Now What? With Carole Zimmer
As a child, Ed Begley Jr. watched his dad act in films like Sweet Bird of Youth, a role that earned him an Oscar. His father’s career inspired the younger Begley to go into acting where he has appeared in hundreds of films and TV shows including Better Call Saul and Young Sheldon. In his twenties. Ed Begley, Jr. drank too much and abused drugs. Addiction is now in his past. Begley is also a passionate environmentalist. He took public transportation to the Oscars ceremony which his daughter Hayden filmed and posted on Tik Tok where it’s gotten more than 6 million...
info_outline A Conversation With Lucy SanteNow What? With Carole Zimmer
Lucy Sante is a well-known author and critic who has written more than 10 books. Her latest is the memoir l Heard Her Call My Name. It’s the first book she’s written under the name Lucy. Lucy started out life with the name Luke. At the age of 67, she decided to fulfill a long-held desire to transition to a woman. It’s now been three years since Lucy came out. We talk about the challenges of changing her gender, whether she thinks about things differently now that she’s a woman and what kind of clothes she likes to wear. “Now What?” is produced with the help of Steve Zimmer,...
info_outline A Conversation With Suleika JaouadNow What? With Carole Zimmer
Who faces death at the age of 22? Suleika Jaouad did. After Suleika was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer, she had a bone marrow transplant. At the age of 26 Suleika was declared cancer free. Suleika is the author of the best-selling memoir Between Two Kingdoms. She’s married to Jon Batiste, the former band leader for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and a 5-time Grammy award winner. Two years ago, Suleika’s cancer came back and she had a second bone marrow transplant. She has thought a lot about life and death and all the moments in between. Our conversation made me cry. You won’t...
info_outline A Conversation With Jane FondaNow What? With Carole Zimmer
No one embodies the concept of change and durability in one lifetime like Jane Fonda. She started out as what some might call a Nepo Baby, the daughter of Henry Fonda, an actor who was considered Hollywood royalty. During her long career, Jane Fonda has appeared in more than 50 films, earning Oscars for Best Actress for her roles in Klute and Coming Home. Fonda became as famous for her politics as she did for her acting roles. Her anti-Vietnam war activities earned her the nick name of Hanoi Jane. She also became a fitness guru. Now that her successful Netflix...
info_outline A Conversation With Dr. Anthony FauciNow What? With Carole Zimmer
In 2023, 83-year old Dr. Anthony Fauci retired as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a job he’d held for 38 years. Once called “America’s Doctor,” Dr. Fauci had often been vilified for his role on the White House Coronavirus Task Force under President Donald Trump. In the past year, Dr. Fauci’s critics have only gotten louder. In his book on the scientist, Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a staunch anti-vaxxer, wrote, “I think he is a genuinely bad human being.” I caught up with Dr. Fauci to find out why he thinks he’s...
info_outline A Conversation With Lisa CortesNow What? With Carole Zimmer
Filmmaker Lisa Cortes brought a 1950s rock ‘n’ roll legend to life again in her rollicking new documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything. Richard, who was known for hits like Long Tall Sally and Tutti Frutti, was a complicated personality who felt he never got the kind of recognition that he deserved. But in Cortes’ film, celebrated musicians talk about how Richard influenced their work. Mick Jagger says he studied Richard’s dance moves and Paul McCartney credits Richard with teaching him how to shriek. I talk to Lisa Cortes about making films that set the...
info_outline A Tribute To Norman LearNow What? With Carole Zimmer
I was so lucky to have spent a few hours with Norman Lear who recently died at the age of 101. Lear was 95 at the time we talked. In the 1970s he created a television empire with shows that dominated the network ratings like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons and Maude. These series changed television forever by tackling subjects like racism and social inequality. Lear was also an outspoken liberal. In 2001 he bought a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence for more than $8 million and arranged for it to tour around the U.S. as a way to...
info_outline A Conversation With Charles BuschNow What? With Carole Zimmer
Charles Busch made a name for himself as a playwright and a leading lady in drag with productions like the off-Broadway cult classic Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. That campy theatrical spoof was followed by Psycho Beach Party and Pardon My Inquisition, or, Kiss the Blood off My Castanets. Busch also appeared in the TV show Oz where he plays a cross- dressing homosexual who smothers his Mafia cellmate. When it comes to playing male roles, Busch says he’s nothing great. It’s when he puts on gowns and wigs that his imagination really takes flight. We talk about...
info_outline A Conversation With Paulina Porizkova Re-ReleaseNow What? With Carole Zimmer
Paulina Porizkova, who was a supermodel in the 80s, has one of those rags to riches stories which she talked with me about on “Now What?” in December 2022. That conversation has just been honored with a Clarion award for Best Podcast given by the Association of Women in Communications. Life has not always been star turns for Paulina who was born in Eastern Europe. She began modeling in Paris at the age of 15. When she was 19, she met her future husband Ric Ocasek, lead singer of the Cars. We talk about Paulina’s memoir Unfiltered: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful and what it...
info_outline A Conversation With Walter MosleyNow What? With Carole Zimmer
When it comes to the word prolific, Walter Mosley fits right in. He’s written about 60 books. His latest is the sci-fi novella Touched. Mosley’s first work of crime fiction, Devil in a Blue Dress, features the character of a black private detective named Easy Rawlins who lives in the Watts neighborhood of LA. It was made into a film starring Denzel Washington. Mosley was also brought up in LA with a Jewish mother and an African American father. Growing up as an only child, Mosley has said his writing imagination might come from an emptiness in his...
info_outlineMark Bittman has been in the center of the world of food and cooking for the past 40 years. He was a long-time columnist for the New York Times and has written more than 30 books. His latest is “Animal, Vegetable, Junk: From Sustainable to Suicidal. It’s a deep dive into the history of agriculture as far back as the Crusades. We talk about farming, the environment and the future of the planet. “Now What?” is produced with the help of Steve Zimmer, Tay Glass and Alex Wolfe. Audio production is by Nick Ciavatta.