Erika Alexander and Kim Coles join Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to chat about their podcast ReLiving Single, the "limitless creativity" of Living Single and the sitcom's enduring impact on pop culture. 

You can watch the first season of ReLiving Single on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReLivingSinglePodcast 

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Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star and New York Times bestselling author Heather Gay joins Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to discuss her powerful new special, Surviving Mormonism. We dive into how reality TV has become an unexpected frontier for defining Mormon culture, why women are leading that charge, and how Heather is navigating her own journey from "Bad Mormon" to cultural trailblazer. 

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Initially, Kal Penn was hesitant to do a podcast because “every actor has a podcast.” Fortunately for us, he created Here We Go Again, focused on why history keeps repeating itself. “I loved the fact that you could talk about history repeating itself through pop culture, through politics. But it’s not a political podcast by any means.” That said, Penn, an actor who took a break from Hollywood to work in the Obama administration, still very much has a foot in advocacy. “If you wanna go through the death spiral of social media and make yourself anxious,” go for it, he says, but he’s not going to join. Instead, he’s going to invite people to “come knock on doors...it’s gonna move the needle on real conversations.” And one thing fans continue to discuss is their love for his Harold & Kumar franchise. Recounting a time he ran into political adviser Karl Rove and found out he was a fan, Penn realized, “as long as we stay truthful to the characters, the hope is that as polarized as this world is, we can still make a movie for everybody.”   

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As Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ comes to an end, Gaten Matarazzo, 23, is focused on soaking in the final moments. “I really want to take it in and enjoy it. I don’t think I’ll ever be in something that makes quite as much of an impact the way ‘Stranger Things’ has.” Matarazzo plays Dustin, who we see grappling with a loss. “I wanted to see a bit of a pessimism that I think [is how] a lot of children approach their grief.” He’s grateful to have understood the scale of the sci-fi series. “I spent a good chunk of my time trying to really recognize how special it was. And to live very much in the present.” But that last day on set was surreal. “It was a good day, but it was a very weird next morning. One of the most eerily quiet, melancholy kind of mornings that any of us had ever experienced.” But Hollywood did what Hollywood does, it moves on. “It kind of hurts your feelings how quickly everything starts getting turned over. It’s like, ‘Please don’t touch anything for a while.’” 

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Clear the stage and light the lights! Drag superstars Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme return to the podcast to pull back the curtain on their brand-new tour, The Jinkx and Dela Holiday Show.  

We discuss their creative partnership, DeLa's growing empire as a director for drag's biggest stars, and Jinkx's show-stopping, history-making turns on Broadway in Chicago and Oh, Mary! From holiday camp to the Great White Way, this chat has it all. 

For more on the new holiday show, visit https://www.jinkxanddela.com/ 

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Actor Ed Helms loves a deep dive into a snafu from the past. “I love the hubris, our amazing capacity for ineptitude and terrible decision-making.” He’s turned that obsession into the hit podcast SNAFU, inviting guests to break down some of history’s most entertaining bloopers. “The snafu is often not just the initial problem, but it’s [a] sort of scurrying aftermath of people trying to cover their tracks.” Each prior season focused on one historical moment, but season four has a new one every episode—and “dramatically” more episodes. “It is proving to be a ton of work, but it’s super fun.” Hit podcast host is a new turn for Helms, best known for his work in TV and film. “Office fans are just so, so sweet and delightful. Hangover fans can be a little more aggro, but that’s good.” But it’s that intimate relationship he creates with podcast fans that feels more earned: “Those feel like my deep peeps.” 

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For Melissa Peterman, the first season of NBC’s Happy’s Place was a dream come true; getting a second season is an embarrassment of riches. “Getting a pilot is the lottery. Getting that pilot picked up is another gigantic win that is getting rarer and rarer.” Peterman plays Gabby, friend and co-worker of Bobbie, played by Reba McEntire, owner of the fictional tavern Happy’s Place. The sitcom reunites Peterman and McEntire, who first appeared together on Reba. “I think there is value in the second banana. There’s value in the sidekick.” While fans see her as way more than just a sidekick, Peterman knows how rare it is to get a second chance with a hit sitcom. “It’s almost more precious because I know how rare it is to get a second chance with your best friend.” Busier than ever, Peterman also co-hosts Hallmark’s Finding Mr. Christmas. “I would be really sad if I didn’t get to host a game show or go be with people. I genuinely like people.” 

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Considering the number of iconic women that have worked on Ryan Murphy projects, it’s shocking Glenn Close hasn’t. That’s changing with Hulu’s All’s Fair. “I was intimidated until I started to understand the tone. And once I understood the tone, then it became really fun,” Close told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Close plays Dina, a powerful lawyer in an all-female firm that includes actors Kim Kardashian, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash and Naomi Watts, among others. “To bring all that energy...and all that experience together is bound to create something really unique.” It also created a special bond. “This group of women, they’ll be my friends for the rest of my life.” Part of what keeps Close working, beyond immense talent, is that she refuses to repeat herself—“I’m basically up for anything as long as it represents a new exploration.” She’ll next be seen in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, offered the same week as All’s Fair. “I got two Ryans in the same week. It was like, what?” 

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This week, I have a serious and emotional conversation with actor Michael Chernus about his challenging new role as John Wayne Gacy in Peacock's Devil in Disguise. He shares how he mentally prepared to play the serial killer and why this limited series is different by focusing on the victims of these horrific crimes. 

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Padma Lakshmi’s new cookbook, Padma’s All American, is a natural extension of her Hulu series Taste the Nation. In fact, the documentary laid the groundwork for the book, says the former Top Chef host. “Once we had done the show, I had all these communities I had already embedded myself in,” she told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Beyond recipes, the book carries an important message: Lakshmi “was trying to...really highlight the positive effects of having all these contributions from immigrants.” For Lakshmi, the recipes are ultimately a vehicle for connection. “I am hoping that the food will entice you, will almost be like a bait to get closer to your neighbors. Hopefully you’ll be curious enough to get to know the culture that the food came from and the people that are making this food.” Lakshmi returns to TV with the new CBS reality competition series America’s Culinary Cup, where elite chefs compete for a major prize. “It doesn’t look like any other TV set or studio I’ve ever seen.” 

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