Best Charles Cartwright Podcasts (2025)

1
Farewell to Josh Robert Thompson 1:33:48

1h ago1:33:48

1:33:48

The Spiel co-host, Josh Robert Thompson, is stepping away from the show, but before he leaves to pursue his own creative endeavors he and Vespe take a look back at his time on the show, discuss our favorite episodes, guests, and experiences while he was behind the mic. You'll hear plenty of behind the scenes stories, more Spielberg, Lucas, and Morg…

1
A Career-Spanning Interview with Veronica Cartwright 45:40

9d ago45:40

45:40

Veronica Cartwright joins The Spiel hosts to talk about her incredible career, from The Twilight Zone to The Birds to Alien and Witches of Eastwick, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and, yes, even Scary Movie 2. Cartwright also shares her thoughts on Steven Spielberg's career, including an incredible anecdote of watching Jaws for the first time with…

1
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with Charles Soule 1:39:59

21d ago1:39:59

1:39:59

Charles Soule (author of the Star Wars: The High Republic series as well as some of the best Star Wars comic books) joins the show to talk all about one of the most controversial and heavily debated Steven Spielberg films: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We all know co-host Josh Robert Thompson goes to bat for this one, but does…

1
Bear McCreary Picks His Top 5 John Williams/Steven Spielberg Scores 1:17:45

1M ago1:17:45

1:17:45

Incredible composer Bear McCreary (God of War, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Battlestar Galactica, Happy Death Day) knows a thing or two about composing badass scores. Vespe challenged him to come up with top 5 favorite John Williams/Steven Spielberg collaborations and the resulting episode sees McCreary putting his Top 5 against Vespe' To…

1
Innerspace with Anthony Breznican 1:16:54

1M ago1:16:54

1:16:54

The Spiel welcomes Anthony Breznican, Vespe's Kingcast co-host and entertainment reporter extraordinaire at Vanity Fair, to talk about Amblin's Innerspace. This weird-ass movie was directed by Joe Dante and produced by Spielberg and is all about a shrunk down Dennis Quaid getting injected into Martin Short's butt and that's just the start of this c…

1
Spielberg's Endings with Clarke Wolfe 1:18:16

2M ago1:18:16

1:18:16

I think we can all agree that Steven Spielberg knows how to end a movie. He's got some all-timer endings in his filmography, but he also has some divisive endings. We're talking about War of the Worlds, A.I., Munich, and more. Noted filmmaker, podcaster, entertainment host, and professional geek Clarke Wolfe (Malum, Torn Hearts, Sending in the Wolf…

1
The Goonies with Flula Borg 1:13:36

2M ago1:13:36

1:13:36

The Goonies is an important movie for folks of a certain generation, including the absolute madman who is this week's guest. You know him from Pitch Perfect 2, The Suicide Squad, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Silicon Valley and now he's here to talk about The Goonies, Richard Donner's coming-of-age adventure story produced by Steven Spielberg. We bounc…

1
Casper with Mallory O'Meara 1:12:44

2M ago1:12:44

1:12:44

Leave it to Vespe and JRT to turn a conversation about the 1995 Amblin family adventure story CASPER into a lewd, R-rated talk about ghost titties. In our defense, bad influence (and James Beard award-winning author) Mallory O'Meara is our guest and despite all of our best efforts when we three get together things get chaotic and talk quickly turns…

1
Twister and Twisters with Stephen Graham Jones 1:19:02

3M ago1:19:02

1:19:02

Celebrated genre author Stephen Graham Jones (The Indian Lake Trilogy, Mongrels, I Was A Teenage Slasher) is a huge fan of both Twister and Twisters, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and shows up this week ready to talk about what made him laugh, cry, and jump for joy in both the 1996 original film and its 2024 sequel. Topics in…

1
West Side Story with Alex Winter 1:06:47

3M ago1:06:47

1:06:47

Spielberg has been working towards making a musical for his entire career, so it shouldn't be a surprise that when he finally got to make an all-out musical he brought not only his A-game, but also his deep love and understanding of Old Hollywood musicals with him. This resulted in 2021's West Side Story, an incredibly smart and charming reinterpre…

