The ALL NEW Big Wakeup Call with Ryan Gatenby

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On this episode, we re-visit my chats with best-selling superstar author Rick Riordan!

 Rick Riordan, dubbed “storyteller of the gods” by Publishers Weekly, is the author of five #1 New York Times best-selling middle grade series with millions of copies sold throughout the world: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, and the Trials of Apollo, based on Greek and Roman mythology; the Kane Chronicles, based on Ancient Egyptian mythology; and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, based on Norse mythology. Rick collaborated with illustrator John Rocco on two #1 New York Times best-selling collections of Greek myths for the whole family: Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes. Rick is also the publisher of an imprint at Disney-Hyperion, Rick Riordan Presents, dedicated to finding other authors of highly entertaining fiction based on world cultures and mythologies. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and two sons. 

From October 2021: Rick called in for a chat about Daughters of the Deep.
From October 2020: Rick and I discussed his book The Trials of Apollo.

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NBC Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison visited our show twice to talk about the latest episodes of the long-running program.

Our interviews were on October 18, 2013 and April 4, 2014.

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From October 30, 2019: NBC News correspondent and MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle called in for a chat about her book Modern Ruhles, where she "brings her characteristic curiosity, empathy and insight to some of today's thorniest, most complex conversations."

ABOUT STEPHANIE RUHLE 

Stephanie Ruhle anchors "MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle" at 9 a.m. ET and "MSNBC Live with Velshi & Ruhle" at 1 p.m. ET on weekdays. Ruhle also appears across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms, including "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt," "TODAY," and NBCNews.com.

Since joining MSNBC, Ruhle has interviewed titans in politics, business, entertainment and sports including Michael Bloomberg, Serena Williams and more. Ruhle is known for bringing humanity into her news coverage, including her reporting on the migrant crisis at the border in McAllen, Texas and her daily "Good News Ruhles" segment.

Prior to Bloomberg, Ruhle worked at Deutsche Bank, serving as a Managing Director in Global Markets Senior Relationship Management. Ruhle began her career at Credit Suisse, where she was the highest-producing credit derivatives salesperson in the US.

Ruhle plays an active role in women's leadership development, having founded the Corporate Investment Bank Women's Network and co-chaired Women on Wall Street. Ruhle is a member of the board of trustees for Girls Inc. NYC and in 2016 was honored as one of their Women of the Year.

Ruhle received a bachelor's degree in International Business from Lehigh University, living abroad in Guatemala, Kenya and Italy.

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From April 10, 2019: Nora McInerny talked about her new memoir, No Happy Endings, which she described as "a new book with more heartbreaking AND hilarious meditations on my messy, wonderful, and unexpected life."

ABOUT NORA MCINERNY

NORA MCINERNY IS a reluctant expert in difficult conversations. As the host of American Public Media’s Gracie Award-winning podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking, Nora brings empathy and wit to difficult subjects from gun control to sexual assault. Nora is a contributor to Elle.com, Cosmopolitan.com, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Buzzfeed, Time.com, Slate and Vox, where she’s often tapped for her essay pieces highlighting the emotional landscape and humor in complex topics, like the financial impacts of healthcare and grief in a digital age. She founded the non-profit Still Kickin and the Hot Young Widows Club, an online group of people who have lost their significant other. 

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From September 27, 2018: Andrea Canning, correspondent for Dateline NBC, called in to promote the 27th season of the program.

ABOUT ANDREA CANNING

Andrea Canning is a correspondent for Dateline NBC and contributes to all NBC News platforms. Canning reports on major crime stories, high profile trials and breaking news including the Boston Marathon Bombing, Hurricane Sandy, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and the terrorist attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Since arriving at Dateline, Canning has also reported hour-long documentaries on campus sexual assault and adoption fraud.

Prior to joining NBC News in 2012, Canning served as an ABC News correspondent since 2004 where she covered the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court and the Iraq War. Canning covered a wide array of stories ranging from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the Casey Anthony case, to her 2011 headline-making interview with actor Charlie Sheen.

Canning previously worked for WCPO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio, as anchor of their evening newscast. From 1999 to 2001, Canning covered countless stories for WPTV, the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida, including the anthrax scare at the National Enquirer buildings, the path of the 9/11 terrorists, the international custody battle of Elian Gonzalez and the 2000 Presidential Election. Canningserved as a reporter and evening news anchor for CKVR Television in Barrie, Ontario from 1997 to 1999. She was also the morning anchor for WXVT-CBS in Greenville, Mississippi. Prior to CKVR, from 1996 to 1997, Canning was an assignment editor and field producer for the television program Extra.

Canning graduated from the University of Western Ontario in London with a degree in psychology. Additionally, she studied radio and television arts at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto. Canning is married to Major Tony Bancroft, a former F-18 fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps. They have five young daughters.

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From October 9, 2018: Best-selling author Alan Axelrod discussed his book THE DISRUPTERS: 50 People Who Changed the World.

ABOUT ALAN AXELROD  
ALAN AXELROD is the author of more than 100 books, including the CEO and Real History series. He was the coauthor of The New York Times bestseller What Every American Should Know About American History as well as the Businessweek bestsellers Patton on Leadership and Elizabeth I, CEO). He has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs and in magazine and newspaper articles.

