Alec talks with late-night legend David Letterman. Letterman describes his early days as a local TV host in Indiana, followed by time working the comedy clubs in LA. In just three years, he found himself appearing on The Tonight Show; as Letterman says, "that's not supposed to happen." Baldwin also visits Michael Douglas at his New York apartment for a conversation about what makes a great director, a smart producer, and why playing the villain is the much more satisfying part.
Alec goes backstage with comic actor Chris Rock after a matinee of The Motherf-er With The Hat to hear what it was like for Rock to be in his first play. NOTE: Please Read the Content Advisory to the right. Alec also talks with Herb Alpert, legendary trumpeter and music producer. In 1966, Alpert’s band The Tijuana Brass sold over 13 million records, outselling The Beatles
Alec visits Lorne Michaels in his office at Rockefeller Center – the same office he’s had since 1975, when he created Saturday Night Live. Michaels and Alec talk about what led to SNL, and Michaels early years doing subversive political satire on Canadian radio. Alec also talks with writer Erica Jong and her daughter Molly Jong-Fast as they spar about sex and the legacy of the feminist movement.
Alec talks with Kristen Wiig – a breakout Saturday Night Live cast member who says she loves performing, but admits there’s also a “big part of me that’s just like: don’t look at me.” Alec visits talk show legend Dick Cavett at his home in Montauk, Long Island. Over iced tea, Cavett shares memories from five decades in entertainment.
George Plimpton gives an auction winner a star-studded walk through legendary NYC eatery Elaine's; rookie reporter Lewis Lapham learns a lot about the world when he has to break some bad news to a new widow; World Boxing Light Heavyweight Champion Jose Torres defines and then conquers fear; Christopher Hitchens is deified in Ceylon. Hosted by George Dawes Green, founder of The Moth.
Flash Rosenberg’s father takes, “find a penny, pick it up” to a whole new level. Walter Mosley is moved by the way language is changed by context. Barbara Weiner describes the afternoon when she is raped and her long road to recovery. Richard Kind details proposing to his girlfriend and then waiting... and waiting for her answer. Hosted by The Moth's Producing Director, Sarah Austin Jenness.
Faye Lane is a flight attendant who is taught the meaning of gratitude by a passenger. From the pitch line, Pha Le's father is presumed dead but returns to smuggle his family out of South Vietnam and eventually to America. Wayne Reece is just starting out as a preacher when a pool hall detour opens his eyes to a whole new world. Hosted by The Moth's Artistic Director, Catherine Burns.
A special live edition of The Moth at Cooper Union in NYC, "Moth Eaten: Adventures in Food". Best-selling author Adam Gopnik and his wife have an ongoing battle about the proper way to cook meat; celebrity chef David Chang shares his anxiety about receiving, and possibly losing, Michelin Stars; comedian Lisa Lampanelli tells about her hilarious and moving stint at a fitness camp. Hosted by Moth Radio Hour Producer Jay Allison..
In this episode, Stephen Dubner focuses on an experimental procedure called the fecal transplant. This procedure is sort of combination of organ transplant and blood transfusion that may present a viable way to treat not only intestinal problems but also obesity and a number of neurological disorders. We'll talk to two doctors at the vanguard of this procedure and a patient who says it changed his life. Also: we've all heard our share of poignant and loving eulogies, but what if the deceased was a real jerk?
In this episode, Stephen Dubner breaks down the costs and benefits of going to college, especially during an economy that's leaving a lot of people un- and underemployed. The data say that college graduates make a lot more money in the long run and enjoy a host of other benefits as well. But does that justify the time and money? We'll hear from economists David Card, Betsey Stevenson, and Justin Wolfers, as well as former Bush advisor Karl Rove, who made it to the White House without a college degree.
The first part of this episode, Stephen Dubner looks at this and other examples of weird recycling. We hear the story of MedWish, a Cleveland non-profit that sends unused or outdated hospital equipment – from gauze and tongue depressors to beds and x-ray machines – to hospitals in poor countries. We also hear Intellectual Ventures founder Nathan Myhrvold describe a new nuclear-power reactor that runs on radioactive waste. Also in this hour: we look at the strange moments when knowledge is not power.
