The ALL NEW Big Wakeup Call with Ryan Gatenby

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From March 13, 2018: Comedian Jimmy O. Yang called in for a fun conversation about his book How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents.

ABOUT JIMMY O. YANG

Jimmy O. Yang is an actor, stand-up comedian, and writer best known for his portrayal of Jian Yang on HBO's Emmy-nominated series Silicon Valley and his dramatic turn opposite Mark Wahlberg in the highly acclaimed film Patriot's Day. Born in Hong Kong, Yang moved to Los Angeles when he was thirteen, where he eventually made his television debut on the CBS series 2 Broke Girls and his first late-night stand-up appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, where he received a rare standing ovation. He lives in Los Angeles.

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From April 2, 2020: Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine visited the show to promote her memoir, All I Ever Wanted.

KATHY VALENTINE BIO 

Kathy Valentine is a well known musician and songwriter. She has toured nationally and internationally, recorded both major and indie self-produced records, and written or co-written countless songs, including the hit singles "Vacation" and "Head Over Heels" with the Go-Go's, the band she joined at age 22, with whom she made music history.

She has recently entered into public speaking engagements, giving thoughtful and lively keynote speeches for The American Heart Association's Women's Circle of Red annual summit and for the Musicians for Equal Opportunities for Women Music conference, as well as speaking on music business panels and giving educational talks to high school students and adult classes.

As a musical director, she orchestrated and organized an all-star all-woman band to kick-off the Seattle's Experience Music Project Museum "Women In Rock" exhibit, and has worked with the Grammy's Musician's Assistance Program, Austin's Blanton Museum of Art, and ASCAP's Songwriting Expo to perform and implement music entertainment for a variety of events.

Kathy is a frequent contributor to "The Talkhouse," writing about newly released music in a deeply personal and entertaining fashion. She lives in Austin, Texas with her daughter where she enjoys playing guitar in her "Texas-garage-glam" band the BlueBonnets, serving as mentor and producer for aspiring female artists, writing a book and a screenplay, and working on her college degree in Fine Arts/English.

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From December 1, 2020: Comedian Ron Funches returned to the show to talk about a new TV series, Top Secret Videos on truTV.

ABOUT RON FUNCHES
A stand up comedian, actor, and writer, Ron Funches, has lent his voice to Trolls, Bob's Burgers, and Adventure Time. He has also appeared on New Girl, Black-ish, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Funches has guest-starred on Conan, The Tonight Show, andCupcake Wars. Funches has wrote several television plots and resides in Southern California with his son.

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Author Greg Renoff returned to the show to promote his new biography, Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music, featuring great stories from his career recording Van Halen, the Doobie Brothers, and more.

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From February 12, 2018: Parry Gripp is a singer-songwriter and recording artist who has racked up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube for songs like "It's Raining Tacos." Parry also leads the band Nerf Herder, a favorite among my fellow fans of '90s high octane geek rock. Parry called into talk about his new book (in partnership with National Geographic Kids), "Somebunny Loves Me."

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From June 29, 2021: Rob Barnett was formerly a president of programming at CBS Radio  and was also an executive at MTV and VH1 (where he memorably spent a day with George Harrison when he visited the studio for a chat with John Fugelsang.) Rob called in to talk about his newbook  “Next Job, Best Job: A Headhunter’s 11 Strategies to Get Hired Now.

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Daniel José Older is the award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of works of urban and historical fantasy for adults, young adults, and middle grade readers. In addition to the Outlaw Saints duology, his series include Bone Street Rumba, Dactyl Hill Squad, and The Shadowshaper Cypher, launching with Shadowshaper, which won the International Latino Book Award and was named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read. He has also written two standalone novels (The Book of Lost Saints and Flood City), three Star Wars novels, and numerous short stories. He became an author after a decades-long career as a New York City paramedic and is also an accomplished musician.   Daniel called in to discuss his new book, Last Canto of the Dead.

Shannon Duncan is an entrepreneur and author. He also penned: “Present Moment Awareness”. Duncan lives in California finding his way to an authentic expression of himself, including and especially his sense of humor, has been the most rewarding aspect of healing from trauma.  Shannon joined the show for a discussion of his new book, Coming Full Circle: Using Psychedelics to Heal Trauma.

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From November 17, 2014: Actress Jillian Bell called me for a chat and to promote the DVD of her movie 22 JUMP STREET. Jillian was my celebrity crush at the time and I think you can hear it in my voice during the interview.

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From November 9, 2016: Comedian and actor Colin Mochrie from Whose Line Is it Anyway?  dialed us up to chat about a special improv event coming to a local theater.

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From November 9, 2016: Kevin O'Connor from This Old House shared tips on winterizing your home and what's happening on the latest season of the show.