Author: Bill Thompson

Laughing Through Layoffs: Annabelle Gurwitch’s Hilarious Take on Getting Fired

Bill Thompson

No matter where you work, no matter what you do, no matter how long you’ve done it, there’s a good chance you’ll be fired someday. Especially in today’s economy as employers don’t seem to have any loyalty to employees anymore.

Sometimes, though, the situation is so comical, the only way you can get through it is to laugh at it.

Get your copy of Annabelle Gurwitch ‘s book

Actress and writer Annabelle Gurwitch has been fired. And she knows lots and lots of other people who have been fired. So she gathered their stories in a book called Fired!

And if you’ve ever been fired, or you are about to be fired, you’ve got to listen to this interview.

So here now from 2006, Annabelle Gurwitch.

Annabelle Gurwitch is 62 now. She lives in Los Angeles.

Dean Koontz: Suspense, Horror, and 500 Million Book Sales

Bill Thompson

Most authors would be very, very happy if their books sold half a million copies.
Most would be thrilled if their books sold one or two million or five million or ten.

But Dean Koontz has sold 500 million books since his first one was published in 1968.

A master of suspense thrillers, with some horror thrown in, Koontz never fails to satisfy readers. His books routinely appear on major bestseller lists.

I’ve interviewed him several times, including our 2004 conversation about his thriller Life Get your copy of Dean Koontz’s bookExpectancy. What’s terrifying about the storyline is how ordinary his protagonist is, except for the deadly things that could happen to him

So here now from 2004 http://Get your copy of Dean Koontz’s bookDean Koontz.

Dean Koontz will be 79 years old in July.Get your copy of Dean Koontz’s book

Amber Tamblyn on Her Poetry, Her Family, and Her Creative Journey

Bill Thompson
Photo by Jerry Avenaim

Some might say that Amber Tamblyn was born to be an entertainer.

Her father is veteran actor-dancer Russ Tambllyn. Her mother is a singer and a teacher, and her grandfather was in vaudeville.

From the age of 12, when she joined the cast of TV’s “General Hospital,” Amber Tamblyn’s talent has made her a popular and award-winning actress. But she is also well known for her writing, especially her poetry.

Get your copy of Amber Tamblyn’s book

She has actually published seven books, including the 2009 collection Bang Ditto. It was while she was on tour promoting that book that i had a chance to meet her – and to hear what really matters to her in her creative life.

Amber Tamblyn will be 41 in May. Her latest movie role was in “You Hurt My Feelings” in 2023.

So here now, from 2009, Amber Tamblyn.

Judge Greg Mathis Shares His Inspiring Story of Overcoming Adversity

Bill Thompson

Greg Mathis was a juvenile delinquent Growing up in rough Detroit neighborhoods Mathis fell in with the wrong crowd and was arrested several times before he was even 17.

But when he reached a critical turning point, Mathis was able to turn his life around. He got his GED, went on to get a bachelor’s degree, and graduated from law school. And passed the bar.

But he faced still more obstacles on his way to becoming a popular TV courtroom personality. In fact, only Judge Judy has been on the air longer than Greg Mathis.

Get your copy of Greg Mathis’s book

In 2002 Mathis wrote his autobiography, called Inner City Miracle. He and I met that fall to talk about the book.

So here now, from 2002, Greg Mathis.

Greg Mathis will be 64 in April. He is still on television every week on the show “Mathis Family Matters.”

The End of the Cold War: Ambassador Jack Matlock’s Inside Story

Bill Thompson

More than three decades after the breakup of the Soviet Union, many people today fear a return to a Cold War with Russia. So it’s important to understand how the first one ended.

Today we’re going back 20 years , to a conversation with the longtime foreign service officer, and one-time U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, Jack Matlock.

His 2004 book was called Reagan and Gorbachev: How The Cold War Ended.

Get your copy of Jack Matlock’s book

As a top ranking career diplomat, Matlock was at the very center of the U.S.-Soviet relationship. He was there for everything from the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 to the Breakup of the Soviet Union almost 30 years later.

