Mr. Media Interviews by Bob Andelman

To get in the right frame of mind for today’s interview, I set aside my usual German bologna and Muenster cheese sandwich and went with tuna fish. Because after all the Mayonnaise my wife mixes in with a can of tuna, it isn’t much about the fish, either. My guest today is Marshall Craig, a Yale man and Wharton MBA who says he frittered away most of his life making a living and raising a family when he could have been fishing. And while I know he loves his wife and family, I think he’s genuinely pretty serious about his lost time away from casting a line. MARSHALL CRAIG podcast excerpt: "We don't just catch the whopper fish. We have friends we got out with, with whom we share the interaction, pushing the boat off, lunch or what we discuss (on the water) -- occasionally what we catch. But fishing is about more than just that finny thing you get at the end of your hook!" If you’re a man or woman who likes to get away from civilization to fish in remote and exotic places, Marshall is the kind of guy you’ll want to do it with. I reached that conclusion based on the humorous essays found in his new memoir, You’ll Need A Guide: Fishing Stories That Aren’t Much About the Fish. In the interests of full disclosure, I want to share with you that my wife, Mimi, edited Marshall’s book and we liked it so much that we published under the Mr. Media Books imprint. It is available in paperback or ebook on Amazon or wherever you buy books about fishing. Marshall Craig

2019: While I can’t tell you that I have read Lynn Johnston’s wonderful daily comic strip, “For Better or For Worse” from the very beginning in 1979, I can’t remember a time when The Patterson Family was not a part of my own family. I was a college sophomore when Lynn started. I remember becoming immediately attached to John and Elly’s daily adventures, raising their children, Michael and Elizabeth, their dog, Farley, getting to know their extended family—such as when Grandpa Jim started dating—and even the heart-breaking death of Farley. Lynn Johnston podcast excerpt: "Everybody my age was great (when I started in the business). But there were a bunch of old farts that were just awful! At one point, I was president of the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) and they would draw naked pictures of me as I was conducting a meeting! But I drew naked pictures of my own and got back at them.It was hard; they would have preferred I make them coffee and serve them tea and not really run the meetings." When Mimi and I got married, we often read the strip together or shared a favorite. When Charlie was born, I related to the Patterson kids in new ways. And when Charlie started reading at four, I introduced him to collections of “For Better or For Worse” which he devoured over and over again. On any given day, “For Better or For Worse” could be funny, sweet, bittersweet or hauntingly dramatic – just like life in my own family or yours. Perhaps nothing about the strip was more shocking than the day in 2008 that Lynn announced she would no longer be producing new strips but would be re-releasing the original strip from day one, with occasional fixes to continuity and timeliness. Would that even work? It has and it does, with the strip continuing to appear in an astonishing 2,000 newspapers in 23 countries around the world. We are conducting this interview just days after learning of the sudden death of the former editor of Universal Press Syndicate, Lee Salem. And here is something Lynn and I share in common: Salem acquired both “For Better or For Worse” and Mr. Media, which started life in 1994 as a weekly syndicated newspaper column. Lynn Johnston • • • • • • • • •

2019: If your faith in the United States Government has been shaken by political developments over the last three years, you’re apparently right where the political leaders and oligarchs of Russia want you to be. Oh, and President Donald Trump and his aides are likely complicit in this result. BARBARA SLATE podcast excerpt: "There is all this drama and madness created (around President Trump). Everybody is trying to protect him ... But he says (paraphrasing), 'That's was I did. So what?'" Those are among the clear takeaways from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s massive two-year, 400-plus-page report that few of us have read – including most Republicans serving in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Since we’re Americans living in the 21st century, we need everything boiled down and spoonfed with splendid simplicity. Sure, that’s what CNN and MSNBC have done with the Mueller Report, but graphic novelist Barbara Slate, a frequent guest to this show, has gone them one step further. She’s adopted it into a comic book. Mueller Report Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 reduces the horrifying hacking of American democracy to its essence in just 33 pages packed with political cheating and anti-American conspiracies. BARBARA SLATE podcast excerpt: "This is the most exciting project that I've ever done. I feel som passionate about the Mueller Report ... When was the last time you had a conversation when Trump was not mentioned?" Vol. 2 will soon follow. Our mutual friend, the late Will Eisner, the father of educational comics in the 1940s, would be proud. Barbara Slate • •

