15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

Episode 59 - David Sedaris

This is the podcast where David Sedaris gets to (okay, is strongly encouraged to) tell the dirty jokes he can’t tell Terry Gross! (This both a warning and an invitation.) But we talk about serious stuff too.

This episode marks the 2-year anniversary of 15 Minutes, and I was so happy to have our guest from right around our first anniversary return. (Episode 38 is where you can find our first conversation)

David Sedaris is a multiple NYT-bestselling author/humorist. But chances are really good you already knew that.

Stuff we talk about: Aging; Success; his diaries and his new book of essays, Calypso; denim shirts; Stormy Daniels; what’s funny and what isn’t; letting a stranger who isn’t a surgeon take you to her office and perform surgery on you; David Rakoff; bitterness; being confused for a woman; and much, much more!

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All episodes of this podcast can be found at http://15minutesjamieberger.com, and on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and pretty much wherever pods are cast.

Ed Patenaude engineers the show. Christian Cundari made the the theme music. The show is hosted and created by me, Jamie Berger.

Anja Schutz, who handles all elements of visual design for the show, made today's episode image, in conjunction with Cola Saitux, LTD, based on a photo of David S. for which we could not find the photographer, and the cover of Calypso.

Thanks for listening!

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Annie Duke (annieduke.com) was the first person I recorded for this show, back in 2014, nearly two years before I got done deliberating/procrastinating and launched this thing. Here's what I wrote about my friend of 30+ years for Episode 5, where you can find that first conversation. 

"Annie Duke is a poker legend - winner of a WSOP bracelet, the WSOP Tournament of Champions, and of the NBC National Heads’-up Poker Championship in 2010, among other accolades. She was also runner-up to Joan Rivers on Season Two of Celebrity Apprentice. Among other charitable endeavors, Annie is co-founder, along with Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein, of Ante up for Africa. Our first first guest who's been over the Wall of Fame and climbed back, Annie is now retired from both poker and TV and is now a professional speaker, decision strategist, and one of the founders and directors of How I Decide, a nonprofit dedicated to helping youth become skilled decision makers, both in school and out. You can find them at howIdecide.org. Last, and Annie would say, most important, she is the proud mother of four."

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Now Annie is back with her first mainstream (as opposed to poker) book. Part cognitive- psychology inquiry, part how-to guide, Thinking in Bets, posits that if we think of life less as the proverbial game of chess and more like poker, with its greater uncertainty and more unknowns, and act (bet) accordingly, we will make better decisions. We talk about that idea in terms of everything from voting and engaging in political conversation to deciding on everything from whether to run a red light to momentous life decisions. 

If you want to hear Annie recount her experiences with and thoughts on fame, go back and check out that earlier episode. We pretty much are completely OT re that fame stuff in this one.

(NOTE: At around 37:00 I refer to a poker book I once reviewed, but vaguely. It's Positively 5th Street by James McManus.)

Here's a link to Jennifer Wright's "Women Don't Owe Men a Debate about Feminism," mentioned in the episode.

( https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a19480416/women-changing-mens-minds-feminism-steven-crowder/ )

You can find 15 Minutes at http://15minutesjamieberger.com or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, pippa.io, and pretty much everywhere pods are cast. 

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Whitney Reynolds is a writer, podcaster (“I Haven’t Seen That” with Mark Popham) and, most important, in terms of this episode, inveterate tweeter.

A recent tweet of hers, which was a response to not only a previous tweet, but a response to a response to said tweet, Whitney's "new twitter challenge" to "describe yourself like a male author would" led to thousands of responses and retweets, which led to press coverage ranging from a Huffpo article to a New Yorker piece and a BBC radio interview. She was also asked to do a TV interview for BBC, which she declined, and, in fact, decided to move on from this kind of attention. I was honored to be the last person she agreed to talk to about this. 

(see below for a couple of great responses to Whitney Reynolds' tweet)

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Christopher Napolitano is an old college friend. When we graduated, I headed off to work for tiny literary presses Grove Press and New Directions, while Chris started working at Playboy, where he eventually rose to be Editorial Director for many years.

We talked about editing in general, editing one's heroes (Norman Mailer and John Updike, among them), and a bunch of other stuff. Part one is the more literary of the two.

Part 2, coming soon, touches on the other stuff - visits to the Playboy Mansion, the treatment of women both in editorial and in front of the camera, at the magazine, Chris's first-hand impression of Donald Trump, #metoo, and more.

At the top of the show, I gripe for a few minutes.

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Episode 55 - Laurie Kilmartin

Laurie Kilmartin has been a Staff Writer for “Conan” since 2010 and a stand-up comedian for three decades. Her new book, “Dead People Suck,” (which she’s calling her second, and last, book) is a simultaneously heartwarming and biting comedic memoir about her father’s death and a tongue-in-cheek how-to about dealing with the death of a loved one.

She also co-hosts “The Jackie and Laurie Show” podcast with fellow comic Jackie Kashian.

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Laurie and I talked about the book, about writing for Conan, the life of a stand-up, the joys and hazards of making jokes about her living mother and dead father, and of course, about fame and what she sees as her place in the comedy world.

And because you all know I have that magical gift of making funny people unfunny by asking them serious questions, I’ve included a couple of clips from her album “45 Jokes about My Dead Dad.” (which you can also find on Spotify, etc.)

You can find Laurie Kilmartin at

http://www.kilmartin.com/

and “Dead People Suck” wherever books are sold!

You can find us at

http://15mintuesjamierberger.com

and, again, now on Spotify!

Our new host is Pippa, and if you’re a podcaster looking for a host, check them out at http://pippa.io

Our theme song is by Christian Cundari.

Ed Patenaude is the Engineer.

Thanks for listening!

-jb

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.