Let's Talk Ten

As Pride Month 2026 comes to a close, music executive and events producer ANDY SKUROW confides with Dan about the importance of music in his life and how it helped him to overcome his shame and fear of coming out to the world as gay – during a not-long-ago era when that still carried an enormous amount of personal risk and societal stigma.  He also talks about how artists as diverse as Ashford and...

A remix/re-edit of an early “mini-episode” from 2023.  MICHELE MANTYNEN and JOSH CHAMBERS, social media caretakers for "Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast" and “Fun for All Ages with Frank Santopadre”, are both certified "Twilight Zone" fanatics.  Dan, on the other hand, is more of a casual fan. For this “round table” discussion, each had the tricky task of choos...

Dan celebrates Father’s Day a few days early with fellow podcaster ERIC TODD (This Week in Charles Bronson) as they talk about their favorite depictions of fatherhood in movies, TV shows, and pop songs – while also discussing, with frankness, sensitivity, and humor, their relationships with their fathers and with their own children.    There’s plenty of surprises in the lists, plus a lot of amazin...

Filmmaker, actor, and one-time Tony Award nominee TODD GRAFF joins Dan to talk about some of his favorite Broadway musicals and plays – especially the ones that were significant influences on his life and career. Todd’s a gifted and hilarious storyteller, so we are all treated to memories of his first live theater experience (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown), his co-starring with Robert Downey, J...

In this re-mixed/reedited episode from March 2024, Dan talks with comedy historian Jeff Abraham and writer-filmmaker Burt Kearns about their book THE SHOW WON'T GO ON, which chronicles the unfortunate final moments of actors, singers, comedians, circus performers, and more -- as they expired in front of their audiences, mid-performance.   From the famous (Dick Shawn, Tiny Tim, Karl Wallenda)...

VIRGIL CARDAMONE and MARK NELSON – owner/operator and general manager, respectively, of the famous Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, PA – join Dan for a fun and lively  conversation about DRIVE-IN MOVIES.  Of course, there’s talk about movies first seen at their local drive-ins, as well as memories of swing-sets, tinny metal speakers, and kids wearing pajamas worn under their clothes.  But V...

Re-mixed and re-edited version of episode that originally debuted on December 4, 2023: Dan welcomed two very special guests --  his twenty-something children APRIL FISHER and PHOEBE FISHER to compare musical notes on SONGS THAT MAKE ME WANNA DANCE.  Though there are some inevitable Boomer/Gen X versus Gen Z/Millenial comparisons,  many of their choices just might surprise you.  Let's just say...

Re-mixed and re-edited version of episode that originally debuted in September 2024: It's THE NEW ZOO REVUE!  COMING RIGHT AT YOU! After nearly fifty years away from the public eye, Doug and Emily (Emmy Jo) Momary are back, and they’re everywhere – appearing at comic-cons and pop culture conventions, posting on social media, and now…they're Dan's guests on Let’s Talk Ten. Doug and E...

Can you tell me how to get…how to get to SESAME STREET?    DAVID KAMP can.  He’s the author of the national best-seller “Sunny Days: The Children’s Television Revolution That Changed America”, which chronicles the behind-the-scenes stories of Sesame Street (as well as other classic shows like Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Zoom, and Schoolhouse Rock) and the seismic impact it had – not just in America,...

Re-mixed and re-edited version of episode that originally debuted in January 2026:  COME ON DOWN to join Dan and his guest Adam Nedeff -- as they talk about their all-time favorite television game shows. Adam's not just a fan -- game shows have been his lifetime's obsession.  Currently an archivist and researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History -- and a published author of...

BILLY SMITH – owner and operator of Billy’s Midway Arcade in Hawthorne, NJ – joins Dan to talk about their favorite all-time old-school arcade games: Pinball, Skee-ball, Pong, Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Pole Position, Tetris, House of the Dead, even claw machines. It’s a fun and fast-paced conversation about the histories of these games and the tech wizards who created them; the enormous impact on they...

Stand-up comedian and podcaster ADAM SANK joins Dan for a fun – and sometimes even a little serious – conversation about the stuff that makes him laugh. They talk a lot about television – Adam’s obsessed with the Bravo Network, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, and sitcoms – as well as comedic influences like Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Howard Stern, and MAD Magazine; how Adam dealt with growing up as a queer Je...

Acclaimed filmmaker and author JOHN SAYLES joins Dan to talk about the movies he’s made (Dan’s worked on three of them: Passion Fish, City of Hope, and Matewan, which was his first-ever job in the film industry) as well as the price one pays to be “independent”, the movies John watched while he was growing up – and his “other” career as a novelist, with his latest, CRUCIBLE, out in bookstores righ...

Author (“James Bond and the 60’s Spy Craze”) and pop culture expert THOM SHUBILLA returns to Let’s Talk Ten, to talk about his new book “King Kong Versus Godzilla: The Most Colossal Conflict the World Has Ever Known”, Toho Studio’s cult classic giant monster flick from 1962. Not only was this the first occasion for these two gargantuan cinematic legends to meet head-to-head – the outcome of their...

All right, Let’s Talk Ten listeners – ARE YOU READY TO ROCK???? Artist and entrepreneur DARI SILVERMAN is on the show, and we’re talking about some of the greatest performers of all time, LIVE and IN CONCERT: Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles, Janis, Jimi, The Boss….   Dari’s seen them all and hundreds more, and she’s got amazing stories to tell, each one more jaw-dropping than the one before. Meanwhil...

ABDUL MALIK ABBOTT’s story is one of inspiration, determination, and excellent timing, as he got into filmmaking just when hip-hop was about to rule the world.  Working his way up from production assistant to sound technician to editor, he eventually became an in-demand director for music videos, especially those featuring Black artists.  Among Abdul’s credits are a number of videos he made with J...

Professional magician and comedian RACHEL WAX – who’s appeared on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” and is a regular at Speakeasy Magick in NYC – joins Dan for a spellbinding discussion about her career change from fashion designer to stage performer, why she won’t do kids’ birthday parties, and – more seriously – what it’s like to be a woman working in such a traditionally male-dominated field.  With...

Emmy-winning actor MATTHEW RHYS (The Americans, The Beast in Me) joins Dan to talk about many of his favorite ACTORS and how they’ve influenced the course of his own career. Their discussion spans eras and covers a vast array of artists and styles: leading men (Burton, O’Toole, Brando, Pacino), leading women (Hepburn, Streep),    character actors, scary actors, comic actors, up-and-comers -- as we...

It’s the return of FIRSTS, with a fresh roster of Let’s Talk Ten All-Stars: Dan Persons, Simone Farber, Moosie Drier, Kathleen Fisher, Danny Peary, Roxanne Kincaid, Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Kerry & Lisa Weeks, Kristen Lopez, Dan Riba, Sarah Schmidt, Andrew Laposha, Lori Cardille, and John Ashton – all here to share some of their first meaningful pop cultural experiences. With fourteen different st...

Since our listeners have been very, very good this year, Let’s Talk Ten is celebrating the season with a wide-ranging, enthusiastic salute to classic RANKIN/BASS holiday specials. Rudolph, Frosty, the Little Drummer Boy, the Miser Brothers – they’re all here, along with the amazing RICK GOLDSCHMIDT, the official historian/biographer for Rankin/Bass Productions, serving as our expert guide. Rick fo...

Legendary film writer and critic DANNY PEARY’s previous episodes (#40 - #41: Movies I Loved When I Was a Kid) were so enormously popular that host Dan Fisher invited him back to talk about whatever he wanted.  Here, then, are fascinating stories of Danny’s student years at Wisconsin and USC -- and his memorable encounters with legendary directors and performers: Liv Ullman, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert...

KRISTEN LOPEZ returns to the show, for a thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining conversation about representation of the physically and mentally disabled in cinema.  As a professional film critic and as a disabled person herself, she brings a perspective that is not only personal but also steeped in her extensive knowledge of film and its history.  Her new book, “Popcorn Disabilities”, exam...

Award-winning screenwriter LARRY KARASZEWSKI (Ed Wood, The People Vs. O.J.: American Crime Story) and Dan happen to share two mutual passions: movies from the 1970’s, and everything to do with the Oscars.    For this episode, they combine these into a historical overview of, arguably, the greatest decade for American cinema, as chronicled by its Academy Award winners and nominees – with plenty of...

For our third annual Halloween celebration, actress Lori Cardille joins the party to talk about her starring role in the cult classic “Day of the Dead”, the legacy of George Romero, and most dear to her heart – memories of her father Bill Cardille, a.k.a. “Chilly Billy Cardille”, host of Pittsburgh’s long-running monster-movie show, “Chiller Theater”.  There will be shrieks of terror and howls of...

We’ve all been asked this question at least a few times in our lives: “If you were stranded on a desert island and could bring only one thing – what would you bring?”  Now -- narrow that selection down to just one movie, one album, or a boxed set of the entire run of a television series.  If that were the case, what would you bring?  Entertainment journalist/interviewer WILL HARRIS (The A.V. Club,...