PODCAST · news
Kickass News
by Kickass News
Hosted by Hollywood producer and political media strategist Ben Mathis, KickAss News is a twice weekly podcast that features the most interesting personalities and thought leaders in politics, entertainment, tech, business, science, and more. Enjoy the podcast? Then please support the show and help keep us on the air by making a donation to our GoFundMe campaign at www.gofundme.com/kickassnews. Another way you can support the show is to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on iTunes to help keep us ranking strong on the top podcasts charts. For more information visit www.kickassnews.com. Thanks for listening!
Episodes
-
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on Ernest Hemingway
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick come back to the podcast to discuss their new 3-part documentary on Ernest Hemingway. They share their own memories of the first Hemingway books they ever read, the challenges of getting to the real person behind the legend, and what it was like to re-examining some of…
more -
Comedian Jo Koy
Comedian Jo Koy talks about growing up as a biracial military brat, his mom’s immigrant hustle, and his first taste of the spotlight as a childhood Michael Jackson impersonator. He recalls selling tickets door to door for his first comedy show, encountering racism in Hollywood, and how he's now...
-
Melissa Bernstein of Melissa & Doug Toys
Melissa Bernstein co-founded the wildly successful toy company Melissa & Doug. You might think that this happily-married mother of 6, who has created over 5,000 toys which have sold over a billion dollars, is always chipper and full of positivity, but Melissa reveals that many days she wonders if...
-
Admiral James Stavridis and Novelist Elliott Ackerman
Former commander of NATO Admiral James Stavridis and decorated Marine and novelist Elliott Ackerman envision how a naval clash between the US and China in the South China Sea could lead to World War III in their disturbingly plausible work of speculative fiction titled 2034: A Novel of the Next...
-
A Huge Announcement from Kickass News
It's official! We're launching a brand new podcast network called Airwave this May! In addition to Kickass News, Airwave will be the new home for many of your other favorite podcasts. Airwave will also debut over a dozen original shows hosted by some of the leading thought leaders and…
more -
Walter Isaacson on the Next Scientific Revolution
Bestselling author Walter Isaacson (Jobs, Leonardo DaVinci) shares how Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jennifer Doudna and her collaborators blazed a trail in a field dominated by men and turned a curiosity of nature into an something that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can...
-
Comedian Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel talks about making his first comedy special in 20 years, his childhood growing up in Toronto, and how the show Candid Camera inspired him to pull an elaborate prank that got him expelled form high school. He shares how "winging it" the first time he want on stage turned into his...
-
The Egyptian Indiana Jones Dr. Zahi Hawass
Dr. Zahi Hawass is the former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities and Director of Excavations at Giza, Saqqara, the Bahariya Oasis, and the Valley of the Kings. He is often referred to as “the real Indiana Jones, and some of his major finds include the Tombs of the Pyramid Builders at Giza, the…
more -
Mark Bittman on Our Complicated History with Food
James Beard Award-winning food writer and #1 bestselling author Mark Bittman offers a panoramic view of how the frenzy for food has driven human history to some of its most catastrophic moments, from slavery and genocide to our current moment, wherein Big Food exacerbates climate change, plunders...
-
Director Lee Daniels on Jazz Icon Billie Holiday
Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler) talks about his latest film The United States vs. Billie Holiday and how the 1971 movie Lady Sings the Blues inspired him to go into entertainment. He reveals that he always has a personal connection to each of his films, that The United...
-
Gayle Lemmon on the Women Who Beat ISIS
Journalist and author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon talks about the women who fought ISIS in Syria. She discusses how the female fighters of Kobani helped to deliver the first blow to the previously unstoppable forces of the Islamic State and how that victory convinced the US that it had a reliable…
more -
Jared Diamond Explores Nations in Crisis
Pulitzer Prize-winning author, scientist, and renowned polymath Jared Diamond reveals that many of the factors in how individuals cope with personal crises can also predict how countries survive national crises. He profiles six nations in transition in his book Upheaval: Turning Points for…
more -
Comedian Tom Papa
In this age of insurmountable consumption of media where bad news travels fast from all directions, comedian Tom Papa wants to remind us to take care of ourselves, embrace who you’ve become, and absorb the beauty of life in his new Netflix special Tom Papa: You're Doing Great! In this February…
more -
True Crime Documentary Filmmaker Joe Berlinger
True crime documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, Paradise Lost) discusses his new Netflix docu-series Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel that deconstructs the mythology and mystery surrounding infamous locations in contemporary crime. He...
