The Next Best Thing

Jonathan tells the story of his miserable Friday, spent driving a van full of people to and from Connecticut, before going over some of the best Christmas movies of ALL time, and doing a reading of classic Christmas story, The Gift of The Magi. Cuddle up by fire, roast some chestnuts, and enjoy this Holiday edition of The Next Best Thing!

Jonathan takes a look at how Ukraine become part of the biggest story in American politics, what’s at stake, and how the hell we got here. Also, friend of the show, Andrew Wilson stops by!

Obstructing Justice, profiting from the Presidency, advocating political and police violence, abuse of power, attacking the free press, violating campaign finance laws. What do all of these things have in common? Two things: they are all generally understood to be "impeachable offenses," and they are all things Donald Trump managed to do within the first 26 months of his Presidency. Some of them o...

Batman has always been Jonathan's favorite superhero of all time. So naturally, then, the JOKER is his favorite villain of all time. With so many iterations of this character that people love to hate, Joaquin Phoenix had much to live up to. Did he rise to the occasion? Was he better than Jack Nicholson, or Heath Ledger? Is it silly to compare them, given how disparate their respective films were,...

Jonathan tells his story about meeting Oprah and Gail, as well as goes over all of the recent news regarding Trumps pending impeachment. Hold onto your butts, there's a lot to cover!

Is Jonathan B. Lerner an award-winning hog caller? Did he once tell his parents he wanted to grow up to be a woman?? Learn all this, and much more, about both Jonathan and Andrew Wilson, as the improviser, comedian and new friend of the show stops by the RFB studio for his first official visit to The Next Best Thing!

Making "best of" lists will almost always get you in hot water. In 2015, Rolling Stone published their 100 best songwriters of all time. Despite including many of the modern greats, such as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kanye West and Joni Mitchell, there were also some obvious omissions...and people were not happy about them. Having said that, Jonathan deci...

A graduate of Lehigh University, Brian Tyler Cohen moved to Los Angeles to be an actor and writer, and has been doing plenty of both! The former managing editor of Occupy Democrats, he now spends most of his time offering political commentary and analysis on his YouTube channel. Brian stopped by the Radio Free Brooklyn studio recently to chat with Jonathan about his trajectory, and the current INS...

Jonathan runs through his immediate thoughts and feelings regarding the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 election season. Did CNN learn from msnbc's mistakes and improve the format? Did anyone have a standout performance? Did it move the needle AT ALL as far as polling goes? All this and more. 

Jake Williams is a YouTuber, and the creator of Bright Sun Films. With over 600,000 subscribers, his channel hosts various shows, like Abandoned, Cancelled, and Bankrupt. He joins Jonathan to talk about how he went from posting gaming videos as a teenager in Canada, to making professional, mini-documentaries as a young adult...in Canada. Check out his stuff on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instag...

Losing a parent is truly a unique form of pain, grief and loss. Our parents guide and protect us. They take care of us when we're sick, pick us up when we fall, and provide unconditional love. No matter how old you are, no one is ever truly ready to lose a parent. This is the first of what we're hoping to be a series of conversations Jonathan has with people who have had to say goodbye to their Mo...

A native of Staten Island, Lauren Hartnett is a Gun Rights activist, an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor, and the founder of the Girls Got a Gun organization. She and Jonathan don't agree on much when it comes to guns, but they were bound and determined to find some common ground. Did they succeed? You be the judge. Catch The Next Best Thing LIVE, every Monday night at 10:00 EST, on Radio Free Br...

Leaving Neverland, a new HBO documentary, tells the story of two men: Wade Robson and James Safechuck. They accuse Michael Jackson of having sexually abused them for years, beginning when they were respectively about 7 and 10 years old. Jackson faced several allegations that he molested young boys during the latter part of his career, and this documentary has rekindled all kinds of interest in the...

Joel Acevedo, vice-president of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, stopped by the Radio Free Brooklyn studio to discuss what it means to be a young Republican today. Tune in to what was certainly an interesting, and always civil, conversation. 

Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan. To some, those names mean nothing at all. To others, they represent the absolute WORST of the American Presidency. That is, at least, until Donald Trump came along. Join Jonathan, and guest Christo Grabowski, as they discuss all of the God-awful U.S. Presidents, and how Donald Trump has been a gift to each of their legacies. 

Between January 2017 and April 2018, the number of jobs in the newspaper industry declined from around 46,000 to 39,000 across America. To put that in perspective, there are 76,416 seats at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. If every single person currently working for an American newspaper were to congregate there, the stadium would be HALF EMPTY!! Sam Mellinger, award-winning spo...

Everyone loves a good conspiracy. James Earl Ray initially confessed to killing Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4th, 1968, as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, but he would later recount his confession and did so until his death in 1998. Loyd Jowers owned and operated a tavern below the rooming house where James Earl Ray was staying, and he later claimed to have participated in a plot...

Comic David Bradley Isenberg returns to the RFB studio to talk politics, political correctness, and his Second Cousins Comedy show at the Sidewalk Cafe, on Avenue A! https://www.facebook.com/secondcousinsshow https://www.facebook.com/NBTRadio/ www.rfb.nyc/nbt 

His work is challenging, exhilarating and powerful to watch and to perform. More than just the intricate scores and difficult vocals, Stephen Sondheim musicals are unique in their subject matter. From exploring the issues of contemporary life, marriage and relationships in “Company,” to injustice, murder and revenge in “Sweeney Todd,” he's spent his career offering Broadway audiences works of rema...

Jarret Berenstein is a writer and comedian based in New York City. He hosts the hilarious show, "Famous Dead People" on Radio Free Brooklyn! He stopped by the studio to chat with Jonathan about his recent stand-up tour across America, Famous Dead People, his book "The Kellyanne Conway Technique," and the recent midterm elections! 

Billy Magnussen is a very busy guy. When he's not starring in blockbuster films, like Into the Woods, Bridge of Spies, Ingrid Goes West, Game Night, and the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney's Aladdin, you can catch him on Netflix in Maniac, or on CBS All Access in Tell Me a Story. He's also a veteran of the Broadway stage, who, in 2012, was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured A...

Nikolay Krupelnitskiy, co-founder and owner of Julia Valler Staffing & Events, stopped by the RFB studio to chat about what it takes to start and run a business, emigrating from Russia, having to learn an entirely new language and much more! Catch The Next Best Thing LIVE every Monday night at 10:00pm on Radio Free Brooklyn!

James Higgins is a music director, pianist, arranger, and sound designer with 30 years of international experience. RFB fans may recognize him as the accompanist/collaborator from A Night of Dreams, presented in May of 2018. He stopped by to chat with Jonathan about his current project, Me The People: Fire & Fury edition, playing most Tuesday nights between now and the midterm elections at the Lau...

Nick Pecoraro is a vegan, animal rights activist and organizer for Anonymous for the Voiceless, an animal rights organization that specializes in street activism. He calls in from Hawaii to chat with Jonathan about everything from how and why he became a vegan to proper messaging and documentary recommendations! 

Depression is something that has touched the lives of so many people in one way or another. In September of 2017, Sam Swanson turned to Facebook to share of his own, personal struggle. It ended up getting picked up by the Huffington Post, and the rest is history. He stopped by the studio to talk about depression, how it affects people, and to remind those who suffer from it that they’re not alone.