1
Josh Ruben on Amazing Stories 1:15:38

3M ago1:15:38

1:15:38

This week's topic: 1985's Amazing Stories, an NBC anthology series overseen by Steven Spielberg himself. Not only did he produce the whole thing, but he also directed two episodes. Those two episodes are the focus of the show as we welcome director Josh Ruben (this weekend's rom-com slasher HEART EYES). We talk a bit about marrying those two radica…

1
Schindler's List with Jordan Hoffman 1:41:30

4M ago1:41:30

1:41:30

It's a heavy topic, but we somehow found the perfect guest to balance a serious topic with a little humor in noted critic, pop culture journalist, and author Jordan Hoffman (Vanity Fair, New York Daily News, The Times of Israel). Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List tells the story of Oskar Schindler, a German Industrialist who worked from within th…

1
Ariana Richards Talks Jurassic Park 1:23:26

4M ago1:23:26

1:23:26

The one and only Ariana Richards, Lex Murphy from Jurassic Park, joins Vespe and JRT to talk dinosaurs, Graboids, Martians, and even her ludicrous haircut in 1989's Prancer. This is Ariana's very first podcast appearance and she comes loaded for bear, y'all. She has stories about working on all her big movies including Jurassic Park. Hear about how…

1
An Interview with Kiran Shah 53:06

4M ago53:06

53:06

Today's guest is the self-described World's Smallest Stuntman who has doubled everybody from Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings to Christopher Reeve's Superman and James Cameron's Aliens. Kiran Shah is also a poet and an actor who played a not so small part in Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark before going on to double Short Round in I…

1
Vanessa Chester on The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1:37:46

5M ago1:37:46

1:37:46

Today we have a conversation with Ian Malcolm's Daughter, Kelly, herself, Ms. Vanessa Chester. Despite being plagued by tech issues, this deep-dive interview about Vanessa's experience working with Spielberg, Goldblum, Vaughn, and Moore while making The Lost World: Jurassic Park is funny, illuminating, and is guaranteed to brighten your day. Cheste…

1
Steve Agee on Gremlins 1:13:50

5M ago1:13:50

1:13:50

Steve Agee (Peacemaker, The Sarah Silverman Program, Superstore) joins the Spiel boys to talk about the very festive, very zany, and incredibly dark family film Gremlins, produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by Joe Dante, and starring Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates. The trio discuss the film's reception upon release, why it still holds up today, …

1
John Mariano on Animaniacs 1:22:31

5M ago1:22:31

1:22:31

The very talented actor, comedian, and voice performer John Mariano has played a part in a lot of your favorites, from Married with Children and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia to Fallout 4 and Baldur's Gate. But one of his most recognizable performances is as Bobby the pigeon in Steven Spielberg's oddly raunchy '90s cartoon series Animaniacs. Bo…

1
DC Pierson on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 1:33:09

5M ago1:33:09

1:33:09

We're forcing author, comedian, and actor DC Pierson to cover all the Transformers films with us here at The Spiel and he finally returns for the second film in the franchise: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a film that is inexplicably nearly 3 hours long, is even more incoherent than the first, and filled with giant robot testicles. Still, th…

1
Drew McWeeny on Back to the Future Pt 2 1:27:48

6M ago1:27:48

1:27:48

Is the Back to the Future Trilogy the culmination of what we think of as the Amblin Experience? Did you know that the original thought was to have Doc and Marty travel back to the groovy '60s? And what exactly happened with all that Crispin Glover stuff? All those questions and more are discussed as Vespe is joined by his Ain't It Cool compatriot a…

1
An Interview with Corey Feldman and Eugenio Mira 1:12:32

6M ago1:12:32

1:12:32

Live from Corey Feldman's recording studio comes this in-person sit down interview with Corey and director Eugenio Mira, whose long lost collaboration, The Birthday, is finally getting a second life thanks to Drafthouse Films in theaters and on streaming. Corey welcomed Josh and Vespe into his home for this interview where some pretty strict limits…

1
David Dastmalchian on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1:01:02

6M ago1:01:02

1:01:02

David Dastmalchian is one of our best character actors (LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, THE DARK KNIGHT, DUNE, OPPENHEIMER, THE SUICIDE SQUAD) and now he's joining Vespe and JRT to talk about the controversial INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. Our time with Dave was limited, so we run through this movie at a breakneck pace, much like the back half o…

1
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods on A.I. - Artificial Intelligence 1:29:17

6M ago1:29:17

1:29:17

The writer/producer/director team behind A Quiet Place, 65, and The Boogeyman have a new movie out this week called Heretic, starring Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, and Chloe East, so they decided to stop by and chat about one of their favorite Spielberg films: A.I. That's right, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are our guests and we dive into the nitty gr…

1
Mallory O'Meara on Joe Vs. The Volcano 1:44:48

7M ago1:44:48

1:44:48

Chaos ensues as the wonderful, and James Beard award-winning, author Mallory O'Meara (Girly Drinks, The Lady from the Black Lagoon) comes on the show to discuss the extremely odd Amblin flick Joe Vs. The Volcano, starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan (three Meg Ryans, believe it or not), and directed by the famous writer John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck). T…

1
Germain Lussier on Hook 1:13:34

7M ago1:13:34

1:13:34

Germain Lussier (head movie nerd writer at Gizmodo and I09) joins Vespe and JRT for a wide-ranging discussion on Steven Spielberg's Hook starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and a very pissed off Julia Roberts. How much does nostalgia come into play when discussing this film? Did everybody who was a child when they saw it love it and all the ad…

1
Jurassic Park with Jeremy Slater 1:42:38

7M ago1:42:38

1:42:38

Jurassic Park is not only one of the best popcorn films ever made, it's also the catalyst for the largest shift in Hollywood production and storytelling in recent cinematic history. It changed movies forever. To dive into that and just how awesome and fun Jurassic Park is, we are joined by one of the most in-demand screenwriters in the business, Je…

1
Introducing The Spiel's New Co-Host 1:15:18

7M ago1:15:18

1:15:18

The Spiel co-creator Scott Wampler passed away before the show debuted and the hunt was on to find someone that could step in to the immense void he left behind. After months of searching, Vespe made his choice. Now you get to meet the new co-host. What are their dreams? Aspirations? Deepest, darkest wishes? And how good is their Morgan Freeman imp…

1
Live At Fantastic Fest: Nacho Vigalondo on Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1:07:08

8M ago1:07:08

1:07:08

The Spiel rings in its very first live show at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. Vespe is joined by guest co-host Nick Preuher (co-founder of the Found Footage Fest) and special guest Nacho Vigalondo (director of Timecrimes, Colossal, and Daniela Forever) to talk about Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Does Close Encounters act as a spiritual sequel …

1
Wynter Mitchell on Catch Me If You Can 2:13:46

8M ago2:13:46

2:13:46

We celebrate the final episode of The Spiel with Scott Wampler as co-host with this rowdy chat with our dear friend, podcaster, and advisor to the stars Wynter Mitchell about a top tier Spielberg entry: Catch Me If You Can. This is a special episode in that it is the very first thing we recorded for the show. This was our test run to see if a podca…

1
Brian Duffield on War of the Worlds 2:02:39

8M ago2:02:39

2:02:39

The very talented writer/director Brian Duffield (Spontaneous, No One Will Save You) joins Wampler and Vespe to discuss Spielberg's War of the Worlds. We go through all the set pieces, talk about the 9/11 parallels, how awesome it is that Tom Cruise plays a glorious screwup, and so much more. War of the Worlds is one of Wampler's favorites, so it's…

1
Greg Mottola on Used Cars 1:16:57

8M ago1:16:57

1:16:57

Director Greg Mottola (Superbad, Paul, and Confess, Fletch) joins Wampler and Vespe to talk about a very early outing for Steven Spielberg as producer: Used Cars. Written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, produced by Spielberg and John Milius, and directed by Zemeckis, this raunchy, cynical, absurd early '80s comedy starring Kurt Russell, Jack Warde…

1
DC Pierson on Transformers 1:52:11

9M ago1:52:11

1:52:11

The time has come. The All-Spark is up for grabs and that can only mean one thing: We gotta talk about Transformers, executively produced by one Mr. Steven Spielberg. Wampler and Vespe couldn't do it alone, though, so they called in the calvary in the form of the very funny comedian, author, and actor, DC Pierson (Mystery Team, The Boy Who Couldn't…

1
Josh Gondelman on Men In Black 1:08:50

9M ago1:08:50

1:08:50

Comedian Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) joins us to talk a little about the very first Men In Black. How does the film hold up? Is it okay to like Will Smith again? How good was Barry Sonnenfeld at making this type of goofy genre movie? Why won't Hollywood just give Rick Baker a trillion dollars to ke…

1
An Interview With Dee Wallace 1:00:03

9M ago1:00:03

1:00:03

The incomparable Dee Wallace joins The Spiel to discuss her work on Steven Spielberg's E.T. Wallace takes us behind the scenes of the making of the movie, including stories about how she got the part of Mary, what it was like the first time she saw E.T., the one time she had a disagreement with Spielberg on the set, her beliefs on what real life al…

1
Laura Lux on Arachnophobia 1:10:08

9M ago1:10:08

1:10:08

Model, Streamer, and Kingcast favorite guest Laura Lux makes her first appearance on The Spiel and she brings a hell of a title with her. This is our very first time talking about a movie that Spielberg produced, but didn't direct. That's right, it's 1990's Arachnophobia directed by Spielberg's longtime producer Frank Marshall and starring Jeff Dan…

1
BONUS: A Conversation with Laurent Bouzereau 58:39

9M ago58:39

58:39

Yes, The Spiel has a Patreon and here's a tiny taste of the bonus episodes you get if you sign up. First one's free! This chat with Laurent Bouzereau will give you a behind the scenes peek at what it's like working with Steven Spielberg as his own personal documentarian. We discuss the importance of Laurent's documentary work, including his recentl…

1
Brian Michael Bendis on 1941 1:47:59

10M ago1:47:59

1:47:59

Comic book legend Brian Michael Bendis (creator of Miles Morales, author of House of M, The Ultimates, Torso) decided, for some reason, to talk about Steven Spielberg's 1941. This was the director's first failure, an over caffeinated live action Looney Tunes look at how the post-Pearl Harbor hysteria hit Southern California. This kitchen sink of a …

1
Elijah Wood on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1:34:05

10M ago1:34:05

1:34:05

Elijah Wood, who is known as an actor, producer, DJ, and who also happens to be our boss here at The Spiel, joins Vespe and Wampler to discuss one of Steven Spielberg's most beloved films: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. There's so much ground to cover with this one, from the immaculate cast, the huge cultural impact, and the sheer amount of pure Steve…

1
Haley Joel Osment on A.I. 1:47:43

10M ago1:47:43

1:47:43

Haley Joel Osment is the star of Steven Spielberg's often misunderstood masterpiece A.I. - Artificial Intelligence and now he's on The Spiel to talk about what it was like working on that film as a mecha child on the hunt any possible path back home to his mother. You'll hear Osment discuss working with Spielberg, how the director almost picked Har…

1
Kumail Nanjiani on Raiders of the Lost Ark 1:48:41

10M ago1:48:41

1:48:41

The very funny Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals, The Big Sick) kicks off The Spiel by talking about not only one of the best Steven Spielberg movies, but one of the flat out best movies ever made: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Kumail, Vespe, and Wampler dig through this supernatural action adventure masterpiece, pick their favorite moments, reveal some secretl…

1
Episode 0 53:37

10M ago53:37

53:37

Host Eric Vespe is joined by Spectrevision Radio head honchos Daniel Noah and Elijah Wood to discuss just what the hell you're in for with this show. You'll find out the backgrounds of the two hosts, the sad recent events that had a major impact on what The Spiel is going forward, what some of our favorite Spielberg joints are, and even get a previ…

1
Season 6 Episode 9 Sarah Stunt 49:47

2y ago49:47

49:47

A producer and actress, but a writer at heart, Sarah joins us this week for our season finale! We are so honored to have a writer be a part of set stories podcast and share her experiences and insights in the industry. We talk about our writing processes and the weirdest and most awkward things we've seen on set. Sarah also shares some amazing and …

1
Season 6 Episode 7 Kevin B. Simmons 56:21

2y ago56:21

56:21

No introduction is needed for our guest this week. He's been on our show in its first season and now Kevin B. Simmons is back with more set stories! He dishes on how it was like working on a feature as a Key Grip for the first time. We also talk about the writers strike and how good communication can make or break a good set/work experience.…

1
Season 6 Episode 6 Federica Carlino 37:03

2y ago37:03

37:03

Getting a scholarship to study film in LA and being inspired by movies like Jurassic Park, Federica joins us this week from across the globe talking all things casting; for her own films as well as others and the difficulties that come with that, but how fulfilling of a job it can be. Especially when it comes to breaking away from stereotypes in ro…

1
Season 6 Episode 5 Joshua Nicholas 53:53

2y ago53:53

53:53

Being dragged by a horse by your feet, being set on fire, fighting and being punched in the face, and jumping off a three story building is just a normal day in the job for Josh, the amazing stunt performer extraordinaire! And boy oh boy he's got some set stories to share. Like what it was like working with an actor who basically begs you to really…

1
Season 6 Episode 4 Christian Deike 50:40

2y ago50:40

50:40

Training and studying to be an actor, Christian shares his experiences of how proper education and strong but tough mentors can make you prepared for the real world and working on sets. We talk about how his first on set experience was a rather good one and what it was like working when the weather conditions can be the worst.…

1
Season 6 Episode 3 Stephen Harrod 54:10

2y ago54:10

54:10

Production Sound Engineer and Boom Op Stephen joins us this week! His love of playing in a band transferred over to his love of capturing audio on set. We talk a lot about food and crafty, including beer and what it was like to be on a set where the AD was desperate to get fired. He also shares some amazing and heartfelt advice on how to navigate t…

1
Season 6 Episode 2 Clayton Conroy 1:07:00

2y ago1:07:00

1:07:00

An actor, a producer, a writer, and a director Clayton has a very colorful and rich background when it comes to working in the film industry. He's worked on sets with little to no budget, indies, short films, and sets with millions of dollars going into the production. We talk about what it was like living in Ireland and working in theatre, commeri…

1
Season 6 Episode 1 Aimee La Joie 1:20:10

2y ago1:20:10

1:20:10

Aimee LaJoie joins us on our season 6 opener! You all know her from her super hilarious Film Crew series and The Bumble Bums both available on YouTube. This feature length episode is filled with plenty of set talk from what its like making comedy gold by yourself during a pandemic, the struggles of working as an actor, and being background on the s…

1
Season 5 Episode 9 Hannah Bradford 49:35

2+ y ago49:35

49:35

Earning a masters degree in documentary filmmaking from Chapman, working for IMAX, and performing as a scare actor, we are so excited to have Hannah on our season 5 finale episode! We talk about what its like watching movies over and over for work, the light and dark side of scaring people at Knotts Scary Farm and her love of documentary filmmaking…

1
Season 5 Episode 8 Affernie Michel 48:56

2+ y ago48:56

48:56

This week we got the pleasure of hanging out with Affernie, a stop-motion animator! We get into the nit and grit of all the technical aspects of making a film with stop-motion, but we also talk about how beautiful it can be and how your patience into making something like that can be rewarding. Whether you're into stop-motion or not this episode wi…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Charles Cartwright Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen