Best Budd Mishkin Podcasts (2025)

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JAMAL GREENE: Sportswriter Turned Constitutional Law Professor 44:27

1d ago44:27

44:27

Send us a text How many people have written for Sports Illustrated and the Harvard Law Review?Jamal Greene is one of the rare few. His own story is compelling, growing up in a Brooklyn home that produced a constitutional law professor, Jamal, and a world-renowned rapper, his brother Talib Kweli. Jamal’s experiences at Harvard, Sports Illustrated an…

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S.L. PRICE: “In The Country Of Lacrosse” 43:43

11d ago43:43

43:43

Send us a text Did I think that I would read a 500 page book about lacrosse? Uh, no. But if S.L.(Scott) Price is writing it, I’m reading it. Scott has long been one of our preeminent writers about people through the prism of sports, primarily during his more than two decades at Sports Illustrated. There were more than a few chapters before he becam…

1
JUDY COLLINS: “How Can I Keep From Singing” 44:20

1M ago44:20

44:20

Send us a text It’s hard to imagine Judy Collins pursuing anything but a life in music. Music and performing were in the air as she was growing up in Colorado. There were classical piano lessons with her beloved teacher Antonia Brico. And Judy’s father was a performer with a radio show. But it was actually a broken leg in her teens that led Judy do…

1
SIMON SHUSTER: A Front Row Seat To History 43:52

1M ago43:52

43:52

Send us a text For some 20 years, Simon Shuster has reported from Russia and Ukraine. He speaks the language and he understands the history of the region, making him the ideal foreign correspondent to report on the lead up to the Russian invasion in 2022 and the subsequent war in Ukraine. This is not exactly what his folks had in mind when they emi…

1
SYDNIE CHRISTMAS: Sydnie’s Got Talent! 28:38

2M ago28:38

28:38

Send us a text A life in show business is not for the faint of heart. It’s a rollercoaster of joy and disappointment, uplifting highs and debilitating lows. But if you’re fortunate, a window of opportunity opens up. And if you’re ready, the rest of your career and life can await on the other side. The window opened for Sydnie Christmas in 2024. Rat…

1
SAM ROSEN: “The Waiting Is Over” 37:57

2M ago37:57

37:57

Send us a text There’s a great line in the wonderful old film The Front; “it’s nice when nice happens to somebody nice.” That’s been the story around the National Hockey League this season, as Sam Rosen bids farewell after some 40 seasons as the television play by play voice of the New York Rangers. He’s been saluted with standing ovations in arena…

1
STANLEY NELSON: Documenting History 34:54

2M ago34:54

34:54

Send us a text Long ago as a film major at City College of New York in the 1970’s, Stanley Nelson found his passion. We are fortunate that he did. For almost 40 years, his films have told the story of the African American experience. Be it Attica or Emmett Till, the Freedom Riders or the Black Panthers, his films speak with an eloquent voice and a …

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TOM CHAPIN: A Musical Journey And More 47:48

2M ago47:48

47:48

Send us a text Tom Chapin is still going strong at the age of 80. There are performances and projects. And there’s an appreciation for a life that has brought him experiences that extend far beyond the usual path of the folk musician: searching for sharks on the Indian Ocean, playing basketball at the famed Rucker Court in New York and being assign…

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PETER BEINART: Reckoning With A Reckoning 28:00

2M ago28:00

28:00

Send us a text Those of us who follow the Middle East intensely, reading about it constantly, understand that our reactions are never dispassionate. Peter Beinart knows this all too well. For decades, his writing and television appearances have garnered plenty of praise and plenty of criticism, even vitriol. And that reality won’t likely change wit…

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ALSU KURMASHEVA AND PAVEL BUTORIN: Press Freedom Fighters 33:13

3M ago33:13

33:13

Send us a text How do you return to a normal life after experiencing pain, loss and then unbridled joy? Alsu Kurmasheva is a Russian American journalist who works for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague. She was detained in her native Russia while visiting her mother in 2023 and later arrested on charges of “spreading false information” about…

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CAROLINE AARON: A Mom Who Plays Moms Inspired by Her Mom 37:59

3M ago37:59

37:59

Send us a text Caroline Aaron knows from motherhood. She’s a mom. As an actor, she’s played plenty of moms, long before she got the mom role for which she is best known, Shirley Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” She’s currently playing a mom in the off-Broadway show “Conversations With Mother.” But her own mother’s story might be the most comp…

1
GRETCHEN MOL: A Working Actor 37:02

3M ago37:02

37:02

Send us a text Art seems to be imitating life for actor Gretchen Mol in her new film, the latest Ed Burns project, “Millers in Marriage.” It’s not the plot of the movie, which covers three complicated and troubled marriages and relationships. That does not mirror her life. But Gretchen plays a character who is a middle-aged woman trying to figure o…

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CRAIG TAUBMAN: Making A Sacred Sound 42:24

4M ago42:24

42:24

Send us a text By his mid 50s Craig Taubman had already enjoyed great musical success in the secular and Jewish worlds, with his songs sung at synagogues and Jewish summer camps across the country. But he felt the need to do more. So he bought a building in downtown Los Angeles. His initial proposal was shot down by his daughter. Craig says she cal…

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JON HEYMAN: “What Are You Hearing, Jon?” 35:26

4M ago35:26

35:26

Send us a text Imagine being at work, you make a decision and almost a million people react to that decision. Immediately. And in public. Welcome to the world of Jon Heyman, a veteran baseball writer and reporter who is followed passionately on social media, especially X. His pronouncements about potential free agent signings are followed like fore…

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JOY SELA: "The Other" 30:22

4M ago30:22

30:22

Send us a text Joy Sela is in the first stages of a career as a filmmaker. Her first documentary, “The Other,” takes on a topic with so many elements: passion, emotion, history, geography, anger and loss. The Middle East. In the spirit of the great documentarian Albert Maysles, Joy Sela puts a mirror up to the many Israelis and Palestinians in the …

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TONY PALLAGROSI: “Cause Down The Shore Everything’s All Right” 42:43

5M ago42:43

42:43

Send us a text Tony Pallagrosi uses one word frequently when talking about his career as a musician, promoter and musical entrepreneur: luck. Sure, a well-timed quitting of a garage band may have put him in a position to be able to join a great band, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. But there’s nothing lucky about the work that Tony and the t…

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DR. KATHIE-ANN JOSEPH: “You’re Not Lucky!” 36:11

5M ago36:11

36:11

Send us a text Some stories never leave you. Like the admonition from Dr. Kathie-Ann Joseph’s aunt when her niece was admitted to Harvard; “You’re not lucky. You worked hard for this.” I first met and interviewed Dr. Joseph, a leading breast cancer surgeon and researcher in New York in 2007. Her story, her message, her inspiration is just as profou…

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LYNN GOLDSMITH: “Hold It! Right There! Perfect!” 43:33

6M ago43:33

43:33

Send us a text What is it about the power of a photograph: the joy, the passion, the emotion of one moment in time? For more than 40 years, Lynn Goldsmith’s photographs have made us smile, made us think and made us feel. She is best known for her rock ‘n roll photographs, but along the way, she was a musician, a TV director and the co manager of a …

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MICHAEL GIACCHINO: Making Movies Sing, Part 2 27:37

6M ago27:37

27:37

Send us a text In his 20’s, Michael Giacchino had a love of movies and music and a job in marketing. But he’d put himself in a position to succeed. When the window of opportunity opened, he was ready.By Budd Mishkin

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MICHAEL GIACCHINO: Making Movies Sing, Part 1 22:47

6M ago22:47

22:47

Send us a text Imagine movies without music. Impossible. It’s part of the magic. And Michael Giacchino creates that magic, in movies like Coco, The Batman, Ratatouille, Jojo Rabbit and his Oscar winner, Up. A love of movies came early. Michael was the kid in the neighborhood making super 8 films. The love of music followed. Eventually, his two love…

