Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Frances Turner is a dynamic performer who brings complexity and authenticity to every role. Turner stars opposite Walton Goggins in Prime Video’s hit series Fallout, from creator Jonathan Nolan. Currently in its second season, Turner returned as 'Barb Howard', the pre-apocalyptic wife of Goggins’ 'Cooper Howard' and key player in Vault-Tec Corporation. After its first four weeks, season two already ranks as the sixth most watched season ever on Prime Video and is even higher rated than season one.  Turner is also known for her work on Prime Video’s The Boys, NBC’s New Amsterdam, and her standout turn as a series lead in The Man in the High Castle, produced by Scott Free and created by Frank Spotnitz. Additional credits include ABC’s The Finest, directed by Regina King, and Netflix’s After film franchise. Before embarking on her acting career, Turner built a successful foundation as a corporate attorney. A graduate of Cornell University and Georgetown University Law Center, she practiced law at a major firm before transitioning to the screen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jonathan Tolins is the showrunner and executive producer of the critically acclaimed CBS drama ELSBETH, which returns for its third season.   Tolins has been an executive producer on THE GOOD FIGHT on Paramount+, co-executive producer on “Schmigadoon!” and co-producer on “Queer as Folk,” along with producer credits on EAST NEW YORK, BRAINDEAD and PARTNERS on the Network. Other TV credits include the Tony Awards, the Academy Awards, “Grease Live!” and “A Christmas Story Live!” Additionally, Tolins was a producer and co-writer with Seth E. Bass for the films “Martian Child” starring John Cusack and “The Twilight of the Golds,” based on his Broadway play and starring Brendan Fraser and Faye Dunaway. Tolins is best known as the author of one of the 10 most produced plays in America in 2016, “Buyer & Cellar,” which won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show and was named “Best Unique Theatrical Experience” by the Off-Broadway Alliance during its record-breaking run at the Barrow Street Theatre. The show also enjoyed a London engagement at the Menier Chocolate Factory, a run at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and was shown on the WNET series “Theater Close-Up.” Other plays by Tolins include “The Last Sunday in June,” “Secrets of the Trade,” “If Memory Serves” and “The Forgotten Woman.” He was also represented on Broadway by additional material written with his husband, Robert Cary, for the revival of “On the Town.” Together, Jon and Rob also wrote the book for the new musical “Take the Lead,” which premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in the spring of 2025 Tolins is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America. He has written articles for Opera News, Opera Monthly, TheaterWeek, Time magazine and the Huffington Post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dawn Porter is an acclaimed American documentary filmmaker and founder of Trilogy Films, known for her storytelling on social justice, history, and cultural icons. Her celebrated documentaries, including Trapped, John Lewis: Good Trouble, and The Lady Bird Diaries, air on platforms like HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, CNN, PBS and others. Another film from Porter’s recent work, Luther: Never Too Much, highlights the life and legacy of Luther Vandross. Produced with Sony Music Entertainment, Jamie Foxx’s Foxxhole, and Colin Firth’s Raindog Films, this intimate portrayal of the Grammy-winning artist was recently released in theaters and premiered on CNN/MAX on January 1, 2025. Her recent work, The Sing Sing Chronicles won the Best Documentary Emmy at the 46th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. Porter’s achievements are widely recognized. A three-time Sundance film festival Alum, her film Gideon's Army was nominated for an Emmy and an Independent Spirit Award and won the prestigious Ridenhour Prize as well as the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. Trapped also earned a Silver Gavel, as well as a Peabody Award and the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Social Impact Filmmaking, while John Lewis: Good Trouble won the 2021 NAACP Image Award. She received the Critics' Choice Impact Award in 2022 and Gracie Awards in both 2022 and 2023. Recently, Porter was awarded the National Humanities Medal by former President Joe Biden, elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and received the IDA Career Achievement Award. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maggie Doyne is co-founder of the BlinkNow Foundation and Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in Surkhet, Nepal. At age nineteen, she used her babysitting money and worked with the local community to build a home for orphaned children in war-torn Nepal. In 2010, she and her team opened a school for five hundred of the region’s most impoverished children. Throughout the past decade, BlinkNow and Kopila have worked to deepen and grow the organization through grassroots community development efforts. Her work has been championed by Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Nicholas Kristof and the Dalai Lama, among others. The story of BlinkNow’s beginnings has been featured on the Huffington Post, VH1, MTV, and DoSomething.org. Maggie was named Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year and was used as an example for her groundbreaking work at the Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy. In 2015, she was named CNN Hero of the Year. Maggie’s story carries a message of hope, love, and the possibility of how the smallest individual acts can spark huge world change. She believes that poverty, hunger, and violence will be alleviated when children are provided with their most basic needs and human rights—a loving, happy childhood, nutrition, and a quality education. She believes that this can be achieved during her lifetime. Jeremy Power Regimbal is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer whose work spans feature films, documentaries, and advertising, with a focus on intimate storytelling and social impact. In his early 20s, Jeremy founded The Lab Magazine, a globally distributed publication featuring long-form conversations with cultural icons including Willem Dafoe, Sam Rockwell, Wes Anderson, Marina Abramović, and Noam Chomsky. At 27, he made his directorial debut with the psychological thriller In Their Skin, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically by IFC. His documentary-driven commercial work for brands such as MasterCard, Nike, and Chevrolet has been recognized by AdWeek, Creativity, and Ad Age, and earned a Young Director Award nomination at the Cannes Lions Festival. Over the past decade, Jeremy has lived and worked extensively in Nepal, directing Between the Mountain and the Sky, an intimate feature documentary produced by the Emmy-winning Duplass Brothers. The film has screened at more than 40 festivals worldwide, winning over 30 awards including the Audience Award at Mountainfilm Telluride, and has received a North American theatrical release. Alongside the film, Jeremy led a global impact campaign that reached more than 15 million people and helped raise over $2 million in support of BlinkNow, the nonprofit at the heart of the story. Through his production company, MPWR Content, Jeremy blends cinematic storytelling with a deep commitment to social good, creating films and photography that amplify underrepresented voices and help catalyze real-world change in communities around the globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marc Shaiman is a renowned American composer, lyricist, arranger, and music producer known for his work across film, television, and theater. Shaiman began his career as a musical director and arranger for Bette Midler before expanding into film scoring. He gained prominence with his work on films such as When Harry Met Sally, The Addams Family, Sister Act, City Slickers, A Few Good Men, Sleepless in Seattle, The American President, and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, on television with SNL, and on recordings with Harry Connick Jr. and Mariah Carey. Shaiman earned widespread acclaim for co-writing the Broadway musical Hairspray alongside his longtime co-lyricist Scott Wittman. The duo has also co-created the musicals Catch Me If You Can, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Some Like It Hot, and Smash. He has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and has won a Tony, two Emmys, and two Grammys. Marc Shaiman is celebrated for his versatile, emotionally resonant music and his ability to blend classic musical theatre sensibilities with modern storytelling. Born and raised in New Jersey, he currently lives in New York with his husband, Lieutenant Commander (ret) Lou Mirabal. For more information visit www.marcshaiman.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicholas Clar is an Ohio native actor and content creator. Alumni of Kent State University School of Theatre and Dance, Neighborhood Playhouse and Atlantic Theatre Company Acting School. Nicholas has worked with Cleveland’s Playwright’s Local and Ceaser’s Forum among other New York and North East Ohio theatre companies. Nicholas has been on staff at Little Known Facts Podcast since 2019. @iamnickclar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a celebrated run off-Broadway and rave reviews, Irene Lucio has returned to the role of Isadora in the groundbreaking play. LIBERATION explores the universal themes of freedom, identity, and resilience, set against the backdrop of historical and contemporary struggles for justice. Isadora is an Italian immigrant filmmaker who entered a green-card marriage. New York Theatre Guide called her performance “sharp and witty… toggling back and forth between humor and heartbreak with natural ease.” Irene is perhaps best known for her role in Jeremy O. Harris’ award-winning play SLAVE PLAY where she starred as Patricia and played the role in all four forms of the show. She also wrote a Spanish series titled ‘SúperEllas’ for Canela TV. A show for children about Latina trailblazers, it won the Best Non-English Program – Family Programming at the 48th Annual Gracie Awards. As a Latinx woman born and raised in Puerto Rico, Irene seeks roles which showcase the importance of diverse representation in the arts. Fluent in Spanish and a graduate of Princeton and Yale’s esteemed acting program, she currently lives in Manhattan with her husband and 2 year old son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christiani Pitts has starred on Broadway in Two Strangers Carry A Cake Across New York, King Kong and A Bronx Tale. She recurred on Starz's "Power Book III:Raising Kanan" and starred in the Netflix feature "Resort To Love." Other credits include : Dead Ringers, Blue Bloods, The Good Fight, Evil and Elementary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Mattison is a writer, songwriter, actor, and musical comedian who co-wrote the lyrics and music for the Broadway musical, Death Becomes Her. Her projects with Noel include Is Anyone Alive Out There? (Audible Theater), Noel and Julia’s Wayward Brainchildren (Joe’s Pub), “Brooklyn Sound” (Streamy Award winner, Webby Award nominee), Ruby Manger Live! (54 Below), and multiple musical commercials for Olay. She and Joel Waggoner are the unhinged minds behind the viral holiday sensation “Advent Carolndar” (@adventcarolndar on Instagram), featured on NPR, in The New Yorker, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, and more. Noel Carey co-wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical, Death Becomes her. His Off-Broadway credits include: Is Anyone Alive Out There? (co-book/music/lyrics; Audible Original), Olay: The Road to Glow (co-book/music/lyrics). NYC: Noel and Julia’s Wayward Brainchildren (co-music/lyrics), Ruby Manger Live! (co-music/lyrics). TV/Film: “Brooklyn Sound” (co-creator/songwriter; 2016 Streamy for Best Indie), “Life Sucks” (original music), 4th Dementia (original music). Streaming: The Good Grief Sessions (arrangements/piano). BMI Musical Theatre Workshop (Harrington Award, Outstanding Creative Achievement in Musical Theatre). Emerson College (Howard Waldman Award). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

F. Murray Abraham has appeared in more than 80 films including Amadeus (Academy Award, Golden Globe, and L.A. Film Critics Awards), The Phoenician Scheme, The Name of the Rose, Finding Forrester, Scarface, The Ritz, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Inside Llewyn Davis. A veteran of the stage, he has appeared in more than 90 plays, among them Uncle Vanya (Obie Award), Krapp’s Last Tape, Trumbo, A Christmas Carol, the musical Triumph of Love, Cyrano de Bergerac, King Lear, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Angels in America (Broadway), Waiting for Godot, and It’s Only a Play. Mr. Abraham’s work in experimental theater includes collaborations with Joe Chaiken, Pina Bausch, Time and Space Ltd, and Richard Foreman. He made his NY debut as a Macy’s Santa Claus. He starred in the second season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” for which he received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Previously, he was a series regular on “Homeland” (2 Emmy nominations). He’s appeared with Luciano Pavarotti, Maestros Levine, Tilson Thomas, Mazur, and Bell, and he made his solo singing debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Mr. Abraham’s book, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Actors on Shakespeare, is published by Faber & Faber. He is proud to be the spokesman for the MultiFaith Alliance for refugees worldwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Laura Bell Bundy Broadway: “Elle Woods” Legally Blonde (Tony, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Noms), “Sylvia” The Cottage, “Amber” Hairspray (OBC), “Glinda” Wicked. Notable Off Bway: Romy & Michelle The Musical, Mama I’m a Big Girl Now (Drama Desk Nom) “Tina” Ruthless (Outer Critics/Drama Desk Noms). TV: Anger Management, Fairly Odd Parents, Call Me Kat, How I Met Your Mother/Father, Hart Of Dixie, Perfect Harmony, The Guest Book, American Gods and more. Film: Jumanji, Dreamgirls, Huck Finn, Snow Day, etc. Billboard top 5 recording artist: “Achin & Shakin,” (UMG) “Another Piece of Me” (Big Machine). Sony publishing songwriter (2008-2013). Women Of Tomorrow album & podcast. Best decision: Marrying Thom, having Huck and moving to Hardscrabble Farm in NJ. All socials: @laurabellbundy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