-
David Mamet Talks Jazz, Gangsters, and Noir
In this 2018 interview with David Mamet, the Pulitzer-winning writer/director discusses how the old gangster stories he heard as a child inspired him to write CHICAGO: A NOVEL. He talks about his love of classic noir and hot jazz, and dislike of social media, computers, and flowery prose. He…
more -
Zackary Drucker and Jay Duplass
Jay Duplass and Zackary Drucker discuss their new docu-series The Lady and the Dale about the rise and eventual fall of automaker and trans trailblazer Elizabeth Carmichael. We talk about Carmichael's three-wheeled car that claimed to get 70 per gallon and how the 70s gas crisis fueled incredible...
-
George C. Wolfe on Bringing a Blues Icon to the Screen
Five-time Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe talks about his acclaimed new motion picture Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the legacy of the original the original Mother of the Blues, and what went into transforming Oscar-winner Viola Davis into this larger than life icon. He discusses what the...
-
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In this 2017 interview, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talks about his 50 year friendship with the "Wizard of Westwood" UCLA Coach John Wooden. He says Coach Wooden was more concerned with his players’ grades than with winning basketball games, he shares some of the wisdom that Coach…
more -
Ocean Explorer Robert Ballard
Dr. Robert Ballard is the famed ocean explorer responsible for some of the greatest undersea discoveries including the RMS Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck, and John F. Kennedy's WW II boat PT-109. Today Dr. Ballard reveals that he was actually on a top secret government mission when he...
-
Bulletproof Founder Dave Asprey on the Benefits of Fasting
Bulletproof founder Dave Asprey talks about his latest book Fast This Way: (How to Lose Weight, Get Smarter, and Live Your Longest, Healthiest Life with the Bulletproof Guide to Fasting). He discuss why diets and New Year's resolutions never work, the difference between fasting and dieting, and…
more -
Six Degrees of Mike Rowe
Mike Rowe has handled some of the toughest and most disgusting jobs during his nine seasons as host of Discovery's Dirty Jobs. Now he's putting that same work ethic to work to prove once and for all that everything in the world is connected for his discovery+ series Six Degrees with Mike Rowe.…
more -
Ryan White on the Bizarre Murder of Kim Jong-Nam
Documentary filmmaker Ryan White (The Case Against 8, The Keepers) talks about his new film Assassins about the murder of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un's half brother Kim Jong-Nam. He recounts how Kim Jong-Nam was killed in broad daylight with the deadly VX nerve agent, questions the press’s...
-
Director Bryan Fogel Unravels the Jamal Khashoggi Assassination
Academy Award-winning director Bryan Fogel (Icarus) discusses his gripping new documentary thriller The Dissident about the 2018 execution of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul. He discuss how Jamal Khashoggi went from being an insider in the Saudi…
more -
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright fled fascists during her childhood and faced them down as Secretary of State, and today she comes on the podcast to warn that fascism is once again on the rise. She shares how her own refugee experience during World War II and the Cold War shaped her worldview and recalls her...
-
Comedy Writer Bess Kalb Buries 2020
After eight years as a comedy writer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Bess Kalb recently wrote and produced a new comedy special that "eulogizes" the year 2020. Yearly Departed is available on Amazon Prime Video beginning 12/30. Bess comes on the podcast to talk about her own trials and tribulations over…
more -
Joel McHale Rings in the New Year
Joel McHale (Community, The Soup) shares his excitement for his first time co-hosting a New Years Eve special and how he’s looking forward to relentlessly roasting his pal Ken Jeong for a full three and half hours on Fox’s New Year’s Roast & Toast 2021. Joel reveals why he and Ken just can’t quit...
