a taste of what we’re talking about at www.WSJParody.com. Jeff Kreisler Website • Blog • Get Rich Cheating website • Facebook • Twitter • LinkedIn • Order My Wall Street Journal from Amazon.com LISTEN! Jeff Kreisler on Mr. Med

Today's Guest: Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell, co-founders, Lebowski Fest, co-authors, I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski: Life, The Big Lebowski, and What Have You Order 'I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski: Life, The Big Lebowski, and What Have You' by Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above! There are a lot of famous uses of the word dude in pop culture. Sean Penn, as Spicoli, in Fast Times at Ridgemont High comes to mind. Or Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Party on, dude, indeed. Or there’s the landscape guy I saw this morning parked at the Quickmart who had Palm Dude sloppily stenciled on the side of his pick-up truck. But none of those three rises to the level of the Dude, Jeff Bridges, star of one of the craziest, most-layered Coen Brothers films ever, The Big Lebowski. If you’re not already a fan of the 1998 movie, you want to go out and rent it when we’re done with this edition of Mr. Media. And if you’re already a Lebowski dud

Today's Guest: Today’s Guest: Peter Mills, author, "The Monkees, Head, and the 60s"   Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with PETER MILLS by clicking on the video player above!  Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience full of teenyboppers daydreaming of meeting Davy Jones in the next life… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida! The Monkees, Head, and the 60s by Peter Mills. Order your copy today by clicking on the book cover above! There are some truly horrific movies in the history of cinema. I didn’t realize until yesterday that one of them starred The Monkees – Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith. Head, a 1968 theatrical release starring the pre-fab foursome, represents 85 minutes of my life I will never get back again. PETER MILLS podcast excerpt: "Even bvefore I started writing the book, I must have seen the film 25 times. Don't (form an opinion) on watching it one time!" What astonishes me is that anyone – not even Jack Nicholson, one of

Today's Guest: Marc Spitz, author, Bowie: A Biography.   Order 'Bowie: A Biography' by Marc Spitz, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above! (2009) Even Marc Spitz admits, in the opening pages of his new book, Bowie: A Biography, that he wasn’t  sure the world needed another treatise on the life, loves and music of David Bowie. After all, as a writer for Spin, the New York Times, Maxim, Nylon, and Blender, as well as a long time fan of the singer, he had certainly read many of the already published works. But, convinced there might be a market for a different approach, he attacked his subject with a dual purpose: first, he attempted to out-research and out-interview his predecessors, and second, he provided a personal string of thoughts and experiences to liven up the traditional chronology of who bonked who, when where and for how long. MARC SPITZ podcast excerpt: "I think my book has a real hero's journey in its narrative. You can really see David Bowie becoming the Bowie we know, fro

Today's Guest: Michael Molenda, editor, Guitar Player magazine. Order from Amazon.com by clicking the book cover above Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of folks with more hair than musical talent… in the new new media capitol of the world, St. Petersburg, Florida! My son had a guitar — acoustic — for several years but the instrument never really captured his imagination. Not, that is, until a neighbor sold us her old electric. That guitar looked cool even when I held it; but in Charlie’s hands, its capacity to astonish is infinite. There is just something awe-inspiring about an electric guitar under the command of someone who loves music and knows how to make a wood body and metal strings sing for its life. MICHAEL MOLENDA audio excerpt: "Sometimes I think guitar heroes have just been touched by angels... That all-encompassing desire to communicate through music is certainly a factor."  I think most rock fans will agree that the 1970s generation of guitarists were a special bunch. They stu

Today's Guest: Deborah Sharp, novelist, "Mama Does Time." Order 'Mama Does Time (A Mace Bauer Mystery)' by novelist Deborah Sharp, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above! In Himmarshee, Florida. And Mama’s middle daughter, Mace, an animal trapper, is pissed. That’s all you need to know to get interested in the first novel by my old friend Deborah Sharp. Deborah Sharp, author of the "Mama" series of Mace Bauer Mysteries. It’s titled Mama Does Time, and boy, does she ever. Deborah was a long-time reporter for USA Today who recently gave it all up to pursue the dream of becoming a novelist. And damned if she didn’t beat the odds and not only sell her first novel, but a second, too: Mama Rides Shotgun, which will be the second Mace Bauer Mystery. There is even a surprise caller during this show: Deborah's husband, NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders. Deborah Sharp Website • Facebook • Bio on Midnight Ink • Order Mama Does Time from Amazon.com Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As A Stan

Today's Guest: Joe Flanigan, actor, Ferocious Planet, Stargate. Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of space cowboys including Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland… in the new new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida! Order 'Ferocious Planet' starring Joe Flanigan from Amazon.com by clicking on the DVD cover above! (2011) The great thing about Syfy network TV movies is that the titles tell you everything you need to know to know that you want to watch ‘em. MegaPython vs. Gatoroid! Alien Apocalypse! Tiffany vs. Debbie Gibson! Dinocroc vs. Supergator! Who could say no to a Saturday night with those characters? JOE FLANIGAN audio excerpt: "Unfortunately the new show, 'Stargate Universe,' was not embraced by the audience. Consequently, the 'Stargate' franchise is dormant right now -- at least for the next year or two... I would like to come back to it."  As for Ferocious Planet, which debuts this Saturday, April 9 at 9 p.m. on Syfy and stars Joe Flani

Today's Guest: Mark Tatulli, daily cartoonist and creator of "LIO" and "Heart of the City." Order 'Lio: Happiness Is a Squishy Cephalopod' by Mark Tatulli from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above! (EDITOR'S NOTE: This was the very first Mr. Media® Interviews podcast, recorded January 19, 2007. We've improved the sound a bit and hope you'll enjoy discovering it!) "LIO" is the creation of Mark Tatulli, and he’s a fresh brand of weird and wonderful now appearing in more than 250 newspapers, with more adding the strip daily. If Far Side creator Gary Larson and "Calvin" creator Bill Watterson had mated, LIO is the character they would have produced. Tatulli’s brainchild, LIO, and that’s spelled L-I-O, is a young boy who combines elements of mad scientist, comic strips, science fiction, and the Adams family, and get this, LIO never speaks. MARK TATULLI audio excerpt: "It’s really a basic concept. It’s just LIO who lives with his father, and that’s basically it, and whatever I come up with. I set no para

Today's Guest: Charlyne Yi, actress, "House, M.D." Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of deaf senior citizens who thought I said “Knock-knock” instead of Knocked Up and are not so quietly telling each other jokes to which they can no longer remember the punchlines… in the NEW new media capital of the world, St. Petersburg, Florida! Order 'Paper Heart' starring Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi by clicking the DVD above! Charlyne Yi is a young woman whose name you may have heard in the past year or two, maybe as an actress in Knocked Up or Paper Heart, which she wrote, executive produced, composed music for and starred in with her then boyfriend, Michael Cera. If you watch a lot of YouTube videos, you may know her for her viral Saturday Night Live audition tape or her ongoing video exchanges with SNL star Fred Armisen—and I’ll play a sample of both later. CHARLENE YI podcast excerpt: “Everyone’s aware that there are things that need to be fixed but we’re immune to it. When I went to the Hunger Ban

Today's Guest: CCH Pounder, actress, "Warehouse 13" Joanne Kelly, CCH Pounder and Eddie McClintock of Syfy's 'Warehouse 13' (2010) When we announced on Facebook that “Warehouse 13” star CCH Pounder would be my guest this morning, listener Craig Pittman made this observation: "If she married Louis C.K. she'd be CCH C.K." Order 'Warehouse 13: The Complete Series' featuring CCH Pounder as Mrs. Frederic, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the boxed set above! Hmm, a little off topic, but it does present a certain symmetry, doesn’t it? CCH POUNDER Podcast Excerpt: "Mr. Media, you know more about Warehouse 13 than I know the back of my hand. I am so impressed!"  Anyway, regular listeners know that SyFy’s “Warehouse 13” is required viewing in our household and, while this is Ms. Pounder’s first visit with us, her co-stars Saul Rubinek (Interview 1; Interview 2), Eddie McClintock (Interview 1; Interview 2; Interview 3), Sasha Roiz (Interview) and Paula Garces (Interview) have each been on the show and Eddi

Today's Guest: Singer John Denver.   Order 'John Denver's Greatest Hits,' available from Amazon.com by clicking the CD cover above In the years that I was a pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune back in the mid-1980s, one of the best parts of the job was interviewing musicians by phone before they came to town. I always liked the conversation, the give-and-take, the challenge of engaging talented men and women who talked all day long with reporters—and no doubt hated most of it. At the end of almost every interview, the musician would invite the critic to come backstage after their upcoming show and say “Hello.” I almost never did that because I knew it was more a pleasantry than a sincere invitation. But when John Denver said to come around, I actually followed through. It was January 21, 1984, the weekend of Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa, and John was performing at the Bayfront Center Arena in St. Petersburg as part of the festivities. My mother was in town visiting that week and I b

Today's Guest: Bo Diddley, legendary rock and blues guitarist. Bo Diddley at the Long Beach Blues Festival, photo via Wikipedia (AUTHOR'S NOTE: I found this 54-minute interview with Bo Diddley from May 10, 1985 by accident after digging up the print version of the interview. The audio isn't great, but if you spent an hour with  the man, you'd want to share it, too!) "I'm the dude that Elvis Presley copied. He copied me and combined Jackie Wilson," Diddley told me. That was a memorable day for two reasons: spending an hour with Bo in Ybor City, Florida (east of downtown Tampa), the afternoon of his show, of course, but also my memories of the photographer I worked with that day, Tom Howland, who was a long-time friend and who passed away suddenly a few years ago. Anyway, this interview is one of my all-time favorites. I hope you’ll enjoy this Mr. Media “Lost Tape.”) Bo Diddley Website • Facebook • YouTube • iTunes • Flickr • Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame • Wikipedia Hours before the public would swarm in, Bo Did

Today's Guest: Alison Brie, actress, "Mad Men," "Community," "G.L.O.W." Alison Brie stars in Community Order 'Community: The Complete First Season' starring Alison Brie by clicking the DVD cover above! (2009) Alison Brie is a supporting actress on two hit series—“Community” on NBC and “Mad Men” on AMC. Not bad for a young woman whose previous acting resume is still thin enough as to include performances in community theatre shows at a Jewish Community Center in Southern California. And don’t get me wrong—I’m not knocking those credits—it’s a testament to how, when it’s your time in Hollywood, the knocks on the door can come fast and furious. ALISON BRIE Audio Excerpt: "Our producers on 'Community' are big fans of 'Mad Men' and were very gracious to let me continue to recur on that show and I hope it works out for season four." Her big break came in the first season of “Mad Men,” on which she plays “Trudy Campbell,” wife of ambitious silver spooner Pete Campbell. Pete hasn’t quite figured out married life ye

Today's Guest: Michael Cudlitz, actor, "Southland," "The Walking Dead." Actor Michael Cudlitz played Officer John Cooper on the entire run of 'Southland' on NBC and TNT. Order 'Southland: The Complete Second, Third and Fourth Seasons' starring Michael Cudlitz, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the DVD above! I’ve always watched a good deal of TV cop shows. "Hill Street Blues" was must-see TV in our house; I even watched the "Dragnet" remake with Ed O’Neil, who played Al Bundy on "Married… With Children." But the whole "Law & Order" and "CSI" thing never much appealed to me. Seems like every time I tried to watch, the plots revolved around brutal things happening to kids. Once you become a parent, you have enough nightmares about your children. I didn’t need TV adding to it. This season, however, I’ve been drawn to three cop shows that are more in the pre-Law & Order mode: "Castle" and "The Unusuals" on ABC and "Southland" on NBC. Joining me is one of the stars of "Southland," Michael Cudlitz.

Today's Guest: Milo Ventimiglia, Adrian Pasdar, actors, "Heroes" [caption id="attachment_14315" align="aligncenter" width="600"] September 25, 2009: Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar (Fame Pictures, Inc - Santa Monica, CA, USA - +1 (310) 395-0500)[/caption] Heroes: The Complete Series starring Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar. Order your copy today by clicking on the DVD boxed set above! (2009) Tonight, the final episode of “Heroes” season 3 airs and I’ve got a special treat for you. Joining me today are not one but two stars of the show: the Petrelli brothers, Peter and Nathan, played by actors Milo Ventimiglia and Adrian Pasdar. Wondering what’s going to happen? Listen to this preview of the action. SPOILER ALERT! If you don't want to know what happens ahead of time, better listen AFTER you watch the season finale because, for some reason, Adrian and Milo give it all away here! This is Milo’s second visit to Mr. Media. If you missed his first, or any of my other "Heroes" interviews, check out the links

Today's Guests: Roy Thomas and Danny Fingeroth, former Marvel Comics editors, co-authors, The Stan Lee Universe. Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of former Marvel Comics editors lounging around in their Spidey Underoos… in the NEW new media capital of the world, St. Petersburg, Florida! Order 'The Stan Lee Universe' by clicking the book cover above! Every Marvel Comics fan knows the names Roy Thomas and Danny Fingeroth, curators of a new book, The Stan Lee Universe. Both have been editors at Marvel Comics during its long and storied history and both have gone on to establish their credentials as comics industry historian. And both will be joining us in a moment. ROY THOMAS audio excerpt: "Stan really worked almost every way you could image during the Marvel Era -- except maybe a full script! He did everything from a detailed plot for the early Fantastic Four to a little conversation over the phone for five to 10 minutes to telling somebody, 'Why don't we make Doctor Doom the villain?'" You

Today's Guest: Deborah Calla, screenwriter, producer, A Beautiful Life A Beautiful Life starring Bai Ling. Order your copy today by clicking on the DVD above! I haven’t spoken with her yet, but my sense is that Deborah Calla, who produced and co-wrote the new indie film A Beautiful Life, feels a strong connection to the lead character of Maggie. It’s just a sense, but the character of Maggie, a teenage girl running away from the sexual abuse of her father, doesn’t seem like an emotional story you would want to participate in telling unless it really spoke to your soul. Of course, I could be completely mistaken. Calla, a Brazilian native, first discovered Wendy Hammond’s play, Jersey City, back in 1996. It took a long time to translate Jersey City into A Beautiful Life, but I’m sure there is an audience out there for this alternately harsh and yet tender slice of modern life. DEBORAH CALLA podcast excerpt: "I think this is the best work Bai has ever done. This is a woman who looks amazing with makeup on, ama

Today's Guest: Michelle Borth, actress, "Tell Me You Love Me," "Hawaii Five-0"   Michelle Borth (2007) The ironic thing about Michelle Borth’s role as Jamie, a woman whose fiancé won’t commit to monogamy in the new HBO series "Tell Me You Love Me," is that she is the kind of sexy, intoxicating woman that could probably drive the best-intentioned married man to cheat on his wife. BOB ANDELMAN/Mr. MEDIA: I was fascinated watching the show. It was very unlike anything I think I’ve ever seen, even on HBO. MICHELLE BORTH: Well, that’s a huge compliment. Thank you. ANDELMAN: How was this show pitched to you, and what was your first reaction to it? BORTH: It was pitched to me about three years ago, during pilot season, and it was very much what you would think. It was proposed to me as this really graphic show, and that that was something I should know before going into it. And I was like, “Okay, well, let me read it.” And I read the pilot, and I was floored. I was really floored by it because I personally really