Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

Sallie Krawcheck is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, a company working to help close the gender pay gap by “redefining investing for women.” She joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss the gender, wealth, and race pay gaps women and people of color face in today’s financial world and why it's so important to intentionally invest. Follow Sallie on Instagram @Sallie. Krawcheck or @Ellevest and o...

Actress Nicola Coughlan joins Jonathan in London to talk about growing up in Ireland, life after attending drama school, and an exciting new project with Shonda Rhimes! Follow Nicola on Instagram and Twitter @nicolacoughlan, and watch her in Derry Girls, streaming now on Netflix. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Trans...

Tom Daley began diving at a very young age, gaining notoriety at nine years old. In 2008, at 14, he represented Great Britain as their youngest competitor in the Beijing Summer Olympics. He went on to compete in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio games picking up 2 bronze medals along the way. He invited Jonathan into his home to discuss all things diving, his husband Dustin Lance Black and their baby b...

Dr. Alex Monro is a botanist and research leader at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the Americas Team of the Identification and Naming Department. After watching The Jungle Book at a young age, he became fascinated with tropical forests and has spent the last 20 years working as a taxonomist, systematist, and field botanist. Jonathan joined Dr. Monro in his office at the Royal Botanic Gardens to...

Wendy Davis came into the spotlight in 2013 when she took to the Texas Senate floor to perform a 13-hour filibuster to block a bill that would severely impact abortion rights. She received her degree from Harvard and practiced law for several years before becoming Texas’s State Senator from 2009 to 2015. She is also the founder of Deeds Not Words, a non-profit organization that focuses on engaging...

Dr. M. Sanjayan is the CEO of Conservation International, and formerly the lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy. He joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss his work with the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Project, which aims to restore 73 million trees in Brazil by 2023—and explore how saving nature is actually about saving humanity. Dr. Sanjayan is a recipient of UCSC’s Global Oceans Hero Awa...

In the fall of 2019, Jonathan released his book “Over The Top,” where he disclosed his HIV positive status. The occasion prompted Dr. Watkins-Hayes to write an op-ed on the subject in the NY Times, and inspired the two of them to get together to discuss issues they are both passionate about. Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes is a Professor of Sociology and African American Studies and Faculty Fellow at No...

In December of 2015, Dr. James L. Gelvin joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss the relationship between Shia and Sunni Islam and to record the very first episode of Getting Curious...the rest is history! Dr. James L. Gelvin is a Professor of Islamic Studies at UCLA. He holds his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University and his Ph. D. from Harvard. He’s also taught at Harvard, Boston College and M...

Senator Elizabeth Warren was a professor of law for over 30 years at several esteemed universities including Harvard. In 2015 she became the first female Senator elected from Massachusetts and continued her fight for financial justice within the system. During her campaign for president of the United States in 2020, she sat down with Jonathan and they talked about her childhood, her ongoing campai...

CONTENT WARNING: This conversation contains details about addiction, eating disorders and mental health disorders. Dr. Richard Schwartz earned his PH.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Purdue University. He is the founder of The Internal Family Systems Model or “parts” therapy and coauthor of Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, one of the most widely used family therapy texts in the United S...

Dr. Shuchi Talati is a geoengineering governance fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit organization founded 50 years ago by faculty and students from MIT. Upon a chance meeting at the U.S. Capitol, she explained to Jonathan the importance of our votes when it comes to combating climate change. With so much more to discuss, she joins Jonathan to talk about how she got into her f...

Dr. Charles J. Innis is the Director of Animal Health at the New England Aquarium and co-editor and author of “Sea Turtle Health and Rehabilitation,” which covers sea turtle husbandry, medicine, and surgery. He joined Jonathan in the studio to discuss the difference between land and sea turtles, how turtles have sex, the illegal wildlife trade, and how conservation is the key to the survival of aq...

Tan France is the host of Netflix’s upcoming show Next in Fashion and Dressing Funny on Netflix is a Joke and co-host of Queer Eye. He sits down with Jonathan in a mysterious location (on set) to discuss life since Queer Eye, the beauty industry, and learning to not just love but advocate for the beautiful color of his skin! Follow Tan France on Instagram and Twitter @tanfrance and check out his s...

Dr. Doreen Dodgen-Magee is a psychologist, speaker, and the award-winning author of “Deviced! Balancing Life and Technology in a Digital World.” She joins Jonathan to discuss how reliant on technology we are, and the mental, emotional, and cultural ways this dependence is affecting our lives. Follow Dr. Dodgen-Magee on Instagram and Twitter @drdoreendm, and at www.doreendm.com. Find out what today...

Dr. Erroll Southers joins Jonathan to discuss the threat domestic terrorism, how that term is applied on a federal level, and how to survive a mass shooting situation. Dr. Southers is a recipient of the Earl Warren Outstanding Public Service Award and author of Homegrown Violent Extremism, a book investigating radicalization, recruitment and ideological trends in domestic terrorism and extremism....

Jonathan is joined by Nancy Birtwhistle, winner of Great British Bake Off Series 5. The two discuss all things Great British Bake Off and how she followed the recipe of her heart to become an international baking icon. Follow Nancy on Twitter @nancybbakes, Instagram @nancy.birtwhistle, and Facebook @nancybirtwhistle. Her website is www.nancybirtwhistle.co.uk/. Find out what today’s guest and forme...

Actor, activist, and author Diane Guerrero joins Jonathan to blow their mind and open our eyes to something many Americans have experienced but isn't talked about enough. Diane is an outspoken advocate for commonsense, comprehensive immigration reform and has worked with Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Mi Familia Vota, a nonpartisan Latino civic engagement organization to promote citizenship a...

Tara Foley is the founder of Follain, the first retailer to sell clean beauty exclusively. Tara sits down with Jonathan to discuss the power of taking care of their bodies with non-toxic products, outdated regulations on cosmetics and what "clean beauty" really means. Follow Tara on Instagram and Twitter @tcofoley. Follain is on Instagram and Twitter @follain, and on Facebook @shopfollain. Their w...

Elizabeth Pfiester is the founder and director of T1International, a non-profit run by people with and impacted by type 1 diabetes that does not take funding from the pharmaceutical industry. Elizabeth discusses what it’s like living with the disorder, her work fighting to put an end to the current crisis surrounding insulin prices, and why where you were born should not determine whether you live...

Planned Parenthood's Alexis McGill Johnson joins Jonathan to discuss the current state of reproductive rights, the politics of health care, and just, what is her day even like? You can follow Alexis McGill Johnson on Instagram @alexismjpp and Twitter @alexismcgill. Planned Parenthood is on Instagram @plannedparenthood and Twitter @PPFA. For more information, head to www.plannedparenthood.org. Find...

Jonathan is joined by climate advocate, TV personality, and Science Guy Bill Nye. The two discuss an array of topics, including green algae, renewable energy, and how to make climate change a major talking point in the 2020 election. Follow Bill Nye on Instagram and Twitter @billnye and check out his podcast Science Rules! Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on...

Hannah Shaw is a kitten rescuer, humane educator, author, and unwavering animal advocate who has dedicated her life to finding innovative ways to protect animals. She sits down with Jonathan to discuss her new book “Tiny But Mighty” and perhaps the most important topic on the podcast to date — kittens! Find more from Hannah on Instagram and Twitter @kittenxlady. Find out what today’s guest and for...

Ditas Katague is currently the Director of the California Complete Count Office for the State of California. Ditas and Jonathan sit down to discuss the importance of the census, what you need to know, and dispel myths about the population count. Ditas Katague is on Twitter @ditaskatague. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJV...

NYU Associate Professor, data journalist, AI researcher, and author Meredith Broussard joins Jonathan to discuss her book “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World," where she sheds light on how racism plays a part in the current state of AI. Follow Meredith Broussard on Twitter and Instagram @merbroussard. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by followin...

How did we come to be the United States of America? What was life like in Philadelphia and Boston leading up to the Revolutionary War? Jonathan sits down with Dr. Jessica Roney, Associate Professor of History at Temple University, to find out these answers and more. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for eac...