Month: May 2020

This week’s guest is Mike Meltser, famous for being jolly and verbose. Actually, that’s a joke. He’s neither of those things. But since we last spoke on this podcast, he’s also no longer hosting a radio show in Houston—he’s now a lawyer (among other things). Wild, right?

Here’s some of what we discussed, this time: (1:40) the full story of exactly what happened when he got fired from his radio show, (11:40) who he called first and who he actually spoke to first, (18:44) the risk, reward and pushback of tweeting opinions when you have a lot of followers, (30:48) the reason he pursued a law degree while hosting a daily, multiple-hour radio show, (35:11) why he felt going to law school actually helped his personal and radio life, (39:45) why have people been trying to scare us our whole lives about the next level of schooling, (43:40) his long-term goals as a lawyer and (47:09) the differences between hosting daily radio as opposed to weekly podcasts.

Music Credit:
OctoBlues Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

 

This week’s guest is Matthew Norman, known the world over for being a fan of U2 and Ed Burns. He’s also, perhaps more importantly, a novelist with three books out and a fourth on the way. His newest, LAST COUPLE STANDING, is available now.

Here’s some of what we discussed: (2:15) what it felt like to have a book come out during a global pandemic, (8:18) how many original stories are there?, (9:35) why he wound up scrapping the original ending for LAST COUPLE STANDING, (12:20) the fun of getting into the headspace of new writing perspectives, (23:01) how reading aloud helps him craft great dialogue, (26:37) how the reality of having more female readers has improved his storytelling, (29:26) what it means to have your book optioned and the movie star that first expressed interest, (40:20) does it bother him when people tell him how fast they finish his books?, (44:58) some details on his 4th novel and (48:27) it turns out… Matthew and I both are BIG FANS OF ED BURNS.

Music Credit:
OctoBlues Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This week’s guest is Paulie Gee, best known for being a Yankee fan and his extensive collection of home videos. Additionally, he owns and operates Paulie Gee’s and Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop, both located in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, NY.

Here’s some of what we discussed: (3:34) where do those great pie names come from?, (10:12) when he realized he had to change his life, (15:06) the Connecticut white clam pie you really should be stopping for, (20:35) will he be expanding his menu outside of pizza?, (23:10) the secret to who gets to test his new pies before they make the menu, (29:35) what does Paulie Gee cook at home? (including an AWESOME bacon and butter tomato sauce recipe), (36:10) the prohibitive P’s, what can and can’t go on a pie, (39:13) what sandwiches you should actually be eating when you go to Philly, (48:58) the importance of connecting with his customers, (58:01) and his Holy Shit moments, including those times when Owen Wilson and Paul Giamatti came in.

Music Credit:
OctoBlues Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

 

This week’s guest is Andrew Gundling, known to one and all as a devout Eagles fan, soccer enthusiast and wearer of shirts with pockets on the front. He also is the producer of The Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio in New York.

Here’s some of what we talked about… (4:10) what is a typical day like for the producer of The Michael Kay Show, (14:15) how real was the WFAN vs ESPN Radio ratings battle within the building, (26:33) the rush of dealing with live breaking news and why they’ve gotten away from booking guests just for the sake of having a guest, (38:38) the stories behind getting James Dolan on the air recently, (43:33) Andrew’s transition from being behind a mic to in front of it, (52:20) and how Muhammed Ali’s death reinforced the importance of being a well-rounded sports fan.

Music Credit:
OctoBlues Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/