The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott

Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman talk Apple TV’s Margo's Got Money Troubles, working with David E. Kelley and that infamous Catwoman Oscars snub for Batman Returns. (She was robbed!) This is one you’re not going to want to miss. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Richard Gadd follows Baby Reindeer with Half Man, an HBO limited series about two repressed ‘brothers’ in Glasgow. “I came up with the two characters ,and I couldn't shake them.” Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jessica Vosk on stepping into Bette Midler's legacy with the Broadway musical ‘Beaches’ and why she's not your typical Broadway girl. "There's a lot of C.C. [Bloom] in Jessica," Vosk said. "A person who is so focused, blinders on, true grit, willing to just crawl through the mud by yourself to get to where you want to go. I also base a lot of my life on self-deprecating comedy. I'm gonna make fun of myself before you get a chance to. And that's a very C.C. Bloom thing." Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Before Friday's MTV finale, the top three queens of RuPaul's Drag Race season 18 join H. Alan Scott to reflect on their path to the crown. Darlene Mitchell, Nini Coco and Myki Meeks talk about Snatch Game wins, lip sync battles, the now-iconic banana bag of tricks and the sensible shoes that became a season-long talking point. They open up about the friendships forged in the workroom, the breakout moments that surprised even them and what they each hope to do with the title if they win. Plus, the queens get candid about drag's role in a chaotic political moment, why joy matters and why, as Nini puts it, we should never fully disconnect drag from the world around us. A funny, warm and thoughtful conversation with three queens about to step into their spotlight. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lisa Rinna has made a career out of saying yes, and it's working. The actress, author and reality television icon joins us to talk about her New York Times bestselling memoir, ‘You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It,’ her reinvention on ‘The Traitors,’ why COVID dance videos changed everything, and how she knew it was time to walk away from ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.’ Plus: what's next. Spoiler, she's open. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Billy Magnussen has spent the past twenty years adding diverse roles to his resume, and ‘The Audacity’ is emblematic of an actor coming into his own. Magnussen joins H. Alan Scott to talk about playing tech CEO Duncan Park in AMC's buzzy new series: why no character is a villain in their own story, how he built a man whose good intentions curdled into greed, and what it feels like to finally be number one on a TV call sheet. The fear hasn't gone away, and he's counting on it making him better. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What’s going on with reality TV? Why is it so... bad right now? Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott is joined by Newsweek colleagues (and reality TV fanatics) Jenni Fink and Lauren Giella to break down the state of reality television. From oversaturation and the YouTube disruption to the kumbaya effect killing our favorite franchises, they get into why reality TV is at a turning point and what it's going to take to save it. Also: a personal plea for Lisa Rinna. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, the internet handed conservatives two gifts wrapped in irony, and they opened both boxes with a press release and a cease-and-desist threat that didn't even exist. Druski's two-minute sketch about "conservative women" racked up over 160 million views on X alone — and the right responded with outrage instead of self-awareness. Then the Daily Mail dropped a report claiming Kristi Noem's husband Bryon leads a secret double life that includes wearing fake breasts and chatting with fetish models online — and again, the response was pearl-clutching rather than perspective. Both moments had the DNA of great satire. Both moments were real. So why can't conservatives laugh? I'm joined by Newsweek Politics and Culture editor Carlo Versano to talk about what happens when the joke is about you and you refuse to get it — and whether the inability to take a punch might be one of the right's biggest political liabilities right now. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

CBS News journalist David Begnaud has spent decades telling other people's stories. Now he's building something of his own. Begnaud joins the Parting Shot Podcast to talk about launching Do Good Crew, his new media company anchored by the podcast The Person Who Believed in Me, which has already featured Oprah Winfrey, Barry Diller and Ava DuVernay. He breaks down how he landed Oprah as his debut guest, what it took to get Barry Diller to say yes at a cocktail party and why he believes emotion is not the enemy of good journalism. It's an honest, wide-open conversation about storytelling, identity and what it means to finally do the work on your own terms. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Riz Ahmed wants to make "category killers" — and ‘Bait,’ his new Prime Video series about a London actor faking a James Bond audition, is exactly that. He sits down with Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to talk about the show's wild tonal range, why being brown in the West can feel like living in a spy thriller, and whether ‘Bait’ is, as he puts it, his James Bond audition. Not saying it is, not saying it isn't. Watch our chat: https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/is-riz-ahmeds-bait-not-so-subtle-james-bond-audition-maybe-11743633 Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Comeback is back, and Michael Patrick King is here to talk about it. The co-creator and director joins Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to break down how he and Lisa Kudrow arrived at the idea of Valerie Cherish being cast in the first sitcom written by AI, what it means to finally see Valerie in the real world without cameras, and why they only return to the show when there's a seismic cultural shift worth exploring. He also gets into the origin of his creative partnership with Lisa, what makes her performance genuinely one of a kind, and why, after 21 years, this feels like the right moment to say goodbye to Valerie Cherish. Spoiler: it's a party, and you're invited. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dan Bucatinsky has been in Valerie Cherish's corner since the very beginning, and he's here to make the case for why she's always been a heroine, not a punchline. The actor and producer behind Billy, Valerie’s manager, joins Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to talk about what makes this final season of The Comeback so emotionally satisfying, how the show manages to tackle AI without an agenda, and what it really means that Valerie is finally going head-to-head with the one person who knows her best. He also opens up about his decades-long creative partnership with Lisa Kudrow, the beautiful way season three honors the legacy of Robert Michael Morris (Mickey), and why, even as the cameras stop rolling on Valerie Cherish, he's not entirely ready to call it goodbye. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

She's back, and she needs to be heard. Lisa Kudrow joins the Newsweek's H. Alan Scott to talk about The Comeback season three, the one we didn't know we were waiting for but absolutely needed. We get into an evolved Valerie Cherish navigating AI, a gut-punch tribute to Robert Michael Morris and what it means that Val is suddenly the one in the room who has it most together. As Kudrow puts it, "everybody is in that place that Val was 20 years ago"—and she's not wrong. Plus: that ‘Friends’ moment, and why Stage 24 will finally have its hit TV show. This one is heartfelt, funny and essential listening for any fan of the show. Read the feature: https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/the-comeback-returns-lisa-kudrow-on-why-valerie-was-always-right-11687203 Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

South by Southwest is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and it looks different than it ever has. Greg Rosenbaum, the festival's head of programming, joins me to talk about the creative reset forced by the demolition of the Austin Convention Center, the new neighborhood clubhouse model that's embedding communities throughout the city, and what it actually means to run all of SXSW simultaneously for the first time. Plus, the story of how the Daniels went from screening music videos at SXSW in 2012 to sweeping the Oscars with Everything Everywhere All at Once, and what that journey says about what the festival has always been trying to do. Newsweek will be at SXSW this year, covering it all. In fact, I'll be on stage with Jamie Lee Curtis on March 14 for what is sure to be a conversation worth the trip alone. Also, Newsweek’s Editor-In-Chief Jennifer Cunningham will be there on March 16 for the panel on the future of news. If you see us there, make sure to say hi. And make sure you watch this space and subscribe to my newsletter for all the latest. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Outlander audience is massive, and I learned that firsthand when I chatted with Caitríona Balfe, who plays Claire in the beloved, long-running Starz series. The response to that conversation, and to the show itself, was overwhelming. So I started wondering: who is the person who truly understands this fandom from the inside out? Turns out, she exists, and her name is Reshma Gopaldas. Reshma is a writer and podcaster who has been covering Outlander for years. If you haven't read her interviews with Caitríona and Sam Heughan in Vogue, do yourself a favor and click the link below. She joined me to talk about the series, its fandom and why the show connects with people in such a singular way. With the final season coming to Starz, there's no better time to listen. Listen to my chat with Caitríona Balfe: https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/outlanders-caitriona-balfe-bids-farewell-a-quarter-of-our-lives-11537618 Follow Reshma on Substack: https://substack.com/@reshmago Follow Reshma on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReshmaGo Read her Vogue feature: https://www.vogue.com/article/caitriona-balfe-sam-heughan-outlander-season-8-interview Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Some stories don't have clean endings. A.J. Daulerio published Hulk Hogan's sex tape, watched Gawker collapse under the weight of a $140 million lawsuit, and spent years wondering if he'd ever work again. He was somewhere between 90 and 100 days sober when he sat in that courtroom. He didn't know yet that all of it, the public humiliation, the professional exile, the long uncomfortable crawl back to himself, would eventually become the foundation for something genuinely good. Daulerio joined me to talk about that journey. We got into the Hulk Hogan trial, what sobriety actually looks like a decade in, and how The Small Bow podcast became a community for people who needed somewhere to land. He also talks about writing Hogan a letter in 2018 without telling his lawyers. It's a conversation worth sitting with. Visit thesmallbow.com to listen and watch the podcast. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I love weird. I especially love weird when it incorporates my favorite moments in pop culture. So when I recently saw Linus Karp and Joseph Martin's live show "Gwyneth Goes Skiing," a sort of musical retelling of Gwyneth Paltrow's 2023 ski crash trial, I knew I needed to chat with them. Turns out Karp and Martin are a pop culture nerd's favorite duo, because they've done tons of shows that scratch that weird, nostalgic itch: shows like "Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story," about Princess Diana, and "Fit Prince," a spoof on Hallmark made-for-TV movies. I chatted with this comedy duo and couple about pop culture, where they come up with ideas for their shows, and whether Paltrow herself has ever come to see it. For more on their work, follow their production company: https://www.instagram.com/awkwardprods For their live shows, visit https://linktr.ee/awkwardprods Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jenna Lewis-Dougherty and Kyle Fraser join Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott to break down their Survivor 50 exits, shocking game moves and who they're rooting for to win it all. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tom Ellis is ready for his next chapter. The actor talks CBS’ CIA, the new Dick Wolf drama he couldn't turn down. It’s a character who won't be naked like Lucifer but could still “put you on the floor with one move.” Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gabriel Basso is back as Peter Sutherland in season three of Netflix’s The Night Agent, and he's thinking big. "Relatability breeds success and success kills relatability.” It's a juxtaposition that shapes both his character and his outlook on his career. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.