The News Junkie: Interviews: Recent Episodes
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The News Junkie: Interviews is a podcast with deeper conversations with newsmakers and celebrities. Subscribe, rate and review now. Questions? tips@thenewsjunkie.com
David Riedman is the creator of the K-12 school shooting database and a man with a deep insight on how school shooters take shape. Riedman joins the show to talk about all of the surprising things he has discovered in this trove of data about an admittedly macabre topic. He will make you question some of the ideas you may have on why and how these school shootings happen. Most importantly, he has some very important ideas on how to make it stop.
A researcher wanted to find out what life was like in the sewer system and his results have been featured in newspapers around the world, including the New York Times. What kind of animals live in and travel through the sewers? What is life actually like down there? Ph.D. student Alan Ivory takes the plunge and tells us his sewer secrets.
If you're a fan of the Insidious horror movie series, you might have been excited to hear they launched a stage show and a national tour. People who bought tickets were promised '90 minutes of immersive horror' but they got one of the worst stage shows of all time. Here's how it all went wrong.
Devin Perkins was driving down the road with a carful of friends when Thomas Petry purposefully swerved into oncoming traffic to hit his vehicle, causing a fatal accident. Three of his friends died in the crash and Devin was severely injured. The State Attorney decided to file charges against Devin Perkins because he was speeding at the time of the crash. He now faces life in prison. Is Devin Perkins a victim or a criminal? His mother helps us unravel this shocking story of nuance crashing into the Justice System.
Nathan Tape is the director of a new movie called Off Ramp that centers around a pair of Juggalos attempting to make their way to The Gathering. All sorts of hijinks get in the way in this really well written indie movie and the two lead characters pull off the herculean task of making Juggalos seem just like the rest of us. How much did it cost to make Off Ramp? What tricks did Nathan use to save money and put out an incredibly high quality product? We ask all this and more and encourage you to give the movie a watch.
Daniel Sharkey is a hard-working 17 year-old who was busy mowing lawns for his summer business when he was struck by lightning. He joins us live from the hospital to tell his story. What does it feel like to get struck by lightning? How far did the strike make him fly up into the air? Did he gain any super powers? All your 'struck by lightning' questions are answered in this chat.
Jackass legend Steve-O joins the show to show off his insane new tattoo and talk about a very special show he's working on right now. He's shirtless on his tour bus and he's chatting it up with Shawn, Sabrina and C-Lane about all the strange things happening in his life right now. Was it easier to get famous before YouTube? Is he going to get a boob job? We learn a lot about a very interesting and unique talent in this great interview.
Joey Rosati answered a phone call while shopping at Costco and quickly got wrapped up in one of the most involved phone scams of all time. The best way to avoid being scammed for 10's of thousands of dollars is to learn from other people's mistakes. Joey is tech savvy and skeptical yet he was moments away from sending $10,000 to a man who claimed to the the Sheriff.
Delian Asparouhov calls himself the 'world's first space drugs and arms dealer' and we're here to find out why. We talk about lab grown meat, drugs in space, crazy new tech projects and a prank he pulled at MIT that ended in his arrest.
Joe DiMeo was just a teenager when he crashed his Dodge Challenger in New Jersey. He woke up four months later and underwent dozens of surgeries including a face transplant and two hand transplants. What is it like to look in the mirror and see yourself in a brand new face? What are the things he struggles with after the procedure? We ask all the questions you've been dying to ask to a man who stays optimistic despite all the trauma he's been through.
Andre Pitre is Jesus Christ, or at least sometimes he is. What is it like to be Jesus Christ at Holyland for Easter? Do people often confuse you for the real thing? How much does Jesus make to be crucified over and over and over? Today we answer all of these questions and more!
Flash Shelton is a man who hunts squatters. When the police can't do anything and politicians have their hands tied, Flash uses his mind and weapons to get squatters out of homes. Find out how he squats the squatters and what kind of weapons he brings along for the ride. Also, what drove Flash Shelton to start the Squatter Hunters in the first place?
Jonathan McDowell is an astrophysicist and astronomer for Harvard and we finally get to ask someone of his caliber all of the big space questions we've been saving up. Why are we headed back to the moon? What does failure mean? And is Shawn right about Space photos?
Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge is a huge hit that has divided audiences. Were the players tortured and treated poorly? Is it wrong to put them through these games only for them to lose the money? Roger Van Sluis was one of the 456 contestants vying for $4.5 million and he's joining us to spill all the behind-the-scenes secrets from the set of Squid Game: The Challenge.
Erin Heard is a NSF Station Manager who is currently at McMurdo station in Antarctica. We talk about everything from daily life in Antartica, food, the jail situation and the type of research they are working on at McMurdo. One thing is for sure, the logistics it takes to run in entire city in the most remote location on the planet are absolutely fascinating.
The psychopath is back. Jane Doe joins us once more with updates on her situation. Has her husband found out she's a psychopath? Did mass murder suspect Bryan Kohberger respond to her letter? Wait until you hear what makes her laugh uncontrollably during the chat.
Five adventure-seeking people, including a billionaire and a son who was terrified to go but didn't want to upset his father, died on a sub tour to the Titanic wreckage. How did the rescue attempt go down? What's it like in one of these subs? Stephen Wood is a professor and chair of the Ocean Engineering Department at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne and a man with some answers.
Hollywood has grinded to a halt as another writers' strike starts to have an impact. We talk to a striking writer to see what it's like to writer for King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead, Just Shoot Me (and tons more) during the strike. Also, what is the life of a writer like in general? What's it like to work on these shows that so many people watch? Michael Jamin fills us in on everything.
Nearly 7 years ago, one of the worst mass shootings in the history of the United States of America was inflicted on Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. In those 7 years, millions has been donated to an organization called onePULSE but now questions are surfacing about where that money went and some wonder if the owner of Pulse Nightclub is chasing after a big payday.
An anonymous caller joins the show to explain how they fell in love with Bryan Christopher Kohberger, the man suspected of killing 4 University of Idaho students. Jane Doe says she's the most qualified lover to be with the murder suspect and explains her attraction to him.
MrBeast's video '1,000 Blind People See For The First Time' is a mega hit, racking up tens of millions of views and becoming the most popular video on YouTube. Jeff Levenson is the Jacksonville, Florida surgeon that helped pull the stunt off. What was it like working with MrBeast?
Jimmy Gadomski is an experienced underwater explorer and deep sea treasure hunter. While trying so solve one of history's mysteries he ended up finding a piece of the space shuttle Challenger. But will he give us one of his coins?
Dr. Kevin Debiparshad makes dreams come true. That is, if your dream is to be 3 to 6 inches taller. But how does it work? How much does it cost to be a tall person? And what question can Shawn ask him to make things very uncomfortable?
We go live to Black Rock City in the middle of the Desert in Nevada. Once per year this place fills up with 80,000 'Burners' who are there to celebrate Burning Man. We talk to our friend Johnny Diggz to see how it all works and how things have changed.
Martin Cooper invented the cell phone and change the entire world while doing so. He talks about the first ever phone call, promotional stunts, whether or not he's rich and so much more.
Rachel Nuwer is an independent journalist who went undercover to gain access to black markets for wildlife. How does wildlife trafficking work? What animals are the most valuable? Who are these people who smuggle animals through airports? Rachel has the answers for us.
Dr Stephanie Page is at the forefront of male birth control studies, methods and testing. So it's time to ask, what are the options for men? How long until male birth control hits the market?
Grid Man, Grid Jesus, whatever you want to call him is fine. Teddy is the guy who is actually in charge of the 'grid,' the thing you hear so much about but you don't really know what it is. Let's find out what a nightmare scenario looks like to him.
A company named Miso Robotics is revolutionizing the fast food world. How did they pivot from a burger flipping robot that got fired to a industry leader so fast? What secret robots are they working on for the future?
Greg Shaffer is a 20 year FBI veteran and former member of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team. Shaffer has done security for events like the Super Bowl and the World Series. In the wake of the Texas school shooting, what when wrong and how can we stop this?
Melain Rodriguez of Viagen Pets explains how the process of cloning your pet works, how much it costs and what happens when it goes wrong.
Jim Welsh of Elite Horse Transport joins the show to talk about the logistics of getting all of the horses to the Kentucky Derby. How do you get a horse on a plane? How much does it cost to ship a horse from Japan to the United States? Find out now.