His book was packed with the kind of details and insight that only a key insider would have.

So here now, from 2004, Ambassador Jack Matlock.

Jack Matlock is 94 now, and lives in New Jersey.

God, No! An Insight into Penn Jillette’s Atheist Perspective

Bill Thompson

I suppose there are many reasons someone might be an atheist. For famed magician Penn Jillette, one half of the Penn & Teller duo, his atheism results from what he frames as a vigorous intellectual exercise.

As a youth, Jillette read his Bible, but rejected it as illogical and flawed..

Jillette does not revel in his atheism, however, wearing it instead as one aspect of a multi-faceted personality.

His 2011 book was called God, No! He and I had a chat about it, so here now, from 2011, Penn Jillette.

Penn Jillette will be 69 in a couple of weeks. Penn & Teller remain a popular headline act in Las Vegas.

You may also like these episodes:


Richard Dawkins

Karen Armstrong

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Meadowlark Lemon: Beyond the Court to the Pulpit

Bill Thompson

For 22 years he was known as the “Clown Prince” of the Harlem Globetrotters. But for basketball Hall of Famer Meadowlark Lemon, there was a larger, much larger, purpose for his life.

When I met him in 1987, Lemon was eager to talk about not just basketball, but about God.

Just a year before our interview, Lemon was ordained a Christian minister. And proud as he was of his on-court accomplishments, Meadowlark Lemon had much bigger things on his mind.

Also, be aware that my very first question to him, as you are about to hear, was worded in such a way that his response was worded in the third person. I should emphasize that is not the way he normally talked about himself, but was simply answering the question the way I had framed it.

So here now, from 1987, Meadowlark Lemon.

Meadowlark Lemon died in 2015. He was 83.

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Wilt Chamberlain

Walt Frazier

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Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso: Pioneers of Mediterranean Flavors/

Bill Thompson

Hundreds of cookbooks are published every year, thousands have been published since the early 1980s. But few had the impact that 1982’s Silver Palate Cookbook had.

It was the outgrowth of a popular New York City eatery calledTthe Silver Palate, run by Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso.

They helped introduce Americans to Mediterranean and European cuisines never before seen in this country.

Over the next 25 years their cookbook sold millions of copies and became a must have for many kitchens.

In 2007, Lukins and Rosso published a 25th anniversary edition of the cookbook, and that’s when I spoke with them. So here now, from 2007, Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso..

Sheila Lukins died in 2009, at age 66.

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Ina Garten

Julia Child

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Comedy, Red Hats, and Inspiration: Damon Wayans’ Debut Novel

Bill Thompson
Photo by Brian Solis

Some inspirational words from Lionel Richie, and a chance encounter with a group of ladies with red hats, led to the first novel by actor, comedian, and writer Damon Wayans.

From his early years in movies (as the banana man in “Beverly Hills Cop”) to his days on TV’s “In Living Color,” as characters like Homey D. Clown, Wayans has proven his comedic abilities in many ways. And his novel Red Hats demonstrated his keen ability to create memorable, if sometimes irascible, characters.

Our conversation about his book was a little more sedate than his TV sketches.

So here now, from 2010, Damon Wayans.

Damon Wayans is 63 now, and is reportedly working on a new project with ABC.

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Tyler Perry

Candace Bushnell

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A Valentine’s Day Special: Carl Reiner’s ‘All Kinds of Love

Bill Thompson
Photo: John Mathew Smith

Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s a day of romance, relationships, maybe even marriage, but most especially it’s a day of love. All kinds of love.

In fact, All Kinds of Love was the title of actor writer Carl Reiner’s 1993 novel. It featured a delightful cast of characters dealing with a variety of romantic situations, with a good deal of comedy thrown in, as we would expect no less from the man who created TV’s iconic Dick Van Dyke show.

So here now, from 1993, Carl Reiner.

Carl Reiner was 98 when he died in 2020.

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Erich Segal

Helen Fielding

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