Dedicated with Doug Brunt

Scott Brick: Old Fashioned (2 1/2 ounces bourbon, sugar, bitters, water, Luxardo cherry)The world's top audiobook narrator, nicknamed "The Golden Voice", joins us fresh from a late night at the Audie Awards to tell us his Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall story, his analysis of the strange voice of Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos, the best voices in Hollywood of all time, his process to find the voice and get into character for his book narration projects, the importance of identifying the protagonist for narration, his thoughts on AI in voice work, what you can expect to learn in a Scott Brick workshop for audiobook narration.

Diana Gabaldon: Bailey's Irish Cream over iceThe author of the OUTLANDER series discusses how she and George R.R. Martin feel about having a successful TV series running in parallel to their book series, the difference between her character Claire Randall in the book versus the show, how she has always known that she was meant to be a novelist, the ways she supports her fandom, and how to write strong female characters, and discusses the Chinese MudSkipper Fish.

Jenny Jackson: tequila soda (2 1/2 ounces Casamigos blanco, club soda, lime)The highly regarded executive editor and now debut author of the stunning novel PINEAPPLE STREET discusses her thoughts on the changing generational views of wealth and inheritance, her technique in switching POVs in her novel, what it was like returning to the office at Penguin Random after maternity leave, her top literary influences, how she won the bid for CRAZY RICH ASIANS, what it's like editing top authors like Emily St. John Mandel, Chris Bohjalian and Kevin Kwan, and hangover strategies.

Rick Springfield: coffee or Kola Spiced Beach Bar rumRick and I tell the story of sharing the same editor at Simon & Schuster, Rick describes what life was like as both his music and acting careers simultaneously went big in 1981, how a great song gets written in two phases, reveals who is Jessie and who is his girl, reacts to the news that Kellyanne Conway listed in her high school yearbook that her life's ambition is to kiss Rick Springfield, talks about how he has managed to make his struggles with depression a part of his strength and drive.

Amor Towles: Negroni (1 ounce Barr Hill gin, 1 ounce Campari, 1 ounce sweet vermouth with an orange peel)Amor discusses his notebook of story ideas, the piece of hotel stationery that contains the original sketch for A Gentleman in Moscow, the original titles of each of this three books, how he uses the technique of outlining to drive his creative process and the physiological reason it works for him, an editing trick to elevate his work to the best it can be, what he means by 'an Impressionist version of history' and 'timely v timeless', reveals his thoughts on Ewan McGregor starring in A Gentleman in Moscow, talks about his literary influences and favorite books of all time, gives a hint about his next novel, reveals the tradition of Towles Cinema family movie night, and answers some listener questions.

James Patterson: red wine #1 bestselling author of all time discusses his early struggles as a writer when his first manuscript was rejected by 31 publishers, his eventual career transition from advertising executive to full-time writer, the frustrating lack of media attention for his new book about cops, Walk the Blue Line, which was co-authored with Matt Eversmann (retired Army Ranger, winner of the Bronze Star, group leader of the Black Hawk Down, Mogadishu raid), how Amazon is changing the character of Alex Cross for the new streaming series (and why Amazon is doing it), and his worst-ever book event.

Min Jin Lee: Ito En unsweetened green tea Min Jin Lee discusses the grey area between accountability and ‘cancel culture’, how she left the law for fiction writing, the power of fiction to educate, her favorite K-dramas streaming on TV, an update on her next novel and what she and Donna Tartt have in common. 

Brad Thor: Revolver (2 ½ ounces Bulleit bourbon, ½ ounce Kahula, dash of bitters with an orange rind)Hear how Brad Thor predicted Chinese balloons in his novel ten years ago and the other threats he predicted when working for Homeland Security’s Red Cell Unit that later came to pass, whether he will (again) run for President of the USA in 2024, which A-list Chris of Hollywood could play Scot Harvath on the screen, and who wins the MMA bout between Scot Harvath and Jack Reacher.

John Stossel: vodka martini (2 1/2 ounces vodka, 1/2 ounce dry vermouth, lemon twist)19-time Emmy Award winning John Stossel shares how his Jewish parents emigrated from Germany to the USA in the 1920s, recalls his first job working as an office gopher in an Oregon newsroom in 1969, moving to NYC to work for CBS and having fun while renting Hamptons summer homes with John Tesh and Arnold Diaz in the 1980s, considers the talents of Barbara Walters, tells how he conquered his childhood stutter but not before it led to his most embarrassing moment ever on live TV, reflects on the decades of his past writings, and offers some good advice.

Marlon James: Dark & StormyNamed to Time Magazine's list of '100 Most Influential People in the World' Marlon tells why he felt he'd leave Jamaica in either a coffin or a plane, remembers the story of the 78 rejections of his first novel and the amazing save of the manuscript that eventually found a home, relates the tale of a harrowing 'Voluntary Exorcism', discusses the universe of the Dark Star trilogy, how he feels about Postcolonial as a literary movement, and his literary influences that range from Shakespeare and Toni Morrison to Wolverine and Hellboy.