Storybeat with Steve Cuden

Barry Greenfield is making his second appearance on StoryBeat. He’s a working musician and songwriter whose career spans from 1968 to the present. His 12 CDs have enjoyed global sales. Barry’s written three number-one songs and had twenty-plus songs covered by other artists. In 2025, his music was selected by HBO, BBC TV, and Australia Films for their original programming. Barry’s also an author....

Doug Thompson started his broadcast career at CHUM Radio Toronto in the mid 1960’s. Since then, he’s worked in New York, Los Angeles and London, England. He’s created programming for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Telemedia Network Radio in Canada as well as ABC Radio, NBC Radio, and the Unistar network in the U.S. Doug has written, produced and directed over 1000 hours of network and s...

My guest today, the actor David Reivers has had a career spanning 40 years in theatre, film, and TV.   He’s best known for various TV roles in shows like Charmed, Felicity, Drake and Josh, The Disney Channel’s Jump In, and recently in season one of The Pitt.  Film roles include Malcolm X, After the Sunset, Circle, Poseidon, and most recently, The Accountant 2. You may have also seen David from his...

Stephen Cole is returning to StoryBeat for the third time. He’s an award-winning musical theatre writer whose musicals have spanned the globe. Stephen’s first production was Dodsworth starring Hal Linden. His Off-Broadway musicals include After the Fair , The Road to Qatar and Inventing Mary Martin . He won the prestigious Kleban Award for The Night of the Hunter . And Saturday Night at Grossinger...

Natalie Lander was inspired to become an actress by watching her dad, David L. Lander, who was best known for playing “Squiggy” on Laverne & Shirley . Natalie has built a résumé that includes a wide range of credits as both a performer and creator. On camera, Natalie has had recurring guest star roles on The Middle , Lopez , and Major Crimes . Other guest-starring credits include Grey’s Anatom...

The prolific screenwriter, David Silverman, is back on StoryBeat for the second time. David has written for stars like Robin Williams, Bob Newhart, Rosanne Barr, Drew Carey, Sarah Silverman, Pee Wee Herman, and others. David has co-created 5 TV series and written and produced on more than 30 different series, including hugely popular shows like Newhart, Roseanne, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons,...

My guest today, Christine Pedi is known as the “Lady of 1000 Voices." She discovered her talent for multiple personalities through her long association with the legendary Off-Broadway revue, Forbidden Broadway, performing in companies all over the world, including New York, London, Japan, Singapore, and more. Among the dozens of personalities Christine is known to impersonate are: Liza Minell...

Ron Roman has written extensive travel, academic, and political articles for regional, national, and international publications. He studied both fiction and creative writing for his third graduate degree in Humanities from Wesleyan University.  Ron has acted in numerous Korean TV dramas and motion pictures like Operation Chromite, portraying Admiral Forrest Sherman opposite Liam Neeson’s General D...

Leslie A. Rasmussen wrote TV comedies for folks like Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, and Drew Carey, while working on popular sit-coms such as Major Dad, Roseanne, ALF, The Wild Thornberrys, Sweet Valley High, Evening Shade, Norm, and The Good Life. After leaving the TV industry to raise her boys, Leslie obtained a master's degree in nutrition and ran her own busi...

Paige N. Regan is a dark fantasy author known for her great ability to infuse humor into the macabre. With a focus on Young Adult and Adult novels, her captivating stories transport readers into worlds teeming with magic, myth, and murder. Her most recently published works include: Sin and Bones and Blood and Stone, which are the first two books of the Sin and Bones trilogy. Paige’s upcoming Gothi...

Amy Meislin Pollack was a teacher for over four decades. From her own childhood, to the classroom, to being a parent of three and grandparent to seven, she’s perfectly positioned to write her coming-of-age book series based on a mischievous young girl, Jillian Kramer, who everyone calls Jelly Bean. After 60 years of occasionally working on her Jelly Bean books, Amy took advantage of the Covid pand...

My guest today, P.S. “Pat “Conway has published more than 50 poems across four online journals and 16 poetry anthologies. Two of those anthologies have been Amazon Best Sellers. Pat released his first poetry collection, Echoes Lost in Stars, in March 2024. To date, it’s garnered significant critical acclaim. In 2025, Pat released Life Sucks: Memories and Introspections During the Great Covid Lockd...

The novelist, John David Bethel, is appearing for the second time on StoryBeat. David’s the author of award-winning political and psychological thrillers, including Mapping the Night and Holding Back the Dark . His short fiction has been published in popular consumer magazines, and his essays and opinion editorials have been published in respected political journals.    David spent 35 years in pol...

My guest today, British author and pop culture historian Jon Kremer is appearing on StoryBeat for the second time. He’s best known for his memoirs and books detailing the 1960s pop and rock music scene.  A long-standing friendship with “Year of the Cat” singer-songwriter, Al Stewart, along with owning his hometown Bournemouth’s original vintage vinyl shop led to Jon experiencing many aspects of th...

Thomas Cullen is a federal trial judge and former U.S. attorney in Virginia. He was recently honored as the 2024 Carter O. Lowance Fellow from the William & Mary Law School, which is his alma mater. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Thomas studied history and ran track at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, from which he was recently awarded an honorary doctorate. Thomas is also an...

Art Bell is a writer and former television executive. While at HBO, Art became known for developing and launching the Comedy Channel, which later became Comedy Central. As President of Court TV, he oversaw daily live courtroom coverage and the production of hundreds of hours of original true-crime TV series, documentaries, and movies. Art’s memoir, Constant Comedy: "How I Started Comedy Centr...

Rusty Austin was a reality TV show producer for over three decades and is now the author of six published books, including an illustrated children’s book series. Rusty broke into Hollywood as a freelance electrician on dozens of movies, including Terminator 2. After a few years, he decided to give up movies because everything in the lighting and grip department weighed no less than 50 pounds. He t...

Brad Oscar is a two-time Tony Award nominee for his performances on Broadway as Franz Liebkind in Mel Brooks’ The Producers and as Thomas Nostradamus in Something Rotten! Brad has performed in more than 15 shows on Broadway, including being in the original casts of the stage version of Schmigadoon, Mrs. Doubtfire, Big Fish, Aspects of Love, and a show I know a little bit about called Jekyll &...

JJ Nelson is a Michigan native who, as a kid, made schlocky home movies with his best friend. He then built his comedic chops as an editor of his high school newspaper, writing irreverent Onion-inspired articles mocking the establishment. Somehow, he got away with all of it, diploma in hand.  JJ honed his writing skills as an undergrad at the University of Michigan before earning an MFA in Screenw...

Virginia DeLuca is a writer and psychotherapist. She’s the author of the award-winning novel, As If Women Mattered. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Modern Love, The Boston Globe, Vulture, The Huffington Post, the Iowa Review, and The Writer.  Virginia’s also a graduate of GrubStreet’s 2020 Memoir Incubator. Her most recent book is If You Must Go, I Wish You Triplets, a candid, funny,...

Haris Orkin is a prolific novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and game writer.  His play Dada premiered at The La Jolla Playhouse. His feature film, A Saintly Switch, was produced by Disney and directed by the great Peter Bogdanovich. Haris has written screenplays for Universal, Sony, Fox, and Paramount.   He’s also has written numerous video games, many of which have been nominated for the WGA an...

Debi Derryberry is one of the most in-demand voiceover actresses in Hollywood. She’s perhaps best known for voicing Jimmy Neutron in both the Academy Award-nominated film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and in the TV series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. Debi’s also played dozens of memorable characters in features like the original Toy Story in which she’s one of the aliens, The Boy and t...

The highly renowned classical clarinetist, David Singer, has performed many times at Carnegie Hall. He was a principal member and soloist with the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for 36 years and is featured on many of the group’s 70 CDs on Deutsche Grammophon.  David began with Orpheus when the group was playing for free. He has played with many of the world’s greatest classical mu...

Mark Mangini is a six-time Oscar-nominated, two-time Oscar-winning Sound Designer. He won his Oscars for Dune and Mad Max Fury Road. Mark’s also well known for designing sound for numerous films, including: Blade Runner 2049, Star Treks I, IV and V, Beauty and the Beast, TheFifthElement, Space Jam, Poltergeist,Gremlins, Aladdin, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among many more. Mark has spent his 49-y...