2019: Pity the poor indie filmmaker. I’m sitting around for three years with nothing better to do than be anxious for Quincy Rose’s follow-up to the brilliantly titled and whack-a-doodle Friends Effing Friends Effing Friends, while he’s out hustling a budget, writing, directing, editing and submitting his latest creation, The Narcissists, to film festivals and seeking a distribution deal. Where does the time go? QUINCY ROSE podcast excerpt: "I don't know if (my godfather) Woody (Allen) watched 'The Narcissists'; I did send it to him but he's been busy shooting his newest film. But he did call me when my dad (Mickey Rose) was ill and he said, 'So I watched "Miles To Go" and yeah, I gotta tell you -- it's not a bad movie!' I thought that was the greatest compliments I could ever get from Woody. He doesn't think any of HIS films were good, so it was really great (to hear). He said it reminded him of what he used top do in his younger days." The good news is that, thanks to President Trump, at least today we can all spell “n-a-r-c-i-s-s-i-s-t-s,” so that’s one mountain climbed for the young filmmaker, who is the son of the late, legendary comedy writer Mickey Rose, one-time partner of Woody Allen. And Quincy is Woody’s godson, which might explain more tthan a few influences in the film, such as the long, loving camera shots of New York City, the sharp, biting conversation between the four principals, and the naming of the character of “Letty.” Letty Aronson is Woody’s sister’s name. Joining me today are Quincy Rose, who stars in the film as “Oliver,” and one of his co-stars, Augie Duke, who plays “Letty.” Quincy Rose • • • • • • • • Augie Duke • • • • • • •

2019: One of the best novels I read in 2018 was Renèe Rosen’s Windy City Blues, in which she told the story of Chicago’s legendary Chess Records through the eyes of a fictionalized young woman who worked at the nascent blues and rock ‘n’ roll label. And even though she never existed in reality, you couldn’t help but come away from reading the book feeling like she was flesh and blood. I had the same experience with Rosen’s latest book, Park Avenue Summer. RENEE ROSEN podcast excerpt: "Helen Gurley Brown had this little doll's chair (in her 'Cosmopolitan' magazine office) on which she would sit and hold meetings because she never wanted anyone to feel intimidated. She always wanted everyone to feel bigger than her -- and everyone WAS bigger than her!" Once again, the author delivers up a slice of actual history by taking us through it in the persona of a young woman, named Alice Weiss. This time, Rosen takes her readers back in time to the moment in 1965 when Cosmopolitan magazine is on the verge of shutting down, only to be saved against all logic by an inexperienced new editor named Helen Gurley Brown, best known as the controversial and provocative author of Sex and the Single Girl. Rosen’s portrayal of Brown is incredible, as is her ability to capture an era that most of us know best through the eyes of TV’s Don Draper in “Mad Men.” If you ever watched that show, flip it on its ass and imagine it’s the magazine industry, instead of advertising, and that you’re seeing the start of the Swinging ‘60s and the sexual revolution through the eyes of women, not men. I can’t wait to find out what the author has planned for us next! Renèe Rosen • • •

2019: NOTE — Due to some recording issues, this isn’t the easiest audio to hear. We’ve fixed the problem going forward, but my apologies to Jon and to you! – Bob Andelman, Mr. Media. I was a little young for underground comix at the height of their anti-establishment run at the end of the 1960s and early ‘70s, but still managed to discover them in my teens at places like Weird Harold’s Head Shop in Milltown, New Jersey, upstairs and around back from the Krauser’s Dairy Store. Most of the social humor and politics of the era went over my head at the time, but I always loved the art and gathered a small stack of those comix over time, spread among my piles of Marvels and DCs. The art of Robert Crumb – a.k.a., R. Crumb, a.k.a., Bob Crumb, a.k.a., just plain Crumb – always stood out. His style was unique unto itself, much as another of my favorites of the 1980s, Drew Friedman’s, was. They drew comics, but their heroes didn’t look like Kirby, Ditko, Romita or even Steranko. JON B. COOKE podcast excerpt: "(Crumb) thinks I'm a nut, so I think he sees a kindred spirit. I am a nut. But this is the book I would want." And Crumb, who often drew himself into his work, was so weird! It all comes together in my friend Jon. B. Cooke’s new oral history of Crumb’s long-running magazine, Weirdo. In The Book of Weirdo: A Retrospective of R. Crumb's Legendary Humor Comics Anthology, Cooke interviews dozens upon dozens of creators who worked with Crumb, the man who created the magazine in 1981, and who was followed in time by artist Peter Bagge and Crumb’s artist wife, Aline Kominski, and recreates what it was like to work with Crumb and what the experience meant to them. It is a massive work by Cooke that even Crumb himself questions the logic of, although he admits he learned quite a bit about himself and his magazine by reading it. As for Cooke, who is a graphic designer by day and editor of Comic Book Creator magazine by night, he also worked with his brother Andrew on the documentary Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist. This is Jon’s third appearance on Mr. Media. Jon B. Cooke • • • •

