Best Molli Wright Podcasts (2025)

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Write On: 'Hedda' Writer/Director Nia DaCosta 35:49

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4d ago35:49

35:49

"I love adaptations. The beauty of adaptation, especially a classic, like Shakespeare and Chekhov or Ibsen, they're such a gift because they give you this beautiful framework, and it's almost like they're begging you to take it and make it your own," says writer/director Nia DaCosta about adapting Henrik Ibsen's 1891 play Hedda Gabler into her new …

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From the Archives: Patti LuPone 46:13

6d ago46:13

46:13

Patti LuPone was only four years old when she realized she belonged on stage, and she started by entertaining family members in her Long Island living room. LuPone won her second Tony Award for Evita, which she initially described as merely “noise from Britain.” Although she has enjoyed tremendous, long-term success, she talks candidly to Alec abou…

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Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves on Connecticut’s Future 42:36

13d ago42:36

42:36

Andrea Barton Reeves is a former ad litem lawyer, CEO of Harc. Inc - a nonprofit organization supporting people with intellectual disabilities and their families, and the founding CEO of the Connecticut Paid Leave Program - the state’s first new agency in 12 years thanks to which over 200,000 individuals and families have received paid family leave…

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Write On: 'Splinter Cell: Deathwatch' Creator/Writer Derek Kolstad 39:09

14d ago39:09

39:09

"As you do draft after draft, it becomes shorter and rendered down. And [Keanu Reeves and I] would go through scenes going, 'Can people say less? Can the action be tighter? Can the action sequence be shorter?' The action is an extension of the hero's journey and if you don't give a sh*t about the character, it doesn't matter how great your action i…

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Write On: 'After the Hunt' Writer Nora Garrett 37:35

17d ago37:35

37:35

"People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election." –Otto Von Bismarck "It's funny, because when I was writing After the Hunt, I definitely wasn't like, 'Oh, I want to write about this current socio-political moment.' I was really just invested in the characters and the story," says screenwriter Nora Garrett about writin…

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From the Archives: Lawrence Wright 46:08

20d ago46:08

46:08

Lawrence Wright is an author, screenwriter, playwright, and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2006 book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Most recently, filmmaker Alex Gibney directed an HBO documentary based on Wright's reporting in Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of U…

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Why Is Anyone Still Smoking? 36:50

27d ago36:50

36:50

By iHeartPodcasts

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Write On: 'Anemone' Co-Writer/Director Ronan Day-Lewis 35:17

1M ago35:17

35:17

"[My dad] really started to inhabit the characters, especially Ray, speaking as him during the writing process. That was when I realized this was going to be its own kind of special beast. Working with him taught me so much as a writer and storyteller; by the time we got to set, we had a shorthand for everything," says director and co-writer Ronan …

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From the Archives: Steven Van Zandt 48:18

1M ago48:18

48:18

Singer, songwriter, producer, and actor Steven Van Zandt aka Little Steven is perhaps best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. But the talented musician also co-founded the band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, as well as his solo act, Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul. He later found success in an entirely different c…

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Write On: 'All Of You' Writer/Director Will Bridges & Writer/Actor Brett Goldstein 39:09

1M ago39:09

39:09

"You have to love all your characters. Even if you're writing a bad guy. You, the writer, have to write them with love and empathy, and treat each character, give each character, a full life and a full arc in your story, even if their screen time is small. Essentially, if you were following that character, they also have a full story, a full life,"…

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Paul Paz y Miño and Steven Donziger from Rainforests to Courtrooms 45:20

1M ago45:20

45:20

Two leading voices in the fight for environmental and human rights justice are Steven Donziger and Paul Paz y Miño. Steven Donziger is an attorney and activist known for his decades-long legal battle against Chevron on behalf of Indigenous peoples and rural communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. His work has drawn international attention to issues o…

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Write On: 'Mussolini: Son of the Century' Director Joe Wright 37:23

2M ago37:23

37:23

On today's episode, we speak with director Joe Wright whose new limited TV series Mussolini: Son of the Century, explores fascism through the early political career of Italy's Prime Minister Mussolini in the 1920s. The show is incredible storytelling from beginning to end, mixing opera and techno rave music while drawing chilling comparisons to the…

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From the Archives: Thom Yorke 51:48

2M ago51:48

51:48

Thom Yorke, Radiohead and Atoms for Peace frontman, admits that, even after over 25 years in the business, performing is “either wicked fun or really awful.” He talks with Alec about his pre-show ritual—"I stand on my head for a bit"—and how he and his bandmates have been able to stick together since they were teenagers. Originally aired April 1st,…

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Breaking the Fourth Wall with Isaac Butler 50:32

2M ago50:32

50:32

Isaac Butler is an author, critic, theater director, and professor known for his books The Method: How The Twentieth Century Learned to Act and The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America, co-written with Dan Kois. Butler’s writing has appeared in numerous publications such as New York magazine, The Guardian, the Los Angeles Revie…

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Moby - Summer Staff Picks 52:00

2M ago52:00

52:00

Our summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series. This week, we revisit Alec’s interview with Moby, who reflects on the unexpected success of his 1999 album Play—a record that transformed him from playing gigs in record stores to international…

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Write On: 'The Toxic Avenger' Writer/Director Macon Blair 40:59

2M ago40:59

40:59

"The thing that started it all off was me saying [the character Toxie] should be a guy in a suit. In other words, let's not do a computer-generated creature, let's have a person in a suit and have that handmade, hand-stitched kind of quality to it where you can sort of see the seams a little bit and have that be part of the fun. I also said let's h…

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David Letterman - Summer Staff Picks 44:35

2M ago44:35

44:35

Our summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series. This week, we revisit Alec’s conversation with David Letterman, who began his Late Night gig as a self-described “gap-toothed, unknown smart ass.” Three decades later, Letterman reflects on how…

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Barry Gibb - Summer Staff Picks 45:44

3M ago45:44

45:44

Our summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series. This week, we revisit Alec’s conversation with Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of the legendary Bee Gees. Barry reflects on the group’s rise from childhood dreams of stardom to becoming o…

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Write On: 'Sirens' Creator/Showrunner Molly Smith Metzler 40:05

3M ago40:05

40:05

"Our goal in writing [Sirens] was to write something that makes you think, and offers the opportunity to re-examine your own assumptions that you made about these characters. And it's taxing. We ask some difficult questions. It's not The Perfect Couple. It's not a murder show. We're going after something thematically that's really large and really …

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Thelma Schoonmaker - Summer Staff Picks 44:27

3M ago44:27

44:27

Our summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series. This week, we revisit Alec’s conversation with Thelma Schoonmaker, the legendary editor behind every Martin Scorsese film since Raging Bull. Known for her warm, unassuming presence, Schoonmaker…

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Judith Vecchione - Summer Staff Picks 39:14

3M ago39:14

39:14

Our summer tradition at Here’s the Thing continues, as staff members choose their favorite conversations from the archives for our Summer Staff Pick series.This week in our Summer Staff Pick series, we revisit Alec’s interview with Judith Vecchione, Emmy- and Peabody-winning producer of the landmark PBS series Vietnam: A Television History, which p…

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Griffin Dunne on Being “Kind of Brave” 37:28

3M ago37:28

37:28

Griffin Dunne is an actor, producer, director, and author of his recent memoir The Friday Afternoon Club. Dunne is known for his memorable roles in cult films such as An American Werewolf in London and Martin Scorsese's After Hours, which Dunne also produced. Dunne is also known for his roles in popular TV series such as This Is Us and Succession. …

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Write On: 'The Home' Director/Co-Writer James DeMonaco and Co-Writer Adam Cantor 44:27

3M ago44:27

44:27

"Write your own anxieties. Get into your own psyche. I think if it scares you – like, I'm terrified of guns, and that's where The Purge came from. But here, there were various generational fears and whatnot that led to The Home, Adam's fears and my fears about getting older and our anxiety. So I would say if it's born from your fear, the majority o…

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From the Archives: Audra McDonald is the "Luckiest Survivor in the World" 40:40

3M ago40:40

40:40

Much like the staggering beauty of her voice, Audra McDonald is impossible to ignore. The only artist to sweep all four acting categories at the Tony’s, she’s the most decorated Broadway star of all time. Reviews of her award-winning performances overflow with accolades, describing her stage presence as “spellbinding,” “haunting,” and “genius.” But…

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Jake Tapper: From Breaking News to Bestsellers 39:44

4M ago39:44

39:44

Jake Tapper is a journalist, news anchor, author, and the current lead Washington anchor for CNN. Tapper hosts the weekday news show, The Lead with Jake Tapper, and co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program, State of the Union. At CNN, Tapper has won numerous journalism awards, including Emmy Awards in 2023 and 2024. He also played a key r…

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Write On: 'Abraham's Boys' Writer/Director Natasha Kermani 36:57

4M ago36:57

36:57

"Vampires hold incredible destructive power, and so we're very drawn to them, sort of like moths to a candle, right? I think that's sort of eternal, and that's the reason every culture, pretty much around the globe has some version of the vampire because it represents that very human conflict of what we desire which is so in tune with and aligned t…

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From the Archives: Nicolas Niarchos Exposes the Cobalt Gold Rush 39:47

4M ago39:47

39:47

(Recorded October 4, 2021) Journalist Nicolas Niarchos may be the grandson of a famous Greek shipping magnate, but he can be found covering challenging and dangerous subjects like conflicts, minerals, and migration in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is a reporter at large at The New Yorker and a contributor to TIME, The Guardian, The New Yor…

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Victor Garber on Stage and Screen 34:58

4M ago34:58

34:58

Victor Garber is a prolific actor and singer who seamlessly traverses theater, film, and television. He originated roles in iconic musicals such as “Sweeney Todd”, “Godspell”, “Noises Off”, and “Assassins”. Garber also appeared in Oscar award-winning films such as “Titanic”, “Argo”, and “Milk”. You may also recognize him as Jack Bristow from the lo…

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Write On: 'Countdown' Creator/Writer Derek Haas 37:54

4M ago37:54

37:54

"One thing I've found in the crime genre is that homicides are always interesting. When somebody's killed, whatever that case may be, it's usually compelling drama. So then it's up to you as the writer to surprise the audience and do things that they didn't think were coming. I've described it like this before: If you can hit the sweet spot of, 'I …

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From the Archives: Billy Joel 1:04:31

4M ago1:04:31

1:04:31

Recorded July 29th, 2012. Billy Joel has sold more records than The Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Madonna—though the “rock star thing” is something he can “take off.” Joel started playing piano when he was about four or five years old. He admits that he doesn’t remember how to read sheet music anymore saying it’d be like reading Chinese. That does…

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From Concert Hall to Cinema with Anthony Parnther 37:39

5M ago37:39

37:39

Anthony Parnther is a conductor, bassoonist, and music educator prominently known for his work conducting and playing for critically acclaimed film scores. In 2019 he was appointed music director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra and concurrently serves as the music director of the Southeast Symphony in Los Angeles, California,…