Amanda knows about living inside other people’s preconceptions. When she was 22 years old, she was sentenced to 26 years in prison for a murder she didn’t commit. In 2007, on a study-abroad program in Perugia, Italy, Amanda’s roommate Meredith Kurcher was raped and murdered. The police and the tabloids pinned it on “Foxy Knoxy,” calling Amanda a sex-crazed murderer. After spending almost a decade in the labyrinth of the Italian criminal justice system, Amanda was fully exonerated. Today, she lives in her hometown of Seattle and, with her husband, has a podcast called Labyrinths about the mazes we find ourselves in. 

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From Blake Edwards and Paul Mazursky, to Audrey Hepburn and the history of Improv, Sam Wasson tackles distinctive creators and seminal moments in Hollywood history. Alec loved Sam Wasson’s latest, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. In this fascinating conversation, Wasson tells the story of the four men behind the 1974 film, producer Robert Evans, screenwriter Robert Towne, director Roman Polanski, and the star Jack Nicholson. Chinatown marked the end of an era for Hollywood and a turning point in each of their lives. 

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The Bee Gees were Barry Gibb and his younger twin brothers, Robin and Maurice. From the time they started playing together as children, they dreamed of stardom, and they certainly succeeded. The Bee Gees became among the top-selling music groups of all time. The distinctive “blood harmony” of the brothers' voices set the dance floor on fire and their prodigious talent as songwriters extended their career long past disco’s days. Now in his mid-70s, Barry is the sole survivor of the group. Barry talks to Alec about his songwriting, fame, and family. Robin died in 2012 and Maurice in 2003. Barry’s keeping the Bee Gees’ music alive and still making music. HBO recently released a documentary about the group, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? and Barry put out an album featuring Nashville greats singing Bee Gees songs called Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1).

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In this episode, recorded several months into the pandemic, NYC-based psychiatrist Julie Holland assures Alec it’s not just him, we’re all having a hard-time. Dr. Holland says our brains are wired for connection and isolation is causing many of us to go into “fight or flight” mode where it’s harder to feel safe and loved. But there’s hope. Put down the phone, go outside, call a friend. Connect. And, for some, drugs might help, too. Holland has been deeply curious about the brain since high school and she’s a leading researcher in using psychedelics and cannabis to treat PTSD. In controlled settings, these drugs can restore a sense of being connected with others and the larger world. Holland is the author of several books including Good Chemistry, Moody Bitches, and a memoir, Weekends at Bellevue.

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In the glut of comedy that exists today - with hundreds of comedy clubs, sit-coms, late-night talk shows, and podcasts - Patton Oswalt has distinguished himself over his three-decade career by being a talented actor who also happens to be very funny. Patton talks to Alec about the sudden death in 2016 of his first wife, author Michelle McNamara, how it changed his relationship with their daughter. Patton says the strength of his first marriage allowed him to “run at love” when it came a second time (he married actress Meredith Salenger in late 2017). Alec and Patton also compare notes on the deep imprint their favorite TV shows growing up have had, what Patton learned about FOMO while writing for MADtv, and why Patton started all over when he started performing at comedy clubs in San Francisco in the early 90s.

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In 2018, U.S. Representative Katie Porter (CA-45) was the first Democrat ever to be elected in her traditionally conservative Orange County district. Prompted to run by Trump’s 2016 win, Porter quickly made a name for herself with her tough questioning of CEOs and administration officials, often using a whiteboard to lay out the facts. Katie Porter’s no-nonsense approach comes in part from her upbringing in Iowa. During the farm crisis of the 1980s, she saw first-hand how her father, a third generation farmer turned community loan officer, helped to support their neighbors. She went on to study bankruptcy law under Elizabeth Warren at Harvard Law School and become a consumer protection attorney and a law professor. A single mom to three school-age children, Katie Porter tells Alec people often have often underestimated her - at their own peril.

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Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson talks to Alec about her best-selling book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Wilkerson says America’s caste system began in 1619, when enslaved people first arrived in the Jamestown colony. Drawing comparisons between India’s millennia-long caste system and the Nazis’ subjugation of Jews in WWII, Wilkerson says white Americans developed a caste system to justify centuries of violence and discrimination against African-Americans. Wilkerson says we must understand our full history and the caste system today to become a more equitable nation. Alec then follows up on the question of reparations with William Darity, a Duke University professor of economics and co-author of From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century. Darity says the U.S. government owes $10 - $12 trillion in reparations to the approximately 40 million descendants of enslaved people. Darity says reparations are essential to close the persistent wealth gap between white and Black households.

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Mick Fleetwood is the drummer and a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Fleetwood talks to Alec about how dyslexia led him to the drumming, how supportive parents encouraged his talent and his move to London as a teenager, how his friendship with the band’s founder, guitarist Peter Green, evolved to a life-long friendship, and how Fleetwood Mac balanced the weight of their interpersonal dynamics and the band’s wild, over-the-top success. The band’s 1977 album Rumors broke through Billboard 100 again last year thanks to a Tik Tok of a man on a skateboard lipsyncing to Dreams and introduced a whole new generation to Fleetwood Mac’s beautiful, enduring music. 

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Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean offers a long-view take on what’s needed in this pivotal moment as Joe Biden takes office. Dean talks about vaccines, prioritizing the important while attending to the urgent, and what unity might look like for our deeply divided country. Dean has studied democracies around the world, yet much of his adult life has been rooted in Vermont where he practiced family medicine before becoming the state's longest-serving Governor from 1991 - 2003. Dean ran for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 Presidential race, pioneering grassroots fundraising. Then, as chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 and 2009, his 50 state strategy played a key role in Barack Obama’s 2008 win. At 72, Dean teaches foreign policy at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and is as opinionated and clear thinking as ever.

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Actor Kristen Bell (The Good Place, Frozen, Veronica Mars) has a happy marriage that requires a lot of work, and she’s good with that. She considered a life in the theater as a student at NYU, even making it to Broadway before graduation. However, on a whim, she moved to Los Angeles and has been starring in movies and TV ever since. Like her most memorable characters, Bell is plucky, relatable, and very funny. That’s her lane and she’s good with that, too. She tells Alec, at 40, she’s more comfortable than ever in her skin, more aware of her voice and what she needs to be happy, lessons she strives to model every day for her daughters, and her legions of devoted fans.

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