Willoughby Hills with Heath Racela

Comedian Lizz Winstead has had a big impact on the media business, co-founding The Daily Show and Air America.  Her new comedy special, Corona Borealis: A Night of Comedy Under the Stars, includes untested material performed on a lake and around a campfire in Minnesota.  She talks with Heath about how she's dealt with the pandemic, how she uses comedy to call out hypocritical politicians, and her...

Irin Carmon has been a journalist with NBC News, MSNBC, Jezebel, and New York Magazine.  She coauthored the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biography Notorious RBG and helped break the Charlie Rose accusations for The Washington Post.  She joins Heath to discuss the impact that RBG has had on how she co-parents her infant daughter, how the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements share similar characteristics t...

Michael James Scott has performed in Broadway shows like The Book of Mormon and Elf, but he is best known as Genie from Disney's Aladdin on Broadway, having played that role on Broadway, in the West End, in Australia, and touring North America.  He joins Heath to discuss his new Christmas album "A Fierce Christmas," which calls on his gospel roots and mixes in Broadway and funk, his upcoming socia...

Maria Hinojosa's journalism career has included working for NPR, PBS, CBS, CNN, hosting NPR's Latino USA for more than two decades, and cohosting the podcast In The Thick.  Maria joins Heath to recount her personal experience surviving COVID-19 this spring, how she has witnessed the situation at immigration detention camps deteriorate since the first reporting on them in the 1980s, and the challen...

For 41 years, Melody Thomas Scott has played the iconic Nikki Newman on the CBS daytime drama The Young and the Restless.  Melody joins Heath to discuss going back to work this summer after being shut down for the spring, the challenges and rewards of working on a soap opera for such a long time, and how she dealt with the abuse she suffered as a child actor.  Nikki has a new memoir titled Always...

Mike Holmes has been making home improvement television in Canada and the U.S. for nearly 20 years, including shows like Holmes on Homes, Holmes and Holmes, and Holmes Makes It Right.  He joins Heath to discuss renovating houses and making television during the pandemic, finding a reputable contractor, the dire labor shortages happening in the construction industry, and ways that he thinks our hom...

Glen Keane spent nearly 37 years working at Disney as an animator before venturing out on his own in 2012.  The first feature that he directed, Over the Moon, recently premiered on Netflix.  Glen talks with Heath about finishing that film remotely, honoring screenwriter Audrey Wells, who died during production, and finding his voice as a director.  He also discusses working with Kobe Bryant on an...

Matt Tyrnauer is a documentary producer and director whose latest project is The Reagans, a four part docuseries now airing on Showtime that takes a critical look at the lives of Ronald and Nancy Reagan.  He talks with Heath about why he wanted to reexamine the Reagan era and the parallels that he finds to our current political moment.  He also discusses some of the technical challenges of produci...

Oakland based Brad Brooks has a new album, God Save the City, that looks back at his recent experience surviving throat cancer.  Brad talks with Heath about the songs that were recorded before treatment and how they differ from those post-treatment, plus why he's not afraid to get political in his music, and how he approaches songwriting. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

At age 16, Atlanta native Leah Belle Faser is already writing and recording country songs with heart and depth.  She talks to Heath about recording her new album Crossing Hermi's Bridge in May under strict COVID protocols, how she approaches songwriting, and the vulnerability that comes from writing such intimate music and then releasing it into the world without knowing how people will react.   T...

Joshua Turchin is already a multi-hyphenate at the age of 14: composer, musician, singer, dancer, actor, and talk show host. He talks to Heath about the musical he composed called The Perfect Fit, which debuted at a theatre festival last year and will be streamed as a live concert from New World Stages on November 15. He also discusses the talk show he hosts, The Early Night Show, ways that he has...

Dr. Marisa Porges has had a diverse career, starting by serving as one of only a handful of female fighter pilots in the Navy, working in counterterrorism in the Obama White House, and now leading The Baldwin School outside of Philadelphia.  She and Heath discuss her new book What Girls Need: How to Raise Bold, Courageous, and Resilient Women.  In it, she offers personal anecdotes and practical ad...

