15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

(reposting some faves as we near Episode 50!)George Saunders is as famous as contemporary literary fiction (let alone short-story) writers get, to the extent of being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2013. His first novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” comes out February 14th, 2017 and is receiving glowing reviews. The audio version of the novel is read by an unarguably star-studded cast of 166, including Susan Sarandon, Jeff Tweedy, David Sedaris, Ben Stiller, Lena Dunham, Keegan Michael-Key, Julianne Moore, and Saunders’ parents.He’s also one of my favorite writers ever.I’ll let his short autobiography on his site tell you more about him.www.georgesaundersbooks.com/about/We talked about fame’s perks and pitfalls, artmaking, humility, kindness, the president (just for a minute, promise), beans, and much, much, so much more.Here are the two nonfiction pieces of his we referred to in our conversation: “Congratulations, by the Way” (a graduation speech from 2013 on kindness - also available as a lovely audio minibook on Audible)6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/…-graduates/andSaunders’ New Yorker piece from pre-election time last year, “Who Are All These Trump Voters?”www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07…to-trump-ralliesFind all of our episodes at 15minutesjamieberger.cominstagram & twitter @15minsjamiebOn iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and everywhere pods are cast.Thanks!

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Because it's a fave, and because he's back on the road and headed to our neck of the woods . . . .David Sedaris is a bestselling writer, humorist, trash collector.Here's what we *didn’t* talk about:- sex- drugs- alcohol- suicide- trash collectingSome of what we *did* talk about:- moms- embarrassment at success- a dirty joke about pizza- dread of going on TV- the graciousness of Whoopi GoldbergENJOY!!!

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EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE: Somehow in three edits, I didn’t catch the fact that I said the word “October” when I meant the word “Boy.” U2 fans will understand, if not forgive.A "Meet Your Heroes" episodeMatthew Silverstein is Associate Professor of Philosophy at NYU Abu Dabi. But to me (Jamie, here), He's Matty, a friend who 20-years ago was a callow youth wandering Dublin hoping to run into his idols, the members of the band U2. Click play to find out what happened!He is interested in the foundations of ethics — that is, in the question of what, if anything, we can say on behalf of our most basic ethical commitments. He is also interested in the Chicago Cubs, opera, classical music, and Roger Federer. We talk about all that, but mostly he tells his U2-fan Odyssey.

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Scott McCloud is a comics-maker and philosopher and theoretician - he’s perhaps best known for Zot! (1984-90), Understanding Comics (1993), and most recently, his first graphic novel, The Sculptor (2015). When I contacted him recently after reading The Sculptor and finding it chock-full of stuff to talk about on here, Scott was, surprisingly, the first guest to bring up obscurity as perhaps an equally familiar and fascinating topic as fame. We talked about everything from “legacy” and the Mathematics/Physics of acclaim to the Vulcan Empire, with stops at Scott Adams and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles along the way. I really had a great time talking to him, and found it interesting to edit and listen to the second and third and … times around, so I hope you’ll enjoy it too. We spoke on the phone on Labor Day.***Scott McCloud can be found at http://scottmccloud.com***All episodes of this here can be found on iTunes and pretty much everywhere pods are cast, and at http://15minutesjamieberger.com

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Bobby Tisdale is a comedian, former writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and actor/voice actor. He's currently the voice of Zeke on Bob’s Burgers. For many years, he co-produced the weekly stand-up/variety show Invite Them Up with Bobby Tisdale and Holly Schlesinger, which won a Nightlife Award. We pop down the Trump-dismay-and-rage rabbit hole a few times, but we also pop our heads up for some fun from time to time to talk some inside-baseball stuff about calling bingo and so much more!***Find out more about Bobby Tisdale at, of all the nutty places, http://bobbytisdale.com***Fin out more about this show and all episodes at http://15minutesjamieberger.com

