Mr. Media

Today is a big day for my guest, Peter Salett: his new album, In the Ocean of the Stars was released this very day. Peter, if you don’t know him, is an accomplished musician whose career has been pumped up in recent years by his association with the hottest director of film comedies in the country, Judd Apatow. Peter co-wrote three songs for the recent movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall with its star, Jason Segel. Peter also had a brief on-camera appearance in another Apatow hit, Superbad, And Peter has a continuing relationship with another director, David Wain, for whose films The Ten, Hot Wet American Summer and the upcoming Paul Rudd movie, Role Models, he has contributed songs. Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions! Amazon.com Widgets

I go back just as far as possible in the Star Wars viewing world. Before the original movie even opened in theaters back in 1977, my friend Bob Pinaha and I received invitations to its red carpet premiere at the Loew’s Astor Plaza Theater in New York City. It was a spectacular night – who could ever forget the opening shot of that battle cruiser coming into view and feeling it was literally over our heads? Not long after that, I got my driver’s license and went on my first “date” – Carol Burger and I jumped in my 1963 black Ford Falcon after school and drove to Paramus, NJ, and saw the movie at the only 70- mm theater around. I had never been to Paramus before—or driven on the NJ Turnpike or the Garden State Parkway, for that matter—but somehow, we got there. Getting home in the dark, on the other hand, was another story. The point is, I’ve always been captivated by the Star Wars movies and mythos. And while I’m not obsessed to the point of dressing as a storm trooper on weekends, I am looking forward to the latest chapter in the unfolding George Lucas universe. On August 15, Star Wars: The Clone Wars opens worldwide in movie theaters. It is a feature-length animated film that begins to delve into the “clone wars” that Luke Skywalker asked Obi-Wan Kenobi about in the original movie ("You fought in the clone wars?"). It is set between the events of Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith (2005). The movie will ultimately lead into an animated television series that will debut in the Cartoon Network and also appear on TNT. All of which is my way of explaining the importance of my guest, Catherine Taber. Catherine is the actress who steps into the role of Padmé Amidala, made famous in episodes one through three by Natalie Portman. Catherine voices Padmé in the movie and she continues on the job throughout the television series. Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Chip Rowe has one of the greatest jobs on earth. He’s the Playboy Advisor. You know, the guy who gets letters from C.J. in Chicago that begin, “What is the proper way to tip a blackjack dealer?” Or maybe this automotive inquiry, from A.K. in Harrisburg, Virginia: “Ever since I was a child, I have fixated on women in cars that won’t start. I suppose you could call this a fetish, because it gets me incredibly turned on. Have you ever heard of such a thing?” In his first published collection, Dear Playboy Advisor: Questions from Men and Women to the Advice Column of Playboy Magazine, Chip has whole chapters devoted to everything from “Affairs” and “Anal” to “Swingers” and “Threesomes.” So I’ll only say this once: If you’re under 18 or easily offended, please stop listening right now. For those of you remaining, please welcome Chip Rowe – the Playboy Advisor - to Mr. Media. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with CHIP ROWE by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

What makes a documentary film appealing to you? For me, it's either a subject in which I'm already invested, of course, or one in which I'm just curious enough to give it a try. Well, I didn't know much about Anita O'Day, the jazz singer whom Robbie Cavolina and Ian McCrudden have immortalized in their new film, Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer. It would have been just as easy to take a pass on this, but I'm glad I didn't. O'Day, whose voice could be both lilting and rusty - and I mean that in a good way - was gifted with a phenomenal instrument. And she lived a crazy life, falling into serious heroin abuse for nearly 15 years. Hers is a story natural to documentary filmmaking and I encourage you to check it out. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with ROBBIE CAVOLINA and IAN McCRUDDEN by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

There are people who read supermarket tabloids and – aw, wait a minute. We all know everybody reads the tabs, why lie? And if there are that many readers, there have to be some pretty good writers and editors. Writers such as Marlise Elizabeth Kast of Globe magazine. Marlise spent three years at Globe, covering the likes of Morgan Freeman and Mary Bono, Bobby Brown and Madonna, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. She lived through it and wrote a book, Tabloid Prodigy: Dishing the Dirt, Getting the Gossip, and Selling My Soul in the Cutthroat World of Hollywood Reporting. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with MARLISE KAST by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

