How To Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black

A short message from host Michael Ian Black.

Despite having endured a terrible year in the aftermath of her Trump photo controversy, the hilarious comedian kept everyone in the studio laughing. Kathy Griffin is without a doubt a survivor. She talks to Michael about her long road to success and hitting it big, how she became so driven (including her fears about being broke), and how her tough exterior masks her sensitive side.

Best known as the host of Emmy Award-winning show Bill Nye the Science Guy, and current host of the Netflix show *Bill Nye Saves the World, *he has been the public face of science and discovery for more than twenty years. In this nerdy and uproarious conversation, the author and CEO of the Planetary Society talks everything from his love of NASA to current science headlines including Crispr, life on Mars, climate change, and LightSales.  

For our 100th episode, Michael turns the tables on "the greatest interviewer of our time," a guest who we've had at the top of our wish list since the beginning. Terry Gross is the iconic host of the public radio show* Fresh Air,* where for over 40 years she has interviewed over 13,000 guests. In this engrossing interview, she and Michael cover a huge range of topics about her life and the show, allowing us to get to know a bit about a voice we're used to hearing ask all the questions.

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas, called “the most famous undocumented immigrant in America,” shares his story of discovering his status at age 16 and his journey in the decades that followed including his coming out to the world as undocumented in The New York Times Magazine. In this poignant interview, the immigration rights activist discusses misconceptions about immigrants, his definition of "American," and his memoir Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen.  

She’s one of this generation’s pre-eminent photojournalists, who covers wars and conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Darfur, among others; during which she’s been kidnapped twice. In this riveting conversation, the winner of a MacArthur Genius grant and a Pulitzer for her photos gives a behind-the-scenes her recent photography book simply titled, Love and War.

Michael sits down with friend and fellow member of The State for a nostalgic, hilarious, and honest conversation about their time together in the iconic sketch group. For more than a decade after the tv show ended, the comedian and storyteller struggled to find his voice trying his hand at numerous jobs (including a stint as a porn author). It wasn’t until he decided to be himself on stage that he discovered his true calling and the Risk! Podcast and live show were born.

The delightful and hilarious Irish-born comedian and writer sits down with Michael to discuss her passion for using her comedic voice to start conversations about immigration, environmental issues, and social justice. A star in her native Ireland, she left fame behind to come to the US to continue her comedy career but also began chronicling the lives of immigrants in her podcast and book of the same name Maeve in America.

In 2007, Hank Green along with his brother John, tried a Youtube experiment - for an entire year they made a video a day together - which they thought was a dumb idea. To their surprise, these videos quickly led to millions of fans. Eleven years later Green has harnessed his popularity to focus on what's important to him and now oversees a video company that produces popular Youtube educational content, has raised millions of dollars for charity, founded the world's largest conference celebrating online video, and now written his first novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.  In this episode, Hank talks about his first novel, how his life parallels his main character’s, and why taking risks is the best way to learn.   

As president of his college group "Uncomfortable Learning," Zachary R. Wood attempted to bridge the gap between dissenting views by inviting controversial speakers to campus and was shut down by student protests. Now a recent graduate, and a new author of the memoir, Uncensored, he opens up about his abusive childhood with a schizophrenic mother, and the pressure he felt to constantly strive for perfection as a son, student, and black man.

The former Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama and leader of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund talks about her time at the White House and her childhood growing up in 1960s Ohio as the daughter of Chinese refugees. With a sense of humor and positively Tchen gives her take on the current administration, the importance of diversity of thought and representation in politics, as well as her lifetime commitment to tackling issues related to corporate compliance, ethics, and equality.  

In a very funny, touching, and creatively inspiring interview, the filmmakers discuss their incredibly close brotherly bond, how they never doubted success would happen, even though it took almost two decades to achieve, and how they had to learn how to quit each other in order to find the space to have their own lives. Recorded live in New York City.

The author of 13 books about evolution, neuroscience, biology, and most recently heredity, as well as the weekly “Matter” science column in the New York Times, discusses his accessible style of science storytelling, answering Michael’s burning questions on his recent book She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, science in schools, genomes, and whether there is a gene to make you a successful podcaster.

The co-founder and president of ROC, Restaurant Opportunities Center United, Saru Jayaraman has devoted her career to improving the lives of restaurant workers. Her activism through legislation, initiatives, and conversation as well as her two books, have raised the awareness and made significant improvements, of some of the appalling conditions of the workers who make and serve the food in the places millions of Americans like to eat.  

One of President Obama’s longest-serving staffers, first as Communications Director then as Senior Advisor, and present co-host of the wildly popular Pod Save America, Dan Pfeiffer discusses present-day politics through the unique lens of his experience, which he also details in his new book, “Yes, We (Still) Can.” From what motivates Mitch McConnell, to his work as a pundit on CNN, Pfeiffer is one of the few who might be able to answer Michael’s question, “What the fuck is happening right now?”

The Food Network star, bestselling cookbook author and now restaurateur tells Michael how her success all grew organically from her passion for cooking and not from a great ambition to be famous. But famous she is, and she now finds her life is a push and pull struggle when it comes to taking new risks, like deciding to open her first restaurant after years of being a television star, and what those risks cost her.

The multi-talented actor, comedian, writer, and director sits down with Michael to discuss his journey from his first stand up performance as a teenager in Atlanta to his many memorable roles on Arrested Development, Mr. Show with Bob and David, and more. The two colleagues dive into a heartfelt conversation about the unsteadiness of working in Hollywood, the ways in which men can support #MeToo and #TimesUp, and navigating the volatile world of Twitter.

This is probably a terrible idea.” So begins the new podcast, “Obscure,” where comedian, actor, and writer Michael Ian Back reads the Thomas Hardy classic,Jude the Obscure,out loud and comments on it as he goes. Why is he doing this? Because his wife’s old paperback copy of the book has been sitting on their bookshelf for years, mocking him, judging him for never having read it. Well, now he is. Join Michael, some of his famous (and non-famous) friends and experts as he discovers Jude’s world and a few things about his own. Is it a terrible idea? Probably. But it’s a terrible idea he wants to do with you.    Hear Episode 1 of Obscure in Apple Podcasts:https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/obscure-with-michael-ian-black/id1388660385?mt=2

The author of many bestselling books about food including, among others, The Omnivore's Dilemma and* In Defense Of Food hasturned his attention to a new kind of consumption - psychedelic drugs. In this fun and informative interview, Pollan talks about how writing about these drugs was a natural progression from his earlier work, and what he discovered about himself when, in the service of research for his new book *How to Change Your Mind, he decided to test psychedelics for himself.

For more than thirty years, writer, producer, and director Nell Scovell worked behind the scenes of iconic TV shows such as Murphy Brown, The Simpsons, and Coach. In this lively and timely interview, she shares stories from her memoir Just the Funny Parts *about working in the male-dominated entertainment field, her time writing on *Late Night with David Letterman, and crafting jokes for everyone from Obama to Miss Piggy.