Start Me Up with Kimberley A. Johnson

So grateful to have Jody back on. She was my light on a dark day--the day Elon Musk started the process to buy Twitter. We talked about politics but we also threw in fun stuff. Jody did talk me off the ledge and gave me some much-needed hope about the November midterms. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Allison Gill is the host of Mueller, She Wrote, and The Daily Beans podcasts. She's a veteran, Ph. D., and a former federal government executive, she’s a comedian, author, and staunch advocate for the resistance. Topics: DoJ is investigating both small and big 1/6 players; Allison and her "hope porn"; the real headline to the Alex Jones news. and AlexJones says he will cooperate with t...

Majid M. Padelan A.K.A. Brooklyn Dad Defiant is back!. He's the author of The Liddle'est President and he's funny, authentic, and a great conversationalist. Our chat was a mix of fun stuff and politics: quitting smoking; crazy right-wingers think tan balls make them macho; Dems do have a chance in Nov but voters have to help, and so much more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.c...

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: How to cope in this volatile political climate; we are loyal Democrats who want to see tougher action from the party; Putin has to be stopped and we should follow Europe...

Steph Walton is back and she has COVID! It's mild. We did what we do best: TALKED! Drop in on two friends talking about COVID, life, politics and there's a surprise at the end! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past four years, his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse worldwide audience. He's the author of  God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk. Topics: his book; his brain tumor; why faith (religious or not) is so important; how to deal with the overwhelming 24-hr news cycle and so much more. John i...

USA Today opinion columnist and former Justice Department prosecutor Michael J. Stern is back! We had a little fun and we talked about politics. Topics: Garland; "pale white daddy" --just listen; Ukraine; the benefit of trash tv and so much more! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

My friend, write Amanda Sowards joins me again for an easy conversation. I think I may have COVID but testing negative. We spend the first part of the show talking about that and other fun stuff, but then we head on into the current events, Will Smith/toxic masculinity; Putin is losing; midterms, and lots more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircl...

Comedian Andy Kindler is my guest!  He played the character "Andy", a fellow sportswriter on the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, was a regular guest on Late Show with David Letterman, contributor to The Daily Show, and has performed on HBO.  We had a lot of fun talking about what he's been up to (he has a new album out); what it was like to work on Letterman & how COVID impacted h...

Ben Cohen of The Banter Substack is back. We talked about COVID protocols, what we're comfortable with and the news on the Omicron variant; Putin's invasion: Ben is cautiously optimistic about the outcome and then I asked him questions from the end of every episode of The actor's Studio Bernard Pivot. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcir...

Sarah Wood is back for more! Topics: Putin overestimated his invasion of Ukraine; how the "Don't say gay" bill might affect LGBTQ youth; Mandates are over but a new COVID variant is spreading in the UK and we tend to follow them in case number rate. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jay Arnold is an American writer, director and filmmaker. He has written and directed more than 200 television commercials for national brands. Jay’s work has featured Kris Jenner, Marie Osmond, Alexa Ray Joel, Belinda Carlisle, Terry Bradshaw, Melissa Joan Hart, Dan Marino, Billie Jean King and Wendie Malick including animated spots featuring The Simpsons and Mr. Bill. We had a fun chat about wor...

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. Topics: We discussed his book, Free The Press, and the ways news media can be improved (some GREAT ideas.) Then we dove into Putin's invasion of Ukraine: how long i...

Allison Gill is the host of Mueller, She Wrote, and The Daily Beans podcasts. She's a veteran, Ph. D., and a former federal government executive, she’s a comedian, author, and staunch advocate for the resistance. Topics: The moral dilemma of watching the unprovoked Putin attack on Ukraine. Allison and I weigh the pros and cons of doing more to help Ukraine; there's a good chance Putin will...

Jody is back for the first time in 2022. We had some fun before we jumped into the conversation about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It's always a good show with Jody! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

TizzyEnt is a filmmaker and an activist and he uses his large online platform to combat racism, misogyny, and bigotry. We talked about what inspired him to be a concerned and engaged citizen. He shared some success stories and how what he does, helps. We also discussed Russia attacking Ukraine as well as the overall state of where things may be headed. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/...

Greg Olear returns! First, we had some fun (Greg wanted to know why I'm posting old photos on Twitter), and then we launched into the political part of the show. Topics: COVID mandates are going away but is COVID? Putin is backing himself into a corner with Ukraine; why and how Putin is using Hitler's playbook; Kamala Harris is kicking ass and there is hope for the November midterms. Adver...

USA Today opinion columnist and former Justice Department prosecutor Michael J. Stern is back! We talked about aging and what it's like to lose youth; Michael had COVID and described his experience; a tease about Garland (you have to listen); Trump's accountants abandoned him and then basically kicked him, and we talked about what might happen if Trump is found guilty of criminal charges....

Khary is back! He's a gun violence survivor, a DNC member, and a Biden Elector. He shared his frightening experience of being a Biden Elector and how it caused him to take a step back from the spotlight. We discussed the latest ruling that Remmington will pay Sandy Hook families $73 million in a settlement...and how that ruling could prevent future massacres; the toll of white supremacy; why v...

Jennifer Taub is a Law Professor at Western New England University and the author of Big Dirty Money. Her focus is on corporate governance, financial market regulation, and white-collar crime. Topics: Pence and McConnell reading the room--and why they are pivoting away from Donald; Maggie Haberman's next book revealed Trump flushed White House documents; what the public 1/6 hearings will mean...

Marl Trump is back and we talked about her new kitten, her new writing project, her new podcast, and of course, the latest headlines. Topics: Mary gave her opinion on whether Pence's recent condemnation of Donald means a split in the party; What are Garland and DoJ doing -- Donald continues to give them a reason to indict, Mary took her podcast off Spotify and the news media is failing democra...

Joe Dempsey is an average American who can take complicated news stories and break them down into easy-to-understand sound bites. We talked about the growing threat of fascism and white supremacy and how we must fight against it. Joe also went over one of his epic Twitter threads about the 1/6 committee and what's happening there. A really good conversation. Advertising Inquiries: https://redc...

Jo from Jersey joined me today. She's the co-host of the Shut Up Tabbouleh podcast with publicist and all-around nice man, Danny Derany! Jo is a lot of fun and she's a political junkie. Topics: Jo describe what it was like to have COVID; white supremacy is on the rise; Trump is inciting violence, Garland/DOJ have to do or say something about it; conservatives say rape babies are gifts from...

Writer Sarah Wood joins me again! Topics: GOP may be sabotaging itself with the restrictive and authoritarian stances they're taking on social issues like abortion, book banning, and CRT; Trump's walls are closing in and he will not escape legal accountability; Biden will nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court which will be a victory for Democrats. Maybe, just maybe the wind is behind...

Freekbass is a funk musician from Ohio. He's a delightful human with an intelligent perspective on life and politics. We talked about his career, how it's been affected by COVID and then we discuss current political headlines of the day: another effing sub-variant popped up; Trump's legal woes; midterm anxiety, and maybe some there is some hope! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle...