From 2009: Her latest film, "A Beautiful Life," casts Bai Ling in the role of den mother to a young Latino man who is in the U.S. illegally and a teenage girl, played by Angela Sarafyan, who has run away from a physically abusive father. But this is still Bai Ling, so the producers found a way for her character, Esther, to frequently wear little or nothing: she’s a stripper. A Beautiful Life opens around the United States on October 2.

From 2009: "Captain" was written by my guest, Nicole Sabrina Stuart, who also stars as “Trish,” and Jack Sundmacher, who plays “Steve” in the short. You might recognize the vivacious Nicole from her most recent appearance on screen as Kate Hudson’s beleaguered secretary in the feature film, Bride Wars—which I just watched on DVD with my daughter a few weeks ago. She’s also been in the Arthur Miller film After the Fall and episodes of “Criminal Minds,” “V.I.P.” and “The George Lopez S

From 2009: Meet Dr. Herb Sorensen. He is the author of an incredibly detailed new book, Inside the "Mind of the Shopper: The Science of Retailing," which breaks down what shoppers are thinking in large part based on their eye movements while shopping. If you’re a professional within the retail industry, I think you’ll find Sorensen’s observations of great use. And if you’re a shopper, you may gain some great insight about the way successful retailers market their wares to you.

From 2009: Failure is epidemic in America these days, some of it earned, much of it dropped in the laps of hard-working entrepreneurs who did nothing wrong but have still seen their life work vanish in recent months. But when Dean Shepherd, the Randall L. Tobias Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, sees failure, he smells opportunity. He’s the author of a new book called From Lemons to Lemonade: Squeeze Every Last Drop of Success Out of Your Mistakes.

From 2009: For my money, the only cable channel that mattered back in the early days of cable TV superstations was the one whose signature star was a scrawny guy with a mustache named Bill Tush. Tush was the reason the college kids tuned in, because late at night, he was MC Crazy and anything went. It is my pleasure to welcome to Mr. Media a guy who made college a whole lot more tolerable and entertaining for my generation, Ted Turner's favorite TV host, Mr. Bill Tush.

From 2009: Christian Finnegan is smart, he’s topical, and he’s not afraid to let a fart joke fly. If you’re wondering from where you recognized his wit and clean good looks, think back to VH1’s “Best Week Ever, Comedy Central’s “Chapelle Show” or, more recently “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” on MSNBC. Finnegan just released a pretty damn funny DVD of his latest work, entitled “Au Contraire!” You may have already seen a shorter version currently in rotation on Comedy Central.

From 2009: Jeff Wilser is the author of "The Maxims of Manhood: 100 Rules Every Real Man Must Live By," in which he gives us life instructions that are more practical than anything handed down since Hef wrote the Playboy Philosophy. (I think it’s just an odd coincidence that Wilser’s book title has he word “maxim” in it, since nothing useful ever came out of the magazine of that name.) Here's a good example, Maxim #21: Use every four-letter word but one. Classy, huh?

From 2009: Anthony Head can’t escape his past. I know that, because when I posted a note on Facebook a few days ago that I’d be interviewing Anthony, it took less than a minute for Gina Vivinetto to respond with two words: “Ack! GILES!” I wasn’t entirely sure if that was good or bad, but when Gina subsequently promised to tell all her online friends about the interview, I concluded “Ack!” was good.

From 2009: Has it really been a whole year? Wow. This time last year, “Army Wives” was on the eve of its second season and I had the great pleasure of welcoming the show’s creator, Katherine Fugate, as a guest. Today’s pretty cool, too: Brigid Brannagh, who plays Pamela Moran on the hit Lifetime show, is about to join us to talk about the series’ third season.

From 2009: Joining me to reveal the secrets of “Mad Men” is three-time Emmy Award nominee for makeup, Debbie Zoller. She was the makeup department head for the show’s first two seasons and has since moved on to another promising new show, ABC’s romantic comedy, “Castle,” starring Nathan Fillion. Debbie also did makeup for Pirates of the Caribbean, Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, Vol. 1 & 2, and Star Trek films and TV shows.