A Conversation with Amy Irving
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Amy Irving’s film career soared in the 1980s. She was featured in the film Yentl, a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination. In the movie Crossing Delancey, Irving plays a single woman who falls in love with a pickle merchant. In real life, Irving married Steven Spielberg, a relationship that ended in divorce. She co-starred with Willie Nelson in the film Honeysuckle Rose and that was the beginning of a life-long friendship with Nelson. Irving’s career has shifted away from acting and towards music. She’s got a new album which features Willie Nelson...
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A Conversation With E.A. Hanks
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Elizabeth Anne Hanks is a writer. She’s also the daughter of Tom Hanks. Her mother Susan was married to Tom Hanks before he became a movie star. Elizabeth grew up with her mother and older brother in Sacramento while her dad’s career in Hollywood took off with lead roles in movies like Big and Forrest Gump. Elizabeth could relate to something the character of Forrest said in the film. "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” What Elizabeth got is a childhood she writes about in her memoir called The 10. It’s the story of being...
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A Conversation With Pico Iyer
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Pico Iyer is a travel writer and a novelist who has spent time in far flung places like Ethiopia, Tibet, North Korea, Bhutan and Nepal exploring the history, culture and food of diverse cultures. In contrast to his life on the road in places, Iyer is now spending more time exploring his inner life. That’s what his latest book called Aflame Is all about. Several times a year, Iyer visits a Benedictine monastery in Big Sur which he finds to be a refuge from the crowded noisy world he usually inhabits. Iyer examines the benefits of just sitting still and doing nothing. We talk...
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A Conversation with Jeffrey Toobin
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Pardons are about presidential power. Many presidents wait until the end of their term to issue them. Not Donald Trump. He has pardoned more than 1500 people who took part in the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. President Trump has also issued more than 70 executive orders, another instrument of presidential power. They focus on shrinking the government, imposing tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada and freezing foreign aid. Many of these actions are facing lawsuits and judicial rulings. So, what will the federal government look like when the dust settles? I talk to legal scholar...
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A Conversation with Laraine Newman
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Picture this. It was my first job in radio. I decided to do a series about women and comedy. The idea coincided with the birth of Saturday Night Live. The first interview: Gilda Radner. We sat on the floor, right across from Studio 8H where the show is still performed. Gilda told me all about what life is like when you become an overnight star. Then I talked to Jane Curtin about people asking her for autographs when she walked her dog. Somehow, in those years I missed talking to Laraine Newman. But I finally just caught up with her. And she’s the star of this episode. It's an outrageous...
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A Conversation with Rick Steves
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Rick Steves is a travel writer who’s on a mission. His name appears on guidebooks to nearly every country on the continent including Croatia and Slovenia as well as France and Italy. His television series Rick Steves Europe debuted on PBS 25 years ago. Steves advises travelers to get off the beaten trail and head for villages where they can see the way local people really live. He’s also a passionate advocate for legalizing marijuana. Steves’ new book is called On the Hippie Trail. It’s a detailed journal about a trip he took from Istanbul to Kathmandu when he was 23...
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A Conversation with Alan Lightman
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Alan Lightman likes to look at things very closely. Lightman is a physicist at MIT who has written 7 novels including the best-selling Einstein’s Dreams. Lightman, who writes poetry in his spare time, calls himself a spiritual materialist. That’s a belief that you can find the spiritual within the realm of science. Lightman was also the host of the PBS television series Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science. His latest book is called The Miraculous from the Material. It contains essays about the marvels of the universe like Mandarin fish, the northern...
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A Conversation With Maira Kalman
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
Maira Kalman is one of those multi-talented people. She writes children’s books and books for adults. She’s also a contributor to the New York Times. She creates covers for the New Yorker and sets for operas Her latest work is a book of essays called Still Life with Remorse that includes family stories and paintings she’s done. It also includes vignettes about historical figures like Leo Tolstoy and Franz Kafka. In fact, Kalman likes to dress up as these characters like Kafka and make little films about them. Her son Alex shoots the movies. They’re very funny. We laugh about a lot...
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The Best of "Now What" 2024
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
We're speeding towards the end of the year, a time for remembering and reflecting. When I think of "Now What?" I think of the extraordinary people I was privileged to speak with this year and that’s why this episode is a Best Of. Jane Fonda, who just celebrated her 87th birthday, shared a lifetime of experiences including information about her sex life. And when you talk about inspiring, there’s no one who shines like Suleika Jaouad. The best-selling writer and painter talks about how an illness she’s been dealing with since she was in her early 20s, has taught her to live in the...
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A Conversation with Rabbi Andy Bachman
Now What? With Carole Zimmer
I first met Andy Bachman when he was a rabbinical student and he tutored my son Jon for his bar mitzvah. Bachman later served as Senior Rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim, the reform synagogue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In August, Bachman was supposed to participate in a discussion at the Powerhouse Arena bookstore. When he arrived, he found a sign in the window that said the event had been cancelled. Bachman later found out the discussion had been called off because he’s a Zionist. This is an important conversation about intolerance, war and political divisions. “Now What?” is produced...
info_outlineShe used to make her living standing in Harvard Square as a statue known as the Eight Foot Bride. Then Amanda Palmer founded the punk cabaret band The Dresden Dolls. And she’s not afraid to tell you what’s on her mind. Palmer shares her feelings online and when she performs on stage. Her fans are passionate about the musician and the person. Palmer has more than 24,000 supporters on Patreon. She’s recently been named an honoree of the She Rocks Awards which recognizes women who have broken barriers in the music industry. “Now What?” is produced with the help of Steve Zimmer, Lucy Little and Jackie Schwartz. Audio production is by Nick Ciavatta.