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From October 29, 2021: Tamron Hall, Emmy®  Award-winning talk show host and television journalist, discussed the launch of a new series of crime thrillers, featuring a main character modeled on herself, with AS THE WICKED WATCH: The First Jordan Manning Novel  as the first in the series.

ABOUT TAMRON HALL

From the deeply moving to the purely fun, "Tamron Hall" is a daily destination for all things topical and a platform for viewers to connect with the people who are shaping our world through meaningful, engaging, and entertaining conversations. As a new mom, a newlywed, and a survivor who is proving you can accomplish anything at any age, Tamron Hall brings a refreshing, relatable, unpredictable, and unstoppable voice to television.

Broadcast from New York City featuring a dynamic mix of live and taped shows, "Tamron Hall" airs across the country in national syndication.

Emmy® Award-winning talk show host Tamron Hall is the host and executive producer of the show. Formerly of The Today Show," she has also hosted six seasons of Deadline: Crime on Investigation Discovery. While at NBC, she was a recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for her report on domestic abuse. Tamron currently serves as an advocate for domestic violence awareness. A native of Luling, Texas, she lives in New York City.

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From June 1, 2021: Chicago-raised Veronica Roth was a senior at Northwestern University when she wrote her first book Divergent, the first part of a trilogy that would go on to sell more than 42 million copies and spawn three hit films starring Kate Winslet and Shailene Woodley (Veronica sold the film rights within months of graduating college.). The book series – about a futuristic, dystopian world in which those entering adulthood must choose one of five factions and commit to it for life – is now celebrating its 10th anniversary, and as the films continue to air on TV and streaming services, fans across the world on social media continue to keep the Divergent world alive.

To commemorate the milestone, HarperCollins is releasing new 10th Anniversary editions with exclusive essays from Veronica Roth and reimagined cover art from award-winning illustrator Victo Ngai. 

ABOUT VERONICA ROTH

With more than 42 million copies sold and available in 47 foreign territories, Veronica Roth’s Divergent series has come to be known as one of the foremost dystopian series of its time. Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment brought Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiantto the big screen in films starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort and Kate Winslet. Meanwhile, the Divergent fandom is still going strong as hundreds of thousands of social media followers keep the Divergent conversations going strong. As the films continue to air on television and streaming services, there’s no shortage of fans eager to dive into Roth’s futuristic world.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the international bestselling series, HarperCollins Publishers/Katherine Tegen Books will publish brand new commemorative editions. Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant, along with the companion novel Four: A Divergent Collection, are now available including exclusive essays from Veronica Roth and reimagined cover art from award-winning illustrator Victo Ngai.

Veronica Roth -- the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, Four: A Divergent Collection, Carve the Mark, The Fates Divide, The End and Other Beginnings, and Chosen Ones – can discuss how the Divergent books have changed her life and why she feels the characters continue to resonate with fans. 

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From September 13, 2017: NBC News correspondent Katy Tur talked about her book UNBELIEVABLE: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History.

ABOUT KATY TUR AND UNBELIEVABLE: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History

Called "Disgraceful," "third-rate," and "not nice" by Donald Trump, NBC News Correspondent Katy Tur reported on-and took flak from-the most captivating and volatile presidential candidate in American history. Tur lived out of a suitcase for a year and a half, following Trump around the country, powered by packets of peanut butter and dry shampoo. She visited forty states with the candidate, made over 3,800 live television reports, and tried to endure a gazillion loops of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" -a Trump rally playlist staple.

From day one to day 500, Tur documented Trump's inconsistencies, fact-checked his falsities, and called him out on his lies. In return, Trump repeatedly singled Tur out. He tried to charm her, intimidate her, and shame her. At one point, he got a crowd so riled up against Tur, Secret Service had to walk her to her car.

None of it worked. Facts are stubborn. So was Tur. She was part of the first women-led politics team in the history of network news. The Boys on the Bus became the Girls on the Plane. But the circus remained. Through all the long nights, wild scoops, naked chauvinism, dodgy staffers, and fevered debates, no one had a better view than Tur.

When Trump became an unexpected presidential success story, Tur became NBC's unexpected darling of political journalism. Ripped from her expat life in London as a foreign correspondent, she lost a lifestyle (and a boyfriend) but joined a family tradition. Tur's parents were the helicopter journalists who filmed the LA riots and OJ Simpson's fleeing White Bronco. They helped invent the live-obsessed news industry that Trump used for his rise.

UNBELIEVABLE is Tur's darkly comic, fascinatingly bizarre, and often scary story of what it was like to be on the inside a no-rules world where reporters were spat on, demeaned, and discredited. "During the campaign, whenever anyone asked what it was like to cover Trump my go to answer was 'wild ride,'" she says. "Well, now I can tell you what I really thought. And what really happened when the cameras turned off."

Katy Tur is a correspondent for NBC News and an anchor for MSNBC. Tur is the recipient of a 2017 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. She lives in New York City.

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From April 16, 2019: Jessica Yellin discusses her first novel, Savage News.

ABOUT JESSICA YELLIN 

Jessica Yellen is the former chief White House correspondent for CNN and an Emmy and Gracie Award- winning political journalist for CNN, ABC News, and MSNBC. She is also the founder of Sage, a multi-platform media company. Yellin’s work has been published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, The Hive, and Entertainment Weekly. She is a fellow with the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy and sits on the board of the Center for Public Integrity. Yellin lives in Los Angeles, California.