Zach Kessel is a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow in Political Journalism at National Review. During this podcast, he talks with Matt about the shaming of Julia Mazur, how the term "neoconservatism" is being abused, and a curious new project being launched by Sen. Joe Manchin and his daughter.

Jonathan Taplin was tour manager for Bob Dylan and the Band in the ’60s, producer of The Concert For Bangladesh and major films in the ’70s for Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders and Gus Van Sant, an executive at Merrill Lynch’s Media Mergers and Acquisition Group in the ’80s, creator of the Internet’s first video-on-demand service in the ’90s, and a cultural critic and author writing about technology in the new millennium. On today's podcast, he talks with Matt about his new book, The End of Reality: How Four Billionaires are Selling a Fantasy Future of the Metaverse, Mars, and Crypto.

William Beutler, the founder of Beutler Ink, a digital creative agency specializing in content creation and Wikipedia consulting, talks about his recent article for The Hill: "AI's real problem is that it's boring."

John Romero, the co-creator of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3-D—some of the biggest video games ever—chats with Matt about his autobiography, Doom Guy: Life in First Person. Even if you're not into video games, there is a TON here for anyone interested in creativity, writing, marketing, and collaboration. Enjoy!

Friends of the pod Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn talk with Matt about who is likely to come out ahead of the GOP primary debate, and whether the debate will move the needle. They also discuss Donald Trump's "counterprogramming" with Tucker Carlson, and whether the media should be harder on Joe Biden for his handling of the Maui wildfires.

Bill Scher of Washington Monthly returns to the pod to preview Wednesday's GOP primary debate and to unpack a spate of new polls.

Rick Lee James is a singer and songwriter, speaker, author, Podcast host, and chaplain. During this conversation, he talks with Matt about his great new song, "Keep Watch, Dear Lord."

Thirty-five years ago this summer, Bull Durham hit the theaters. On this episode, film director and screenwriter Ron Shelton talks about his book, The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit. (This podcast episode first aired on September 22, 2022.)

With the death of Robbie Robertson, the chief composer and lead guitarist for the Band, I thought this was a good time to revisit my 2021 talk with Jonathan Taplin, who was tour manager for Bob Dylan and The Band. Taplin shares many stories, including a good one about Robbie Robertson and a hypnotist. (This episode originally aired on April 29, 2021.)

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat talks with Matt about his new book, The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery.