Henry Alford is a distinguished humorist and journalist with over two decades of contributions to The New Yorker. Alford, also a former columnist for The New York Times and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, has authored six books, including the Thurber Prize-winning Big Kiss: One Actor's Desperate Attempt to Claw His Way to the Top.

Years ago, I somehow ended up on his bcc email distribution. He'd ask if we had anything to add to a piece of his, and—I love this—would always ensure we included "the WHERE and WHEN in any anecdote so it isn't unspooling in undefined space.

"Unspooling in undefined space" has always stayed with me. In fact, when I did reply, I ended up in The New York Times, in an article of his: "The Remarkable Shelf Life of the Offhand Comment."

Our conversation centered on his latest work, I Dream of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots. This book offers a fresh perspective on the legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, exploring her journey from her childhood in Saskatoon, Canada, to her influential years in Laurel Canyon. Alford's portrayal is both witty and comprehensive, weaving together anecdotes, quotes, and lyrics to paint a vivid picture of Mitchell's multifaceted persona.

During the discussion, Alford shared insights into his creative process and the challenges of capturing such a complex figure in a non-linear narrative. He emphasized his intent to present Mitchell's life in a manner that reflects her artistic spirit—unconventional and richly textured.

I loved our convo, as I felt I got to know the book and the author in equal measure. I can now consider both "defined space."

I Dream of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots is available now from Gallery Books.

How do you turn your comedy into a TV series? We cover a lot but that's the main theme of this episode. The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh has been ranked the #1 comedy streaming on Amazon Prime, so we turn to its creator Vijal Patel for the answer.

Of all the people I know, Joe Cucci is the one I admire the most in the business world. He's been a mentor of mine for 30 years. He headed up all of Procter & Gamble's salespeople in North America for decades. He's full of wisdom so I can't recommend this episode enough. Enjoy.

Self-described "jagoff nightclub comedian" Jimmy Dore has well north of 1 million YouTube subscribers. He is one of the most prominent true progressive voices in America. He is also one of the nicest guys in the game and it was super cool of him to come sit down with me in my Burbank studio. This marks the first time I've ever given this long of an introduction as I had that much to say about it. Jimmy made more claims in an hour than I think I've ever heard anyone make in any conversation, podcast or otherwise. And I wanted to provide my perspective as someone who has been following US politics for 30+ years. That all said, I felt I owed it to my more experienced and accomplished guest to allow my (and his) audience to hear him unfiltered. So, though the overall length is daunting, you can cue up to 41:39 to hear all of Jimmy's thoughts. Again, I cannot thank him enough for giving me unfettered access to his mind. Enjoy.

In most American cities, comedian Trae Crowder can sell over 1,000 tickets. He's absolutely killin' the game with his video posts. In January 2024, I shared a stage with him here in Burbank as we both performed with the former Burbank Mayor Konstantine Anthony. NGL, I did great. But Trae absolutely crushed. So I was honored when he accepted my invitation to come over and answer my questions. Hilarious and insightful, please enjoy my conversation with the self-described Liberal Redneck, Trae Crowder.

Isaac Saul returns to The TanGent Show after a ton more well-deserved success for his platform, Tangle, which has grown to nearly 100K subscribers in the last few months.

Much of that growth was driven by his post about the current Middle East crisis, which got about 14 million views in a few days.

What is Tangle? Four times a week, Isaac takes a political issue, tells you what the Left is saying, what the Right is saying, and then provides his take. Because he also gives a rundown of quick hits from across the political world, it's become my one-stop shop for all things politics.

Because we both felt we had more "meat on the bone" after Ep. 3, we dove into the best ideas to fix the divide in this country, whether Jan 6th was truly an Insurrection, why America may still be a force for good in this world, and a fascinating "What If..."

Enjoy.

I was ecstatic to sit down with journalist Isaac Saul. His newsletter and podcast, Tangle, have become my primary source of news. And that is saying a lot for a news junkie like me.

I found him truly to be politically up the middle. And since I toured a political show called The Man in The Middle, his takes in this episode resonated deeply with me.

We covered many questions including the political makeup of his ever-increasing audience, what kind of praise he finds the most meaningful, what kind of criticism drives him crazy, which part of the process feels like work, which party is doing the most to help (and hurt) the average American, whether Donald Trump's supporters really believe he can fix the country, and more.

But we started with, "Why did you name your show Tangle?" Enjoy.

In June 2023, Comedian Jocelyn Chia made the front page of The New York Times. The Singaporean got into hot water when she told a series of jokes at the Comedy Cellar in NY that the country of Malaysia didn't appreciate. Yes, not just a few Malaysians. A country. I DMd Jocelyn on IG because I admired her willingness to stand her ground and not apologize for a joke. She graced me with her presence, and I'm not using "grace" simply because it's a common Asian name. I was honored she sat down with me over Zoom to deep-dive into what happened, how she dealt with it, how the levels of trust about the media among Asian and American comedians differ, and how Jocelyn's mental health preparation enabled her to not only weather the storm but also to capitalize on the moment.

BIO: Jocelyn Chia is a New York-based lawyer-turned-comedian. She is a regular at the Comedy Cellar and Gotham Comedy Club, and  has been featured in Vulture, Vice, CNN, BBC, and (if you read above), The New York Times.  She has been on the Howard Stern Channel of Sirius XM, MTV, Gutfeld! on Fox News, TMZ, Vice TV, and Comedy Central.  Follow her on at instagram.com/chiacomedy.