When you get one of the most successful comedy writers in television history to come on your podcast, naturally the first thing to talk about is...his trip in a homemade submarine to visit the ruins of the Titanic.
You see, Mike Reiss isn't just the funniest guy in the room — he's also the most well-traveled. He's been to Iran, the North Pole, North Korea, ... Show More
Today
Why Good News Is Worth the Effort with Journalist David Begnaud
Some people see a rule and follow it. Some people see a rule and ask what it was for. David Begnaud has built a career out of finding the second kind. For 20 years, David was the lead national correspondent for CBS News, reporting from hurricanes, earthquakes, and mass shootings ... Show More
57m 53s
Oct 20
Revisited: The Power of Doing One Thing Exceptionally Well with Gymshark Founder and CEO Ben Francis
Hello from Team Simon! Brand-new episodes of A Bit of Optimism are back next Tuesday, October 27. Before then, we're revisiting one last favorite: the company Simon names whenever someone asks which business actually lives the ideas he writes about. It's Gymshark, and its founder ... Show More
1 h
Jan 2024
Extreme Tourism: A Simpsons Writer Goes Where You Wouldn’t
It’s an understatement calling it adventure tourism, at minimum its extreme travel, more accurately it’s insanely dangerous. Diving to crushing depths to glimpse the Titanic, sightseeing hostile dictatorships, postcard-shopping in active war zones – increasingly, people are choos ... Show More
39m 58s
Apr 2023
A travel history to beat all travel histories
The next time you take a careful travel history, think what it would be like to ask comedy writer Mike Reiss — he and his wife have been to more than a hundred countries, many of them far from the usual tourist routes. Paul Sax, MD, FIDSA, sits down with Reiss to discuss the good ... Show More
25m 35s
Jan 2024
"Uniting Nations" w/ Mike Reiss
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: longtime Simpsons writer and producer and author of What Am I Doing Here?, Mike Reiss! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as qu ... Show More
10m 33s
Jun 2020
Episode 136 - Mike Recine
Mike Recine (The Half Hour/Conan) talks about being fired from the Times Square Ruby Tuesday, working the door at Carolines, being a grocery store checker, starting stand up in a Panera at 15 years old, and how he enjoys when he works as a mover. Check out Recine's podcast: https ... Show More
1h 24m