My favorite book in the 1970s was Serpico by Peter Maas, the story of a New York City cop who seemingly single-handedly fought the force of corruption in the city’s police department. I read all the books of that genre in that era, from Supercops to The Valachi Papers and The French Connection. One of the most fascinating parts of those works was always the tales of cops who went undercover to infiltrate the bad guys, from drug dealers to the Mafia. No one ever did undercover police work better or with more distinction than Joe Pistone, who you probably know better as “Donnie Brasco.” Brasco became a household name in the 1980s as the undercover character played by Pistone, perhaps the ballsiest FBI agent ever. His six years undercover ultimately led to testimony that sent more than 200 mobsters to jail and – indirectly, several to their deaths. Pistone was famously portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 1997 movie, Donnie Brasco, which co-starred Al Pacino and was based on Pistone's book of the same name. He’s just published a new book – with Charles Brandt -- Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business, that fills in some gaps from the first book. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with JOE PISTONE -- a.k.a. "DONNIE BRASCO" -- by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions! Amazon.com Widgets

There are so many things that amaze when I see them done. Untethered spacewalks would be one. And glassblowing! How do they do that? Today, one of the front page demonstrations on MonkeySee.com is, in fact, a how-to on glassblowing. How cool is that? Ever since I saw it done live as a kid in a NJ department store back in the 1960s, I’ve always been awed by it. Never wanted to try it, I might add. I just like to watch. Glass-blowing is just one of hundreds of free how-to videos you can find at MonkeySee.com, a site which is carving out a niche for itself with the professionalism of its demonstrators. Joining me to explain how you can take advantage of the vast college of online knowledge is the site’s co-founder, Will Jerro. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with WILL JERRO by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions! Amazon.com Widgets

Guys, get lost. This one is for the ladies. And ladies, I know what you’re thinking – who does Mr. Media think he is? Oprah? Hell, he’s not even Tyra! Why should I give up some of my valuable time to hear him talk about surviving motherhood? But ladies, I respect the work it takes to give birth and raise a child. And I think you deserve all the help you can get in putting your life back on track after the baby is born and is on its way to childhood. That’s why I’ve invited life coach Julia Roberts to the show today. No, not that Julia Roberts! She’ll talk about “unpregnancy” and her recent book, Motherhood to Otherhood: Step Up to a New You. So put the kids down for a nap, pull out a bottle of red wine, and let’s get down to girl talk. Or, um, whatever you call it. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with JULIA ROBERTS by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

