The ALL NEW Big Wakeup Call with Ryan Gatenby

Send us Fan Mail

I've been fortunate to interview many of my favorite comedians on the show over the years, and on this Flashback Friday episode, we open The Big Wakeup Call vault for a series of fun and/or entertaining chats!

From October 26, 2012: Judah Friedlander called in talk about the latest season of "30 Rock" and a Hot Pockets video he allegedly directed.

From October 7, 2015: Paul F. Tompkins joined the show to chat about his stand-up special "Driving and Crying."

From May 17, 2019, Pete Holmes dialed us up to talk about his book "Comedy Sex God."

This episode is brought to you by Second Show Friday.

Send us Fan Mail

From September 2, 2021: Michael Ian Black is a friend (and hopefully) fan of the show as a member of our 6-Timers Club. We had a fun chat about his new book for kids called "I'm Sorry." Michael also gave some questionable medical advice and shared his thoughts on the NFL season from his perspective as an NFL veteran with nine years in the league and two rings.

Send us Fan Mail

Dean Sheremet, chef & certified nutritionist, is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City and has worked in Michelin starred restaurants. After a decade spent in the NYC restaurant scene, Dean moved back to California to star in FOX's hit show, My Kitchen Rules, and The CW's Terry Crew Saves Christmas. Chef Sheremet appears regularly on Access Hollywood, CBS The Talk, Fox’s Good Day LA, and Hallmark's Home and Family. He also contributes to Cosmopolitan, US Weekly, and The Daily Meal, and has worked with Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative. Dean discussed healthy recipes for the new year and the benefits of cooking clean with propane.

Send us Fan Mail

From 2012: Aubrey Plaza called in to promote the latest episode of "Parks and Recreation" and in doing so became the first guest on my show to use naughty words. I wasn't mad; I was impressed she was able to fit a "s****y" and two "h**dj**s"  in less than seven minutes. I think that's a record.  This episode also features an appearance by my original co-host, JoAnn Genette.

Required disclaimer:
THIS EPISODE CONTAINS EXPLICIT MATERIAL.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, we chat with two best-selling children's book authors!

Lily LaMotte, brilliant author of the graphic novel Measuring Up, an ALA Top Ten, has written her debut picture book about a special Lunar New Year feast, perfect for fans of Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin and I Am Golden by Eva Chen.  CHLOE’S LUNAR NEW YEAR is a tender, warm, and uplifting holiday story about tradition and the importance of being with those you love. There are educational facts about the Lunar New Year celebration in Taiwan and a fun recipe for a delicious fortune cake!

Karen Edwards has worked for over 20 years in educational publishing. She started her career as a writer and editor of Prekindergarten through Grade 6 textbooks. She then branched out into creating print and digital resources for children, parents, and educators. Karen joined Workman Publishing in 2018 as senior editor to work on the cornerstone brands Brain Quest and Big Fat Notebook and to develop educational titles that support and excite students on theirs journey through school.  Karen discussed the first board books of the Brain Quest series.

Send us Fan Mail

Holly Geyer, M.D., author of Ending the Crisis, is an Addiction Medicine Specialist at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz. Her work is directed toward helping people with complex illnesses who are in the hospital, with special attention to addiction screening, evaluation and treatment for patients and families with concerns about substance use disorder. A key part of her work focuses on quality of life and the best use of nondrug interventions for diseases such as cancer. In addition to her clinical activities, Dr. Geyer is active in research, patient advocacy and healthcare policy at an enterprise and state level. She is well published in high-impact scientific journals and book chapters and maintains an active international lecture schedule. She additionally serves as a Physician Director of the Mayo Clinic Physician Assistant Fellowship program.

Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles. She is also the coauthor of the bestselling fantasy series Magisterium with Holly Black. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Her books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and three fearsome cats.  Cassandra talked about the final book in her Last Hours trilogy, Chain of Thorns.

Send us Fan Mail

During the 12-year history of The Big Wakeup Call, I've been fortunate enough to chat with nearly the entire cast of Bob's Burgers! These are all from the earlier years of the show (2012-2014) and you can hear I was a little hyper back then!

Sometimes they were on to promote the show, sometimes with other projects, but here are my chats with Bob, Louise, Tina, and Gene!

From December 5, 2014: H. Jon Benjamin

From May 1, 2013: Kristen Schaal

From October 7, 2014: Dan Mintz

From December 14, 2012: Eugene Mirman

Send us Fan Mail

We open The Big Wakeup Call Vault(tm) and turn back the clock to 2019  to feature interviews from three legendary British singer/songwriters from the 80s new wave!

From August 8, 2019: Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze joined the show on August 8, 2019 to talk about "The Squeeze Songbook 2019" tour.

From October 21, 2019: Mick Hucknall called in for a chat about Simply Red's then-new album "Blue Eyed Soul."

From June 11, 2019: Howard Jones visited to promote his then-new album "Transform."

Send us Fan Mail

A new season of The All New Big Wakeup Call Podcast continues with some very fun guests!

Jen Kirkman is a comedian, actress, screenwriter, and podcast host. We talk about her podcast, "Anxiety Bites."

George Wallace joins our 4-timers club! His best-selling book “Bulltwit and Whatnot: The online Ramblings of George Wallace, is now out in paperback.

Dana Schwartz is making her 2nd appearance on the show.  Her Noble Blood podcast is one of the most listened-to shows in the genre.  She's got a brand new one discussing Bruce Willis called "Haileywood."

The Big Wakeup Call is brought to you by Hotel 99 and Chicago's 4-Star Icicle Ale.

Send us Fan Mail

Dean Regas called in for a lively discussion about astronomy and his new book from Nat Geo Kids, "1000 Facts About Space."

Dean Regas has been the Astronomer for the Cincinnati Observatory since 2000. He is a renowned educator, author, national popularizer of astronomy and an expert in observational astronomy. From 2010-2019 Dean was the co-host of the PBS program Star Gazers. He is the author of six books including "Facts From Space!"and "100 Things to See in the Night Sky". Dean is a Contributing Editor to Sky and Telescope Magazine and a contributor to Astronomy Magazine, where he won 2008 “Out-of-this-World” Award for astronomy education.  Dean has written over 160 astronomy articles for the Cincinnati Enquirer, blogged for the Huffington Post and is regularly featured on television and radio.  Dean is a frequent guest on National Public Radio’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow and NPR's Here & Now. He also hosts an astronomy podcast with Anna Hehman called "Looking Up!" Follow Dean on IG @deanregas or facebook or Cincinnati Observatory