Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen

By Straw Hut Media

Don’t Be Alone with Jay Kogen is a comedy/advice podcast trying to fight the isolation of modern life. Each episode, Award winning TV writer/comedian/philosopher Jay Kogen has a conversation with a fr... more

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FAQs about Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen:

How many episodes does Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen have?

The podcast currently has 102 episodes available.

Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen episodes:

August 19, 2025 Amy Brenneman Talks About “Normal” and How Jay Isn’t It.
Actress/writer/activist Amy Benneman talks about creating a TV show, writing plays, the pleasure of performing in front of people. Her kick-ass judge-pioneer mother, lawyer activist dad and how they started her on a journey of trying to fix the world, expectations of what the world thinks is normal and how it messes up the rest of us, parenthood and raising a neurodivergent child and how she taught Amy to accept and embrace who she is and she talks, about how Jeff Bridges can seduce you without ever laying a hand on you.

Bio: Amy Brenneman earned a degree from Harvard College in Comparative Religion and studied sacred dance and indigenous ritual in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is a founding member of Cornerstone Theater Company which produces site-specific, community-based theater on themes of social justice. Favorite Cornerstone roles included Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Natasha in Three Sisters and Clytemnestra in The Oresteia.

Other theater: CSC Rep, Lincoln Center Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, Yale Rep and The American Repertory Theater. She starred in the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Rapture Blister Burn (Playwrights Horizons, Geffen Theater) and Power of Sail opposite Bryan Cranston (Geffen Theater.) She played Miriam of Nazareth in the world premiere of Galilee 34 (South Coast Rep) and starred in The Sound Inside (Pasadena Playhouse), which was named one of the years’ best performances by the Los Angeles Times. She recently finished the world premiere of Larissa Fasthorse’ Fake It Until You Make It at Arena Stage in Washington DC.

Amy co-created, wrote, and starred in MOUTH WIDE OPEN (The Yard, American Repertory Theater) and OVERCOME (The Yard, Cotuit Center for The Arts). She has performed her original spoken word pieces at venues such as Spark, Tasty Words and the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse.

Amy created, executive produced, and starred in “Judging Amy” (multiple Golden Globe Emmy and SAG nominations) based on the work of her mother, the Honorable Judge Frederica Brenneman. Other television: “NYPD Blue” (multiple Emmy nominations, SAG award) “Frasier,” “Goliath,” “Jane the Virgin,” “VEEP,” “Private Practice,” “The Leftovers,” “Tell Me Your Secrets,” “Shining Girls” and “The Old Man.” Film credits include CASPER, FEAR, DAYLIGHT, HEAT, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, NINE LIVES, THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER and MOTHER AND CHILD.

For her activist work, Amy has been honored by Women in Film, The Brady Center, the League of Women Voters, the National Children’s Alliance, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Producer’s Guild of America, among others. She currently serves on the Creative Council for the Center for Reproductive Rights and on the board of Crimson Goes Blue, an organization dedicated to preserving and strengthening democracy in America. In 2016, she was part of the amicus brief for the Supreme Court case Whole Women’s v. Hellerstedt and received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from The Feminist Majority for her ongoing commitment to reproductive rights. She is married to writer/director Brad Silberling and has two children, Charlotte and Bodhi.
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56min
August 12, 2025 For Writer Felipe Torres Medina USA Has Been An Amazing Journey Until He Met Jay
Felipe talks about his new book, coming to the USA under an EXTRAORDINARY ARTIST visa, writing for Colbert, growing up in Columbia, the beauty of curious Americans, the danger of being too comfortable, and losing emmy awards to his wife.

Bio: Felipe Torres Medina is a Peabody and Writers Guild of America Award–winning writer from Bogotá, Colombia. His writing for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has earned him five Emmy nominations. His humor has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and others. He lives in New York City with his wife and is totally chill when you misspell his birth country’s name. (He is not.)
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50min
August 05, 2025 Jay’s Dad, Arnie Kogen, Talks About How Having Kids Held Him Back
Writing Legend, Arnie Kogen, talks with Jay and Jay’s son, Charlie, about his childhood, career, and what it’s like to be 91. Three generations of Kogens in one pod!