-
Loudon Wainwright III and Vince Giordano Celebrate the Great American Songbook
Loudon Wainwright III is best known as a folk singer and songwriter, but now he is lending his unique interpretation to the music of the great American songbook on a new album that he recorded with big band bandleader Vince Giordano and his Nighthawk Orchestra. They talk about their deep…
more -
Hilary Swank and Deon Taylor Revive Noir
Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank and filmmaker Deon Taylor talk about their new film Fatale and their love of classic film noir directors from Alfred Hitchcock to Brian Depalma. Hilary explains what drew her to finally play an antagonist on screen and how she found a way into that character…
more -
Michael Eric Dyson on Reckoning with Race in America
Bestselling author, professor, and leading public intellectual Dr. Michael Eric Dyson talks about his decision to address race in America through a series of letters to black martyrs, why we all know the name George Flloyd, but we might not know the name Elijah McClain, and how he’s seeking to...
-
Jon Hamm on Mad Men, SNL, and the Luck of the Irish
Jon Hamm talks about making his first trip to Ireland for his new movie Wild Mountain Thyme, filming in the ancestral hometown of President-elect Joe Biden, and why he was blissfully relieved that he didn’t have to attempt an Irish accent. Jon recalls his childhood growing up in St. Louis, the...
-
The Doors Drummer John Densmore
In his more than 50 years in music, drummer John Densmore has played with and gotten to know some of the greatest musicians of our time, from Janis Joplin and Paul Simon to Ravi Shankar and Willie Nelson, as well as some inspiring non-musicians from the Dalai Lama to screenwriter Joseph Campbell....
-
My Podcast with André
Acclaimed actor, writer, and theatre director André Gregory joins me on the show to talk about his unusual life from his Jewish father’s possible collaboration with the Nazis and his mom’s affair with Errol Flynn to the 14 year rehearsal for his production of Ibsen’s The Master Builder and the…
more -
Chef Magnus Nilsson
In 2019, Chef Magnus Nilsson closed Fäviken, his one-of-a-kind Michelin-starred restaurant in remote Sweden at the peak of its success. He shares how Fäviken became one of the top restaurants in the world, how the industry it was a part of has changed, and why he eventually elected to pursue new...
-
Matthew McConaughey on Catching Life's Greenlights
Matthew McConaughey is an Academy Award-winning actor, but he is also a poet, philosopher, husband and father of three, global traveler, writer, occasional orchestra conductor, and passionate student of life. Today he shares some of things he's learned about himself, others, and the world around...
-
Astronaut Scott Kelly
This is a rerun of my interview with astronaut Captain Scott Kelly. He talks about his year on the International Space Station, including how it pushed his body the limit, why the hardest physical test was re-adjusting to life on earth, and how his experience could get NASA one step closer to a...
-
Preview of Get Wired Podcast
We’re doing something a little different today. Instead of a regular episode of KickAss News, we wanted to share a clip from our friends over at the Get Wired podcast. Get Wired is produced by Wired and hosted by senior writer Lauren Goode. It’s all about how the future is realized. It’s the news...
-
Joe Scarborough Discusses Harry Truman's Lasting Legacy
I talk with Joe Scarborough, host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, about our mutual affection for the politician dismissed as the “strange little man” from Missouri, why Harry Truman couldn’t even get respect from his own wife and mother-in-law, and how historians have gradually rehabilitated the legacy…
more -
Oscar-winning Director Steve McQueen
Director Steve McQueen won an Academy Award for Best Picture for telling the dramatic true story of a free African-American who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in his film Twelve Years a Slave. Now he’s addressing a form of racial oppression that hits a lot closer to home for him in a new...
-
The Mindhunter John Douglas
Legendary FBI criminal profiler John Douglas talks about some of the 5000 cases with which he has been involved and his chilling face to face encounters with the worst monsters in recent memory from Edmund Kemper to Ted Bundy. He reveals why he first began interviewing serial killers without the...
-
David Sedaris Returns
David Sedaris returns to the podcast to talk about his pre-election anxiety, his lifelong blackout of all social media, and the time he got bullied while testifying before the British House of Commons. He discusses what it was like the comb through 25 years of material for his new collection of...