Rider isn't just a major voice in the world of entertainment, with gigs from CBS football to Stephen Colbert and Shark Week, he's also the host of the first radio show Shawn ever worked for!
Bryce Weiler has made headlines around the country for calling sports games on the radio despite that fact that he was born blind.
Planetary astronomer Andy Rivkin is one of the team leads for NASA's DART program to defend the planet from asteroid strikes. How accurate is the new movie Don't Look Up? Are we going to get wiped out?
YouTuber 'Exploring the Nug' goes on solo missions to solve cold cases. You won't believe what he finds deep in lakes and rivers. He's going viral for his latest video.
Shawn dives into the insane and explosively growing world of NFTs with a collector named PackPhour. They discuss how to understand what NFTs are, what The News Junkie is planning to do with NFTs and the future of this exciting breakthrough technology.
Monique Reymond is a world-class foley artist who has added sounds to some of the biggest movies and television shows on the planet. Find out what tools she brings to the studio to recreate slaps, footsteps and slashes, how she got into the business and so much more in this interview.
Taylor Grimes has taken eight different Covid-19 tests. Some come back positive, some come back negative. He's now been on a cruise ship for EIGHT weeks. Listen to his amazing story.
Dr. Dena Grayson is a medical doctor, a scientist and an expert on infectious diseases. She tells us how to avoid the Coronavirus, different dangers to avoid, what it does to your body and more. Dr Grayson also sounds the alarm on things we're doing wrong in our battle against the virus.
Jim Faherty took a call that would change his life forever. On the other end, his godfather told him he had a million dollar winning piece in the McDonalds Monopoly contest. Jim tells his story as the HBO hit show McMillions continues to draw in viewers every week.
Gina Devasahayam joins The News Junkie to talk about reports suggesting she is an obsessed fan that is harassing New York Yankees player Brett Gardner. Devasahayam says the reports are 'libelous' and she is in a relationship with Gardner. She says the family is spreading lies about her and she wants to be with him because he is 'lying about the truth.'
The Impractical Jokers have soared to popularity since their show debuted nearly a decade ago on Tru TV. James Murray has been a constant source of laughs on the show as well as on the game show The Misery Index. As the Impractical Jokers celebrate their 200th show and a movie hitting theaters this week, James Murray joins me for an episode of The News Junkie: Interviews.
Darryl Payne is one of the most experienced dog trainers in the United States. He's changed lives for dogs and owners alike because he knows a great deal about these great animals who have certainly earned the title Man's Best Friend. But what do dogs see? What do they do when you're at work? Do they remember things? Do they understand time? We'll answer all these questions and more as we find out just how smart dogs are on The News Junkie: Interviews
John McAfee, the man, myth and legend, the genius behind McAfee anti-virus software that made him over $100 million is the guest this week on the show. Did McAfee murder a man who robbed his house? Did he kill a guy who poisoned his dog? Is he on drugs? Is he broke? I ask him all this and more on this controversial episode.
The News Junkie: Interviews Season 2 kicks off with an interview with Emmy Award-winning nature documentarian Gavin Thurston. He's friends with Sir David Attenborough, has traveled the world experiencing things that will blow your mind and has even been slapped by a Gorilla. Get his new book 'Journeys in the Wild: The Secret Life of a Cameraman' on Amazon now.
There are currently 120,000 people waiting on organ transplant lists across the United States. Each year, over 35,000 transplant procedures slowly chip away at this growing list. Of those 35,000, about 35 get a lung transplant. Our guest this week, Joel Kelly dishes up the wild details of what it's like to get a double lung transplant.
Each year, millions of people tune in to watch about a dozen other people live in a house on television. Every second of the contestants lives is broadcast on the Internet and on a television show produced several days each week. People have learned of family tragedies, events like 9/11, their positive HIV status and more as the audience watches it all. But what is it like to be on CBS's Big Brother? How do you get on the show? What are the production secrets everyone wants to know? This week we talk to Rachel Swindler, star of Big Brother 20.
Tornadoes damage homes to the tune of about $400 million each year. They also kill, on average, about 70 people in that same time frame. So why on Earth do people purposefully chase these dangerous storms? This week we talk to professional storm chaser Zach Sharpe about chasing storms, the tools of the trade and his most epic chase stories.
