The Big Wakeup Call

Mike Nesmith returned to the show to discuss the new paperback edition of his memoir "Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff," and to promote his upcoming tour with Micky Dolenz, "The Monkees Present the Mike and Micky Show."

In his weekly visit from the World News Center, Bill McCormick called in with some thoughts about his time at c2e2. We also discussed banning & burning books and media and shared some live listener feedback. Plus: Sexy anime robot bees, more on the real-life Iron Man suit, and getting me closer to an Adamantium skeleton.

Ronald Bell, founding member of Kool and the Gang, called in to promote the band's appearance on the upcoming Ultimate Disco Cruise. We also discussed sampling, songwriting, and a write-in campaign to get Kool and the Gang into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Billy Brown stars in ABC's "How to Get Away With Murder" as the love interest of Viola Davis, and is now featured in a new movie "Proud Mary" opposite Taraji P. Henson. We chatted about filming in Chicago, his experiences on "Dexter" and working with the legendary Danny Glover.

Emmy, Oscar and Golden Globe Award-winning actress and director Christine Lahti called in to discuss her new book, "True Stories From an Unreliable Witness: A Feminist Coming of Age." We discussed how the book began as a series of readings and might end up as a film, what makes someone an unreliable narrator, and our attempted careers as mimes.

confidence codeKatty Kay and Claire Shipman are the New York Times bestselling authors of "The Confidence Code." Their new book is "The Confidence Code for Girls." We discussed the particular challenges facing girls academically, how we can empower our daughters, and why we need to show them it's okay to fail. My daughter will understand this quite well when she's old enough to listen to this radio program.

Bill McCormick called in from the basement of c2e2 where he's selling his books, signing autographs, and inviting listeners to drop by his booth for a free burly, tattooed hug. Plus: celebrating diversity in the comics industry, Black Panther in Saudi Arabia, and Bill agrees to sell a kidney to buy me a Jack Kirby Fantastic Four #1.

Best-selling novelist Peter Swanson called in to talk about his latest book "All the Beautiful Lies," which is being called "a diabolically clever tale of passion, obsession, revenge and cold-blooded murder." Peter and I discussed why this might not be the perfect bedtime book for me, his writing process, and how to spot an author's influences.

Jeff Benedict is the co-author, along with Armen Keteyian, of the new biography "Tiger Woods." Jeff discussed the lengthy process of researching and writing the book, how a biographer needs to remain both immersed in and detached from his subject, and Tiger's performance at the 2018 Masters.

New York Yankees legend Ron Guidry called in to talk about his new memoir "Gator: My Life in Pinstripes." We discussed his amazing 1978 season (25-3) and his incredible 1983 season (21 complete games in 31 starts), the continuing fascination with the 1977-78 Yankees, the impact of the loss of Thurman Munson in 1979, and what pitch Ron would use to inevitably strike me out in a Wiffle ball game.