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Comedian Josh Johnson has had a big couple of years. He arrived in NY (after a few years in Chicago doing stand-up) just a couple of years ago, but has already written for and appeared on the Tonight Show, his first solo album, “I Like You,” on Comedy Central Records, came out in July, debuting at number 4 on iTunes and 11 on Billboard, and his first half hour special will appear on Comedy Central network this fall. A solid start, huh? We talk about that stuff, and his favorite high school teacher who told him in high school he’d see him on the Tonight show and then ended up in the house when Josh took that very stage. We also talk talk about what he has in common with Conor McGregor. (Funny thing about this show and audience. Conor McGregor is both one of the most famous people in the world and someone some of you never have heard of. If you’re one of the latter, he’s an Mixed Martial Arts fighter who’s about to have a huge, unprecedented fight with champion boxer Floyd Mayweather on August 26. It’s unprecedented in that the two worlds (boxing and MMA) don’t mix, let alone two of their biggest stars, so it’s a big big deal, so there’s some background on that for you non-fight fans out there regarding our two minutes on that topic. Enjoy!Josh Johnson’s site:http://therealjoshjohnson.com/***Appearance on Tonight:https://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/josh-johnson-standup/3474830***Twitter: @JoshJohnsonFacebook: facebook.com/JoshJComedy/Instagram: @JoshJohnsonComedy***Find us at http://15minutesjamieberger.com***This podcast fights fascists.

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Our guest this week is Jonathan Katz whose animated Comedy Central Series from the 90s has been re-launched as "Dr. Katz: The Audio Files" on Audible. In the show, Katz plays a psychotherapist whose clients are comedians, playing themselves who come to him for therapy. Joining Katz on the Audible series are original and amazing cast members Jon Benjamin and Laura Silverman, as his son and receptionist, respectively. Guests on the audio reboot so far have included Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman, Weird Al Yanovic, Maria Bamford, and Ted Danson (whose episode you’ll hear a snippet of). There’s also an Emo Phillips episode, and I think by now Emo must think I’m some kind of a psycho fan - I’m not - in fact, back when he was a bigger star, I never really followed him, I think it was the voice. BUT, he tells a story on another Audible series, Eugene Mirman’s “Hold On,” which is now available on iTunes, too, and it’s great and he’s great and everyone should listen to it. I know I know it’s starting to seem like I’m a pro-bono Audible shill, but I’m really not, they just happen to be making some of the most interesting podcastesque  stuff right now, including, one more thing, including Jon Ronson’s new podcast, “The Butterfly Effect,” the first season of which I plowed through in two days last week. If you don't mind a lot of content involving the porn industry, check it out.Jonathan Katz and I talked on the phone in July. -jb

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Julie Klam is the author of five books whose previous two memoirs have focused on seeing her life through the lens of dogs and dog rescue.Her latest, “The Stars in Our Eyes: The Famous, the Infamous, and Why we care Way Too Much about Them,” is something of a departure, and clearly something 15-Minutes-worthy, to say the least. About the book, Us Weekly writes, “In her eye-opening and humorous collection of essays, Julie Klam explores the fascination with the rich and powerful, while also breaking down the challenges tied to fame and why all this actually matters.”We talked about everything from Patti LuPone’s Flonase addiction (KIDDING about the addiction part, but Mis LuPone and nasal spray do come up), her friend Timothy Hutton, what it’s like to make your first appearance on The Tonight Show, and lots of other juicy stuff! Also, stay tuned at the end for our first 15 Minutes celebrity endorsement!Link to the book trailer with Timothy Hutton we discussed:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpuX3hsjegY

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Episode 9's guest returns. When first we spoke, Matthew Latkiewicz, formerly a writer, was reluctantly (to say the least) headed into the life of a television host, of Tru TV's "You Can Do Better." A year and 26 episodes later, he's still reluctant, but has moved permanently to LA . . .so not *that* reluctant. We discuss his year, and while we do go into the troubling aspects of fame, we also touch on perks such as the ego boost of it and flying on private jets now and then and MEETING SHAQ - listen in, won't you?

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Kurt Braunohler and Lauren Cook are married, and as such, host the "Wedlock" Audio Series on Audible, in which they address all things wedlocky in fun and fascinating ways. Kurt Just had his first Comedy Central hour-long stand-up special this spring, and he's currently in (and helped write) Kumail Nanjiani's new movie, "The Big Sick." We talk about all of the above, and babies and dogs and, oh, yeah, FAME.

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