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PODCAST

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen

Straw Hut Media

Don’t Be Alone with Jay Kogen is a comedy/advice podcast trying to fight the isolation of modern life. Each episode, Award winning TV writer/comedian/philosopher Jay Kogen has a conversation with a friend about how to solve the problems on Jay’s mind. These friends happen to be famous comics, musicians, actors, artists, writers, and sometimes even his family. It’s an entertaining, fun, and thoughtful show meant to bond us through humor, experience, and empathy.From Straw Hut Media

comedy comedy interviews

All Episodes

54:22

You're Not Winning This Argument, Jay

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/09/29

Political arguments are everywhere. Productive political conversations? Not so much.Jay sits down with writer, poet, and political analyst Robert Arnold, author of Defiance Until Death, to talk about why America has become obsessed with winning arguments instead of actually solving problems—and why humiliating the other side probably isn’t changing anyone’s mind. Robert talks about growing up in rural Arkansas, why he thinks he can reach people across the political divide, the role of faith and

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54:19

“Nobody Knows Anything”: Confessions of a TV Exec –...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/09/22

David Kissinger grew up swimming in Nixon's pool, getting bad-mouthed by classmates over his dad's Nobel Prize, and hanging out with people history books call monsters — and he calls uncles. Jay sits down with David Kissinger — son of Henry Kissinger, TV exec behind The Office, Battlestar Galactica, and Netflix's The Beast in Me — for a conversation that swings from Watergate to Ted Danson's phone number to the time Paul McCartney pulled out a harmonica just for him. David tells the story of the

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58:21

I Had a Real Career Until I Met Jay Kogen — Jonathan...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/09/14

Jonathan Shapiro spent years as a successful attorney, working for the Justice Department and prosecuting organized crime. Then he met Jay Kogen — and somehow ended up writing television.Jonathan joins Jay for a funny and surprisingly personal conversation about leaving the law behind and building a 26-year career writing some of television’s biggest legal dramas, including The Practice, Goliath, The Blacklist, Mr. Mercedes, and The Undoing. They talk about the strange rules — or complete lack of

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56:01

Your Life Isn’t as Interesting as You Think — Bill...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/09/01

What happens when two veteran comedy writers start questioning everything they were taught about writing?Jay sits down with Bill Martin and Mike Schiff, the longtime writing partners behind shows including 3rd Rock from the Sun, In Living Color, Grounded for Life, and The Neighborhood, for a funny and candid conversation about what makes comedy work — and why some of the oldest writing advice might be worth ignoring. They talk about the decline of the traditional sitcom, why younger audiences

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54:57

King of Queens Writer/director Michael Weithorn -...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/08/26

Michael J. Weithorn knows a thing or two about making television work — and about what happens when it doesn’t.The creator of The King of Queens joins Jay Kogen to talk about the years of trial, error, difficult actors, canceled shows, and hard-earned lessons that eventually led to one of television’s most successful sitcoms. Michael shares how Jerry Stiller initially turned down The King of Queens, what it was like having Charlie Kaufman in the Ned and Stacey writers’ room, recognizing Bryan

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55:57

Does Nerve Run in the Family? Comedy Siblings Allan &...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/08/18

Can comedy run in the family?M*A*S*H and Laugh-In writer/producer Allan Katz and Groundlings pioneer Phyllis Katz join Jay Kogen to compare the wildly different paths that took two siblings from the same Chicago household into legendary careers in comedy. Allan's story sounds almost made up. While working in advertising, his work on Screaming Yellow Zonkers caught the attention of Laugh-In producer George Schlatter — who tracked him down and offered him a job. Allan, having no idea who was

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56:37

When Should You Push? When Should You Back Off? |...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/08/11

When does pushing for what you want become pushing too far? Jay sits down with comedian, writer, performer, and Valley Heat creator Christian Duguay for a conversation about boundaries, bad decisions, creative confidence, and knowing when to make the call and when to leave something alone. At the center of Valley Heat is Doug Duguay, a fictional character who keeps finding himself in increasingly ridiculous situations. He suspects his pool guy is dealing drugs. He worries about his wife's yoga

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51:42

Why This Arrested Development Writer Hates Having a Boss

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/08/04

From Arrested Development to insubordinate rebels: John Levenstein tells all.Long before podcasting was cool, John Levenstein (Arrested Development, Kroll Show) was already doing it — mostly because he had no idea what he was signing up for. In this episode, the veteran writer/showrunner gets refreshingly honest about what actually makes a comedy writers' room work. His controversial take? Not everyone needs to agree. In fact, forcing consensus on a writing staff is its own kind of bullying — the

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59:43

Can America Still Be Saved? | PoliticsGirl

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/07/28

Is America really doomed or is there still a path forward?In this episode of Don't Be Alone, Jay Kogen sits down with Leigh McGowan, better known as Politics Girl, for an honest conversation about the future of America. Together, they explore whether the country has reached a breaking point, why so many people have lost faith in politics, and what it would actually take to rebuild trust in our institutions. From the rise of independent media to the influence of money in politics, government

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49:06

Writer/Life Coach, Barbara Heller Turns An On Stage...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/07/21

