Kickass News
Hosted by Hollywood producer and political media strategist Ben Mathis, KickAss News is a twice weekly podcast that features the most interesting personalities and thought leaders in politics, entertainment, tech, business, science, and more. Enjoy the podcast? Then please support the show and help keep us on the air by making a donation to our GoFundMe campaign at www.gofundme.com/kickassnews. Another way you can support the show is to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on iTunes to help keep us ranking strong on the top podcasts charts. For more information visit www.kickassnews.com. Thanks for listening!
176
Randall Munroe on Hard Ways to Do Simple Things
Randall Munroe is the former NASA physicist turned bestselling cartoonist behind and the blog. He talks about his new book . Randall reveals the cost of putting a lava moat around your house, how to move your house...
45 min
177
Caitlin Doughty Answers Kids' Questions About D...
is a best-selling author, funeral director, and host of the popular YouTube channel . She returns to the podcast to answer children's questions about death such as "why don’t we eat human’s after they die?" and "what if they make a mistake...
49 min
178
Salman Rushdie on the "Age of Anything Can Happen"
Acclaimed author talks about drawing on Cervantes and pop culture for his new novel . He describes having to consume a massive amount of "trash tv" in preparation for the book, how Quichotte addresses the most pressing issues of our time...
49 min
179
Comedian Anthony Jeselnik
Comedian revels in making audiences a little uncomfortable and now he's making his fellow comedians uncomfortable as host of the hilarious new interview show . He shares how the Saturday Night Live bit "Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey" inspired...
41 min
180
Frank Abagnale Reveals Scams, Cons, and Rip-offs
If you’ve ever seen the Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated film , then you know the story of the boy con artist . Abagnale has since reformed his ways and now he is a leading expert on fraud, forgery and cybersecurity who consults for Fortune 500...
48 min
181
Senator Jeff Merkley
In 2018 Senator Jeff Merkley posted a viral video that triggered worldwide outrage at the forced separation of migrant children from their parents. Now over a year later, he claims that there are still families who haven’t been reunited...
47 min
182
Josh Gates Explores Legends and Lost Treasures
Adventurer and explorer has spent his career crossing the globe to investigate the world’s most intriguing mysteries as host of on Discovery Network. In the age of Google Maps, he says there are still unexplored parts of the...
58 min
183
Former Secretary of State George Shultz
This is a rebroadcast of an interview with former Secretary of State George Shultz that originally aired January 19, 2018. Secretary Shultz recalls his close friendship with President Ronald Reagan, the moment he realized that Soviet...
32 min
184
Philip Mudd on the CIA after 9/11
Former deputy director of the CIA Counterterrorist Center talks about the radical transformation that the intelligence community underwent in the first 90 days after 9/11, why CIA was never intended to be in the business of housing and...
40 min
185
Down the Rabbit Hole w/ the Amazing Johnathan
begins as a profile on a uniquely deranged magician, who built a career out of shock and deception in the 1980s, but it quickly becomes the bizarre story about the unravelling of his documentarian Ben Berman. and Ben Berman join me at...
44 min
186
George Takei Brings WWII Injustice to the Screen
Long before Star Trek, a very young was one of 145,000 Japanese Americans held in internment camps during World War II, and now he returns to this formative experience in his life as a historical consultant and star in the second season of AMC's...
36 min
187
Wyatt Russell on Embracing Everyday Magic
Actor Wyatt Russell is the star of the most original show on television AMC's . We discuss the allure of ancient fraternal orders, the importance of embracing everyday "magic," and getting curious about the places and the people we all too...
46 min
188
Governor Terry McAuliffe on the Lessons of Char...
Terry McAuliffe was Governor of Virginia at the time of the infamous Unite the Right rally that left three dead and many injured in Charlottesville, VA. He offers a behind-the-scenes account of this infamous chapter in our history and shows how...
47 min
189
Goggins, Gaffigan, and Snakes!
Walton Goggins and Jim Gaffigan talk about getting over their fear of snakes to portray Pentecostal snake handlers in their new film . They discuss the beliefs behind the religion, why members of these Pentecostal sect live in fear of the...
45 min
190
Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin Bring Back ...
Diallo Riddle and and Bashir Salahuddin channeled their nostalgia musical variety shows like SoulTrain and Solid Gold into a hilarious new parody series on IFC. They reveal how they lured artists like John Legend to the show and why all...
44 min
191
Richard Clarke & Robert Knake on Cyber War
Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake have served as the top cyber security experts to three Presidents, and they discuss their new book . They discuss Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and say that Russia will almost certainly...
44 min
192
Daniel Silva's Spy Fiction Mirrors Geopolitics
#1 Bestselling spy novelist 's books closely mirror world events, and he reveals how the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi led him to toss out 250 pages of his latest novel and start over. is the 19th book in his wildly successful Gabriel...
36 min
193
MSNBC's Joy Reid Talks Trump and 2020
is the host of MSNBC's and she discusses her new book . She says only a New Yorker who lived in the city during the turbulent 70s and 80s can truly understand the rise of Donald Trump. She likens that era to the lawlessness of...
50 min
194
Guy Kawasaki on Marketing, Macintosh, and More
Silicon Valley icon recalls his childhood in Hawaii, his start in the jewelry business, and how his skills at jewelry sales came in surprisingly handy when he became chief evangelist for Macintosh. He talks about personally witnessing the genius and...
43 min
195
CNN's Jim Acosta on "Fake News" and Freedom of ...
In the President's campaign against what he calls “Fake News,” ’s Chief White House Correspondent has become public enemy number one, but Acosta warns that Trump's attacks on the press could have dangerous consequences for America....
57 min
196
Adam Savage Builds, Blows Up, and Has a Blast
(, ) talks about building a working prototype of Marvel’s Iron Man suit for his new series and what it was like to fly around with tiny jet engines strapped to his forearms. He discusses how Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson...
53 min
197
The Daily Show's Trevor Noah
Today's episode is a rerun of a previous podcast that aired December 3, 2018 with guest . Trevor talks about his standup special and why he dedicated it to his mom whom he calls “the first comedian that he ever saw” and “most...
41 min
198
George Will on the Conservative Sensibility
Pulitzer Prize-winning Conservative columnist George Will answers the fundamental question “what is it that conservatives mean to conserve" and suggests that modern conservatives are losing sight of that purpose. He extolls James...
46 min
199
Ash Carter on Leadership in the Pentagon
Former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter takes me behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of the Pentagon, its vital mission, and what it takes to lead it. He describes just how massive the D.O.D. is, how he managed a $700 billion...
40 min
200
Vince Houghton on America's Craziest Intelligen...
Vince Houghton, director of the International Spy Museum, returns to take me on a wild tour of missions and schemes that almost happened, but were ultimately deemed too dangerous, expensive, ahead of their time, or insane. These...
45 min