KARA LINDSAY is best known for originating Katherine Plumber in Disney’s Newsies on Broadway and reprising the role in the 2017 film. She is also one of Wicked’s longest-running Glinda’s on Broadway and starred as Cynthia Weil in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Add’l credits include: Once Upon a Mattress (Broadway), Romy and Michelle The Musical, Little House on the Prairie, and regional productions nationwide. TV: Murphy Brown, ABC’s Disney Family Singalong, Schoolhouse Rock! 50th Anniversary among others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ARI’EL STACHEL is a Tony Award® and GRAMMY® Award–winning actor, singer, and writer. His new solo play OTHER was presented Off-Broadway after acclaimed runs at Berkeley Rep and Berkshire Theatre Group. Stachel received the 2018 Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for originating the role of Haled in The Band’s Visit on Broadway, a performance that also earned Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations. On screen, he stars in the upcoming feature Death Do Us Part and has appeared in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling (Warner Bros.) and A24’s Zola. His television credits include Law & Order: SVU, Billions, Jessica Jones, Blue Bloods, and The Night Agent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AMY LANDECKER is a dynamic actress and filmmaker known for her captivating performances across both comedy and drama in film and television. Amy made her debut as a writer, producer, director and star with For Worse, a feature film that premiered to great acclaim at the 2025 SXSW film festival. The hilarious and poignant romantic comedy focuses on a newly divorced sober mom who goes to a wedding with a much younger date and behaves like a drunk 25-year-old bridesmaid trying to keep up. Amy’s previous film work includes Tommy Dorfman’s directorial debut I Wish You All the Best (SXSW2024), Shell, Missing—the sequel to the hit Searching—and I Love My Dad (SXSW 2023), in which she stars alongside Patton Oswalt. Her impressive filmography also includes standout roles in S#!%House, the 2020 SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner, Power on Netflix, opposite Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, A Kid Like Jake, Beatriz at Dinner, and the Coen Brothers’ Best Picture Nominee, A Serious Man. Recently, she starred alongside Bryan Cranston in Showtime's "Your Honor" and appeared in BJ Novak's "The Premise." Previous television credits include "Gaslit," alongside Julia Roberts, the HBO Max series Minx and the Emmy Award winning “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” She is also widely recognized for her role in the critically acclaimed "Transparent," which spanned five seasons and garnered a SAG nomination, and for her powerful performance in "The Handmaid's Tale," for which she appeared in multiple seasons, as well as numerous animated series including “The Croods: Family Tree,” “Q- Force,” “Troll Hunters,” “In The Know” and “Batman: The Long Halloween.” She can next be seen in “The Testaments,” Hulu’s follow up series to “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Amy began her career acting and directing in Chicago theater at companies like The Goodman, Steppenwolf Theatre and A Red Orchid. Amy was brought to NYC with a Goodman Theater production of Rebecca Gilman’s Blue Surge at The Public Theater. She remained in NYC and began a thriving on-camera career with her first job as a guest star on “Law and Order SVU,” where she recently returned for an unforgettable guest appearance in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

JOHN-ANDREW MORRISON -Tony Award Nomination, Lucille Lortel Award, and OBIE for A Strange Loop. Currently stars on Broadway in Oh, Mary. Off Broadway: Blues for an Alabama Sky (KEEN Company, Outer Critics Circle Honoree), The Blacks - A Clown Show, Caligula and Malvolio (Classical Theater of Harlem), Medea of the Laundromat (La MaMa and Lucille Lortel Theater with The Experimentals — for George Ferencz). Regional: 3 Summers of Lincoln (La Jolla Playhouse). BA from Brandeis University and MFA from UC San Diego. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bess Wohl is a playwright and filmmaker whose plays have been produced on and off Broadway, regionally, and internationally. Bess's plays include LIBERATION, GRAND HORIZONS (Broadway, Tony Nomination), CAMP SIEGFRIED, MAKE BELIEVE, CONTINUITY, SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS, AMERICAN HERO, TOUCHED, IN, CATS TALK BACK and the musical PRETTY FILTHY. Her plays have been recognized with a variety of awards and nominations, including the Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics' Circle. She made her feature film debut with her film BABY RUBY, starring Noémie Merlant and Kit Harington, which she wrote and directed. The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures in 2023. She also is developing multiple television projects and wrote for the Apple TV+ series, “Extrapolations." Wohl is an associate artist with The Civilians, an alumna of Ars Nova’s PlayGroup, and the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Recently, she made her West End debut with a sold out run of BARCELONA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jenn Harris is an award-winning writer, director, actor, and producer. She is currently starring in Oh, Mary! on Broadway.  Jenn originated the role of Clarice Starling in Silence! The Musical, won a Lortel and Theatre World award for her performance in Modern Orthodox, and was in the revival of All In The Timing. Film & TV credits: American Fiction (Oscar '24), "High Maintenance," “Elsbeth,” “Search Party," "30 Rock," "Gayby," "Difficult People," "Younger," "Bored to Death." She wrote, directed and starred in the short film She's Clean, her co-created series “NEW YORK IS DEAD” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Comedy at the New York Television Festival, and she co-directed the short "Island Queen" starring Rachel Dratch and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. She wrote My Name is Karen! and Snitch for Theaterworks Hartford. Jenn is also a member of the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Directing Shadow Program. @realjennharris Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Award-winning, best-selling author Adam Gopnik has been a writer for The New Yorker since 1986 – covering fiction, humor, criticism, art, book reviews, personal essays, profiles, and reported pieces from abroad. He has written nine books, ranging from essay collections about Paris and food, to children’s novels, as well as several musicals and theater pieces. Gopnik has won three National Magazine Awards, for essays and for criticism, and the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting. In 2021 he was made a Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur, and this year was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Letters.  He lectures widely, and, in 2011, delivered the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s fiftieth-anniversary Massey Lecture. For the theater, Gopnik wrote the book and lyrics for the musical comedy Our Table, with composer David Shire; the libretto for the oratorio Sentences, with Nico Muhly; and is currently working on several new projects for the stage. Projects in development include: a new musical, Fairy Tale, with Andrew Lippa, developed alongside Nicholas Hytner; a new musical with Marcy Heisler for the Central Park Conservancy; and a new collaboration with Shire that tells the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, called Troubadour. Adam Gopnik’s New York, his autobiographical solo show, returns to NYC this month (October, 2025) at Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Josh Hamilton has worked as an actor since he was a teenager in NYC. On stage, he’s been in the original productions of Kenneth Lonergan’s This is Our Youth, The Waverly Gallery and The Medieval Play, on Broadway in Proof, The Real Thing, The Coast of Utopia and Dead Accounts. Off-Broadway includes Annie Baker’s The Antipodes, Jonathan Marc Sherman’s Things We Want, HurlyBurly(Drama Desk nom), Scene Partners, Lie of the Mind, The Cider House Rules, Reasons to be Happy, Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters(CSC), The Bridge Project(BAM/Old Vic) and Wallace Shawn’s Evening at the Talkhouse(National Theater). His film work has included Reality, 8th Grade(Indie Spirit nom), Maestro, Manchester by the Sea, Blaze, Landscape with Invisible Hand, Away We Go, Outsourced, Kicking and Screaming, The House of Yes, Alive. And on TV in The Walking Dead, 13 Reasons Why, The Last Thing He Told Me, Mrs. Fletcher, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Louie, Accused, and Ray Donovan. He can be seen in the upcoming The Long Walk, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, Concessions, Mayday(Apple), Something Very Bad is Going to Happen(Netflix), The Last Thing He Told Me season 2(Apple) and The Five Star Weekend(Peacock). And on stage in Wallace Shawn’s new play “What We Did Before Our Moth Days” directed by Andre Gregory at the Greenwich House Theater in early 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kenneth Cole is an American designer and social activist who believes that business and philanthropy are interdependent. His company, Kenneth Cole Productions, creates modern footwear, clothing, and accessories that are distributed worldwide. Kenneth’s commitment to public health initiatives goes back decades. He has been one of the leading and loudest voices in the global response to HIV and AIDS for more than 30 years. Kenneth joined amfAR’s board of directors in 1987 and assumed its chairmanship in 2004. Under his leadership of 14 years, amfAR was instrumental in significant breakthroughs in HIV and AIDS research, treatment, and helping to designate the disease. Since 2016, Kenneth has also been a UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador using his passion, insights, and vast experience to help end the public health crisis. Dori Berinstein is a six-time Tony-winning Broadway producer and an Emmy-award-winning director/producer. As a filmmaker, Dori’s work includes:Dori’s award-winning documentary work includes: “A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole”, “ShowBusiness: The Road To Broadway” (IDA Finalist), “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life” (NYT – Favorite Films of the Century) “Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love” (Emmy Award) and “Gotta Dance”. Dori is Executive Producer of Isaac Mizrahi’s “Unzipped”, “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story” and producer of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix film “The Prom”, adapted from Dori’s Broadway Musical (Golden Globe Nominee).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices