Books Mentioned in This Podcast
Imminent
Buy on AmazonYou have a book called 'Imminent,' which I'm getting. It's Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs, it's called 'Imminent', and I haven't read it, but I want to; I can't wait to read it. And you wrote it.
Episode: Luis Elizondo | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonBut um, but recently I've been more drawn towards uh books that uh, um, I all books that I have been with me since a long time! Like the Dune books, the books that I read when I was a teenager!
Episode: Denis Villeneuve | SmartLess
The Color Purple
Buy on AmazonAnd for Steven Spielberg, you know, the E.T. man, the shark man to to then, you know, direct The Color Purple and and Whoopi Goldberg. This character became so big, you know, when your little life is just bigger and brighter and more impactful.
Episode: Zoe Saldaña | SmartLess
Fall of Giants
Buy on AmazonThere's also a book that goes along with it. The 'Giants' book is spectacular.
Episode: Alicia Keys | SmartLess
Sage Warrior
Buy on AmazonSo I even think about like what do I want to do, and there's this beautiful book called 'The Sage Warrior' by a woman named Valarie Kaur, who’s this incredible, she's a lawyer, she's an activist, she's a woman who just—she's a writer, she does all this incredible stuff, and she paired this book with this album of music that represents the theme of the book.
Episode: Alicia Keys | SmartLess
Why I Write
Buy on AmazonWho's out there in Wisconsin saying, 'You know what we really need to do? We need to ban Orwell's books, provide tax cuts for billionaires, and repress women.'
Episode: Governor Tim Walz | SmartLess
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Buy on AmazonBut tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow is—is one of the things I read last year which I just still am floored by, really, if tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow, it's wonderful fiction, wonderful fiction, yeah.
Episode: Laura Linney | SmartLess
Red Comet
Buy on AmazonThere's Sylvia Plath biography that everybody loves; I’m going to write that down too.
Episode: Laura Linney | SmartLess
Niagara Falls, Or Does It?
Buy on AmazonNo, Hank, Zipser was 28 in total, 28 books, 7 million copies sold. 28 individual novels, you know, then we wrote Here's Hank when he was in the second grade.
Episode: Henry Winkler | SmartLess
You Can't Drink a Meatball Through a Straw #7
Buy on AmazonNo, Hank, Zipser was 28 in total, 28 books, 7 million copies sold. 28 individual novels, you know, then we wrote Here's Hank when he was in the second grade.
Episode: Henry Winkler | SmartLess
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia
Buy on AmazonAnd then the third one we shot was Lazy Sunday, which was a dork rap about me and Parnell having a lazy Sunday going to see The Chronicles of Narnia! So good!
Episode: Andy Samberg | SmartLess
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Buy on AmazonThis week, I'm going to see, though it’s supposed to be a surprise, Sarah Snook in Dorian Gray on Thursday! I read and watch movies; we went to see Monkey Man.
Episode: Daisy Ridley | SmartLess
Nch'i-wána, "the Big River"
Buy on AmazonWhich one? Big River! And I was supposed to come out and surprise my son, Huckleberry Finn!
Episode: John Goodman | SmartLess
Born Standing Up
Buy on AmazonUm, and number one is walking, uh, Steve's new book is for Tracy. Uh, that's—that's what they call two years old!
Born Standing Up
Buy on AmazonSo, but when I wrote my autobiography, I did have one little plastic box where I just threw things in, and that had things like a receipt from a hotel in Salt Lake City in 1971, so you knew where you were at that date and you could remember her name though. It was like, uh, it was like archaeological because you could, as it went down, you would go past and go past time, go through time.
I Must Say
Buy on AmazonYeah, I went, um, speaking about receipts, I went to the, when Marty's biography came out, um, he didn't send me one, so I went to the bookstore, bought it, and while I was at the cash register, put the book and the receipt, took a photo of it, emailed him and said that's okay, I got it. [Laughter] Very good.
Charlotte's Web
Buy on AmazonI think I was in fifth or sixth grade; uh, I was Templeton the rat in a production of Charlotte's Web!
Episode: Don Cheadle | SmartLess
The Chronology of Water
Buy on AmazonThis is, uh, this is the chronology of water. Yeah, a long time. Um, and would that be the first film that you direct?
Episode: Kristen Stewart | SmartLess
Snacking Cakes
Buy on AmazonDo you guys know Yosi or her cookbooks? She has this book called Snacking Cakes.
Episode: Jake Gyllenhaal | SmartLess
Twelfth Night
Buy on AmazonI did this play, I did Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in high school! I didn't understand a word I was saying! And I... and until there was an audience!
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
East of Eden
Buy on AmazonAnd at the same time I did see Streetcar and I saw East of Eden and those two movies had a major impact! Anyway, somebody, Hillary Shore took me on as... even though she knew the whole resume was [___], and she took me on!
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonJohnny Betts from Private Eye, Taylor Rolator from 21 Jump Street, you might know him as Glenn from Finish Line, um, you might know him as Jack Passion from WKA Road, probably not, but you might know him more as Gurney HCK from Dune or Thanos from Avengers: Endgame or or Dan White for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for 2008's Milk.
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonI don't want to rain on your parade, but just let me know if it's now or 40 minutes. I can talk about Dune, because I have 800,000 questions. You can... you can about Dune anytime you want!
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonYou know, if you do Dune with a certain director, it's going to be a certain thing! Somebody who understands what takes to use, whatever! And then if you do Dune with Denny VNV, it's going to... you know, the... the foundation the... you know, the worst, it's going to be is still really good!
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonOkay, so wait, so AR is the sand real? Can I talk about Dune? Can I talk about...
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonBut I mean, what he's accomplished in Dune is like, it's hard to get the tone and the feel and the actors and the script and the sets, and just everything works perfectly. It creates a world that we haven't seen. Yeah, it's very collaborative.
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonSo it became a very, very collaborative process. So that's what I get from Dune. Denny, my good, good friend now, but he's a guy who I would work on anything with because that kind of collaborative effort is the top.
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
Dune
Buy on AmazonBut things like Dune, as Sean pointed out, it's world-building. It's creating a world; it's creating a whole thing that's so hard to get right. Yeah, no kidding.
Episode: Josh Brolin | SmartLess
American Buffalo
Buy on AmazonI went to him with American Buffalo, and I was like I was losing my saliva, literally.
Episode: Sam Rockwell | SmartLess
Everyone Poops
Buy on AmazonThere's a book called that, right? Everybody Poops! Yeah, remember that book?
Episode: The Killers | SmartLess
Be Useful
Buy on AmazonThank you for taking the time to talk to us and for all your success, including your amazing book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life.
Episode: Arnold Schwarzenegger | SmartLess
Private
Buy on AmazonI just—my dream is to have like a book—a coffee table book of people's unused acceptance speech!
Episode: Emma Stone | SmartLess
Caging Skies
Buy on AmazonMy mother read this book called Caging Skies and she pitched it to me, she said, you should make this into a movie. And the way she pitched the story to me, I found so funny and I thought this is fantastic!
Episode: Taika Waititi | SmartLess
The Second World War
Buy on AmazonIs there a hobby that you just can't live without or a little pastime, even if it's just watching TV or maybe even reading? Will likes to read about World War II—a lot of people don't know that.
Episode: John McEnroe | SmartLess
Never Have I Ever
Buy on AmazonI didn't think I'd get the gig as a narrator of a show, 'Never Have I Ever,' where I'm like the psychologist for a high school Indian-American girl trying to figure out her way in school, right? I didn't see that one coming.
Episode: John McEnroe | SmartLess
Prequel
Buy on AmazonYeah, now, um, so Rachel, your latest book, Prequel, is, um, is a bit of a cautionary tale, yes?
Episode: Rachel Maddow | SmartLess
Bag Man
Buy on AmazonWell, maybe what might be even more apt, um, uh, the another book that you wrote, Bagman, um, correct me if I'm wrong, is the Spiro Agnew, um, that there was a a deal offered him, uh, that may or may not potentially be a precedent for what could shape the possible conclusion of any sort of Trump sentencing!
Episode: Rachel Maddow | SmartLess
Atomic Habits
Buy on AmazonOne that I'm really enjoying is written by James Clear, called Atomic Habits! It's just basically, you know, it's not just another self-help book, it's something that like you can actually put these things into motion!
Episode: Lars Ulrich | SmartLess
Just Because
Buy on AmazonBut we are going to talk about his books, and we are going to talk about his foundation, and then we are going to talk about his new book, Just Because, which I read, which is for kids that comes out September 12, 2023.
Episode: Matthew McConaughey | SmartLess
Greenlights
Buy on AmazonAnd but what's really amazing is in the last couple years, as I mentioned, you have been writing books! So you wrote Greenlights, huge success!
Episode: Matthew McConaughey | SmartLess
Just Because
Buy on AmazonAnd now you've written this kid's book, which I, as I mentioned, the thing that I read, uh, and I thought, I really think it, and I read a lot of kids' books because, uh, I have basically, you know, I have three kids and a stepson, so fourth-grade intelligence and I read them just because I don't have kids!