Bio: ARNIE KOGENComedy Writer/ TV ProducerHas written and/or produced for the Carol Burnett Show, The Tonight Show, Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, Empty Nest, Mad TV, The Dean Martin Show, Sinbad, Donnie & Marie, The Jackson Five, Evening At The Improv, The Bob Newhart Show, Tim Conway, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Candid Camera, Love, American Style, The Love Boat, The Golden Globes and contributed to The Academy Awards. Has also written comedy material for Phyllis Diller, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Shelley Berman, Debbie Reynolds, Connie Stevens, Totie Fields, Jackie Vernon, Diana Ross, Flip Wilson, Ann Margret, Sammy Davis, Morty Gunty and Jerry Van Dyke.

For over five decades he has been one of the leading contributors to Mad Magazine. Kogen has won three Emmy Awards (seven nominations) and one Writers Guild Award (three nominations)
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53min
August 01, 2025 BONUS EPISODE! Writer Turned Therapist, Phil Stark, Says Jay Should Have Given Up By Now
Phil Stark talks about writing and learning it wasn’t really his dream, telling patients to find their bliss, deciding joy wasn’t in the writers room, writing “Dog With A Blog”, treating writers who are panicking about work, writer’s block, and where’s the best Tex Mex in Houston.

Bio: Screenwriter (Dude, Where’s My Car?) turned therapist (Dude, Where’s My Car-tharsis?) Phil Stark sees clients virtually from all over the state of California. He also writes about mental health and personal growth as experienced through talk therapy.
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31min
July 29, 2025 Writer/Legend Carl Gottlieb Always Makes The Scene, Jay Doesn’t.
Writer of “Jaws" & "The Jerk" Carl Gottlieb talks about working with Spielberg, Steve Martin, Carl Reiner, David Crosby, Joan Baez, improv group The Committee, performing comedy in the army, how the Smothers Brothers Show was the hippest most popular show at the time and somehow also cancelled.

Bio: Carl Gottlieb is a screenwriter (Jaws, The Jerk), director (Caveman), & actor (Mash). His book, THE JAWS LOG, remains the most popular book about the making of a motion picture ever written. He also wrote WHICH WAY IS UP with Richard Pryor. He was a member of the classic San Francisco Improv group, The Committee. And a writer on the controversial Smothers Brothers show. He served on the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, and was on the faculty of the Film Division of the School of the Arts at Columbia University, the American Film Institute, the University of Miami's School of Communications and the University of Southern California's School of Cinema & Television.
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48min
July 21, 2025 Will Forte Says, “Everyone Follow Your Dream” But Maybe Not Jay
Will Forte talks about almost being a financial advisor, his checkered writing career, SNL MacGruber, Nebraska, The Groundlings, Last Man on Earth, having kids late, seeing shrinks, frats, & Val Kilmner being the weirdest roommate of all time.

Bio: Will Forte is a comedian, actor, writer, and improviser best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and his starring role in The Last Man on Earth. Born in Alameda County, California, Forte studied History at UCLA before briefly working as a financial broker. He shifted to comedy in the late '90s, joining the Groundlings and writing for shows like The Jenny McCarthy Show and That '70s Show. His pilot about two clueless brothers led to The Brothers Solomon (2007), which he wrote and starred in. Forte joined Saturday Night Live in 2002, quickly earning a reputation for absurd and surreal comedy. He co-wrote and starred in the cult film MacGruber (2010) before leaving SNL to pursue broader roles. He appeared in comedies like 30 Rock, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, and That’s My Boy, while also branching into drama with Run and Jump and Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (2013), earning critical praise. From 2015 to 2018, he created and starred in the acclaimed sitcom The Last Man on Earth. He later portrayed Douglas Kenney in A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018) and appeared in hit films like Booksmart and Good Boys (2019). More recently, he has starred in Netflix’s Bodkin, Four Seasons, and the upcoming Coyote vs. Acme.
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50min
July 15, 2025 James L. Brooks Explains Why Jay’s Such A Disappointment
This week, James L Brooks talked about The Simpsons, Mary Tyler Moore ,Terms of Endearment, having a million lunches to cast parts, his difficult beginnings and how the fear of survival and women's shoes drove him to his success. We also talk about what an amazing mentor he is, incredible writer, the worst notes he's ever gotten from a network, and now he likes to have drool days.

