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Go be unique in New York.  You say you have a background that is out of the norm? Who doesn't?  In New York, out of the norm  IS THE NORM.   And yet, a special place is reserved for the story of Marcus Samuelsson, one of the city's and the country's best known chefs and restaurateurs by way of his native Ethiopia and the country where he was raised, Sweden.  It's all part of one big picture for Marcus Samuelsson, combining a love of cooking and community with a sense of who he is and why he is here.  Pull up a chair, get something good to eat and enjoy the journey with Marcus Samuelsson.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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If we are fortunate, we meet a teacher and mentor when we're young who opens the door to possibilities, a window to the rest of your life.  Joshua Henry had that experience in high school.  He then surrounded himself with music and shows and performing at the University of Miami.  From there it was on to New York, soon getting hired as part of the original cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In The Heights.  His ascent as an actor and musician continues, with a passion and drive and work ethic he learned growing up as the son of Jamaican immigrants.  He is still writing his story, a story with a rich past, a busy present and a bright future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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John Linnell is one half of the beloved musical duo They Might Be Giants.  For 40 plus years, John Linnell and John Flansburgh have been making fun, quirky, memorable music.  Really good music.  For adults.  For kids.  For everyone.  Their friendship dates back even longer to growing up just outside of Boston.  My conversation with John Linnell is about that friendship and the early years of a musical partnership: a first gig that actually involved the then new Sandinista government, getting their video on MTV at a time when no one in their Brooklyn neighborhood had MTV and then creating one of the coolest ideas in music, Dial-A-Song.More than 40 years of music and friendship.  They Might Be Giants, indeed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Sports fans around the country know Jeremy Schaap for his decades long award winning work on ESPN.  I was fortunate to get to know him just as his career was just starting before he was a network anchor and correspondent.  He was really smart with a great work ethic and you knew that big things lay ahead.  He also was properly respectful of the work and legacy of his father Dick Schaap while blazing his own trail and creating his own career.  And he occasionally laughed at my jokes.  How could you not love that?  Or a conversation between old friends.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I've interviewed hundreds of prominent people through the years.  Occasionally I am asked, "who is the most interesting, thoughtful person you ever interviewed?" It is an unanswerable question.  But suffice it to say that Majora Carter is part of that conversation.  I've interviewed her twice .  Each time I have come away from the interview a smarter person thanks to Majora.  Her thoughts on issues like environmental racism and community talent retention opened my eyes to realities that didn't affect me personally.  So it got me to think about these topics and ask myself some difficult questions.  And that's a good thing.  Her personal story is compelling: growing up in Hunts Point, a neighborhood in the South Bronx in New York City during the "Bronx is Burning" years, going off to Wesleyan University vowing never to return to the South Bronx,  But return she did, winning a Macarthur Fellow (the so called "Genius Award") along the way, achieving personal and professional fulfillment in the old neighborhood.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You don't have to be a standup comedian to love Robert Klein.  My friends and I listened to his comedy albums religiously and knew the routines cold.  During one interview with Robert years later, I recalled an old, great bit of his that he had actually forgotten, not uncommon in the admirer/artist relationship.  But the fact of the matter is that the generation of top stand-ups who came after Robert Klein...Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Paul Reiser...all revered him and have often cited him as one of the main inspirations for getting into the crazy world of comedy.  It's been quite a career, from the Borscht Belt to Broadway, HBO specials, Second City, the Yale Drama School and so many nights sitting on the couch talking to Johnny when a shot on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was, as Paul Reiser beautifully puts it, the "currency" for being a comedian.  As Robin Williams memorably introduced Robert Klein at one of the Comic Relief shows, "the sensei."  Enjoy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Paul Reiser always loved comedians.  He and a friend created a club in high school for comedy fans and actually called New York comedy clubs to ask if any comedians were available to come and speak to them.   But be a comedian?  Not surprisingly, like so many who chose an unorthodox, non 9-5 path, his parents had to be convinced.  Early on, Paul even suggested getting a letter from a successful comedian, confirming that Paul had talent.  And he did have talent, as we've all seen through the years on his TV shows, movies, standup appearances on late night talk shows and in venues all around the country.   But before all of that, he was a funny kid growing up in New York and occasionally going to open mic nights in the city's comedy clubs, his own graduate school, long before the cheering started.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We are taking a week off from the interviews this week and gearing up for the new year and a lot of wonderful episodes.  So this week....my own "Before The Cheering Started" story.  Broadcast journalists don't usually get cheers, nor should they.  We tell stories.  We are not the story.  But before I reached some level of professional fulfillment and success, I had more than a few chapters of "what am I doing" and "will this ever work out."  I've decided to focus on one story.  Doing ski reports in my small New York City apartment.  From the bathroom.  It only gets more glamorous from there.Thanks as always for joining us on the journey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I first met Marta Kauffman and David Crane in the late 1970's through a mutual friend.  It was immediately apparent that they were really smart and really clever.  Beyond funny.  Clever.  And it was pretty clear that they were going to be successful.  Eventually, they became incredibly successful, creating Friends, a TV show seen around the world.  But on the path to Friends, there were more than a few obstacles and periods of struggle.  The early years, the "Before The Cheering Started" years, were the focus of our conversation in 2021: writing award winning shows in college, an off Broadway production in New York, somewhat less than glamorous jobs along the way (e.g. selling ink toner over the phone) and the final path to television and international success.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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John Pizzarelli is a remarkable performer, combining guitar virtuosity, musical knowledge and a clever sense of humor to create a memorable night of music.  I've known John for a long time, watching him grow from playing clubs in New Jersey and New York to venues all around the world.  His love affair with music started early, listening and watching his father Bucky Pizzarelli play with friends and family around the house.  The torch was eventually passed and John has run with it, creating a career of sweet sounds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices