An Insider's Look At Biden's Whitehouse
01/18/24 • 53 min
2 Listeners
Best-selling author Chris Whipple’s newest book is The Fight Of His Life and it chronicles the first two years of the Biden administration. Chris’s extraordinary access to White House insiders provided him with an exclusive look into the workings, challenges and accomplishments of Team Biden.
Chris’s earlier works include The Gatekeepers and The Spymasters and he is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Politico. He’s also a filmmaker who has produced documentaries for Discovery and Showtime.
The Fight Of His Life opens on the fraught transition during which Trump would not concede, nor allow for a peaceful passing of critical information to the new administration. However, Chris spoke with a heroic Trump insider who quietly and boldly provided the incumbent administration with the tools they would need to safely lead our country.
Chris calls his book, "a political thriller in three acts" and it quickly moves into detailing the challenges immediately faced by Biden: A deadly pandemic, a plummeting economy, an unresolved 20-year war, and the aftermath of an attack on the Capitol that polarized the country. The crises continued in waves... The fallout from the Dobbs decision, raging inflation, and Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Remarkable access to White House insiders including Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and CIA Director William Burns allowed Chris to learn and explore internal power struggles and back-room compromises.
Chris reflects with us on Biden's accomplishments, from Covid relief to rescuing the economy, to an infrastructure bill, to the Inflation Reduction Act, and preparing NATO for the invasion of Ukraine.
He also speaks frankly about the troubled withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and he offers his views on what Biden should do next and which achievements he should proudly proclaim from the campaign trail. We talk about the mysterious pull of Trump, the future of the Republican Party and the mixed reviews on Kamala Harris, whom Biden has called “A work in progress.”
Plus, Fritz and Weezy are recommending Once Upon a Time Time In Northern Ireland on PBS and Prime and The Last Movie Stars on Max and Prime.
Path Points of Interest
The Fight of His Life by Chris Whipple (paperback)
Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Best-selling author Chris Whipple’s newest book is The Fight Of His Life and it chronicles the first two years of the Biden administration. Chris’s extraordinary access to White House insiders provided him with an exclusive look into the workings, challenges and accomplishments of Team Biden.
Chris’s earlier works include The Gatekeepers and The Spymasters and he is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Politico. He’s also a filmmaker who has produced documentaries for Discovery and Showtime.
The Fight Of His Life opens on the fraught transition during which Trump would not concede, nor allow for a peaceful passing of critical information to the new administration. However, Chris spoke with a heroic Trump insider who quietly and boldly provided the incumbent administration with the tools they would need to safely lead our country.
Chris calls his book, "a political thriller in three acts" and it quickly moves into detailing the challenges immediately faced by Biden: A deadly pandemic, a plummeting economy, an unresolved 20-year war, and the aftermath of an attack on the Capitol that polarized the country. The crises continued in waves... The fallout from the Dobbs decision, raging inflation, and Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Remarkable access to White House insiders including Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and CIA Director William Burns allowed Chris to learn and explore internal power struggles and back-room compromises.
Chris reflects with us on Biden's accomplishments, from Covid relief to rescuing the economy, to an infrastructure bill, to the Inflation Reduction Act, and preparing NATO for the invasion of Ukraine.
He also speaks frankly about the troubled withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and he offers his views on what Biden should do next and which achievements he should proudly proclaim from the campaign trail. We talk about the mysterious pull of Trump, the future of the Republican Party and the mixed reviews on Kamala Harris, whom Biden has called “A work in progress.”
Plus, Fritz and Weezy are recommending Once Upon a Time Time In Northern Ireland on PBS and Prime and The Last Movie Stars on Max and Prime.
Path Points of Interest
The Fight of His Life by Chris Whipple (paperback)
Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Previous Episode
The Internet's Favorite 85-Year-Old & The Rewards Of Relatability
85-year-old Annie Korzen is a TikTok starlet! She’s an actor/storyteller/writer/author and you may recognize her from Seinfeld where she played Doris Klompus but now, she calls herself “an accidental influencer.” Her TikTok channel has over half a million followers and her viral fan base is in their teens and twenties. Our 16-year-old intern, Garrett nearly lost his footing when he walked in and saw her.
Annie says that all of what society questioned about her... too ethnic. Too opinionated. Too loud. Too unconventional... are the exact qualities that resonate with followers.
Annie joins us in the studio where we get to experience her charm, authenticity and strength of spirit firsthand as she talks about her new book, The Book of Annie: Humor, Heart and Chutzpah From an Accidental Influencer, and her incredible life and career trajectory.
Hoping to post some video clips online, Annie’s young friend Mackenzie Morrison suggested TikTok and got her started. It turns out that in a world of carefully curated online images, Annie’s frank, honest, hilarious voice is a welcome hit with the kids!
She talks about her most popular videos, her thoughts on connecting with young people and how her opinions of Gen Z/Alpha have positively shifted. Young people yearn for warmth, authenticity and acceptance. Annie also shares some Seinfeld insights, her disastrous appearance on Oprah, some strong opinions on life, society and happiness and how nine years of persistence and practice finally earned her a spot on The Moth Storytelling Hour and Tour.
Plus Fritz and Weezy are recommending the Smartness podcast and HBO MAX’s Smartness on the Road and Science Fair the movie and the series on Hulu, Disney + and National Geographic.
Path Points of Interest:
The Book of Annie: Humor, Heart and Chutzpah From an Accidental Influencer
Next Episode
A Multimedia Standup Style & Radio Comedy Memories
When Fritz and Weezy were developing a Comedy Central pilot with Henry Winkler called, The Couch, their bright, ambitious intern was an up and coming young comic named Eric Schwartz who dutifully made coffee, sandwich and cue card runs. Today, Eric’s comedy special. Delivery, is all the rage on Youtube, and Fritz brought him a sandwich.
Eric joins us to discuss his unique blending of his talent palette which includes: comedy, parody, music, dance, impressions and multi-media wizardry. His inspirations include Weird Al Yankovic and his marketing instincts had him trending early on MySpace. In addition to his talent cocktail, Eric’s family background features a mix of influences. He calls himself “a quarter-step-Mexican and infuses his act with a rich celebration of cultura!
Weezy comes to this episode armed with photos of Eric before he embraced his hair’s great escape and faced the age-old bald guy dilemma: “drugs, rugs or plugs.” Eric went with smooth and has not looked back.
Eric fondly recalls his early work with Weezy at Premiere Radio, where they helped supply morning shows with comedy bits. He points to both Fritz and Weezy as mentors and shares how he has poured his entire heart and soul into this Youtube special.
He takes us backstage, talking cameras, equipment and lighting and reveals his inner-crowd-work battle when the chairs started breaking!
Having just opened for Jo Koy on his Just Kidding Tour, Eric has some thoughts on Jo’s controversial hosting of The Golden Globes.
Plus, Fritz and Weezy are recommending A Good Person on Prime & MGM+, and Slow Horses on Apple TV+, and Eric has an old school media suggestion of his own!
Path Points of Interest:
Eric Schwartz Comedy Special - Delivery
Eric Schwartz Tour Dates
Slow Horses - Apple+
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