Bio:James L. Brooks is a three-time Academy Award®-winner and eighteen-time Emmy® Award-winner. He began his television career as a writer who also produced such beloved television hits as Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Tracy Ullman Show, and The Simpsons. Brooks began working in film in 1979 when he wrote the screenplay for Starting Over which he co-produced with Alan J. Pakula. In 1983, Brooks wrote, produced and directed Terms of Endearment for which he won three Academy Awards. In 1987, he wrote, produced and directed Broadcast News, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards® including Best Screenplay and Best Picture. Brooks then directed I’ll Do Anything starring Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, and Julie Kavner. In 1997, Brooks co-wrote, produced, and directed As Good As It Gets, starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, and Greg Kinnear. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards® including Best Picture, and both Nicholson and Hunt won Oscars® for their performances. In 2004, Brooks wrote and directed the film Spanglish, starring Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni and Paz Vega. In 2010, Brooks wrote and directed the film How Do You Know, starring Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Jack Nicholson.Brooks’s company, Gracie Films has produced numerous films and television shows since it was formed in 1990. On the television side, the company produces the long-running hit, The Simpsons, as well as producing the Tracey Ullman Show, What About Joan?, and The Critic. On the feature side – Brooks has executive produced the feature film, Say Anything, produced War of the Roses, and co-produced Big. In 1996, Brooks executive produced the film Bottle Rocket, directed by Wes Anderson, and produced Cameron Crowe’s Oscar®-winning Jerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Renee Zellweger. In addition, Brooks produced Penny Marshall’s Riding in Cars with Boys, starring Drew Barrymore, and produced the film Edge of Seventeen, written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig for STX Productions. In addition, Brooks co-wrote and produced The Simpsons Movie, the movie version of the Fox hit.
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49min
July 08, 2025 Writer/Comic/Activist Steve Skrovan Explores How Jay Isn’t Making Life Better For Anyone
Writer/Activist Steve Skovan talks about his work with Ralph Nader, his substack “Bits and Pieces”, his dad being a comic inspiration, the trouble with politics, Public Citizen a progressive consumer rights group, starting as a stand-up, and how a football coach changed his life without molesting him.