Episode: Matthew McConaughey | SmartLess
Greenlights
Buy on AmazonI started doing that about six years ago, it's part of the reason I think I wrote the book Greenlights, I started to get the courage enough to project to my deathbed, to my eulogy and go, what's it gonna be, man, yeah, where's your head in heart and spirit going to be, what's your legacy going to be, how are you going to look back, what are people going to say, how are you going to be introduced after you're gone, right?
Episode: Matthew McConaughey | SmartLess
Just Because
Buy on AmazonIt's a lot of Xanax and then I'm also in the editing room so I'm hitting freeze frames all the time just to elongate the eye closed, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's good, oh my God, well, Matthew, we are over, we're eight minutes, listen, man, yeah, thank you for coming back, our first returning guest, yes, we're giving me another shot with my hot head, uh we only made it through pre-production last time, glad I was making production with you this time, yeah, yeah, what an absolute treat man, it's so great, I love you so much, yeah, you're such a great, appreciate it, guys, appreciate it, yeah, and all the success in your book, it comes out just because, just because September 12th, am I right about that?
Episode: Matthew McConaughey | SmartLess
Just Because
Buy on AmazonSeptember 12th, September 12th, just because, Matthew McConaughey, man, you're the man, you are the man, man, appreciate it, okay, I'll see you next time, thank you, bye, thank you so much, oh I love him real good, I tell you what I like that, Matt McConaughey, yeah, I could talk, it's not Matt, it's Matthew, it's Matthew, I know, yeah, yeah, I made that mistake once, I know, um, well, yeah, what a guy, real truly, uh he's, he is an absolute original, he, he does not waver, um, yeah, he does and says what he wants, uh, his roles have been all over the place from the, from the sort of the, the, the easiest go down sort of popcorn kind of films to the most challenging artistic films, small budget things and then also just like I love that he lives super down home there in Texas but then he also lives a very flamboyant and elite lifestyle as well, he's just, it figures out a way to manage it all, yeah, yeah, anyway, he, uh, but what he's been able to do in starting out is kind of a matinee idol and um, and and sort of hanging in there, not forcing people to appreciate or respect his acting chops, you know, like he didn't cram some, you know, Shakespeare thing down our throat right after some rom-com like, he's, he's taking his time and what I liked also is he talked about some shakes, he just shows how he's like for the most part he just shows up on Friday night, that's where you can see him on a Friday night when the movie opens and he's not out there talking about his process, right in this way that's self-aggrandizing, he just does it, yeah, he just does it, but you know what I loved?
Episode: Matthew McConaughey | SmartLess
Aol.com
Buy on AmazonI’ve known him since he covered AOL. I wrote a couple of books on AOL.
Episode: Kara Swisher | SmartLess
Marine
Buy on AmazonBut they might own the rights to, but they don’t own the rights to all the books that Tom Clancy has written!
Episode: Kara Swisher | SmartLess
EDITIO PRINCEPS.
Buy on AmazonAnd that was, that’s I was like, oh, well, that’s that's like the Gutenberg Bible!
Episode: Kara Swisher | SmartLess
The Fellowship of the Ring
Buy on AmazonI've been watching Lord of the Rings. Okay, moving on.
Episode: Steven Soderbergh | SmartLess
Creativity, Inc. (The Expanded Edition)
Buy on AmazonThere's that, you know, perfect explanation of how to solve things from the Ed Catmull book about Pixar, Creativity, Inc., where the motto is, 'Be wrong as fast as you can.'
Episode: Steven Soderbergh | SmartLess
The Jaws Log
Buy on AmazonSo it turns out, you know, in any store that you walked into, there was a paperback called The Jaws Log that Carl Gottlieb wrote, and it answered both of those questions.
Episode: Steven Soderbergh | SmartLess
American Psycho
Buy on AmazonUm, uh they said that, uh that that I received this, uh, the Ozarks, uh, uh Ozark star got together, get no gets gets a gets the Hasty Pudding award and then in the body of the thing, um Ozarks Patrick Bateman received the, um, American Psycho.
The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time
Buy on AmazonLet's do it together; we'll start with Love Letters.
Episode: Jennifer Garner | SmartLess
Among the Thugs
Buy on AmazonI've done that a few times—for me, Twitter—Bill Buford called 'Among the Thugs,' which is about— I don't know if you've read about that!
Episode: Depeche Mode | SmartLess
Perry Mason
Buy on AmazonThey went back to the origin story in the books, which was 1930s LA, which to me was, you know, with Chinatown and everything else for such was so alluring, and, and, and as a kid growing up watching old movies, I was like, oh my God, I get to wear a fedora and you do an American accent?
Episode: Matthew Rhys | SmartLess
Through the Shadowlands
Buy on AmazonUm, but you know, like I said, Anthony Hopkins was the chairman of the board at the time, so he'd be in and out and he'd just done, um, Shadowlands.
Episode: Matthew Rhys | SmartLess
Mr. Show
Buy on AmazonI was so anxious because I was like, he's a legend in the Mr. Show and everything, and I was so terrified!
Episode: Bill Hader | SmartLess
Rebel without a Crew
Buy on AmazonUm, Robert Rodriguez had written a book about making El Mariachi for seven thousand dollars, and again this contributed to that craze that was going on at the time.
Episode: The Russo Brothers | SmartLess
The Outsiders
Buy on AmazonYou started in and I mentioned sort of the brat pack, but you started in, was The Outsiders your first big film? It was my first movie, period!
Episode: Rob Lowe | SmartLess
The Hotel New Hampshire
Buy on AmazonWow, wasn't that a John Irving book? I remember when that came out.
Episode: Rob Lowe | SmartLess
Maestro
Buy on AmazonSo, it really got movies; I heard, I read the script, and I remember saying to him, 'Like this, you know this is the book talking about maestros, dude.'
Episode: Ben Affleck | SmartLess
The Crucible
Buy on AmazonOne of the first plays I ever did was The Crucible, and one of the lines is, 'Because it is my name, I can have no other.' And I just thought that was running through my head.
Episode: Keanu Reeves | SmartLess
The Lord of the Rings
Buy on AmazonYeah, like from Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I mean, the Lord of the Rings used it too.
Episode: Jon Favreau | SmartLess
Big History
Buy on AmazonYeah, you were watching a series of videotapes at the time; I think it was the DVDs, a box set of it was called Big History!
Episode: Jon Favreau | SmartLess
The Long Goodbye
Buy on AmazonI mean, I definitely, I even hear the way, uh, Ryan and I will talk about this, you know, Pokerface Mystery Show and we share a love of, uh, Philip Marlowe, you know, and and Alman's The Long Goodbye, and you know, I love it so much that in, uh, co-creating Russian Doll, there is like a cat oatmeal and it's a direct rip from The Longa, like there's so much about that, Philip Marlowe thing, but um, um, you know, when I think of Peter Falk and like the love of Peter Falk,
Episode: Natasha Lyonne | SmartLess
The Big Sleep
Buy on AmazonIf anything, even, you know, John Fonte or Raymond Chandler books, which I'm, he knows all of that too.
Episode: Natasha Lyonne | SmartLess
Three Sisters
Buy on AmazonNow, would you and Thoreau have been friends for a long time? We did a very, very sleepy production of The Three Sisters. Anton Chekhov?
Episode: Billy Crudup | SmartLess
Rhapsody in blue; piano solo
Buy on AmazonOh, at the Belasco, if you can get tickets, if you can get tickets, it's called Good Night, Oscar. Good Night, comma, Oscar starring, Good Night, these are our Sean Hayes.
Episode: Billy Crudup | SmartLess
1984
Buy on AmazonOrwell said we'd all be famous for 15 minutes, right? Now it's like we'll all be stars!
Episode: Dana Carvey | SmartLess
Surrender
Buy on AmazonHow is the experience of writing this book and kind of bearing it at all in a way; it's called surrender, so did it feel like that?
Episode: Bono | SmartLess
Surrender
Buy on AmazonAnd then I got caught in it, and I find myself, the real value of writing a book like this is you sort of retrieve memories from the kind of river, um, from, you drudge them, uh, somehow out of the sewer!
Episode: Bono | SmartLess
Surrender
Buy on AmazonBut if I hadn't written the book, I wouldn't have remembered that!
Episode: Bono | SmartLess
Surrender
Buy on AmazonYou talk, Bono, in the book again and about your relationship with your dad in about that moment when you're in the chapel and as you and you, you have this really kind of, I don't know if you said you apologize, but you had a kind of almost a conversation with your dad!
Episode: Bono | SmartLess
Surrender
Buy on AmazonSo from his book, Surrender, uh, 40 songs, one story, um, he did a show at the Beacon, and now it's starting in April of, uh, actually starting April 16th.
Episode: Bono | SmartLess
All Quiet on the Western Front
Buy on AmazonGrowing up, I was amazed by moving cameras, especially in Lewis Milestone's work, like in All Quiet on the Western Front or Pork Chop Hill. Those amazing shots with the camera moving to climb a hill with Gregory Peck, Woody Strode, and Robert Blake stuck with me!
