Start Me Up with Kimberley A. Johnson

D. Earl Stephens is the author of "Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump's Very Important Letters."  He's the former managing editor of Stars & Stripes, a Navy vet, and a prolific writer. Topics: Happy Donald Trump mugshot day; The GOP circus debates; Donlad *has* to go to prison if found guilty; democracy has a decent shot at prevailing as long as we unite and s...

Lizz Winstead is the co-creator of The Daily Show and now she's the co-host of the FeministBuzzkills podcast focusing on reproductive rights news. Topics: Why we need to be more aggressive with abortion messaging--if you believe abortion is healthcare, then you are pro-abortion (listen before you squawk); how to spot a fake abortion clinic; ways voters can get involved no matter your comfort l...

Sarah Wood is back! Topics: DoJ doesn't play; 2024 is looking goodfor democracy; young people are highly motivated to vote and they're engaged in the political process; COVID/variants and the next booster; all that and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

D. Knight is the host of the Pardon the Insurrection Podcast. Topics: Happy Trump Arraignament Day! There may be a scenario where Donald actually goes to prison; how the multiple Trump trials may affect the 2024 election; Mike Pence did the bare minimum but he's no hero; because the GOP has gone full fascist, voters are the ones who will determine if the US stays a democracy. All that and more...

Christopher Bouzy is a serial entrepreneur, software engineer, and political maven and he’s the founder and CEO of both Bot Sentinel and Spoutible.com. Topics: Spoutible (new features weekly, why it's different and why people should set up an account); no Trump indictment while we chatted but it is imminent; why Dem leaders need to nip the RFK Jr. threat in the bud and why Democrats have a lot...

Vivicca A. Whitsett is an actor, comedian, talk radio host, writer, cancer survivor and brazen hussy! We had all kinds of fun and I knew we would! Topics: Trump, karma, and the Jack Smith investigations; why Vivicca doesn't feel Cornell West (I couldn't remember his name when we recorded the show) is a threat to Democrats; the writer/actor strike and what's at stake; the GOP is cruel a...

John is an actor who's appeared on television and in movies. Some of his projects include Euphoria, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Sneaky Pete and Star Trek: Picard. He's my friend on Twitter and today, we had a chat! Topics: John's life growing up in the San Fernando Valley in SoCal, playing the father of a trans teen in Euphoria; the writer's/actor's strike and why it...

Mark is best known for the role of "Jesse Vasquez" on Beverly Hills 90210 but his list of credits goes on for days. We talked about his early life growing up in Texas; what made him pursue acting; what it was like working on 90210--as a newbie on an established, wildly popular series; how the industry has changed since Reality TV became so popular, and how COVID has changed the business. M...

Peter Paige is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his portrayal of Emmet Honeycutt in the gay drama Queer as Folk. His debut as a director and writer was on the film Say Uncle. Topics: Peter's path to acting which led to his path as a writer/director; his experience acting on Queer As Folk--how that hurt and helped what came after; being a queer actor in Hollyw...

Bruno Amato is back! We talked about the writer's strike and why it's so important; his latest acting roles; we chatted a bit about Donald and the fascists but we quickly went back to fun stuff. From dating stories to psychic predictions that came true, we covered a lot of (fun) ground. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Simon is an optimistic guy and we talked about why it's so important to be optimistic with the understanding we don't always get our way. Topics: Dems in array while the GOP is rapidly unraveling; what we can do individually to help save democracy, and how we keep from being sucked into the negative messaging so that we don't unknowingly do the GOP's dirty work for them. Advertisin...

Brian Karem is a White House Columnist and his latest book is titled Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It. He's a political analyst for CNN and hosts the "Just Ask The Question" podcast. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. We touched on all. Today's show is more about Brian but we did get to some politics. Not only is Brian a reporter, but he also sings...

David Pepper is back. He's the former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party and his latest book Saving Democracy is out now. Topics: David shared some effective and easy ways to help save democracy--and they don't require much of your time; why it's so important to win in local and state elections; David shared some of the more egregious laws/abuses happening on the state level and he...

Paige Wolf is a communications expert dedicated to creating meaningful progressive change locally and globally. For more than 20 years, she has run Paige Wolf Media and Public Relations, offering communications services to a wide variety of clients including nonprofit organizations, political campaigns, and mission-driven businesses. She has worked on Democratic political campaigns throughout Penn...

Craig Bierko has been acting for decades. Some of his most notable films include Cinderella Man & Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. TV: Sex and the City, Murphy Brown;  Law & Order; Mad About You. Stage: The Music Man; Guys and Dolls and Company. I had Craig back on so soon because I had more questions for him (and he makes me laugh...a lot). We talked about why he chose to become an actor,...

Actor/comedian/musician and political commentator Hal Sparks is back! I needed Hal's optimism today and he delivered! Topics: The debt ceiling and why Hal believes it'll all work out; why he feels the "No Labels" Independent ticket will go nowhere; Trump's legal woes are growing by the second and Hal shares what he thinks will happen re: jail time (if DJT is found guilty in the...

David Corn of Mother Jones joined me to discuss the "nothingburger" Durham Report and how the right is using it to deflect attention from the Russian attack on democracy in 2016; a new website, The Messenger, that supposedly exists to be fair and non-partisan but gave Trump the softest of softball interviews (sound familiar?); and David talked about his latest book, American Psychosis: A H...

Writer/Director Jay Arnold is back! Topics: White supremacy is an urgent threat to US democracy, even Biden is talking about it and everyone should be sounding the alarm; Rudy is being sued for rape and he allegedly admitted to selling pardons for $2 million; extremism is motiving the electorate; Elon Musk has been subpoenaed by the Virgin Islands in a lawsuit against JP Morgan and the connection...

Travis Bone, Executive Producer of the Stephanie Miller Show joined me. After we had fun chatting, the E. Jean Carroll verdict came down as we recorded, so we got to celebrate E Jean's victory together! Other topics: "polite" social etiquette should not keep us from telling the truth about our corrupt political figures(re: SCOTUS/Tea Party/MAGA, The Republicans are getting increasingly...

Andy is back and as per usual, I laughed a lot! We had so much fun! The show is a mix of politics, personal stories, my not-so-great plan to get a 2nd bivalent shot (I don't qualify--Andy offers up a sensible warning against my dumbass idea), we bagged heavily on Bill Maher and much more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sarah is back! Topics: GOP voted to cut veterans' benefits; the current Republican ideology is on the same trajectory as pre-Nazi Germany; how we cope when it's all too overwhelming and Sarah shared how she shot down some MAGA dude in a bar using only facts! All that and so much more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Adeline Koh is the Founder and CEO, and she started Sabbatical Beauty while on academic sabbatical because she was frustrated with the beauty products on the market. Many generic products loudly proclaim their "active" ingredients on their packaging, but these actives only make up a tiny percentage of ingredients. Inspired by the DIY beauty scene, she decided to start making her own skinca...

Paul Savas joined me to talk about his work at the Trike Theatre in Arkansas. We talked about how theatre training helps children develop skill sets that can benefit them no matter what they choose to do in life. We also discussed the need for inclusivity as well as the importance of the arts. I've known Paul for more than two decades. Listen in as we have fun chatting about the arts; we both...

Leta McCollough Seletzky is the author of The Kneeling Man: My Father's Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. National Endowment for the Arts 2022 Creative Writing Fellow whose work has been featured in The Atlantic; The New York Times; O, The Oprah Magazine; The Washington Post; and elsewhere. Her essay "The Man in the Picture," published in O,...

Topics: Dominion v. Fox - Ethan explains why part of a settlement could result in Fox being forced to apologize on air, and he breaks down what it all might mean for the network in the long term; what's happening in Tennessee is a window into all of the other autocratic red states; we touch on the Trump indictment(s) and what happens if he's the 2024 GOP pick and much more. Advertising Inq...