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ED BURNS: Back Home Again 36:36

6M ago36:36

36:36

Send us a text Ed Burns has mined his experience growing up in an Irish American family on Long Island over the course of his long career as an independent filmmaker, most notably in his breakthrough film The Brothers McMullen in 1995. He has written thousands of words on the page that end up on the screen. Now the words are staying on the page in …

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JEFF GREENFIELD: A Political Life 34:41

7M ago34:41

34:41

Send us a text For some 50 years, Jeff Greenfield has written about political campaigns. He’s reported on political campaigns. He’s analyzed political campaigns for viewers on CBS, ABC and CNN. And he was a young speechwriter on one of the most compelling campaigns in American political history: the 1968 Presidential campaign of Bobby Kennedy that …

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MICHAEL BYRNE: A Life Of Service 36:27

7M ago36:27

36:27

Send us a text I first met Michael Byrne in the months after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Many parts of the New York area were still reeling from the hurricane. Byrne was overseeing FEMA’s response to the hurricane and he was serving the city where he was born and bred, just as he did after 9/11 working for the Department of Homeland Security, just as …

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JOHN HODGMAN: Seriously Funny, Part 2 24:24

7M ago24:24

24:24

Send us a text John Hodgman always makes me laugh, in his books, on his podcast and certainly during his long run on The Daily Show. He makes me laugh in interviews as well, but he is also an extremely thoughtful interview, especially about his many and varied influences and how they melded together into the career he’s fashioned. And so, there’s a…

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JOHN HODGMAN: Seriously Funny, Part 1 23:48

8M ago23:48

23:48

Send us a text John Hodgman has made a wonderful career out of telling us things that are not true: as the “Resident Expert” and then “Deranged Millionaire” on The Daily Show and the author of three fun books of fake trivia. His warm and clever wit are on display each week on the podcast Judge John Hodgman. He is a thoughtful and compelling intervi…

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BARRY SONNENFELD: A Series Of Fortunate Events 44:01

8M ago44:01

44:01

Send us a text Barry Sonnenfeld is a storyteller. In film. And in conversation. His journey has taken him from the streets of Washington Heights to the heights of Hollywood. He tells hundreds of these stories in a new memoir, Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time.” He shared more than a few of them in our conversation.…

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HARRY TEINOWITZ: Getting Another Shot 34:12

8M ago34:12

34:12

Send us a text Talk to Harry Teinowitz for ten seconds and it’s easy to understand why he’s had a successful career in Chicago sports talk radio. There’s a fun gift of gab, a solid sense of humor and a passionate love of sports. He brought a lot of joy to Chicago sports fans. But then came a DUI, rehab and a coming to terms with his alcohol problem…

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BEN MANKIEWICZ: For The Love Of Family And Film 38:35

9M ago38:35

38:35

Send us a text Many of us grow up in homes with high expectations, but perhaps not the burden of expectation that Ben Mankiewicz experienced. His grandfather and great uncle were prominent in Hollywood, his father in the world of politics. Ben long ago dreamed of being a baseball broadcaster. Along the way, he worked in sports media, hosted an ecle…

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FRANK RICH: From Ticket Taker To Critic To Producer 43:26

9M ago43:26

43:26

Send us a text You never know what job you have that will teach you lessons that you’ll use decades later. Growing up as a theater loving kid, Frank Rich got a dream job as a ticket taker in a theater in his hometown of Washington, D.C. And he watched as shows were changed, rewritten, shortened and lengthened from night to night in preparation for …

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LEN ELMORE: Balancing The Books And Ball 38:00

9M ago38:00

38:00

Send us a text For much of his adult life as an athlete and attorney, Len Elmore has balanced academics and athletics. That work continues to this day as a Senior Lecturer at Columbia University in the Sports Management program. The balancing act began long ago growing up in New York City, then attending Power Memorial Academy, the University of Ma…

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LUCY KAPLANSKY: Art + Science = Sweet Music 35:32

9M ago35:32

35:32

Send us a text LUCY KAPLANSKY Art + Science = Sweet Music We’ve all come to crossroads in our lives and our careers. Lucy Kaplansky initially chose music. Then she chose school and a doctorate in clinical psychology. She tried pursuing both passions, psychologist by day with a little music on the side. But then came those crossroads. Her many admir…

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SEBASTIAN JUNGER: In His Time Of Writing 32:49

10M ago32:49

32:49

Send us a text I first met Sebastian Junger in 2011, only months after the death of his friend and war reporting colleague Tim Hetherington in Libya. Junger was at a crossroads, searching for an experience as intense as war but an experience that doesn’t get you killed. The passion he felt for war reporting has been replaced by the passion for his …

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Alan Zweibel: A Life In Laughs, Part 2 27:16

11M ago27:16

27:16

Send us a text By 1975, Alan Zweibel had decided on a career in comedy writing. He’d written jokes for older borscht belt comics and become friendly with young comics like Billy Crystal. But then he faced a difficult career decision between a relatively sure thing and a leap into the unknown. The decision changed the rest of his life.Learn more abo…

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Alan Zweibel: A Life In Laughs, Part 1 29:08

12M ago29:08

29:08

Send us a text “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Shakespeare forgot about this one: “some are nudged by the rejection of numerous law schools.” Alan Zweibel has written so many words that have made us laugh, through the voices of Gilda Radner, Billy Crystal, Garry Shandling and his own. He was o…

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Ruth Reichl: Eating Is A Political Issue 37:58

12M ago37:58

37:58

Send us a text Ruth Reichl never thought she’d make a career out of writing about food. But she has, defying expectations and obliterating boundaries at august publications along the way. She’s found joy and memory and escape in her writing about food: witness her latest book The Paris Novel. But there is also the theme that has stayed true to Reic…

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Will Lee and Paul Shaffer: 50 Years Of Friendship 44:34

12M ago44:34

44:34

Send us a text I don’t think it violates some journalistic Edward R. Murrow code to say that some interviews are a labor of love. And if it does, so be it. This is one of them. Paul Shaffer and Will Lee have put a lot of joyful music into the world. They are best known for their work in the Letterman bands, first on NBC and then on CBS, 33 years in…

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Bill Persky: Still Funny After All These Years, Part 2 19:55

1y ago19:55

19:55

Send us a text By 1963, Bill Persky had already worked as a lifeguard at Grossinger’s in the Catskill Mountains and watched the hotel’s standup comics make people laugh. He’d written a show at Syracuse University that won a national collegiate award. He’d worked at an advertising agency and radio station in New York before moving to California to w…

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Bill Persky: Still Funny After All These Years, Part 1 28:35

1y ago28:35

28:35

Send us a text What is it like to create something early in your life and then watch as that creation has a tangible effect on people decades later? Musicians know the feeling. Actors and writers too. It’s a feeling Bill Persky knows well. He and his writing partner Sam Denoff wrote many of the classic episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, a 1960’s s…

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Stephane Matteau: Lessons Beyond The Goal 33:38

1y ago33:38

33:38

Send us a text It seems easy for former professional athletes to live in the past. They practiced their whole lives to play the game and now it’s gone. Fans are constantly reminding them of games long ago, occasionally waiting on long lines for a picture and an autograph at a card show. New York Rangers fans often remind Stephane Matteau of his Gam…

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Talib Kweli: Hip Hop Academic 35:19

1y ago35:19

35:19

Send us a text Jay Z once memorably rapped “if skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be lyrically, Talib Kweli.”Many are the influences that have shaped Talib Kweli’s words and music for decades: the Brooklyn of his youth, the ubiquitous books and records in that Brooklyn home, the academic careers of his parents as professors and administrators…

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Adriana Trigiani: Lessons Inside The Four Walls And Beyond 39:58

1y ago39:58

39:58

Send us a text Adriana Trigiani has had a long love affair with the written word. And she’s pretty comfortable with the spoken word too. She has quite a story to tell as a novelist/TV writer/film director/podcast host whose journey brought her from a small mining town in Virginia to New York. And she tells that story with insight and humor. Her tho…

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Shawn Colvin :Diamond In The Rough 36:58

1y ago36:58

36:58

Send us a text Shawn Colvin has been making music, beautiful music, for a long time. She’s known the heights of winning Grammy Awards, including song of the year and record of the year for Sunny Came Home in 1998. She’s known the hills and valleys of the business, especially early on, playing in cover bands, dive bars, taking day jobs before her ca…

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Stan Fischler: The Hockey Maven 35:35

1y ago35:35

35:35

Send us a text Stan Fischler has been in the hockey world for 70 years, primarily as a writer and broadcaster. His passion for the sport has never waned, even as a 92 year old who now covers and writes about hockey from a small village in northern Israel, where he lives with his son and family. He is the sport’s connection, from Richard to Howe to …

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Maurice Ashley: Lessons Beyond The Board 25:47

1y ago25:47

25:47

Send us a text I first met Maurice Ashley in New York in 1994. He was announcing a chess tournament with all of the fervor and excitement of Marv Albert and John Madden. 30 years later, his passion for the sport is the same, perhaps greater. He’s an historic figure in chess as the first African American grandmaster. But that’s only a small part of …

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Steve Hindy: From Foreign Correspondent To Brooklyn Brewer 34:13

1y ago34:13

34:13

Send us a text It was the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald who famously wrote “there are no second acts in America.” Scott, meet Steve Hindy. He’s had an amazing second act, made that much more compelling by his first act, covering wars and revolutions in the Middle East, the taking of the American hostages in Iran in 1979 and surviving the assassination…

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Bill Raftery: Sending It In! 30:02

1y ago30:02

30:02

Send us a text If we’re lucky, we find work that is our passion. In a sense, it doesn’t even feel like work. Long ago, Bill Raftery found that passion analyzing basketball games on TV. And we are the lucky ones.What we don’t see is the immense amount of preparation he puts into every game. What millions of us do see and hear and experience is the j…

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Bob Gruen: “I’m With The Band” 37:31

1y ago37:31

37:31

Send us a text Growing up on Long Island, Bob Gruen’s parents wanted him to work 9-5. And for much of his life, he did. 9PM-5AM. He’s spent 60 years documenting rock ‘n roll through photographs. Bob wasn’t photographing the scene. He was part of the scene, earning the trust of musicians, hanging out with them, touring with them, befriending them an…

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Mike Richter: From Goaltending to Green Technology 40:30

1y ago40:30

40:30

Send us a text Former athletes have all kinds of second careers once their playing days are over. There are lawyers and doctors, business people and broadcasters, lots and lots of broadcasters. But I know of no other former great athlete who has pursued the world of green technology. Mike Richter was always one of my favorite interviews during my s…

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Justin Vivian Bond: Entertaining And Educating With A Microphone 37:31

1+ y ago37:31

37:31

Send us a text In the world of downtown cabaret and theater, Justin Vivian Bond is nothing less than an icon. For more than 30 years, their performances have compelled audiences, initially in small performance spaces and eventually at Carnegie Hall and beyond. They created their most memorable character while still in their 20’s: a boozy, opinionat…

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Lea Carpenter: Writing In The Present…And The Past 37:27

1+ y ago37:27

37:27

Send us a text Lea Carpenter has had an unlikely and compelling path to becoming a writer of novels about espionage: Princeton and Harvard, working for both Senator Biden and Beau Biden and a 10 year magazine publishing career working for the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and John F. Kennedy Jr. There is a powerful connection in her writing to a su…

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