Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen

David Kessler discusses grief and loss and how it’s not that bad and why Jay is reluctant to grieve. We talk about accepting the end of our lives, how children deal with death, and why we are triggered to feel loss in the strangest moments. We talk about being honest with loved ones and not overreacting, and the value of using the ticking clock of death to live better today. We take listener quest...

Father and son actors, Lawrence & David Pressman talk about their journeys to becoming actors, what it’s like to grow up in Kentucky vs Los Angeles, knowing acting was your calling from a young age, the problem with drinking, acting out when you are young, having your dad bribe you to quit showbiz, and getting blown up in Independence Day and getting yelled at by Elia Kazan. Bio: Lawrence Pressman...

Liza talks about her podcast, “Significant Others” and what makes someone devote themselves to making someone else famous, and how no one does it alone, and how empathic she and her husband, Conan, are to the world, and how the trees just might be killing us. Bio: Liza Powel O'Brien has an MFA in Fiction Writing from Columbia University's School of the Arts. Her work has been seen at The Geffen Pl...

Entertainment reporter Richard Rushfield discusses how silicon valley and stockholders tried to make sure bets and wound up destroying the infrastructure of Hollywood. We also talk about comedy, movies, being a pessimist, and the notion that storytelling will continue no matter what. Bio: Richard Rushfield founded The Ankler in January 2022. Called a “hit Hollywood newsletter” by the New York Time...

Blurb: Comedian Sierra Katow talks about her new special, being so insecure she conquers everything she sets out to do, Asian comics, hitting the comedy clubs with your dad waiting in the car, and throwing your Harvard Education away on jokes, when it’s right to start a family, and hustling to prove your not a typical type-A person. Bio: Sierra is a standup comic, writer, and actor who recently re...

Blurb: Husein and I talk about shared traditions, taking faith seriously but being open and curious to all cultures and not eating at Ramadan, writing a pilot together about South Asians, Canada’s Thanksgiving, India’s holidays, his father not trusting his career until Husein showed up in a suit and my father punching up the jokes my dates told. Bio: Actor and storyteller Husein Madhavji, has take...

The Great Laraine Newman talks about the growing up in Beverly Hills, founding the Groundlings, being part of the pioneering cast of SNL, raising kids who work in show business and still have integrity, fighting addictions, avoiding auditions, voice work, writing an audible memoir “May You Live in Interesting Times”, and what it’s like to make a movie that’s powered mostly by cocaine. Bio:Laraine...

Judd talks about Jay helping Judd’s career, Jay relentless hounding Judd to do the podcast, The Mike Douglas Show, how to spot talent, Totie Fields, The Cable Guy, stand-up now, being hungry, why it’s hard to make movies, too many apps, hoarding memorabilia, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, what it takes to be a producer, Walk Hard, and demanding a souvenir show mug. Bio: Judd Apatow is one of the most pro...

Billy and I discuss being writing partners in Jr High, why MAGA loves to be afraid, why Kamala has a shot, why Biden didn’t have a shot, how to make the campaign work, writing for candidates, why we should fight to keep our democracy, how America agrees with Democrats even though some of them don’t know it, dirty tricks from the bad guys, and Lynn Swann. Bio: Billy Ray wrote the Oscar-nominated sc...

Blurb: Matt and I talk about the legacy of The Simpsons, what it means to go from super fan to icon, always knowing he wanted to draw cartoons, having kid are better than making great art, how music makes The Simpsons great, how Jay could come back to work if he came back crawling on his knees, and how Jay agreed to crawl. Bio:  Matt Groening was born in Portland, Oregon, on February 15, the third...

Blurb: Actor Jade PettyJohn who was 14 years old when she first worked for Jay on School of Rock talks about her journey becoming an actor at 7 and being an actor at 23. They talk about what was good and bad about working as a child actor and how to make the lives of child actors better. They also talk about dreams, candles, the weirdness of growing up, dreams of a music career, and joys of cookin...

We talked about: Finding community, doing The Stump, Not doing Chandler on “Friends”, the wonderful and difficult friendship of Matthew Perry, doing theater as a kid, “easy” comics who took their time, playing villains, lying about knowing how to ride horses and almost dying on the horse, auditioning by “being that guy” to set you apart, The Great David Pressman, kind hearted Richard Kind, staring...

This is our most gossipy episode ever! Jim and Frank, one of my favorite couples, spill the tea on the icons you want to know most if it were 1983. Sarah Mills, Andy Warhol, and yes, humiliating yourself in front of Merril Streep are all on topic. We discuss occasionally overstepping and finding their way to any and every premiere and the joys of being a fan who gets to talk to the people they lov...

Novelist/Environmental Activist, Stephen Markley talked about the coming environmental disaster and other laugh out loud subjects.  Stephen thinks there’s hope but mostly it’s by applying pressure to big business and government which sounded hard to Jay.  We also talked about writing for ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING  (Jay and Stephen shared stories about working with Steve Martin and Dan Fogelman)...

On this week’s episode the versatile writer, creator, actor, & comic Larry Wilmore talks about growing up in Pomona, CA and finding comedy and magic, hanging with President Obama. We compare notes on LA, TV, the Dodgers, SNL, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, losing a sibling and we challenge each other to do stand-up comedy.  Bio: Emmy Award winner Larry Wilmore has been a television producer, actor, c...

Bio: Randy and Jason Sklar can currently be seen in the fourth season of FX’s WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS playing fictional Property Brothers ‘Bran and Toby Daltry’. The Sklars produced, wrote, and starred in THE NOSEBLEEDS, a UFC original series that released this summer on UFC’s Fight Pass. The series is a hilarious deep dive into UFC’s history featuring comedy sketches, field pieces, and in-studi...

Conan O’Brien and Jay discuss the neurotic need to constantly make jokes at the peril of personal relationships and true communication.  They also talk about their kids and wives putting up with them, their long friendship, podcasting, comedy, growing older in comedy, Conan’s new show “Conan O’Brien Must Go”, and reading commercials. Bio:Conan O'Brien was born in Brookline, MA, and started his pat...

Jay smothers Weird Al with love and appreciation for Al’s perfection in his parody. We talk about Mad Magazine, Looney Tunes, pizza, travel, doing what you want, the power of an orchestra, the two pulls of being a comic vs a musician, how a true showman can come out of Linwood, and giving up architecture for being a professional goofball/genius. Bio: FEW WOULD HAVE GUESSED that “Weird Al” Yankovic...

Tony and Jay meet for the first time. We talk about the depth of his character, Primo, in “The Big Night” and why Jay can’t find that depth in real like. We also chat about growing up the 9th of 10 kids, the acting scene in Green Bay, WI., tailoring Monk for Tony, auditioning, the struggles of being an actor, & Tony’s biggest mistake which lead to his greatest joy, acting in Italian, being a creat...

Toby and Jay talked about art and trying to see art (and life) from unique perspectives. Jay calls Toby a weirdo. And, like a weirdo, he accepts it as the compliment which is what it was actually meant to be. We talk about failing at school, meeting a guy called Magic who makes pipes out of antlers, and working as a janitor in a church and 10000 other blue collar jobs before he became a great acto...

Entertainment Journalist and all around funny guy Kliph Nesteroff talks about a Canadian kid who got into collecting stories of strange and eccentric show business events. We both talk about our short lived stand-up days. Capturing worthwhile memories, and how Milton Berle was a jerk. I also stump Kliph when I ask him what else he would care about if I took show business stories away. Bio: Kliph N...

David, fresh off of a weekend with Donny Osmond talks about a lifetime of celebrities. Idolizing them, meeting them, interviewing them, befriending them and eventually making them stars once again on his grammy specials. We also talk Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Rosenthal plus a special surprise call from Brad Paisley! Bio: David Wild is a Peabody and Emmy-winning televisio...

Eugene Garcia-Cross talks about growing up in Pennsylvania, losing his dad early, and becoming a literature professeur only to give it all up to be a Hollywood comedy writer. Only to wind up writing books on the side. He also talks about struggling as a 35-year-old assistant, how to be patient for the next job. making the most out of the writers room and having good times even on bad shows. Bio: ...

Nicole talks about the difference between creation and nervous activity and how hard it is to distinguish between the two. We also talk about procrastination, Elvis Costello, the need to let ideas simmer, collaborating on a show, making an album, the meaning of music, the tricks to productivity, and the joy of baby steps. Bio: For two decades, Nicole Atkins has created her own brand of spectral Am...

We talk about how to pronounce Bowie, the love of Monty Python, Elvis Costello, growing up in New York, the Ramones. John’s new play, Brushstroke, my love of John’s wife, Jamie Denbo, John’s possible love of Jay’s wife if he ever meets her, John Cleese, John’s dad who wanted to be an actor but never did it but then turned John on to great movies, the freedom of giving up on expectations, and how t...