-
Michael Riedel on Broadway's Recent Past and Uncertain Future
New York Post theatre columnist Michael Riedel shares his thoughts on Broadway's uncertain future, what New York theatre may look like whenever it emerges from the pandemic, and some hopeful lessons from Broadway’s dramatic recovery in the wake of the attacks on 9/11. He says he didn't intend for...
-
Stacey Abrams on Counting Every Vote
With Joe Biden taking a razor thin lead in George and a run-off election expected to decide who controls the Senate, many credit Stacey Abrams with making sure that every vote gets counted and likely delivering Georgia for the Democrats. Today's episode is a re-release of my 2019 interview with...
-
Tim Heidecker Is on a Mission to the Moon
Tim Heidecker talks about his new comedy series Moonbase 8, collaborating with fellow comedy geniuses John C. Reilly, Fred Armisen, and Jonathan Krisel on the show, and what it was like to visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and SpaceX headquarters as part of their research. He discusses how Bob...
-
The Many Moods of Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer is the voice behind some of the most famous characters on The Simpsons, and now he's giving voice to the wild whims of Donald Trump in a new pre-election parody album. He talks about how writing songs from the the perspective of Donald Trump gave him a window into the President's…
more -
Legendary Newsman Dan Rather
Legendary newsman Dan Rather talks about his 60 year career and how his travels and conversations have given him a “wide shot” of the American experience and the values that unite us. He condemns recent attacks on some on those values (including freedom of the press), he shares his own family's...
-
Lenny Kravitz Reveals How He Found His Voice
Grammy-wining musician Lenny Kravitz shares how his parents' biracial marriage and very different personalities fostered what he calls his "gemini soul," how his mom, actress Roxy Roker from TV's The Jeffersons, inspired the artist in him, and how he and his dad still found connection through…
more -
Peter Frampton Comes Alive
Rock legend Peter Frampton talks about the making of that seminal rock album Frampton Comes Alive! and the story of his famous guitar that he nicknamed "The Phoenix." He recalls learning to play guitar by ear when he was a boy, growing up with another future rock legend David Bowie, and what it…
more -
John Cleese on Creativity
As the actor and writer behind Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, and films like A Fish Called Wanda, John Cleese is among the most creative minds in entertainment. He opens up about his writing process, why he often finds inspiration in the most unlikely of places, and how you can foster creativity in...
-
Google's Eric Schmidt
Former Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt discusses how former college football coach Bill Campbell mentored him and many of Silicon Valley's greatest visionaries from Jeff Bezos and Larry Page to Marc Andreessen and Steve Jobs. Eric recalls how he initially reacted when venture capitalist John...
-
Tim Robbins on Defeating Tyranny with Satire
Oscar-winning actor/writer/director/producer Tim Robbins shares how he originally developed his latest project Bobo Supreme as a movie with the director Adam McKay, but he was inspired to adapt his screenplay for an auditory medium when the pandemic shut down film production. He reveals how he...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Hosted by Hollywood producer and political media strategist Ben Mathis, KickAss News is a twice weekly podcast that features the most interesting personalities and thought leaders in politics, entertainment, tech, business, science, and more. Enjoy the podcast? Then please support the show and help keep us on the air by making a donation to our GoFundMe campaign at www.gofundme.com/kickassnews. Another way you can support the show is to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on iTunes to help keep us ranking strong on the top podcasts charts. For more information visit www.kickassnews.com. Thanks for listening!
HOSTED BY
Kickass News
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Kickass News have?
Kickass News currently has 299 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Kickass News about?
Hosted by Hollywood producer and political media strategist Ben Mathis, KickAss News is a twice weekly podcast that features the most interesting personalities and thought leaders in politics, entertainment, tech, business, science, and more. Enjoy the podcast? Then please support the show and help...
How often does Kickass News release new episodes?
Kickass News publishes regularly with 299 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Kickass News?
You can listen to Kickass News on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Kickass News?
Kickass News is created and hosted by Kickass News.
URL copied to clipboard!