Dystopia Tonight With John Poveromo

Landing a rock legend like Stevie Van Zandt right before the holidays was a thrill. Stevie was Extremely affable, hilarious and fun to talk to. We talk the optimism of Rock and Roll, his resilience to keep pushing forward through some extremely tough times, his incredible activism, his dive into the acting world, the Sopranos, the E-Street Band, his friendship with Bruce Springsteen, his family li...

We’re back from holiday hiatus and just in time for another covid variant and the 2 year covid pandemic anniversary with Dr. Heather M Butts to give us the full and accurate peer reviewed scoop on what’s really going on with the virus. This episode is packed with questions the media isn’t covering and answers that, while may be unsettling are the truth nonetheless. We also briefly discuss the pass...

Buckcherry is the last true touring rock and roll band and Stevie D knows it to be true. We had a blast having him on to talk about his life, their new album Hellbound, his start as a musician, what he’s been binging, Marvel movies, the state of Rock and Roll, favorite places to tour, “blue light special” gigs, comedy, comedians, and wanting to be a comic when he was younger, and some hard truths...

Steven Cropper, sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. His new album is a triumph during the age of lock downs, because the entire thing was done on an iPhone and you wo...

Had the pleasure of being on another podcast with Dr. Firth a few months back and after finally getting to read his book “A Human History of Emotion” having him on Dystopia was a must! Incredibly thoughtful and funny with an ability to communicate what he’s found while digging through our emotional history makes him a great guest and a brilliant author. Enjoy!

Amazing comic and great friend of the show, Tommy Taylor Jr. joins us hot off the heels of his standing ovation worthy Dry Bar Comedy special out of Utah! Hailing from DC and crushing it in commercials, dating shows, HBO and his own long running live monthly shows titled Almost Ladies Night it was a blast catching up with him. Especially considering he was on the very first “lost” episode of Dysto...

Getting either Jane or Jeff on individually would have been incredible (and will eventually have to be done) but to get them both on at the same time was an unbelievable treat and a fascinating trip through their history in comedy/improv and the acting world.   Almost all of late 20th century comedy came through them. And to say they’ve worked with everyone is an understatement. Al Pacino, Meryl S...

On Dystopia Tonight’s 100th episode we’re celebrating the Holiday Season with Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Chris Caffery and Al Pitrelli!!! These two rock legends were a blast to talk to and we can’t thank them enough for being on the final show or first season. We talked about their life on the road, favorite places and people they’ve performed with, how they started out, their influences, and of c...

Dr. Edward Hallowell is an American psychiatrist, speaker, New York Times best-selling author and podcast host. He specializes in ADHD and is the founder of the Hallowell ADHD Centers. Hallowell is the author of 20 books, including the Distraction series, co-authored with Dr. John Ratey. It was a blast getting to speak with Dr Hallowell and pick his brain on ADHD, neurodivergent behaviors, how the...

I stumbled upon Clara’s live stream on TikTok a few months back and absolutely loved what she was doing. Her lyrics and vocals have a lot of heart and well…she also has a song called New Jersey so there’s a good to fair chance that got me too. We talk about her love of street performing, bouncing around from Cali, to Nashville, and finally to Georgia, touring with her sister and living out of a ca...

Loved getting to chat with Queeny King about her new album, her influences, finding love with Elijah Blue, finding a present for Cher, her time spent in the Children of God Cult, playing at San Quentin, and more! Enjoy!!   Queeny King’s new album can be found here: https://www.queenyking.com

Incredible time talking to Jonathan Stark on Dystopia Tonight! Had the pleasure of seeing him perform improv at the Fanatic Salon when I first moved out to LA and was in awe then. We talk about his beginnings as an actor, and his trajectory from improv to writing with his partner Tracy Newman, writing “The Puppy” episode of Ellen where she came out to the world, creating According to Jim, the dyin...

Jeff Altman was a genuine blast to have on the show! We talk about his friendship with Letterman, appearing on Late Night a combined 45 times, his numerous acting roles in movies and television such as Dr. Gene Splicer in Tiny Toon Adventures, Professor Dweeb in Slimer and The Real Ghostbusters, Clint Mullet on Mork and Mindy, and five different guest characters on Baywatch. He also had a recurrin...

Best known for her 1986–92 role of Roz Russell on the Top 10 rated NBC sitcom Night Court, and as a prominent voice in stand-up comedy, breaking out in the early 80s with the likes of Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Paul Mooney, and Elaine Boosler, we were ecstatic to have the legendary Marsha Warfield join us on Dystopia Tonight. We talk about her start in show business, performing with Richard Pr...

What a fucking blast Mike Cosgrove is. Great stories about his early days with his band Alien Ant Farm, his beginnings as a young drummer and his passion for it over other instruments, surviving and coping with the accident his band suffered while touring, becoming a father, his current work on new music and a new band, and living every day to its fullest. A really great dude and a pleasure to tal...

Diallo Riddle is the creator of the show South Side on HBOMAX (https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GYEaaAgS0AV9_ZwEAAAAC) is newly in its second season and it’s already the best thing you could be streaming right now on any streaming service. In the same vein Diallo is also wildly entertaining and a blast to talk to on the show. We covered a wide range of topics including his beginnings a...

Actor, Ghostbuster, and all around great guy Ernie Hudson joins us on Dystopia for an amazing conversation about his life in entertainment, being a father, dabbling in Standup, the appeal and resurgence of everything 80s, acting opposite his son on Oz, his new show The Family Business on HBO, and of course all things Ghostbusters including reprising his role in the new Ghostbusters: After Life! En...

TAKE HEED TRUE BELIEVERS!! The man, the myth, the legend, Ming Chen joined us on Dystopia and we had a fuuucckkking blast nerding out about all things comics, movies, conventions, cosplay superheroes, podcasting and more! We rarely get to talk this much about all the things we love so it was a blast to have Ming on to deep dive into everything. Enjoy!

Allan Havey has had a truly remarkable career. From starting out as a stand-up in 1981 to his breakout appearance on Letterman in ‘86 and soon after helming his own talk show on what was an early version of Comedy Central to an enviable acting career on hits such as Mad Men and the current sensation HBO’s Billions. We talk about never quitting Stand-up even during TV and movie gigs, landing acting...

Pete Carter is a Jack of all trades. One of which is having been friends with me for…Jesus…20 years? More?? He’s an incredible photographer, the best Michael Jackson impersonator on the planet, the creator of the Ghoul Master Show at Six Flags, a director, producer, writer, makeup artist, video editor, and choreographer. He’s got endless stories of crashing celeb outings and meeting them, one in w...

Ritch Shydner is the absolute best of the best. Incredibly funny, giving, and a wealth of wisdom and stories from a lifetime on the road and in show business as an actor and writer. His documentary “I Am Comic” is one of the best documentaries on comedy I’ve ever seen and his book “I Killed” will actually put you in the time and place of the worlds best comics as they talk about their stories from...

Konrad Wert, known as Possessed by Paul James since 2005, is an American folk singer, songwriter and musician from Lee County, Florida. His music is composed of string instruments including banjo, guitar and fiddle with roots within folk, blues and punk. I saw Konrad live for the first time in 2015 at a Folk-Rock fest in Long Beach, CA and he absolutely destroyed and I’ve been a fan ever since. We...

Having Lawrence Krauss as a guest on Dystopia Tonight was perfect timing. We’ve been though a lot the last couple of years and the problems we had before are still staring us right in the face. However, his new book, The Physics of Climate Change, sheds some much needed light on the otherwise abysmal outlook our current leaders have in regard to the topic. We discuss better ways to communicate the...

David Firth and I have a blast talking about the olden days of the internet, animation styles, comedy, political correctness, how Salad Fingers came to be, the genius of South Park, and trying to adjust to whatever current state of the pandemic we’re currently living/suffering through. Enjoy!   Check out his website and buy some merch here - https://www.fat-pie.com/

Truly a phenomenally funny human with more talent in her pinky the most of us have in our entire body. Shelly Goldstein was a great guest and she came packed with stories layered with experience wit and charm that it was impossible to not have a good time on this one. Enjoy!   Shelly Goldstein is a writer-performer who has written for every genre of TV, film and stage. Her one-woman shows play to...