Episode: Steven Spielberg | SmartLess
Gone with the Wind
Buy on AmazonBut Indiana Jones—that was around the block too for The Greatest Show on Earth by Cecil B. DeMille and also Gone with the Wind. Yes, everybody thinks Jaws was the first blockbuster, but it wasn't!
Episode: Steven Spielberg | SmartLess
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Buy on AmazonNo, Will was in my directorial debut, which was an adaptation of a David Foster Wallace book called Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Will was probably starring, one of the idiots probably headlining, name above title.
Episode: John Krasinski | SmartLess
The Immortality Thief
Buy on AmazonSo, like for example, right now I'm checking out 'The Immortality Thief.' It's really, really cool.
Episode: Edward Norton | SmartLess
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
Buy on AmazonYes, yeah, it's it's and from The Great Gatsby, right?
Episode: Sigourney Weaver | SmartLess
Heat 2
Buy on AmazonFor instance, by the way, by the Bee, he too just came out by Michael Mann and Meg Gardner which is the follow-up to Heat, the film they wrote this book!
Episode: Sigourney Weaver | SmartLess
To Give You a Future and a Hope
Buy on AmazonCourtney would have been way better; William Golden's already written a book about it, it's called How Ozark Could Have Been Better.
Episode: Sigourney Weaver | SmartLess
The Time Machine
Buy on AmazonPart of it includes classic works like The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. I'm revisiting all those classic stories, and it's so, so cool.
Episode: Rian Johnson | SmartLess
Fairy Tale
Buy on AmazonOne of the things I'm listening to and loving is Stephen King's "Fairy Tale."
Episode: Charlize Theron | SmartLess
The Book of Joe
Buy on AmazonAnd so, you know, there's a lot that's been written, and I started to write a book about it; I obviously didn't have time to do it.
Episode: The 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden. Need we say more? | SmartLess
The Gray Man (Netflix Movie Tie-In)
Buy on AmazonI'm listening to The Gray Man; there's a movie that's out right now, but it's the book that the movie's based on, and it's by Mark Greaney.
Episode: The 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden. Need we say more? | SmartLess
A Visit from St. Nicholas
Buy on AmazonWell, you know, like 'Twas the Night Before Christmas', like an old-time sleeping cap.
Episode: Elisabeth Moss on Handmaid’s Tale, tears for Mad Men, new show Shining Girls, Emmy | SmartLess
The Handmaid's Tale
Buy on AmazonAs a Canadian, I feel a sense of ownership of that book because Margaret Atwood is a great Canadian author. We all read it in school, so I'm quite familiar with it.
Episode: Elisabeth Moss on Handmaid’s Tale, tears for Mad Men, new show Shining Girls, Emmy | SmartLess
The Neverending Story
Buy on AmazonIt's cozy, it's fun to go out and celebrate, but at home, you know we have Ricky our dog and I like to dress him up as Falcor from the NeverEnding Story, anybody?
Episode: Tony Hale on Hocus Pocus 2, Buster Bluth of Arrested Development, Veep, rope bowls | SmartLess
Iron John
Buy on AmazonYeah, but at that moment, you know, at that moment, I did that thing that, uh, I think it’s Robert Bly talks about, you know, in Iron John, where you steal the key underneath the queen's bed.
Episode: Kevin Bacon on losing on Bernie Madoff, They/Them, Footloose, six degrees of Kevin Bacon | SmartLess
Gomorrah
Buy on AmazonI did, I didn't love it either But you know what, I don't want to criticize anything about Gomorrah because I just, I didn't even like the movie, Gomorrah as much, the TV show, I just, I, it's mine Did you, did you and I want to, I'm not here to one-up you Anderson I think you're great, oh boy did you read the book?
Episode: Anderson Cooper on Andy Cohen marriage pact, Vanderbilt mom, war, new CNN podcast | SmartLess
Gomorrah
Buy on AmazonI did actually, that's great, the book is great Yeah, Roberto Saviano, it's fun Yeah, who's been in hiding ever since he wrote this stuff I read his, he had another book, his most recent book, I read which I didn't really get into But did you get that one?
Episode: Anderson Cooper on Andy Cohen marriage pact, Vanderbilt mom, war, new CNN podcast | SmartLess
Digital Audiobooks
Buy on AmazonAudible offers an incredible selection of audiobooks across every genre, from bestsellers and new releases to celebrity memoirs, mysteries, thrillers, motivation, wellness, business, and more.
Episode: Katy Perry on being a mom, no full-time nanny, Las Vegas, Orlando Bloom, halftime shows | SmartLess
The Power of Fun
Buy on AmazonAll Audible members get access to a growing selection of audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts that are included with membership.
Episode: Katy Perry on being a mom, no full-time nanny, Las Vegas, Orlando Bloom, halftime shows | SmartLess
Jupiter's Travels
Buy on AmazonThen I read this book written by Ted Simon, who wrote a beautiful book called Jupiter's Travels in the 70s. He was a journalist, I think, for The Sunday Times, and he decided he wanted to travel the world.
Episode: Ewan McGregor on almost rejecting Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge | SmartLess
Trainspotting
Buy on AmazonAnd, but John, I think of Ryan said John didn't think I was right for it because in the novel in Irvine Welsh's novel, you and Bremner who played Spud had played Renton on the stage version before we made it. It was a play! Trainspotting was a play; it was a novel first, and then they made a play of it!
Episode: Ewan McGregor on almost rejecting Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge | SmartLess
This Is Where I Leave You
Buy on AmazonSo like because I was the family comedy guy and I done like Pink Panther and Cheaper by the Dozen and Date Night and Night at the Museum and I found this book called This Is Where I Leave You and I chased it for five years and I got the cast of my dreams, it's Jason with Adam Driver and Jane Fonda and Ben Schwartz and Catherine Hahn and Tina Fey, it was ridiculous.
Episode: Shawn Levy on directing Stranger Things, Deadpool, family movie classics & Ryan Reynolds | SmartLess
This Is Where I Leave You
Buy on AmazonHowever, in the first few days on set, she was like Jane Fonda in our movie 'This Is Where I Leave You.' She was observing the funny moments around her and wondering how she could fit in the mix.
Episode: Shawn Levy on directing Stranger Things, Deadpool, family movie classics & Ryan Reynolds | SmartLess
On the Road
Buy on AmazonBut that was like stuff you're saying here, like I read On the Road when I was 17 and I was like, I gotta leave where I'm at! But that wasn’t stuff I did in high school; that was stuff I did on my own.
Episode: Arcade Fire's Win Butler & Régine Chassagne on new album WE, Montreal, 1973, dropouts | SmartLess
Bean Fate
Buy on AmazonWell, one of them is my dad's book, Bean Fate, which I finally read, and it's amazing. I'm so proud of my dad, Jim Arnett, who wrote a book, actually.
Episode: Kerry Washington on Reasonable Doubt, Scandal, Django Unchained & more! | SmartLess
The Sympathizer
Buy on AmazonIt's written by a Vietnamese American author, it's about the Vietnam War. And he's of Vietnamese descent.
Episode: Kerry Washington on Reasonable Doubt, Scandal, Django Unchained & more! | SmartLess
The Splendid and the Vile
Buy on AmazonWhen you're on the beach, reading in the sun makes me want to—what I do is write, and I'm sorry, then I just started—I’m now reading this Splendid and the Vile, which a lot of people have read.
Episode: Kerry Washington on Reasonable Doubt, Scandal, Django Unchained & more! | SmartLess
The Sympathizer
Buy on AmazonThe Sympathizer was one that pulled surprise reading in the sun. To me, it's like being trapped in a hot car with the windows rolled up, stuck, broken.
Episode: Kerry Washington on Reasonable Doubt, Scandal, Django Unchained & more! | SmartLess
Directed by James Burrows
Buy on AmazonYou have this new gigantic book that's out now called Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and tons more!
Episode: James Burrows on bringing sitcoms to TV, Will & Grace, Cheers, Friends, his secret sauce | SmartLess
Gone with the Wind
Buy on AmazonHe would come out, I saw him once come out, sit down in a chair, and start reading Gone with the Wind until you left! He didn't care, it was three minutes, very well... it's very well...
Episode: James Burrows on bringing sitcoms to TV, Will & Grace, Cheers, Friends, his secret sauce | SmartLess
All About Me!
Buy on AmazonSo I got a—I called my agency and they put me in touch with a literary guy who had just written the Mel Brooks book, a guy named Eddie Freefeld, who's a big fan of comedy.
Episode: James Burrows on bringing sitcoms to TV, Will & Grace, Cheers, Friends, his secret sauce | SmartLess
A Brief History of Time
Buy on AmazonWell, no, for instance, I've tried to read that book A Brief History of Time... It's not so brilliant.
Episode: Jack Black on Sax-A-Boom, Activision commercial, loving Tenacious D, WAP, Kung Fu Panda | SmartLess
The adventures of Tom Sawyer
Buy on AmazonAnd so now I just say, "[ __ ] it," I just yeah, it'll come back to me in five or ten minutes. Who wrote Tom Sawyer?
