How To Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

The UK creator, writer and star of such BBC hits as Pulling and the current Catastrophe (also seen on Amazon) talks to Michael about realizing that she needed to create her own success and what her life is like now that she is working on two continents since her HBO show, Divorce starring Sarah Jessica Parker, has premiered.

America's favorite weatherman talks to Michael about how he stumbled upon what became the career that he loves and would never give up, along with a frank conversation about his Today Show family and what that really means. In addition, the two chat about the upcoming election, covering the news on September 11 and how you can never stop pitching the next idea.

When Michael spoke to Five Thirty Eight's founder Nate Silver, he highly recommended Daniel Kahneman's groundbreaking book Thinking Fast and Slow. Now, Michael talks to Kahneman, the Nobel Prize-winning author and founder of behavioral economics, in a rare interview, in which he not only discusses his best-selling book, but also shares personal stories about growing up Jewish in Nazi-occupied Paris, his early years in the Psychology branch of the Israel Defense Forces and his fascinating research on decision making and happiness.

On this episode, Michael talks with Sonia Manzano on the heels of her recent Lifetime Achievement Emmy. Manzano is best known as “Maria” on Sesame Street, a character she played for 44 years. In the humorous and heartfelt conversation, she opens up about her early days on the iconic children’s program, learning how to work alongside the muppets and how she escaped a difficult childhood in the South Bronx to become an actress, writer, educator, and memoirist.

Legendary magician and raconteur Penn Jillette has a keen eye for calling out the bullshit around him, but it took a dangerous health scare for him to realize his own eating habits were going to kill him if he didn't make drastic changes to his diet. In this episode he and Michael discuss how his desire to never take the easy route has helped make him a great magician and showman, and pushed him to lose over 100 pounds without surgery.

Best-selling author Harlan Coben has sold over 60 million books in 43 different languages. In this episode he talks to Michael in a remarkably practical way about how he does it - his writing process, how he dreams up his wildly imaginative and fun murder mysteries, his approach to marketing his books and more. A not-to-miss episode for anyone who aspires to write or just wants to know how a big bestseller is put together.

The fashion therapist and Project Runway mentor chats with Michael about his journey from an art student to one of the most trusted names in the fashion world. In this deeply personal and heartfelt conversation Gunn opens up about his struggles with learning to be comfortable in his own skin and using his talent, creativity and passion for the arts to inspire others.

As a spy, Valerie Plame’s job was for nobody to know her identity. All that changed when members of George W. Bush’s administration outed her to a reporter in retaliation for her husband public criticism of the Bush administration’s use of intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq War. Simply, her life as she knew it, was ruined. In the years since, she rebuilt her life and using what she learned in her years as a CIA operative, has become outspoken about issues concerning cyber security and nuclear threat, among others. Her experience from 2003 is eerily similar to events happening today.

Michael sits down with his friend and fellow member of the comedy troupes The State and Stella for a lively, hilarious and moving conversation about finding your voice in the entertainment industry. The two reminisce about their early days on MTV, and Showalter talks candidly about the rejection and failed TV shows that lead him to his true passion behind the camera writing and directing films such as the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer and the indie darling Hello, My Name is Doris; starring Sally Field.

Wayne Pacelle took his childhood love of animals and made a career, you might even call it a crusade, helping them. As the President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, Pacelle has learned to be a master strategizer to push change, sometimes in small steps, sometimes in big reforms. For anyone who cares about an issue, but thinks it’s too big or unwieldy to ever make a dent, Pacelle’s approach to animal welfare will be inspirational.