House of Crouse

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Craig Taylor, author of "New Yorkers: A City and Its People in Our Time." Taylor is a chronicler of some of the world’s greatest cities. His book "Londoners" was called the "best book about London in at least a decade" and the new one on New York City, which is made up of profiles of bodega cashiers, hospital nurses, elevator repairmen, emergency dispatchers; the people who wire the lights at the top of the Empire State Building, clean the windows of Rockefeller Center, and keep the subway running. It’s a book about the New York you don’t often read about and it is already getting rave reviews. The Independent called it, “Jaw-dropping…enthralling…Start spreading the news: Taylor’s book is a stunning work of modern social history."

Then Anthony Q. Farrell joins us. He’s a former stand up comedian who has written for "The Office," was executive story editor for "Little Mosque on the Prairie" and is known for his work as a writer on the Nickelodeon sitcom "The Thundermans." He’s back with two new shows "The Parker Andersons" and "Amelia Parker" which you’ll find on the Super Channel. What makes these shows unique is that they are two stand-alone comedy series, each with their own storylines and episodes, but are connected by larger overarching plot lines tying the two independent shows together.

Finally, you know my guest Lucas Hedges from his Academy Award nominated performance in "Manchester by the Sea" and you’ve seen him in "Lady Bird" and the film "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." His latest movie, "French Exit" has him starring opposite Michele Pfeiffer. He joins us to talk about his claim that he took on the role of the son of a soon to be broke Manhattan socialite because he wanted to be bored while playing a character.

When I edit the audio from interviews I clean them up, cutting out "Ums" and "ahs." For your enjoyment I offer up a moment of zen, a compendium of the sounds you don't usually hear on the radio.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Florian Zeller, the Oscar nominated director of "The Father." He discusses his personal connection to the material and what it was like working with Anthony Hopkins.

Then, Dylan Playfair, co-star of the Disney+ show "Mighty Ducks: Game Changers" stops by to talk about how playing hockey prepared him for a career as an actor.

Then, "Falcon and the White Soldier" co-star (and MMA legend) Georges St-Pierre talks about why he never enjoyed fighting.

Finally, we ask our panel, stand up comedian Debra DiGiovanni, Second City alum Darryl Hinds and Just for Laughs co-founder Andy Nulman, to discuss influences in comedy.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast: If you love records like Joshua Tree, Wrecking Ball, and Time out of Mind you know my guest’s work. Daniel Lanois has an incredible resume. His work as a producer for U2, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, the Neville Brothers, Robbie Robertson and Neil Young among many others led Rolling Stone Magazine to say, “His unmistakable fingerprints are all over an entire wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

Lanois has moved back to Canada and launched the brand new Maker Series imprint out of his Toronto-based recording studio. First up in the Maker Series is a solo record called Heavy Sun. A soulful, joyous album recorded in Los Angeles and Toronto that fuses classic gospel and modern electronics. He says the intent of the music is to “lift people’s spirits.”

Then, we meet Jessica Bruder, author of the 2017 book “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century,” and Bob Wells, a real-life nomad and one of the stars of the Oscar nominated film “Nomadland.”

Then, the man, the myth, the legend William Shatner. His career is so epic it spans generations. Some will remember him as the iconic Capt. James T Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Others know him as the veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker. Still others think of him as the host of the reality-based television series Rescue 911 or the "Big Giant Head" from 3rd Rock from the Sun or as attorney Denny Crane both in the final season of the legal drama The Practice and in its spinoff series Boston Legal. He’s an actor, an author a singer and now the star of Senior Moment a new rom com on VOD this week.

The romantic comedy focuses on Shatner’s character Victor, a retired pilot whose life goes into a tailspin after he loses his driver’s license, but starts looking up when he finds love with a character played by Jean Smart.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Vivek Shraya. Described as "cultural rocket fuel" by Vanity Fair, Shraya is a Canadian multi-media artist whose art, music, novels, poetry and children's books touch on themes of cultural as well as personal transformation. Her successful one woman show “How to Fail as a Popstar” details a failed career in music from singing in religious gatherings where you sang as a kid, to talent shows in Edmonton malls, to a grab at pop stardom… It’s now a raw and honest book about fame for, as the press release says, “any kid whoever sang into a hairbrush and imagined their name in lights.”

Then Eden Robinson, author of the Scotiabank Giller Prize nominated “Trickster” books stops by to talk about her life, quitting a five pack a day cigarette habit and the release of the final book in the troilogy, “The Return of the Trickster.”

On this week's Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet singer, songwriter Thad Cockrell who was about to throw in the towel on his music career when Jimmy Fallon chanced upon one of his songs and changed his life. He’s now a number one selling artists with a great story.

Then, Kim Echlin, the award author of the new Bosnian war themed novel "Speak, Silence," stops by to discuss the book and offer tiups for writers.

We wrap with a panel, journalist Kevin Donovan author of “Billionaire Murders,” Kristi Lee, host of CDN true crime podcast “Canadian True Crime” and Michael Arntfield, a former detective/ writer, producer, and consultant for the true crime series “To Catch a Killer,” who aim to answer the question of why we enjoy true crime stories.

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet singer, songwriter and now author Kat Goldman. Her book "Off the Charts: What I Learned From My Almost-Fabulous Life in Music" is a funny and heartfelt look at what it's like to meet your first fan, date a rock star (never again!), perform in a grocery store, and rebuild your career after getting hit by a car in a bagel shop. 

Then, did you know "It's Raining Men," the 1982 disco hit by the Weather Girls, is part Canadian? The upbeat song, which was just inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, was written by Donna Summer’s songwriter Paul Jabara and the Toronto-born musician and former band leader of Late Show with David Letterman, Paul Shaffer, who joins me from Los Angeles.

Finally, blogger, columnist, and media personality Perez Hilton, Francesca Bacardi senior Reporter at PageSix.com and reality television personality Roxy Earle, discuss the public’s appetite for gossip.

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet Canadian acting icon Jayne Eastwood who talks about working with Cloris Leachman on family drama "Jump, Darling."

Then Canadian animator Andrew Lawson talks about working on the big Disney animated film "Raya and the Last Dragon" during the pandemic.

The comic book legend Josh Blaylock talks about his new project, a comic book company called PopCultivator, whose fans are its main investor and creators.

And finally, Disney Vice President of Marketing Greg Mason talks about the launch of Star.

This week on the Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet rock legend and “Do You Feel Like I Do?: A Memoir” author Peter Frampton, who talks about everything from his early days–his friendship with “Dave” Bowie–and meeting Jimi Hendrix to superstardom and fighting a degenerative disease.

Then, the panel, solo artist and STYX keyboardist and vocalist Lawrence Gowan and Grammy and Academy Award-nominated composer, producer, pianist, arranger, conductor and recording artist Stephan Moccio, discuss staying creative in the pandemic and what good we can take away from this difficult time.

On this week's Richard Crouse Show Podcast we meet David Fishof who managed some of the biggest names in sports before turning his eye to music. While he was working with Ringo Starr he hatched the idea for the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, a retreat for amateur musicians to play with and learn from professionals like Roger Daltry from The Who and Bill Wyman from the Rolling Stones.

He is now the subject of a fun new documentary called Rock Camp that details the wild and woolly beginning of the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp and the role it plays in making people’s lives better.

Then, the panel, Denise Donlan, the former president of Sony Music Canada, among many other titles including author and public speaker, Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman and documentary filmmaker Paul Saltzman, whose latest film is about his experiences studying at the same ashram as The Beatles in 1968, talk about what it means to be a legend.