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George Papadopoulos on Mueller Investigation Intrigue Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

As America waits for the full Mueller Report, I talk with the first Trump official to plead guilty in the Mueller Investigation. George Papadopoulos was the young foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign who reportedly told an Australian diplomat that Russia had thousands of hacked emails that could damage Hillary Clinton and tip the 2016 election to Donald Trump. He talks about the Maltese professor who first told him about the Clinton emails and why the mysterious professor has now vanished. I ask him whether he ever attempted to take the professor up on his offer, whether he reported news of the emails back to the Trump campaign, and why he didn’t take this information to U.S. authorities at the time. Papadopoulos explains why he refused to wear a wire for the FBI, why he says he didn’t intend to lie to the Mueller Investigation, and why he now believes that he was a "patsy" in what may have otherwise been a legitimate investigation into Donald Trump’s connections to Russia. Plus he discusses why he’s considering withdrawing his guilty plea and whether he might get a pardon from President Trump himself.

Order his book Deep State Target: How I Got Caught in the Crosshairs of the Plot to Bring Down President Trump on Amazon, Audible or wherever books are sold. Today's podcast was sponsored by The Rochester Institute of Technology. Subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review, follow us on Twitter at @KickassNewsPod, and take our short listeners survey at www.podsurvey.com/kick.

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Chelsea Handler's Crush on Robert Mueller Apr 08, 2019

Show notes

Comedian Chelsea Handler recalls her anger in the wake of the 2016 election and how Donald Trump became the unlikely catalyst for Chelsea to work through some unresolved personal issues with the help of a clever psychiatrist named Dan. She discusses her decision to walk away from her Netflix talk show in order to dedicate herself to political activism and campaigning for minority and female candidates in 2018. Chelsea opens up about how the sudden death of her favorite brother impacted every relationship she has had since then, she says she's finally ready to find a serious partner now, and she lists some of her dealbreakers for a potential mate. Chelsea talks about the moment she realized she was incapable of operating her own television or making herself a cup of coffee, how she cured herself of “domestic amnesia," and she describes the humbling experience of making a documentary about white privilege. Plus we get into her deep attraction to Robert Mueller, her obsession with rescuing Chow-Chows, how to fake a Jewish funeral, and more.

Order Chelsea Hander's new book Life Will Be the Death of Me: . . . and you too! on Amazon, Audible or wherever books are sold. Keep up with Chelsea at www.chelseahandler.com and follow her on Twitter at @ChelseaHandler. Today's podcast was sponsored by Kronos and Zebit. Subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review, follow us on Twitter at @KickassNewsPod, and take our short listeners survey at www.podsurvey.com/kick.

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Wyatt Cenac Fixes America One Problem at a Time Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

Comedian Wyatt Cenac discusses how he wanted to distinguish his HBO docuseries Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas from his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show including forgoing the traditional studio audience and creating a fun retro 70s look for the show. He talks about checking his own biases to explore different perspectives on the contentious issue of policing urban communities, what he wants to learn about America’s education system in Season 2 of Problem Areas, and why the topic of school choice is so controversial. Plus we get into the college admissions scandal, goat yoga, and more.

Season 2 of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas debuts Friday, April 5 at 11 p.m. ET on HBO. Visit www.wyattcenac.com for more info on Wyatt including his upcoming standup dates and follow him on twitter at @WyattCenac. Please subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review, follow us on Twitter at @KickassNewsPod, and take our short listeners survey at www.podsurvey.com/kick.

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Preet Bharara Says Justice Isn't Just for Lawyers Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

Preet Bharara talks about his eight years as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, what movies and TV get wrong about criminal investigations, and why the job is more than just "connecting the dots" or "following the money." He says if you want to get a confession out of a bad guy, food works better than playing hardball, he discusses the devil's bargain of cutting deals with cooperating witnesses, and why sometimes the cases you don’t prosecute are just as important as the ones you do. Plus Preet weigh in on the Mueller Report, whether U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr’s interpretation of the report can be trusted, why Mueller didn’t make any recommendations, and whether Mueller intended to "punt" those decisions to Congress rather than Barr.

Order Preet Bharara's book Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law on Amazon, Audible or wherever books are sold. Subscribe to his podcast Stay Tuned with Preet on Apple Podcasts and follow him on Twitter at @PreetBharara. Today's podcast was sponsored by BetterHelp. Please subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review, follow us on Twitter at @KickassNewsPod, and take our short listeners survey at www.podsurvey.com/kick.

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Stacey Abrams Talks Politics, Star Trek, and 2020 Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

has become a political superstar since running for governor of Georgia in 2018 and delivering the Democratic response to President Trump's State of the Union this February. We talk about her private meeting with Joe Biden, the...

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Jeff Bridges Gets Zen About Art, Acting, and the Environment (rerun) Mar 25, 2019

Show notes

discusses his 6 decades in Hollywood and what he learned about acting from dad Lloyd Bridges. He recalls the "Little Rascals" version of Tucker that he and Francis Ford Coppola made prior to filming, laughing it up with...

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Drs. Warren Farrell and John Gray Warn That Boys Are In Crisis Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

Bestselling authors Dr. Warren Farrell (Why Men Are The Way They Are) and Dr. John Gray (Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus) warn that boys around the world are in crisis and say it's largely the result of a crisis of fathers who suffer from a "purpose void" as their traditional role is being diminished. They reveal how moms and dads parent differently and how fathers use things like rough-housing with the kids to establish boundaries. They discuss how the lack of boundaries can lead to ADD and ADHD in young men and caution parents to focus on the root cause of ADD before they resort to drugs like Aderall. They talk about the difficulty they’ve had getting lawmakers to take the boy crisis seriously and offer some recommendations for how the government and our schools can help address this growing problem.

Order John and Warren's new book The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It on Amazon and learn more at www.boycrisis.org. Keep up with Warren at www.warrenfarrell.com or on twitter at @drwarrenfarrell, and follow John at www.MarsVenus.com or on twitter at @RealJohnGray. Today's podcast was sponsored by Brother INKvestment tank printers.

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Alyssa Mastromonaco on Surviving Presidential Travel, IBS, and "Beaver Fever" Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

Alyssa Mastromonaco spent 6 years in the Obama White House as assistant to the president, director of scheduling and advance, and deputy chief of staff for operations. She says working in the West Wing is a lot like VEEP and recalls some of the lighter moments including getting down on the dance-floor with Michelle Obama, impersonating a hedge hog for President Obama, and the time the leader of the free world tried to play matchmaker. She opens up about her at times comical struggles with irritable bowel syndrome including a few close calls at the most inconvenient moments, and the time that she contracted something called "beaver fever" (yes, it’s a real thing) during a state dinner in Tanzania. She reveals all the care and protocol that went into every foreign trip she planned for President Obama, and why it was more than a little disheartening to watch President Trump bungle his way through a hastily thrown together North Korea summit. She also warns that Trump’s use of a personal iPhone is a major security risk, she predicts what Democrats will be looking for in 2020, and she advises Dems to banish the term socialism from their vocabulary.

Order Alyssa Mastromonaco's book So Here's the Thing: Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut on Amazon, Audible, or wherever books are sold. Follow her on twitter at @AlyssaMastro44. Today's podcast was sponsored by Kronos and BetterHelp. Please take our annual podcast listener survey and register to win a $100 Amazon gift card at www.podsurvey.com/kick. Subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. Follow us on twitter at @KickassNewsPod. Visit our website at www.kickassnews.com.

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Bryan Callen Believes We're All Complicated Apes Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

Actor/comedian Bryan Callen (THE GOLDBERGS, SCHOOLED, HANGOVER I & II) shares how his childhood growing up in countries all over the world inspired him to question labels and defy categorization, and he discusses his particular issue with the catch all term "Asians" to describe 48 different nationalities. We talk about the polarizing effect of political parties, why he believes that liberals and conservatives share the same fundamental values, and why everyone should demand to be treated like a verb instead of a noun. Bryan gets into the problem of political correctness and says that standup comedy is probably the last bastion of free speech in America. We talk about how he became associated with mixed martial arts, what it’s like inside the surprisingly inclusive world of MMA, and how women in the UFC cured him of chauvinism. Plus Bryan thinks he’d be a terrible border patrol agent, his proposal to make the world a better place thought "idea sex," and why at the end of the day we're all just complicated apes.

Don't miss Bryan's new comedy special BRYAN CALLEN: COMPLICATED APES now available on Comcast, DirecTV, Spectrum, AT&T, Dish, Cox, iTunes, Google Play, PlayStation, Xbox, and many more. Watch Bryan on his ABC shows THE GOLDBERGS and SCHOOLED, subscribe to his podcasts THE FIGHTER AND THE KID and MIXED MENTAL ARTS on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen, and follow him on twitter at @bryancallen. Today's podcast was sponsored by Brother INKvestment tank printers.

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Arthur Brooks Rejects the Politics of Outrage and Culture of Contempt Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, returns to the podcast to call on Americans to reject the culture of contempt and the outrage industrial complex. He talks about the event that woke him up to the ugliness of our political discourse two and a half years before the 2016 election. He pulls back the curtain on how political parties are pushing us farther apart and how talking heads in the media are profitting from stoking division and hate. Arthur reveals the connection between trolling on social media and personality disorders and his own strategy for handling angry emails and twitter trolls. He shares what we can learn about civility from the Dalai Lama and a leading marriage counselor. We discuss the power of stories to bridge divides and the necessity of the competition of ideas to a health democracy. Plus, Arthur shares what he thinks about President Trump’s two hour speech at last week’s CPAC conference, the time he got mistaken for a Mormon (and loved every minute of it), and why this free-market conservative says everyone needs a friend like Cornel West or Robert George.

Order Arthur's book Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt on Amazon, Audible, or wherever books are sold. Subscribe to The Arthur Brooks Show wherever you listen podcasts and follow him on twitter at @arthurbrooks. Today's podcast was sponsored by Brother INKvestment Tank Printers and season 2 of Breach podcast. Please take our annual podcast listener survey and register to win a $100 Amazon gift card at www.podsurvey.com/kick. Subscribe to Kickass News on Apple Podcasts and leave us a review, follow us on twitter at @KickassNewsPod, and visit our website at www.kickassnews.com.

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