Jonathan Alter is an author and commentator, who was at Newsweek for close to three decades. He has written several New York Times best-sellers about American presidents.
Richard Linklater is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker. Linklater talks with Evan about his Oscar-nominated, highly acclaimed film “Boyhood,” which was filmed over 12 years with the same cast.
Richard Linklater is best known for his films “Dazed and Confused,” “Boyhood,” “Slacker” and “Everybody Wants Some.” Linklater is the Artistic Director and founder of the Austin Film Society. He has won a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and BAFTAs for Best Director and Best Picture.
Renowned actress and model Isabella Rossellini discusses her legendary career.
Isabella Rossellini grew up in Paris and Rome. At 19, she moved to New York City to work as a translator and journalist for RAI-Italian Television. She began her modeling career at age 28, and in 1982 began a 14-year run as the exclusive spokesperson for the cosmetic brand Lancome.
Ms. Rossellini, who is the daughter of film legends Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, made her cinematic debut in 1979. She appeared in films such as “Blue Velvet” and “Death Becomes Her” and has worked with legendary directors like Robert Zemeckis, David O. Russell, David Lynch and Taylor Hackford. At age 66, Ms. Rossellini earned her master’s degree in animal behavior and conservation. Her theatrical show, “Link Link Circus,” centers around animal behavior and cognition.
International best-selling author John Grisham discusses his novel “The Guardians.”
John Grisham is the author of more than thirty novels, one work of non-fiction, a collection of stories and seven novels for young readers. A master of the legal thriller, nine of his novels have been turned into films – “The Firm,” “The Pelican Brief,” “The Client,” “A Time to Kill,” “The Rainmaker,” “The Chamber,” “A Painted House,” “The Runaway Jury” and “Skipping Christmas.” There are currently more than 300 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 40 languages. His 2019 novel, “The Guardians,” has a strong social-justice component that shows how wrongful convictions happen.
When he’s not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes including serving as the local Little League commissioner. The six ballfields he built on his property have played host to more than 350 kids on 26 Little League teams.
Poet and author Saeed Jones talks about his debut memoir, “How We Fight for Our Lives.”
Saeed Jones is the author of “Prelude to Bruise,” winner of the 2015 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry and the 2015 Stonewall Book Award/Barbara Gittings Literature Award. The poetry collection was also a finalist for the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as awards from Lambda Literary and the Publishing Triangle in 2015. Jones is a former co-host of BuzzFeed’s morning show, “AM to DM,” and previously served as BuzzFeed’s LGBT editor and Culture editor. In his debut memoir, “How We Fight for Our Lives,” Jones tells his story of growing up a young, black, gay man from the South and fighting to carve out a place for himself within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up in Lewisville, Texas. He earned a BA at Western Kentucky University and an MFA at Rutgers University-Newark.
Tim O’Brien, author of “The Things They Carried,” talks about his book, “Dad’s Maybe Book.”
Tim O’Brien’s acclaimed novels include “The Things They Carried” (an NEA Big Read, which the New York Times said belongs on “the short list of essential fiction about Vietnam”), “If I Die in a Combat Zone,” “In the Lake of the Woods” and “Going After Cacciato” (which won the 1979 National Book Award in fiction), among others. In 2013 he was awarded the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. O’Brien was interviewed for Ken Burns’ 2017 documentary series, “The Vietnam War.” Most recently he was a co-writer on the Vietnam episodes of the NBC series “This Is Us.” His 2019 book is “Dad’s Maybe Book,” where he shares wisdom from a life in letters, lessons learned in wartime and the challenges, humor and rewards of raising two sons.
Filmmaker Ed Zwick discusses his celebrated Hollywood career and his film, “Trial by Fire,” starring Laura Dern.
Ed Zwick is an award-winning film and television director and producer. He co-created the television series “thirtysomething” and together with Marshall Herskovitz produced “My So-Called Life” and “Once and Again.” He also executive produced the series “Nashville.” Zwick began his feature film career directing “About Last Night.” He went on to direct the Academy Award-winning films “Glory” and “Legends of the Fall.” Zwick also directed the films “Courage Under Fire,” “The Siege,” “The Last Samurai,” “Blood Diamond,” “Defiance,” “Love & Other Drugs” and “Pawn Sacrifice.” Zwick and Herskovitz also produced the Academy Award-nominated film “I Am Sam,” as well as “Traffic” – winner of two Golden Globe Awards and four Academy Awards. Zwick also directed “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” starring Tom Cruise. Zwick has been honored with three Emmy Awards, the Humanitas Prize, the Writer’s Guild of America Award, two Peabody Awards, a Director’s Guild of America Award and the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Award from the American Film Institute. He received an Academy Award as a producer of 1999’s Best Picture “Shakespeare in Love.”
Author and reporter Amy Chozick talks about covering Hillary Clinton for the past 10 years, why she thinks Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election and her 2018 best-selling book, “Chasing Hillary.”
Amy Chozick is a New York-based writer-at-large for The New York Times and a frequent contributor to The Times Magazine, writing about the personalities and power struggles in business, politics and media. She is the author of “Chasing Hillary,” a memoir about her experience covering Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign for President.
Margaret Atwood is an award-winning author of more than 40 volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction and nonfiction. She’s best known for her novels, including “The Edible Woman,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin,” which won the Booker Prize in 2000. Her novel “The Heart Goes Last” was published in 2015.
Marc Maron is a stand-up comedian, writer and podcast host. His podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” is regularly one of the most popular on iTunes.