Bio: Steve Skrovan has worked as a stand-up comedian, actor, and TV comedy writer since the early eighties. He has written for many shows, most notably, Seinfeld, Hot in Cleveland, Til Death, Wendell and Vinnie, School of Rock, and the entire nine-year run of Everybody Loves Raymond, a show which he has also adapted internationally in Russia, Israel, and India. He is also co-director/writer/producer of An Unreasonable Man, a documentary about the career of legendary consumer advocate and third-party presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, which was not only an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival but also made the “shortlist” for Academy Award consideration in the documentary category. In 2005, he co-produced the TBS environmental special “Earth to America.” In addition, Steve co-hosts the weekly radio show Ralph Nader Radio Hour, which runs on the Pacifica network and various other independent radio stations as well as being available on all podcast platforms. He is a board member of the non-partisan public interest organization Public Citizen in Washington DC.
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47min
July 01, 2025 Comedy Legend Thomas Lennon Explains Why Jay Is Lazy
Tom Lennon tells us he's not working that hard on the unbelievably large number of projects he never stops working on. From writing movies (including a “HALL OF PRESIDENTS” SciFi comedy) to acting in 100s of shows to playing in a Smiths tribute band Thomas Lennon doesn’t stop. And don't try to stop him.
Bio: Thomas Lennon is an actor, producer and New York Times Best Selling author from Oak Park, Illinois. He attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he was a member of the influential sketch comedy group The State. The State’s hit television series ran on MTV for three seasons and received an Ace Award nomination for Best Comedy Series. After his work on The State, he created two more popular series: Viva Variety and Reno 911!, on which he also played Lieutenant Jim Dangle. Lennon has also written numerous feature films, including Night at the Museum, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Reno 911!: Miami, The Pacifier, Balls of Fury and Hell Baby. In addition to writing films, Lennon co-authored, Writing Movies for Fun and Profit, a book about the studio system that Anna Kendrick called, “The Best Book about Hollywood… Hilarious and insanely accurate,” in the New York Times. In 2019, Lennon debuted on the New York’s Bestseller List with his children’s book Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles. In March of 2020, Lennon released the sequel with Ronan Boyle and the Swamp of Certain Death followed by the third installment of the series, Ronan Boyle: Into the Strange Place in 2022. A DreamWorks Animation feature film of the Ronan Boyle series is currently in development. As an actor, Lennon has appeared in the films Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Dark Knight Rises, Le Divorce, Heights, Conversations with Other Women, Memento, 17 Again, I Love You, Man, Cedar Rapids, Knight of Cups, Bad Teacher, Harold and Kumar 3D and What to Expect When You’re Expecting. His other credits include Netflix’s A Futile and Stupid Gesture, Half Magic opposite Heather Graham and Clint Eastwood’s The 15:57 to Paris. He can be seen in the Russo Brother’s film CHERRY, with Tom Holland. In television he has been seen in How I Met Your Mother, Sean Saves the World, The Odd Couple, Drunk History, The Santa Clarita Diet, Supergirl, Lethal Weapon, and The Twilight Zone. Lennon also recently produced a musical stage adaptation of the beloved 1980’s film TRADING PLACES. Lennon lives in Los Angeles and Wisconsin with his wife, the actress Jenny Robertson, and their son, Oliver.Aired 7-2-25
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55min
June 24, 2025 Film Makers Byron Manuel & Justin Graves Say Jay’s Art Isn’t Worth Suffering For
Film-Makers Justin Graves and Byron Manuel talk about what it takes to make movies in 2025 being young, talented, and black. They talk about finding the dream of movies and giving up the dreams of music and sport. They talk about doing what it takes on a budget, fundraising, festivals, developing a ton of projects, and getting their movie “Swoon” on Tubi. They also talk about being able to handle the gut punches that the business offers and keeping your spirits high.

Bio: Justin Antuan Graves was born Nov 17, 1984. He is an American writer and producer. Born in Beaufort, South Carolina. A military brat his whole life, he moved around a lot and found comfort in watching movies and cartoons all day as a child, especially comedies. Everything from Honey, I Shrunk The Kids to Friday to Superbad and beyond gave him the passion and confidence to begin writing. Justin started his first screenplay in 2016 and in 2018 he made the move from Jacksonville, Florida to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a screenwriter. With no network, he made his own short films and content that eventually led to becoming a writer for comedians and influencers online such as Juhan Jones, Virgil Harris and Kassandra Lee. Justin is best known for What Had Happened Was (2020), Booty Call Chronicles (2019) and most recently Swoon (2025) and Allure (2025). Justin is Co-President of On Script Pictures and is currently building a Hard R Comedy Film and TV slate with his partner Byron Manuel.

Byron Manuel is a Writer, Producer, Director, and Filmmaker from Los Angeles. He expresses his passion for storytelling through a unique lens. Byron got his start on critically acclaimed shows such as Showtime's "Kidding", HBO's "Euphoria", Disney's "KC Undercover", and "Run The World" on Starz, while simultaneously carving out his own lane as an Indie Filmmaker.
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50min

FAQs about Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen:

How many episodes does Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen have?

The podcast currently has 102 episodes available.

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