2010: Reports of the death of the TV hospital drama—foretold by the end of "ER" last season after 27 years on the air—were apparently premature. Showtime has "Nurse Jackie"; TNT has "HawthoRNe" and NBC is back with a new one that adds an "M," a "C" and a "Y" to "E" and "R" and that gives us "Mercy." (Oh, stop groaning—you saw that one coming a mile away.) JAMIE LEE KIRCHNER podcast excerpt: "It's a friendship show. It's like 'Sex and the City' with cheaper footwear. There's a lot of comedy; just when you think you know who these people are, they make a hard left turn." But alert Nurse Hathaway! In this network show, the nurses—not the doctors—are running the asylum. Starring Taylor Schilling, Michelle Tractenberg and my guest today, Jamie Lee Kirchner, "Mercy" lets viewers know who's really in charge on the floors. Jamie Lee Kirchner •

2019: To me, the arrival of a new Ravi P.I. novel by Adi Tantimedh is like being handed a fresh-baked soft pretzel and a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. I’m going to try and consume it slowly, savoring every biteand every sip. But in the end, I always give in to the impulse of zooming through because it’s just so damned good! Of course, when it’s gone, I’m left wanting another. And another. And with the third book in the series, Her Fugitive Heart, Tantimedh has such a commanding grip on what makes his characters swing through murder, intrigue, a secret, kinky sex club, deception, lies and – yes! – marriage that this installment is as good as the first two combined. ADI TANTIMEDH podcast excerpt: "Ravi is starting to realize that maybe the gods might be real that he might not be crazy after all" The real question: is this the end of Ravi’s adventures? Or is it just the beginning? Joining me today for the third time is the creator and author of the series. NOTE -- Due to some recording issues, this isn't the easiest audio to hear. We've fixed the problem going forward, but my apologies to Adi and to you! - Bob Andelman, Mr. Media. Adi Tantimedh • • •

2009: This should be an interesting show. We have a guest who is allergic to beer and a host who never touches the stuff. Naturally, the subject is… beer! Anat Baron is the director of a new documentary called . Now available for sale on DVD, it’s not a movie about rival frat houses—on second thought, maybe it is. Baron presents a sometimes tongue-in-cheek study have how the big three brewing companies—Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Miller—will stop at nothing to gobble up shelf space in your neighborhood convenience, grocery or liquor store and kick the little guys to the curb. Sprinkled throughout the film are familiar pop culture touchstones from old beer commercials to industrial films and even a word about competition from an imaginary beer, Duff. ANAT BARON podcast excerpt: "I was really interested by new consumers who are similar to those going to farmers markets, eating local foods, supporting small companies over large companies. People who are saying, 'Yes, I can buy chocolate from Hershey, but there is a guy down the street making it, too, and I want to support him.'" Baron, as I mentioned, is allergic to beer, but that didn’t stop her from becoming general manager of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, where she took the company from nowhere to $200 million in sales. Anat Baron • • • • • •

2010: I start each show talking about “So much media, so little time…” But David Mathison sees the media differently. Instead of observing it from afar, he wants you to be the media—you, yourself. Mathison, a former executive with the Reuters news agency, takes the whole notion of 21st century media very seriously. In his new, self-published handbook, Be The Media: How to Create and Accelerate Your Message… Your Way, Mathison lays out how anyone can have a message and spread it using online tools ranging from standbys such as print, radio and video to blogs and podcasts. DAVID MATHISON podcast excerpt: "We're trying to teach people to repurpose your work and have a back end. The incremental revenue streams may be strong, but when you add them all up..." Forget the so-called media elites, the social media guru says—and as one of them I object!—and take control of spreading the word about your own project yourself, whether you’re the producer of music, films, podcasts, radio or television programs. I couldn’t agree more. And I would add that Mathison’s book, which you can order on Amazon.com or his website, , is a perfect companion bookend for Guy Kawasaki’s most recent book, Reality Check. Together, these are 3 pounds, 13 ounces of paper you really should own and study. David Mathison • • • •

2009: Drew Waters possesses the kind of body that other men can only wish to emulate and women dream of well, you know. He grew up in Texas and gave up a track & field scholarship at Rice University to join the Navy. While still serving his country, he won a modeling contest over 3,500 other contestants and—after completing his military tenure—began a career as an international print model. You’ve probably seen him in campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Prada, Structure, Versace, Chaps, Hugo Boss, Guess, and Abercrombie & Fitch. He’s also appeared on magazine covers and ads in GQ, Vogue, Esquire, Men’s Fitness, and Men’s Journal. Legendary fashion photographer Bruce Weber thought Waters had something more than good looks and suggested he try acting. Good idea. DREW WATERS podcast excerpt: "There were rumors, but they wouldn't tell me the direction my character was going. They gave one of the characters, Max, a heart attack and pushed my character into his spot while he was recovering. Episode 10, I was sitting with Kyle and I said to the director, 'I apologize, but it's driving me crazy. What am I doing out here on this field?' Kyle goes, 'Yeah, what is he doin' out here?' And I said, 'Kyle, I can handle this.' They didn't want my character to know until the very end." Waters has appeared in Blonde Ambition, starring Jessica Simpson and Luke Wilson; Major Movie Star with Jessica Simpson; Mad Money starring Katie Holmes and Diane Keaton; It’s a Wonderful World with Matthew Broderick; and W starring Josh Brolin. He appeared in an episode of AMC’s, “Breaking Bad,” and began a recurring role during season three of the NBC/DirecTV cult favorite “Friday Night Lights,” where he plays “Wade Aikman.” Drew Waters • • • •

2009: The really funny thing about Judy Tenuta? Pretty much everything. And she’s actually quite a lovely woman, as you can see from the photos on her website—. I wanted to get that out of the way now, before she reminds me of what a pig I and all the rest of you men are. JUDY TENUTA podcast excerpt: "Here's a letter: 'Dear Goddess, I have a super-cute boyfriend who only likes to decorate and lip sync to Yentl. Could he be gay? Love, Oprah.' What is going on with her?" Now back to our scheduled bout of wits with the Love Goddess, the persona that comedian Judy Tenuta has been bringing to stage and screen for years. The Love Goddess is loud, she’s proud and, of course, she’s plays a wicked accordian. And, of course, her latest comedy CD is called Buy This Again, Pigs! The Best of Judy Tenuta. Judy Tenuta • • • • • • • •

2009: The screaming goes on a little long because Dominique’s character, kindly coffee shop waitress Christie, was just attack twice, first by a homeless man, then by a man she believes—correctly—to be the Picasso Killer. She’s trying to get into a locked but lighted building. Unfortunately, the security guard on duty is played by the late and he does everything slowly. And the agonized woman outside his door doesn’t impress him at all. podcast excerpt: "When David Carradine got to the location, he said, 'I really want to play this guy like Inspector Clouseau.' Bumbling, dropping things, tripping over himself. And David is hysterical in it. And everybody responded the same way--we didn't realize he was sooo funny." For those who remember from her first starring role—as “Lolita” opposite —this is quite a departure. For one thing, she’s all grown up. And for another she’s really freaked out. Joining us today, in addition to Dominique, is the director of Fall Down Dead, . He is a veteran of indie including American Nightmare and Suburban Nightmare. Dominique Swain • • • • s •

2010: As a middle school girls soccer coach, I enjoy working with kids and their parents, But not, I suspect, enough to want to be Jo Frost, the star of the ABC TV series “Supernanny.” And while it would be tempting to be called “Super-Manny,” the title that falls to her associate Mike Ruggles, I don’t think I’d want to be him, either. MIKE RUGGLES podcast excerpt: "When they brought me in, they thought it might be good angle to work with Dad. They were centered on Dad, but it turned out the whole family needed work." That doesn’t mean it won’t be fun to watch on Friday, January 29 when Ruggles takes over the show for an episode of parenting, “Wally World” style. In this very special episode of “Supernanny” titled “Super-Manny Special: Griswold Family,” Ruggles might meet just his match in a family of real-life Griswolds. That’s right, the Griswolds—just like in my favorite holiday movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Mike Ruggles •

This was so cool, I had to share it again! in 2011, I took a flyer on a paid commercial for the Mr. Media podcast on Kevin Smith's new Smodcast daily, online radio show, Plus One Per Diem. The show features Smith, the director of Clerks, Chasing Amy and Red State, and his wife, actress Jen Schwalbach, discussing life, culture and family. I wrote some suggested points for the live read of the commercial, but Smith improvised the best and rest of it. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

From the time I started reading John Barbour’s career-spanning memoir, Your Mother’s Not A Virgin: The Bumpy Life and Times of the Canadian Dropout Who Changed the Face of American TV! I kept searching for the right word to describe my over-arching impression of the man. It wasn’t easy because in the course of 700 pages, Barbour is a comedian, a talk show host, a culture critic, a writer for Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and singer Frank Sinatra, a husband and father, and perhaps ultimately, the father of the modern reality show as creator of NBC’s “Real People.” JOHN BARBOUR podcast excerpt: "We would go to church when I was a boy and the service would stop for one minute every Sunday. The minister would say, 'You are now going to have your own private minute with God. You can pray for whatever you want to pray for.' I always prayed that when I got home, that my father would be there. And every Sunday I'd rush home, open the door and look for my father. He was never there. I did that for 12 weeks and it wasn't working. In the 13th week, I got up and walked out." You may not know Barbour by name, but he is truly a man who has done it all – sometimes twice. The word I finally landed on was “unapologetic.” It’s a word that I think connotes both the curse and success of Barbour’s career. Because he always did things his way. Sometimes that worked to his advantage, giving buoyancy to his career; sometimes, as the mark of a man who preferred steering his own ship, being undisciplined cost him greater opportunities because he always preferred his own counsel and his own path. I really enjoyed Barbour’s book and look forward to discussing it with him. John Barbour • • • • • •

2010: Fans of “Saved By the Bell,” have I got a treat for you. Joining me today is actor Dennis Haskins, who everyone knows as Mr. Belding, the principal on the show through multiple incarnations, starting with all 72 episodes of the original series from 1989-93, on through an episode of “Saved By the Bell: The College Years,” the movies “Saved By the Bell: Hawaiian Style” and “Saved By the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas,” “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” and 80 episodes of “Saved By the Bell: The New Class,” from 1993-2000. DENNIS HASKINS podcast excerpt: "TMZ is very liberal with the truth. Sometimes they're nice to you, sometime they're not. If you believe the good stuff, you've got to believe the bad stuff. I had one situation where they put stuff on that was a complete fabrication. There's nothing you can do about it." There are even rumors of a “Saved By the Bell” theatrical release in the works. Honestly, though, I’m more interested to talk with Haskins about his recent multi-episode arc on the first season of the new TNT dramedy, “Men of a Certain Age.” His certain were with Scott Bakula. Haskins is here to promote his upcoming gig as host of “ACME Saturday Night” this Saturday, March 27, 2010. You can watch the online comedy TV show streaming live online @ . Dennis Haskins • • • • •

2010: I always dreamed there would come a day when I would meet the lovely actress Ming-Na. But I thought it would be in a smoky, out of the way bar, we’d both be single… I’m sorry—where was I? MING-NA podcast excerpt: "As much as I'm proud to be part of the Disney legacy as 'Mulan,' I'm also proud to be one of the Charlie Harper women--that legacy. We're acting, we're working. And even though we're in bed together, it's just part of our crazy, crazy job." Most of us probably remember Ming-Na best from her run as a young doctor on the long-running NBC medical drama, ER. Or, if you’ve got a daughter, like I do, you’ve probably sat through the Disney animated films Mulan and Mulan 2 a couple hundred times. That’s right, Ming-Na was the voice of the heroic Mulan. More recently, she did an eye-popping arc as one of Charlie Sheen’s love interests on Two and a Half Men, which somehow led to her joining the star-filled ensemble of SyFy’s new series, Stargate Universe. Ming-Na • • • • • • •

2010: When the producers of the CBS reality TV hit “Undercover Boss” brag that their show is about corporate presidents getting their hands dirty, they couldn’t be more accurate than this week’s episode. Because on Sunday, April 4, 2010, the boss going undercover is Rick Arquilla, president of Cincinnati, Ohio-based Roto-Rooter Services Company. That’s right, the top guy at America’s largest plumbing and drain cleaning service will be shown as one of the guys, one of the grunts, repairing and snaking America’s pipes. I know I want to watch that episode—don’t you? RICK ARQUILLA podcast excerpt: "I can assure you that there were certain jobs that no one in their wildest dreams would hire me to do at Roto-Rooters. I was incompetent on numerous levels!" Arquilla, whose background is in sales, not plumbing, joined Roto-Rooter in 1989 and rose from regional vice president to president and chief operating officer just three years later. Roto-Rooter • •

2010: Real estate fortunes have been won and lost at record speed in recent years with millions of families “under water” in their current homes, losing their homes to foreclosure and just plain befuddled by what was once the safest of investments. PETER RICHMOND podcast excerpt: "A pre-approval means you actually made a formal application for the loan. It's been under-written and you do have a loan. If you're in a competitive seller's market, having a pre-approval is absolutely the gold standard. It gives you an advantage, absolutely." Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest financial transactions that most people will ever make. First-time homebuyers in particular have no idea where to start. What they need is a road map and an experienced guide that can advise when to shop and when to not, what’s a gem and what’s a scam. Peter Richmond is probably that guy. He’s the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buying a Home. If anyone can offer good, simple advice on how to do it, it’s got to be him. Peter Richmond