Since leaving the newsroom, Jill Geissler has been on the teaching staff of The Poynter Institute here in St. Petersburg, where she focuses on leadership and management. She also hosts an incredibly popular podcast, “What Great Bosses Know,” heard on Poynter Online and iTunes U And because of the Poynter connection and its promotion of stuff like ethics, I will point out that I have done work for Poynter over the years

Midnight Express was one of the scariest movies I ever saw. It was probably one of the most horrifying films you ever saw, too. The story of Billy Hayes, an American tourist caught attempting to leave Turkey by plane in 1970 with bags of hashish taped to his stomach, for which he was subsequently jailed for five years – and, with only 42 days left to serve, resentenced to life in prison – was made into a major motion picture starring Brad Davis and written by Oliver Stone.

From 2010: Christian Slater has at last found solid footing on network television. His ABC series, “The Forgotten,” got off to an admittedly slow start in the ratings when it debuted last fall, but the network stayed with it and so has a growing audience. Now the show stands to get a boost from the addition of a familiar face: Elisha Cuthbert, who we saw grow up over eight seasons—or days, if you will—of the Fox series, “24.”

Somebody call Josh Radnor on CBS! The girl of his character’s dreams on “How I Met Your Mother” — actress JoAnna Garcia — has slipped away and landed her own sitcom on ABC! And while I don’t think co-star, Jennifer Finnigan, has been reported MIA on another network, once you guys see her, you won’t forget her.

Joining me, in order, will be Darryl Stephens, the star and title character of the popular Logo Channel series, “Noah’s Arc.” In the middle of what is shaping up to be a gay male sandwich will be the beautiful and straight actress Janina Gavankar, who stars as “Papi” on Showtime’s long-running “The L Word.” And then bringing up the funny at the rear will be my old Facebook friend whom I’ve never before spoken with, the star of “Last Comic Standing” and “Celebrity Fit Club,” comedia

From 2011: Meital Dohan will be a familiar face – and body – to fans of Showtime’s long-running series “Weeds.” On that show, she was Yael Hoffman, the very strong willed Israeli director of admissions for a Hebrew university where Andy hoped to find salvation. But, this being Weeds, viewers knew he’d find something else when she said, “I’m wearing a bra, so stop looking for my n!pples.” As one YouTube fan wrote, “That was the hottest way I have ever heard anyone say “n!pples.”

I met Gene Simmons once. KISS was touring without the makeup for the first time and we were backstage at the Lakeland Civic Center. We didn’t talk long. Pretty soon, the late concert promoter John Stoll walked up to party with Gene Simmons. Each of his arms was around the waist of a beautiful, glammed out young lady whom he introduced to Simmons. The chit-chat was officially over. “Sorry, Bob. Gotta go,” Simmons said, trading places with Stoll between the girls. “Maybe we can talk later.” Never ha

A few years ago, Jim Melvin decided it was now or never. He retired from the St. Petersburg Times, took his family and savings, and moved to North Carolina. He put everything else aside to fulfill what he believed to be his destiny and nearly 2,000 pages that became The Death Wizard Chronicles. It’s a hell of a story, a hell of a series, and Jim Melvin is a hell of a guy.

What red-blooded man’s heart doesn’t start racing at the “Speed Racer” theme? My guest today is part of the revival of the immortal Speed Racer. He is IDW comic book writer Arie Kaplan, and with the release of the Wachowski Brothers’ big screen, live action adaptation of the Japanese anime classic, I thought it would be fun to talk a little Speed today. We’ll also touch on some of Arie’s other work.

In the world of comics, Denis Kitchen can do it all. Cartoonist, editor, publisher, museum consultant—heck, he even produced a daughter, Alexa, who is rapidly developing into a word-class artist in her own right. I’ve known Denis personally since 2002, when he vetted me as the guy who would eventually write the authorized biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life.