The newspaper, once a juggernaut in the news world, is ready for its second act. This week we talk to Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell about what it's like to work for a major daily newspaper, how people react to his stories and the secrets from the newsroom floor.
In the glory days of the Internet, shock websites were everywhere. Believe it or not, I worked closely with more of these homes on the dark side of the Internet than I'd like to admit. On this Small Talk episode of The News Junkie: Interviews we chat with Hayden Hewitt, co-founder of Live Leak about the future of shocking content, censorship and the Internet.
Each day nearly one million people pick up the phone and dial 911. But what is it like to be on the other side of that call? What information do they know about you? What does the office look like? Dispatch Dan has worked as a 911 dispatcher for over a decade. He's saved lives, helped deliver babies and heard it all. This week we find out what it's like to be a 911 dispatcher.
Ron Thomson has killed 5,000 elephants, 800 buffalo, 60 lions, 40 leopards and countless more wild animals not to collect their hides and horns but to save their species. Trophy hunting is a wildly controversial topic and the conversation has been dominated by animal rights advocates. But, could it possibly be true that we have it all wrong? Does big game trophy hunting actually save animals?
Is competitive eating a sport? Competitive eating has winners and losers, cheaters and liar and even groupies. People from all over the world come to events like the annual Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, New York. This week we talk with competitive eater Michael Jenkins to get the secrets behind a phenomenon that excites some and grosses others out.
Do your political leanings, whether Liberal or Conservative, come from your genes? Genopolitics may sound boring but the investigation of what makes you tick, what makes you vote for one politician over another, is a truly interesting topic. This week we talk to Professor John Hibbing of the University of Nebraska, a man who has spent his life searching for the answer to this amazing question.
What in the hell did I get myself into? That was the question I asked myself as I took on the task of doing an investigative crime podcast on my own. The story had it all: a rich woman murdered, a pest control guy with a gambling problem arrested and more twists and turns than you could ever imagine. But where did it all go? What's happening now? What happened to Millionaire Murder?
What is it like to climb Mount Everest? It's an experience that only about 5,000 people on the planet can explain. More than 300 people have died while attempting to make it to the top. Recently, news stories suggest long lines and crowds are causing chaos on Everest. This week we talk to Matthew Dieumegard, one of the few who have reached the top, about how much it costs, the sights, sounds and dead bodies and so much more.
Is Lenore Skenazy the worst mom in the world? Free-range parenting has landed parents in jail, kids in state care and proponents in the headlines. This week we talk to the founder of the movement, Lenore Skenazy, to discuss modern day parenting, media scare tactics and when free range parenting goes too far.
Does comedy have a free speech problem? All across the country, most notably on college campuses, comedians are being silenced, their views deemed offensive to others. This week we talked to controversial comedian Nick Di Paolo about the current state of comedy, the clash between free speech and social justice and so much more.
What is the celebrity sex cult NXIVM? A story of manipulation, sex, celebrity and power has hit headlines across the world but many people find it all hard to understand. This week we talk to Frank Parlato, the whistleblower who brought the secret sex cult out of the shadows, on a quest for some answers.
Why did the circus die? What was once a treasured American institution has fallen victim to protests and falling ticket sales. This week we talk to Johnathan Lee Iverson, who calls himself The Last Ringmaster, about what it was like to lead the Greatest Show on Earth in the final days of the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
What is it like to be blind? How do blind people find love, surf the Internet and travel the world? How do they want you to help (or not help) them out? This week we talk to Dan Barra-Berger, a blind man who traveled the world and is now finding his way as a standup comedian.
What will the world look like in 2045? What will we be eating, driving and doing for fun? How will education change for children? In a now famous segment from 1994, the Today Show cast was bewildered by this new thing called The Internet. 25 years later so much has changed. Let's chat with famed futurist David Houle about what life looks like in the future.
In the wake of the shocking sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson in the Leaving Neverland documentary, hardcore MJ fans are disputing allegations and defending the King of Pop. Rebuttal documentaries are gaining lots of viewers but the mainstream media seems to be all but ignoring this defense. Let's chat with a 'Michael Jackson Truther' to see if Michael Jackson is guilty as charged or the innocent victim of a horrific smear campaign.
The first exclusive FREE podcast from The News Junkie debuts soon. The News Junkie: Interviews will be interesting, intriguing and different interviews with newsmakers, celebrities and people just like you.