Podcast
Here's The Thing with Alec Baldwin
Hosted by iHeartPodcasts · EN
Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin takes listeners into the lives of artists, policy makers and performers. Alec sidesteps the predictable by going inside the dressing rooms, apartments, and offices of people we want to understand better: Ira Glass, Lena Dunham, David Letterman, Barbara Streisand, Tom Yorke, Chris Rock and others. Hear what happens when an inveterate guest becomes a host.
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Becca Heller - Summer Staff Picks
2w ago00:45:38Tap to summarizeOur summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series. This week, we revisit Alec’s conversation with Becca Heller. On January 27th, 2017, Donald Trump issued the travel ban barring visitors and migrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Becca Heller, founder of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), had seen it coming. She foresaw that it would catch people in planes, turning passengers into undocumented immigrants midair. She prepared by setting up a network of volunteer lawyers who would show up at airports to help travelers being held there. On the 27th, the lawyers came, followed by thousands of protesters. The Trump administration, facing legal losses and "chaos at the airports," gave up enforcing the ban until officials could draft a new version. For a while, the good guys had won. Two years later, with a MacArthur "genius" grant under her belt, the 37-year-old Heller is strategizing about where to take refugee-advocacy next. Serious stuff, but she's still one of the funniest people ever to come on Here's the Thing. The International Refugee Assistance Project is at https://refugeerights.org/.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Richard Kind - Summer Staff Picks
3w ago00:38:37Tap to summarizeOur summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series. This week, we revisit Alec’s conversation with Richard Kind. Single-handedly redefining the term “character actor,” the accomplished Richard Kind is surely one of the hardest working people in show business. His resume is unfathomably wide and deep, with over 270 film and television credits, spanning roles that exploit his killer comedic timing, like sitcoms “Spin City” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and those that exercise his dramatic chops, like HBO’s “Luck” and the CBS procedural “East New York.” He’s an actor just as likely to appear in an Oscar-winning feature film as an animated one, to scene-steal a sketch comedy series as to star in an indie short. Kind is also a Tony-nominated stage actor, having appeared on Broadway in “The Producers,” “Funny Girl” and “The Big Knife,” among many others. Richard Kind speaks with host Alec Baldwin about the type of comedians that raised him, how he found his way to the profession after almost attending law school – and why he believes he is the “Costco of acting.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Jon Tenney Creates His Next TV Hit
4w ago00:47:24Tap to summarizeJon Tenney is a Juilliard-trained actor and director whose work spans film, television, and theater. Best known for portraying FBI Agent Fritz Howard on the hit TNT drama “The Closer”, Tenney appeared on the series for all seven seasons and directed episodes of both “The Closer” and its spin-off, "Major Crimes”. His television credits also include roles in “Scandal”, “True Detective”, “And Just Like That…”, and “The Lincoln Lawyer”. Tenney has appeared in films such as “I See You”, “The Seagull”, “Tombstone”, “You Can Count on Me”, and “Rabbit Hole”. A respected stage actor, he has performed on Broadway and at Lincoln Center in works by playwrights including Tom Stoppard and David Mamet. His latest role is on the new MGM+ comedy series “American Classic,” which was a labor of love for Tenney, who is also an Executive Producer in addition to a principal cast member alongside Kevin Kline and Laura Linney.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →From the Archives: Peter Frampton
Jun 3000:38:54Tap to summarizeThis week on Here’s the Thing, Alec talks with Grammy-winning guitarist Peter Frampton. “Sound is very inspirational to me,” explains Frampton – and it always has been: he started playing guitar before he was 8 years old. Frampton talks about his musical roots in England, playing in bands like The Preachers and The Herd. At age 14 he was playing at a recording session produced by Bill Wyman, who he says is “sort of like my mentor, my older brother.” Eleven years later, Frampton was on stage in San Francisco, recording "Frampton Comes Alive," one of the biggest selling live albums of all times. Frampton also talks about the challenges of his extraordinary success: “I don’t think anybody can be ready for that kind of success,” explains Frampton. Peter Frampton recently completed a 35th anniversary tour of Frampton Comes Alive – a DVD will be available later this year. Originally aired July 15th, 2012.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Andres Veiel and Sandra Maischberger Document the Life of Leni Riefenstahl
Jun 2300:51:17Tap to summarizeAndres Veiel is an award-winning German filmmaker, writer, and director renowned for his incisive examinations of history, politics, memory, and moral responsibility. Trained in psychology before turning to filmmaking, Veiel’s acclaimed works include Black Box BRD, Beuys, If Not Us, Who?, and Riefenstahl. Sandra Maischberger is one of Germany’s most prominent journalists, broadcasters, and documentary producers. Best known as the longtime host of the political talk show Maischberger, she has spent more than three decades interviewing world leaders, artists, and influential public figures. Together, Maischberger and Veiel made the 2024 documentary Riefenstahl, which reexamines the life and legacy of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, director of Triumph of the Will. Drawing on newly uncovered archival material, the film investigates Riefenstahl’s relationship to the Nazi regime, the enduring power of propaganda, and asks the difficult questions surrounding her artistic achievement, complicity, and legacy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →From the Archives: Jon Robin Baitz
