Charles Brandt, “I Hear You Paint Houses”

Nov 6, 2019 | Authors, Movies, podcasts

Martin Scorsese’s new movie is “The Irishman,” starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, as well as lots of other names you’ll recognize (Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin, Bobby Cannavale, Jesse Plemons, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Romano). It will be open in...

Letters From An Astrophysicist

Oct 9, 2019 | Authors

I have long been a fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson, currently America’s best explainer of all things scientific. When I interviewed him in 2017, I mentioned how happy I was to have seen him do an appearance before 3,000 people who all went to see and hear him discuss...

The Show Won’t Go On

Oct 1, 2019 | Authors

Members of the Wallenda family falling off the high wire and plummeting to their deaths — repeatedly. Orchestra conductors having heart attacks in the middle of symphonies. Owen Hart dropping from the rafters in a wrestling stunt gone wrong. These are just some...

They Can’t Seem To Make Jack Falcone

Mar 26, 2019 | Authors, Movies

A decade ago ago, I read a book called “Making Jack Falcone,” about an undercover FBI agent named Joaquin Garcia who successfully infiltrated the Gambino crime family, passing himself off as Sicilian even though he was born in Cuba. But that’s not...

Book Review: “The Space Barons”

Sep 21, 2018 | Authors, Science

I just finished Christian Davenport’s book, “The Space Barons,” in which he writes about the billionaire tech guys whose obsession with space and rockets has changed the business from one run by a government monopoly (NASA) to an industry in which...

Book Review: “Click Here To Kill Everybody”

Sep 4, 2018 | Authors

If I were still doing radio shows, I would happily welcome Bruce Schneier back as a guest. He’s a security expert who I first spoke with when he revealed the uselessness of the TSA’s screening procedures at airports, which he labelled “security...