Episode: Jeff Bridges on new show The Old Man, The Big Lebowski, Lloyd Bridges, COVID & chemo | SmartLess
Under the Tuscan Sun
Buy on AmazonAt the time, I was like, I was single and I was like, 'It's like Under the Tuscan Sun; I'm just going to buy an old house and just live in here and have all my shirts, and this will be very romantic for me.'
Episode: Jenny Slate on running a General Store in MA, being Marcel the Shell and I Want You Back | SmartLess
White Fang
Buy on Amazonwhat's that? I don't know, White Fang; it's like, I think it's based on a Jack London book. And I've got you, I think he may have Ethan Hawke when he was younger!
Episode: Chris Pratt on Marvel role Star-Lord, Jurassic World, the curse of being hot and funny | SmartLess
The Terminal List
Buy on AmazonOh, so it's based on a New York Times best-selling novel by an author named Jack Carr. Jack Carr is a former Navy SEAL and my buddy Jared. When I did a film called Zero Dark Thirty...
Episode: Chris Pratt on Marvel role Star-Lord, Jurassic World, the curse of being hot and funny | SmartLess
The pilgrim's progress
Buy on AmazonBelieve it or not, a Pilgrim's Progress. Uh, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
Episode: Liam Neeson on 100+ roles like Oskar Schindler, Jesus, Star Wars & makes Jason's mom cry | SmartLess
Moby-Dick
Buy on AmazonUm, but as far as keeping up, you know, it is a bit of what's a challenge nowadays is to read anything where you think, oh, okay, that's the full story!
Episode: Bill Maher on Real Time aging & explains how to read, bottle service and bachelor life | SmartLess
The Catcher in the Rye
Buy on AmazonUm, but as far as keeping up, you know, it is a bit of what's a challenge nowadays is to read anything where you think, oh, okay, that's the full story!
Episode: Bill Maher on Real Time aging & explains how to read, bottle service and bachelor life | SmartLess
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Buy on AmazonSome of his books have even become some of our favorite movies, such as The Blind Side, Moneyball, and The Big Short.
Episode: 4/11/22: An Interview with Michael Lewis | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Buy on AmazonSome of his books have even become some of our favorite movies, such as The Blind Side, Moneyball, and The Big Short.
Episode: 4/11/22: An Interview with Michael Lewis | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Buy on AmazonSome of his books have even become some of our favorite movies, such as The Blind Side, Moneyball, and The Big Short.
Episode: 4/11/22: An Interview with Michael Lewis | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Liar's Poker
Buy on AmazonMy first book was called 'Liar's Poker'; it was this little memoir of me working on Wall Street, which, by the way, is being made into a film now.
Episode: 4/11/22: An Interview with Michael Lewis | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Deficit Myth
Buy on AmazonThe idea of the myth of the deficit… have you read that book? I just got it, that what's-her-name wrote.
Episode: 4/11/22: An Interview with Michael Lewis | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story
Buy on AmazonYou did an incredible job with your book 'The Premonition,' right? Regarding the expertise and the experts you found there, let’s speak briefly about the concept and the subject matter for our listeners who aren't familiar.
Episode: 4/11/22: An Interview with Michael Lewis | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The House with a Clock in Its Walls
Buy on AmazonKate, we've, we've kept you way too late, god bless you, I'm gonna let you go in two seconds, I need to fan out, oh my god, Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite book series, I'm so glad you were in it, you were a staple in my mind forever because of that, and as a kid, A House with a Clock in Its Walls, I read all of those books as a kid, and when that's, yes, I loved those books so much, and to see you play, uh, Mrs. Zimmerman, who was one of my favorite characters in any kid's book of all time, that was such, it was so incredible to see up there, but anyway, thank you for being here, lots of love to you, and thank you for all your incredible work, please, keep going harder and harder, don't ever stop, um, give us more and more, please, yeah, you're so great, Kate, thank you so much, ditto to the three of you, thank you for saying yes to this, bye, sweetie, goodbye, bye guys, take care, thank you, thanks for having me, bye.
Episode: 3/14/22: An Interview with Cate Blanchett | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Showtime
Buy on AmazonSo if you're a great player, you have to go there, so we're in this rare— they're going to eventually create other leagues, but anyway, Lakers came from, there's a great book by Jeff Perlman called Showtime, and I'm, as Will just said, I'm a crazy hoops junkie.
Episode: 1/31/22: An Interview with Adam Mckay | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Hustler
Buy on AmazonI would go to Hollywood Billiards every day and shoot pool trying to be like Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler.
Episode: 1/24/22: An Interview with Johnny Knoxville | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother
Buy on AmazonUm Barry, so you've written this book, 'Barry Sonnenfeld: Call Your Mother.'
Episode: 12/27/21: An Interview with Barry Sonnenfeld | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Led Zeppelin
Buy on Amazon[Applause] Look at that Led Zeppelin book!
Episode: 11/22/21: An Interview with David Grohl | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Storyteller
Buy on AmazonHe's great, super funny, and he's got a brand new book out, I should have asked him, it's called The Storyteller.
Episode: 11/22/21: An Interview with David Grohl | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Day of the Djinn Warriors
Buy on AmazonI noticed recently I was reading the tenth book in the uh in the gunter uh, what's his name series by Philip Kerr and I noticed your name on the back.
Episode: 10/25/21: An Interview with Tom Hanks | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Prussian Blue
Buy on AmazonYou gave a little um, a blurb for the back of uh, for the jacket of Prussian blue which I'm almost finished with. Oh that's a great one, it's a great one, right?
Episode: 10/25/21: An Interview with Tom Hanks | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Prussian Blue
Buy on AmazonI'm fully like I said, I just started at the beginning of the summer and I'm on book 10, Prussian blue, right?
Episode: 10/25/21: An Interview with Tom Hanks | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Lucky Bastard
Buy on AmazonJoe, the book is called Lucky Bastard. Lucky Bastard can be found wherever you like to buy your own books, it's on discount racks everywhere! Is he giving you a cut of his shit because you keep... what is this?
Episode: 10/18/21: An Interview with Joe Buck | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Sir John Gielgud Reads the Emperor's New Clothes
Buy on AmazonI was raised on the ethos of The Emperor's New Clothes, right? That was the fable.
Episode: 9/20/21: An Interview with Jon Stewart | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Central Park Five
Buy on AmazonI have to admit the team, my oldest daughter Sarah Burns, and her husband David McMahon, and I, we made 'The Central Park Five' and 'Jackie Robinson'.
Episode: 9/13/21: An Interview with Ken Burns | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Wright Brothers
Buy on AmazonI got nominated twice for Brooklyn Bridge, which was one hour and for Statue of Liberty, which was one hour, and we didn't win, which was fine.
Episode: 9/13/21: An Interview with Ken Burns | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The War
Buy on AmazonListen, the war is really good, uh, um, Vietnam is really, really good too, um, and I do want to watch jazz and country music too, they're all really great.
Episode: 9/13/21: An Interview with Ken Burns | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The History of the Stasi
Buy on AmazonSo you know what, and right, and Fred, sorry, we talked about this because then I read that book on the Stasi. I read one that you told me about, and then I told you about one.
Episode: 8/30/21: An Interview with Fred Armisen | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Last Black Unicorn
Buy on AmazonThis person then published... won an Emmy Award for her hosting of Saturday Night Live. She published a memoir called The Last Black Unicorn.
Episode: 9/6/21: An Interview with Tiffany Haddish | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Last Black Unicorn
Buy on AmazonUm, and I wrote about him in my book and he showed up with his wife and he had, and in my book, I talk about like I gave him so much candy he probably doesn't have any teeth anymore.
Episode: 9/6/21: An Interview with Tiffany Haddish | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Flim-Flam Man
Buy on AmazonOh, that's great to hear, I, um, yeah, it was a script that came to me many years ago based on Jennifer Vogel's memoir Flim Flam Man.
Episode: 8/23/21: An Interview with Sean Penn | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Defense Never Rests
Buy on AmazonI was spending my time in high school reading the books of F. Lee Bailey about his cases and wanting to be a lawyer, a criminal defense attorney.
Episode: 8/23/21: An Interview with Sean Penn | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Help
Buy on AmazonYou know you did all of this work before the thing that really catapulted you, which was The Help. You were amazing, just incredible.
Episode: 8/16/21: An Interview with Octavia Spencer | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Help
Buy on AmazonI think The Help was starting to become like a little wildfire and catch on, and she was very smart in that she knew it would have been kind of weird to do the dialect. And it was during pilot season, guys.
Episode: 8/16/21: An Interview with Octavia Spencer | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Help
Buy on AmazonThe other thing that people probably don't know is that The Help was made into a radio play in the UK. And because of my association with Catherine and because I had done the book on tape, they asked me if I would come and do the radio play, which I'd never done.
Episode: 8/16/21: An Interview with Octavia Spencer | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
The Help
Buy on AmazonAnd because of my association with Catherine and because I had done the book on tape, they asked me if I would come and do the radio play, which I'd never done.
Episode: 8/16/21: An Interview with Octavia Spencer | SmartLess w/ Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett