1000 w/ Ron Placone

Kelly Spillman is a psychology professor and comedian. She’s also a friend of mine. In 2020, she was diagnosed with stage 4 Colon Cancer. She has a show currently running at the Hollywood Fringe Festival called “I Blame Florida”. The show documents her cancer battle, as well as how she finds meaning and hope in this incredibly difficult struggle. This is an emotional one y’all...

Giovannie Espiritu is an actress, filmmaker, and educator. She’s escaped from a cult, an abusive marriage, she’s overcome extensive loss and grief, all while maintaining a family and a career. To say her story is inspirational is an understatement. 

Robin Waite is an author, mentor, and coach. I came across Robin’s book, “Take Your Shot”, and I absolutely loved it. It used story to teach the principles of turning your passion project into a sustainable living. Robin narrated the audiobook himself. I couldn’t stop listening to it.

It used golf as a back drop, best part, I don’t even like golf! I decided I needed to learn more about Robin and his story.

Satori Shakoor is a storyteller, singer, actress, and comedian. She’s lived multiple lives in multiple places but she’s always found her way back to the Motor City. She’s worked with legends in comedy and film, and she toured with Parliament-Funkadelic. Yes, you heard that right.

Caroline O’Riordan is a writer, filmmaker, and healthcare activist. She founded the group Hollywood4CalCare, an organization dedicated to making health care a human right in California.

That’s how I met her, and she was at the Termination Fee preview. We get to know her origin story, and of course we go off on some policy talk.

Brian Kiley is a comedic force. He’s a stand-up and writer. He wrote for Conan for nearly 30 years, he’s won Emmys, and he’s among the most respected comedy writers in the game. He’s the type of comic where when you’re on a bill with him, you never want to miss his set. I was stoked when he agreed to do the show.

Nate Golon is a filmmaker, producer, educator, and world traveler. I saw him speak on a panel at WonderCon and he mentioned that he sold a series to Hulu and then decided to walk away from all of it and go live in Japan. Ok, I got to get this guy’s story! Creativity, passion, life’s journey, this is what 1000 is all about!

Comics! The print kind! Barbra Dillon is a comic book publisher and creator. She’s the co-founder of Fanbase Press, a comic book publisher and “geek culture” website. I saw her speak at a panel at WonderCon and wanted to know more about the publishing niche that she and her husband built. Upon meeting her, I found out we both grew up in Pittsburgh around the same time.

Esteban Gast is a comedian, content creator, and educator. He’s the comedian in residence at Generation 180 where he created the Climate Comedy Cohort. I saw him recently at an event hosted by Adam McKay’s company. This is my first time talking to him and it’s almost eerie how much we have in common. This is a chatty episode, couldn’t help it.

Calling All Writers!

Mike Royce is a writer and producer. His list of credits is not short. One Day at a Time, Men of a Certain Age, Everybody Loves Raymond, and that’s just scratching the surface.

Additionally, during the recent writer and actor strikes, Mike was very vocal advocating for creatives and Unions.

Alonzo Bodden is a comedian and actor. He won Last Comic Standing (Season 3), he’s a regular on the NPR show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me,” and that’s barely touching his resume. I’ve known Alonzo for a long time and always loved crossing paths with him. I get to know a bit more about the man behind the content in this episode, though we definitely dive into the weeds of the current state of affairs. Tough not to.

Lee Camp is a comedian, writer, podcaster, and show host. He hosted the teeth-as-sharp-nails political comedy show, Redacted Tonight, which tragically got axed as the result of years of misdirected nationwide hysteria.

I’ve known Lee for a long time, given the theme of the show, I’d originally planned for him to be a December episode, but he’s got a new show out, so the time is now!

Eleanor Goldfield is a journalist, filmmaker, and, more than anything, she’s a creative radical. She co-hosts Common Censored and Project Censored. Also, I hope she doesn’t mind my saying so, she put out some killer music a few years back. I’ve been following her for years now, and figured now was a perfect time for us to dive into the world.