Barbara Heller talks about walking away from the perfect man just before her wedding and breaking down with a mid-life panic attack on stage and committing to being a Jew to find happiness and trying to live as a perfectionist and being an all or nothing person. She discusses her one woman show and her ability to get people to explore their life stories through drama to understand who they really are. She makes Jay explore his deepest fears on the show!Bio:Barbara Heller is an award winning

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57:09

Writing Legend Don Reo Makes It Look Easy. Jay Makes...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/07/14

Show Notes: On this episode legendary writer and show creator talks about being the first white guy on stage at the Apollo, getting a show about alcoholics cancelled because the network president was an alcoholic, the pleasure of writing a first draft, and driving way too fast, and how music drives his writings and the time he was oddly alone with Bruce Springsteen and told him a dirty joke. Bio: on Reo has always been quick with a quip, from the time he got his first laugh sometime back in junior

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55:07

Leah Rudick Succeeds at Acting, Stand-up, Writing &...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/07/07

Brilliant comic, Leah Rudick, talks about growing up in Ohio, being a drama kid, writing and doing sketch comedy, and eventually moving out to LA and becoming a stand-up. Working with her brother. She talks about how being shy gave her the courage to be in front of people while wearing the mask of performing. She talks about making TikTok Instagram her character playground. Leah talks about how creative ambition pushes her forward, how having a husband in booze helps, how nothing matters, and the

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62:27

Claudia Lonow & Jonathan Schmock Pioneer Making Films...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/06/30

What happens when two people with complicated pasts — failed marriages, sobriety journeys, and a chance meeting at a 4th of July party — fall in love but decide not to move in together? Claudia and Jonathan join us for a conversation as layered and surprising as the indie film they made together, D(e)AD — a project born from personal heartbreak, an ex-husband who may or may not have faked cancer, and the haunting feeling that the not-so-great people from our past never fully leave us. They'll take

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50:52

Re-Broadcast: Directing Legend James Burrows Explores...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/06/23

In memory of the great James Borrows we rebroadcasting this episode of "Dont Be Alone with Jay Kogen". We talk with James Burrows about his reign as Hollywood's greatest sitcom director, being the son of Abe Burrows, the genetics of comedy, his book "Directed by James Burrows", "Cheers", "Will & Grace", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Taxi", "Friends", the scripts that make him want to direct, the ones that don't, his amazing memory, his humble beginnings, the decade it took him to learn how to

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59:13

Harper Steele Found Her Authentic Self While Jay Is A...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/06/16

Harper Steele talks about transitioning and the differences in how she experiences the world as a woman and how the world experiences her. The differences in parenting, writing, and comedy. Trying to fight off who she really was for years. Her fears of being judged. How finding her true self saved her life. How road trips are different. How being macho was an odd priority before. How that reflected her comedy. How a teacher started her writing. How the movie “Will & Harper” has affected other

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54:20

Screenwriting Legends Scott Alexander & Larry...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/06/09

Screenwriting Legends SCOTT ALEXANDER and LARRY KARASZEWSKI discuss their origin stories of being film nerds, drive-in movies, how looking on the back of Variety was glorious when they were kids, how Shakey's Pizza's silent movies influenced them, meeting the first hour at school and deciding to go to the Nuart Theater in Los Angeles, why they program screenings including The Wrong Guy, what makes a good story from real life, why offbeat losers make better subjects than heroes, how directors like

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64:21

Friends/Co-writers Peter Farrelly & Bennett Yellin...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/06/02

Bennett Yellin and Peter Farrelly talk about meeting each other in school and immediately connecting over their shared sense of humor. Bennett talks about substance abuse in college, while Peter discusses being a very hard driver at work. You talk about getting very lucky working with Eddie Murphy and David Zucker, and about bringing Bobby Farrelly into the group when they were writing movies together. Peter talks about being extremely loyal, living in Ojai, and never feeling like Los Angeles was

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51:44

Actress/Writer Cheri Oteri Is Optimistic About...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/05/26

Cheri talks about growing up in a rough house with a lot of kids and a young mom and pretending to escape and maybe grab some attention. She talks about imitating TV shows, soap operas and Joe Cocker. She talks about moving from Pennsylvania to California to pursue dreams of acting after a break-up and found herself in the heart of Panorama City nowhere near Hollywood. Later she found early success in LA @ A&M RECORDS. In fact she was so successful it was a little hard to give it up when it was

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52:34

Michael Elias wrote "The Jerk", Jay IS The Jerk

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/05/19

Writer, Michael Elias, talks about growing up in the Catskills, where you had to make your money in the summer to survive the winter, and how that created a lot of tension. He also talks about taking acting classes, dealing with being an actor, and how acting helped him build scenes and characters. He talks about working for Glen Campbell without realizing how talented he was. He discusses his book Benders, L.A. and talks about going to Plato's Retreat and not scoring. He talks about Steve Martin

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58:23

Author/Actress Annabelle Gurwitch Has Cancer Yet Jay...

Don"t Be Alone with Jay Kogen ·

2026/05/12

Actress/Author Annabelle Gurwitch talks about living with stage 4 cancer, dating a hard rock tour manager, making each day count, the search for cures, ketamine fails, finding joy in writing, medicine overload, and the joys of hand painted wallpaper.Bio: ANNABELLE GURWITCH is a New York Times bestselling author of six books, and two-time Thurber Prize finalist. Her writing appears in The New Yorker and New York Times, Hollywood Reporter amongst other publications. Annabelle was the longtime

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151 results

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