Michael Ian Black is known for his dry comedy style and for acting in movies like Wet Hot American Summer.  His latest book, A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son, looks at the evolving definition of masculinity.  Michael and Heath discuss the differing approaches to projecting manhood between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, how to discuss topics like consent and intimacy with young boys,...

Merrill Markoe is an Emmy Award winning comedy writer, co-creator and head writer of Late Night with David Letterman, and an acclaimed author.  She joins Heath to discuss her new graphic memoir We Saw Scenery, which she both wrote and illustrated.  It tells the story of her adolescence through her diary entries of the time.  She also discusses her time at The Comedy Store, working with and dating...

Will Kimbrough is a songwriter, musician, performer, and music producer based in Nashville. He talks with Heath about his 17 years writing songs for Jimmy Buffet, the albums that first hooked him on being a musician, and how he has stayed creative despite not being able to tour. Will also discusses the inspiration behind the songs on his new album Spring Break, which was all recorded at home durin...

Journalist Talia Lavin has written for The New Yorker, New Republic, and the Village Voice. Her new book Culture Warlords takes a deep dive into the online world of white supremacists. She talks with Heath about what made her want to explore this movement, what she learned lurking and sometimes participating in far right forums, and why she thinks it's important for all of us to take action agains...

Scott Carty is a Seattle based broadcaster on radio and TV, who became known for conducting interviews with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but he left broadcasting at the start of the pandemic and has turned his energy towards building with his new venture, Backspace Sheds.  Scott talks with Heath about his own path into media, behind the scenes stories from interviewing big stars, his mo...

Matthew Zachary founded OffScrip Media in 2019 as a podcast network featuring raw, unapologetic shows about patient advocacy, which call on his own experience as a cancer survivor at age 21 and as the former CEO of the nonprofit Stupid Cancer.  He talks with Heath about the opportunities of the podcasting space, why audio is such an intimate medium, and what he has learned about why patients strug...

Amy Traverso is the Senior Food Editor for Yankee Magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, which is in pre-production for Season 5. She and Heath share stories about working for a legacy brand with a print and TV component, the challenges facing both the restaurant industry and TV production, what makes New England such a unique and special place, and ways that th...

John Tesh's career has spanned several decades and several different areas of focus.  He started in radio and television as an anchor and journalist, hosted Entertainment Tonight for a decade, composes and performs music, and has hosted the radio show Intelligence For Your Life since 1997.  He talks with Heath about his relationship to his father growing up, his battle with pancreatic cancer, and...

Hubert Point-Du Jour has been a working actor on both stage and screen for many years, but The Good Lord Bird on Showtime is the biggest role he's had to date.  He talks to Heath about playing an enslaved person before the Civil War and the parallels between abolitionist struggles and the current fight for racial justice.  Hubert also discusses how he developed a passion for acting, the work he's...

Scott Cook is a troubadour from Edmonton, Alberta who has spent the last 13 years on the road across the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia playing 150 shows per year.  Because of the pandemic, he has spent the last six months at home.  Scott talks to Heath about finding himself both on the road and at home, the parallels he sees between his own battles with addiction and climate change, and...

Diana Rodgers is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, host of the podcast Sustainable Dish, and the filmmaker and author behind the new film/book project Sacred Cow that looks at if meat can be a healthy and sustainable part of a diet.  She talks with Heath about what drew her to this subject, working on her first documentary film, and what she sees as the broken and vulnerable parts of our nation...

John Tartaglia was one of the youngest puppeteers ever hired on Sesame Street at the age of 16.  Since then, he's originated roles in Avenue Q, created and starred in Johnny and the Sprites and Splash and Bubbles, and is now a performer and executive producer on Fraggle Rock for AppleTV+.  He talks with Heath about the technical aspects of puppeteering, plus the challenges of creating shows for cr...

Aaron Lazar is an actor and singer, having performed in 11 Broadway productions, plus movies and TV.  On Fox's Filthy Rich, which premieres on September 21, he plays a reverend on a Christian broadcasting network.  Aaron talks to Heath about his own journey of self-discovery and his relationship to the unknown, plus his feelings about our identity as Americans and how the pandemic may be changing...