Jun 1600:35:36Tap to summarizeJon Robin Baitz is a playwright who admits that writing plays is tricky. He’s a snob for Broadway, where the cachet and laughs are bigger. But deep down, this award-winning playwright considers it a privilege to be working in American theater at all. Alec speaks to Baitz about his Broadway debut play, Other Desert Cities, that came from a place of despair and loss—and his own personal experience writing for television in Hollywood. Originally aired June 4th, 2012.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Movie Exec Jason Fisher on the Next Phase of the Film & TV Industry
Jun 900:53:29Tap to summarizeJason Fisher is an award-winning producer, former studio executive, and founder of StageRunner. As former Head of Production at Disney+, Paramount, AMC Networks, and First Look Media, Fisher oversaw production on prestige series such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Mandalorian, and The Walking Dead and helped shape some of the most influential film and television projects of the past two decades. Originally from Connecticut, Jason graduated from Tulane University with degrees in Architecture and Fine Arts before driving cross-country to Los Angeles with dreams of becoming a production designer. This ultimately led him on an unexpected path from production assistant to freelance producer to one of Hollywood’s top production executives. Currently, Jason is the CEO and Founder of StageRunner, a rapidly growing global soundstage marketplace and media platform connecting more than 850 studios across six continents. StageRunner is also a growing media company providing daily coverage of the latest production news, virtual production infrastructure, and the AI technologies reshaping how content gets made. In this conversation, Jason reflects on his unlikely career path, the evolution of prestige television, and the forces reshaping the entertainment industry today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →From the Archives: Jacques Pépin
Jun 200:38:40Tap to summarizeHe’s worked as the personal chef for French President Charles de Gaulle, co-hosted a television series with Julia Child and has authored over 30 cookbooks. There’s simply no one in the world like French chef – and culinary icon – Jacques Pépin. The Emmy- and James Beard Foundation Award winner worked in more than 100 restaurants before becoming the Director of Research and Development for Howard Johnson’s. He then transitioned to educating the public in proper French cooking methods through his groundbreaking cookbooks like “La Technique” and his latest, “Jacques Pépin Cooking My Way: Recipes and Techniques for Economical Cooking;” as well as through his numerous television series like “Today’s Gourmet” and “Every Day Cooking.” He is also the co-founder of the culinary certificate program at Boston University and founder of The Jacques Pépin Foundation, which teaches underserved populations a path to employment through cooking. Alec speaks with Chef Pépin about how his family’s work in restaurants influenced his path, why he’s made the pivots he has throughout his career, and what a revered chef likes to eat in his downtime. Originally aired February 6th, 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →Melissa Errico: From Sondheim to Legrand and the Great American Songbook
May 2600:51:11Tap to summarizeMelissa Errico is a Tony-nominated actress, singer, recording artist, and writer. She is known for her iconic Broadway musical roles such as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and the title role in One Touch of Venus. She is also recognized from her roles on TV series such as Billions, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Law & Order, A Gifted Man, Ed, and Miss Match opposite Alicia Silverstone. In addition to her work on stage and screen, Errico is highly regarded for her recordings of musical theater classics, including albums of songs by Stephen Sondheim and Michel Legrand. Her 2018 album “Sondheim Sublime” was described by the Wall Street Journal as “the best all-Sondheim album ever recorded”. In a review for her 2024 album “Sondheim in the City”, the New York Times described Errio as “one of Sondheim's deepest-hearted yet lightest-touch interpreters.” Errico’s interpretation of Legrand’s music is equally highly praised, so much so that she was asked to write his eulogy for the Times and was the only American singer invited to perform at Legrand’s memorial at Le Grand Rex in Paris. In recent years, Errico has become a contributing writer to The New York Times and served on the National Endowment for the Arts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcribe →From the Archives: Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
May 1900:36:38Tap to summarizeJodi Kantor and Megan Twohey are the New York Times reporters who broke the Harvey Weinstein story. For five months -- perpetually in danger of losing the scoop -- they cultivated and cajoled sources ranging from the Weinsteins’ accountant to Ashley Judd. The article that emerged on October 5th, 2017, was a level-headed and impeccably sourced exposé, whose effects continue to be felt around the world. Their conversation with Alec covers their reporting process, and moves on to a joint wrestling with Alec’s own early knowledge of one of the Weinstein allegations, and his ongoing friendship with accused harasser James Toback. The guests ask Alec questions about the movie industry’s ethics about sex and “the casting couch.” Over a respectful and surprising half-hour, host and guests together talk through the many dilemmas posed by the #MeToo movement that Kantor and Twohey did so much to unleash. Originally aired January 21st, 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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