I love great photographs. Over my desk, I have a black and white Florida Everglades print by Clyde Butcher that never gets old. When my eyes start glazing over from the computer, I like to switch my gaze to Butcher’s photo and see what new things I can glean from it. I suspect I’m the audience that Rick Smolan and his wife and partner Jennifer Erwitt envision when they create new coffee table photography books, such as their latest: America At Home: A Close-Up Look at How We Live. This is the latest high quality project from the team that also produced A Day in the Life of America and America 24/7. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with RICK SMOLAN by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Steve Ditko is a mystery. And in view of the cosmic and ethereal manner of his comic book art style, from Spider-Man and Dr. Strange to the lesser-known Mr. A, that may be appropriate. Blake Bell, whose interest as a fan of Ditko earns him the right to be called a “Ditko scholar,” isn’t buying the mystery. In his new book, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko -- just published by Fantagraphics -- Bell digs deeper and more thoroughly into the enigma that is Ditko and shares all that he has learned about the artist and the man. In this beautifully illustrated coffee table book, Bell lays out his case for Ditko as a comics legend. And he does his best to get behind the myth and the man. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with BLAKE BELL by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Hamburgers – okay, and French fries – are so much a part of American culture that it is no surprise that somebody like George Motz would attempt something as crazy as Hamburger America: One Man’s Cross- Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation. And it’s not just a book – Motz created includes a DVD that captures all the sizzle, steam and personality of some of the best burger joints in America. What makes Motz an expert? Who knows – who cares? Anybody who can point me to my next great burger is an expert to me. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with GEORGE MOTZ by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Dennis Kucinich is a brave man. Whatever else you may think of the five-term Congressman from Ohio’s 10th district, only a fool would deny his courage in running for Cleveland City Council before he was 21, running and being elected mayor of that city when he was 31, and is perhaps best known nationally for taking a crack at running for president in the Democratic primaries this past year and running well. Kucinich didn’t win a lot of votes, but he made an impression with his passion and forthrightness and, you might say, went so far as establish himself as a brand name of sorts, one that stands for the courage to speak your mind. Not coincidentally, he’s written a book called The Courage to Survive, that fills the rest of us in on a life story that only the people of Cleveland knew of before. In this interview, Kucinich discusses his book, why he introduced an Article of Impeachment against President George W. Bush this week, why he thinks the U.S. Government will pursue criminal charges against Bush and Dick Cheney when their term expires in January 2009, and what Barack Obama is really like. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with REP. DENNIS KUCINICH by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below and advancing it to 15:54 minutes! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Guys, here’s an offer you can’t refuse: a lesbian woman is going to give you tips on picking up a hottie. I know, I know – the whole idea made me laugh, too. But then I read Robbie Lee’s book, The Straight Man’s Pocket Guide to Picking Up a Hottie: Written By a Woman Who Loves Woman, and I thought, “Why not?” I’m not in the market for love, but I know an awful lot of guys who are and just don’t understand why some guys succeed and others fail. Maybe you’ve just been going to the wrong source for answers. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with ROBBIE LEE by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Guys, here’s an offer you can’t refuse: a lesbian woman is going to give you tips on picking up a hottie. I know, I know – the whole idea made me laugh, too. But then I read Robbie Lee’s book, The Straight Man’s Pocket Guide to Picking Up a Hottie: Written By a Woman Who Loves Woman, and I thought, “Why not?” I’m not in the market for love, but I know an awful lot of guys who are and just don’t understand why some guys succeed and others fail. Maybe you’ve just been going to the wrong source for answers. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with ROBBIE LEE by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

The only thing tougher than being a black man trying to hail a cab in Manhattan might be being a black man trying to sell a comic strip into a daily newspaper that already has a strip created by an African-American cartoonist. Charlos Gary knows how tough it is – he’s the man behind two daily strips, the single panel “Working It Out” and the multi-panel “Café Con Leche.” And he’s found an unusual twist: "Café Con Leche" is about the lives of young African-American man and his Latina wife. Sometimes it’s political, sometimes it's as everyday as Blondie. But it’s never dull and it’s always good for a laugh. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with CHARLOS GARY by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Click here for copyright permissions! Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman

The only thing tougher than being a black man trying to hail a cab in Manhattan might be being a black man trying to sell a comic strip into a daily newspaper that already has a strip created by an African-American cartoonist. Charlos Gary knows how tough it is – he’s the man behind two daily strips, the single panel “Working It Out” and the multi-panel “Café Con Leche.” And he’s found an unusual twist: "Café Con Leche" is about the lives of young African-American man and his Latina wife. Sometimes it’s political, sometimes it's as everyday as Blondie. But it’s never dull and it’s always good for a laugh. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with CHARLOS GARY by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Click here for copyright permissions! Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman

Anybody who tells you that one comic book looks just like the next doesn’t know what they’re talking about. It doesn’t take much effort to tell Jack Kirby’s blocky drawings from Steve Ditko’s otherworldly stylings, for example, or, in more modern terms, the dark, detailed pencils of Frank Miller from the brighter, livelier sketches of Jim Lee. And few of those guys produce anything like the work of “Gentleman” Gene Colan. Colan’s contribution to the industry date back to the 1940s, but he was one of the artists who, in the 1960s and ‘70s, defined Marvel Comics and characters such as Daredevil, Dracula, Iron Man, and even Howard the Duck. His richly drawn images looked like they took a lot longer to do and required much more care and patience than those of many of his contemporaries. Put another way, you could escape into a Gene Colan 32-page comic for a lot longer than you could someone else’s books. It is an honor and a pleasure to welcome Gene Colan to Mr. Media today. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with legendary Marvel Comics artist Gene Colan by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Amazon.com Widgets

Anybody who tells you that one comic book looks just like the next doesn’t know what they’re talking about. It doesn’t take much effort to tell Jack Kirby’s blocky drawings from Steve Ditko’s otherworldly stylings, for example, or, in more modern terms, the dark, detailed pencils of Frank Miller from the brighter, livelier sketches of Jim Lee. And few of those guys produce anything like the work of “Gentleman” Gene Colan. Colan’s contribution to the industry date back to the 1940s, but he was one of the artists who, in the 1960s and ‘70s, defined Marvel Comics and characters such as Daredevil, Dracula, Iron Man, and even Howard the Duck. His richly drawn images looked like they took a lot longer to do and required much more care and patience than those of many of his contemporaries. Put another way, you could escape into a Gene Colan 32-page comic for a lot longer than you could someone else’s books. It is an honor and a pleasure to welcome Gene Colan to Mr. Media today. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with legendary Marvel Comics artist Gene Colan by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window Amazon.com Widgets

My parents never sent me away to summer camp. I don’t blame them; as a kid, I was afraid of my own shadow, easily got car sick, and was not well adjusted, socially. And after reading Roger Bennett’s new love letter to summer camps, Camp Camp, I’m pretty sure I would have hated sleepaway camp. That said, I found reading about it to be great fun. And I think my own kid, now approaching the age where sleepaway camp is being discussed, would love it. Speaking of kids, this is the first Mr. Media interview where I’ve ever been on high maternity alert; my guest's wife was due to give birth last week, but hasn’t yet. So if Roger Bennett has to leave suddenly, I’ll just read from his book to fill the time, okay? You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with Roger Bennett by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.

My parents never sent me away to summer camp. I don’t blame them; as a kid, I was afraid of my own shadow, easily got car sick, and was not well adjusted, socially. And after reading Roger Bennett’s new love letter to summer camps, Camp Camp, I’m pretty sure I would have hated sleepaway camp. That said, I found reading about it to be great fun. And I think my own kid, now approaching the age where sleepaway camp is being discussed, would love it. Speaking of kids, this is the first Mr. Media interview where I’ve ever been on high maternity alert; my guest's wife was due to give birth last week, but hasn’t yet. So if Roger Bennett has to leave suddenly, I’ll just read from his book to fill the time, okay? You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with Roger Bennett by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.

If MTV edited a presidential campaign video, it would probably look and feel a bit like In Search of Kennedy, a new documentary film by Chuck Workman and Stephen J. Kern. The movie applies a 21st century sheen to the most iconic of 20th century political figures, John F. Kennedy. It is incredibly au currant, with the 2008 Democratic references narrowed down to Obama and Clinton. The movie - which reminds us that, in 2000, even George W. Bush was sold to the American public as being Kennedy-like! - is crammed with familiar faces interviewed expressly for this project, including Norman Mailer, Tom Hayden, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Michael Moore, Garrison Keillor, Chris Matthews, Arianna Huffington and Senators Edward Kennedy, Joseph Biden and Chris Dodd. Alec Baldwin and Elisabeth Peña speak the words of prominent writers. Workman, who wrote and directed In Search of Kennedy over a three-year period, received his Oscar® for his live action short “Precious Images.” Previously, Workman produced and directed two critically acclaimed theatrical documentaries, on two other ‘60s icons, Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (1990) and The Source, (1999) about the Beat Generation and Jack Kerouac. One of the things that may surprise people is that this isn’t just a recitation of JFK’s greatest hits. It is a warts-and-all presentation of Jack and all the Kennedys, from the Bay of Pigs and Marilyn Monroe to Chappaquidick and William Kennedy Smith. Whether you’re a Kennedy fan or just a political junkie, you’ll no doubt find In Search of Kennedy provocative and entertaining. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with Chuck Workman and Stephen J. Kern by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default playerDetach into a separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.

If MTV edited a presidential campaign video, it would probably look and feel a bit like In Search of Kennedy, a new documentary film by Chuck Workman and Stephen J. Kern. The movie applies a 21st century sheen to the most iconic of 20th century political figures, John F. Kennedy. It is incredibly au currant, with the 2008 Democratic references narrowed down to Obama and Clinton. The movie - which reminds us that, in 2000, even George W. Bush was sold to the American public as being Kennedy-like! - is crammed with familiar faces interviewed expressly for this project, including Norman Mailer, Tom Hayden, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Michael Moore, Garrison Keillor, Chris Matthews, Arianna Huffington and Senators Edward Kennedy, Joseph Biden and Chris Dodd. Alec Baldwin and Elisabeth Peña speak the words of prominent writers. Workman, who wrote and directed In Search of Kennedy over a three-year period, received his Oscar® for his live action short “Precious Images.” Previously, Workman produced and directed two critically acclaimed theatrical documentaries, on two other ‘60s icons, Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (1990) and The Source, (1999) about the Beat Generation and Jack Kerouac. One of the things that may surprise people is that this isn’t just a recitation of JFK’s greatest hits. It is a warts-and-all presentation of Jack and all the Kennedys, from the Bay of Pigs and Marilyn Monroe to Chappaquidick and William Kennedy Smith. Whether you’re a Kennedy fan or just a political junkie, you’ll no doubt find In Search of Kennedy provocative and entertaining. You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with Chuck Workman and Stephen J. Kern by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default playerDetach into a separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved.

In his new book, I Have Fun Everywhere I Go, Mike Edison does for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll what Hulk Hogan did for wrestling! No, scratch that. Edison hates Hogan. Saying that will just piss him off. How about: Mike Edison does for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll what Lennon & McCartney did for elevator music! Damn, that won’t work either. Edison hates the Beatles, too. Here’s a thought: Let me just read the subtitle of Edison’s book. It’s so long, people will think it’s an introduction and not notice that I left out all the stuff about him being a former editor of High Times, Cheri, and Main Event, a contributor to Screw and Hustler magazines, and drummer in bands such as Raunch Hands, Pleasure F*ckers, and Rocket Train Delta Science Arkestra. Please welcome my guest today, Mike Edison, author of I Have Fun Everywhere I Go: Savage Tales of Pot, Porn, Punk Rock, Pro Wrestling, Talking Apes, Evil Bosses, Dirty Blues, American Heroes, and the Most Notorious Magazines in the World. You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved. Amazon.com Widgets

In his new book, I Have Fun Everywhere I Go, Mike Edison does for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll what Hulk Hogan did for wrestling! No, scratch that. Edison hates Hogan. Saying that will just piss him off. How about: Mike Edison does for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll what Lennon & McCartney did for elevator music! Damn, that won’t work either. Edison hates the Beatles, too. Here’s a thought: Let me just read the subtitle of Edison’s book. It’s so long, people will think it’s an introduction and not notice that I left out all the stuff about him being a former editor of High Times, Cheri, and Main Event, a contributor to Screw and Hustler magazines, and drummer in bands such as Raunch Hands, Pleasure F*ckers, and Rocket Train Delta Science Arkestra. Please welcome my guest today, Mike Edison, author of I Have Fun Everywhere I Go: Savage Tales of Pot, Porn, Punk Rock, Pro Wrestling, Talking Apes, Evil Bosses, Dirty Blues, American Heroes, and the Most Notorious Magazines in the World. You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved. Amazon.com Widgets

Kids, if you want to grow up to be a successful executive producer of movies like Michael Uslan ("YOU-slin") did, the key is education – and patience. Lots and lots of patience. Uslan secured the rights to make Batman movies years before Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Jack Nicholson dreamed of working together. And he couldn’t give away the rights to Will Eisner’s The Spirit. But his patience and determination paid off. This year, the sixth Batman movie – The Dark Knight – and first Spirit movie will come to a multiplex near you, joining previous Uslan productions such as Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, Batman Begins, Catwoman, Constantine, National Treasure, Swamp Thing – well, you get the idea. And he’s not one to rest on his laurels, either. Uslan’s current projects in development include Shazam!, The Shadow, and Constantine 2. If you love comic books, and especially movies made from comic books, please welcome Michael Uslan to Mr. Media. You can LISTEN to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below! Open in your default player Detach into a separate window © 2008 by Bob Andelman. All rights reserved. Amazon.com Widgets