Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen

Season One of Person Place Thing has concluded its radio run on WAMC, but now you can download the entire series or just listen right here in the website. Episode Four of PPT features guests Rickie Lee Jones and Ed Koch. Musician Rickie Lee Jones has excelled across many genres since she burst onto the national radar as the Best New Artist at the 1980 Grammy Awards. With more than 15 albums to her credit, Jones has parlayed her distinctive voice into a lasting and varied career, often singing and writing about the small-town poverty and people she knew as a child. Former New York City Mayor and Congressman — and, it should be noted, famed cinephile — Ed Koch spent three terms running the Big Apple and another eight years in the House of Representatives. Since leaving office, he has worked as a political reformer, commentator, actor, People’s Court judge, author, columnist and movie critic.

Season One of Person Place Thing has concluded its radio run on WAMC, but now you can download the entire series or just listen right here in the website. On this third episode of Person Place Thing Randy welcomes guests Michael Pollan and John Hockenberry. Noted author Michael Pollan is the leading voice on food production and safety. A professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and several other books and articles helped to illuminate the often terrifying and secretive world of agribusiness. His principles are: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Journalist and author John Hockenberry has been covering hotspots around the globe and the U.S. for more than three decades. He has reported for NPR, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and various other outlets and written two nonfiction books. He currently hosts The Takeaway at WNYC and has won several Emmy and Peabody awards.

Season One of Person Place Thing has concluded its radio run on WAMC, but now you can download the entire series or just listen right here in the website. On the second installment of Person Place Thing Randy welcomes Susie Essman and Dave Cowens. A stand-up comedian, actor and author, Essman is best known for portraying the acerbic Susie Greene on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Essman has appeared in several films and television shows, including her distinctive voice work in Crank Yankers, American Dad, and Bolt. When not on the road, she lives in New York City and upstate New York. Cowens, a basketball Hall of Famer, attended Florida State before winning two NBA titles with the Boston Celtics. The 1971 Rookie of the Year and a seven-time all-star, Cowens also picked up the 1973 MVP. A commanding front-court presence, Cowens later coached the Celtics, Hornets, and Warriors, and also coached in the WNBA.

For more than 20 years, sex columnist Dan Savage has made an international name with his advice column and podcast, Savage Love, and founded the It Gets Better Project to reach out to LGBT youth. A writer, editor, and playwright, Savage stars in MTV’s Savage U. Person: Caroline Matilda Place: The front porch of a house in Champaign, Urbana, where he lived in college Thing: His dining room table, a family heirloom   Before Sir Roger Bannister was a distinguished neurologist, he raced into history as the first man to run a sub 4-minute mile in 1954. Named Sports Illustrated’s first Sportsman of the Year, the former Olympian was knighted in 1975 after becoming Chairman of the Sports Council. Person: His son, Thurstan Bannister Place: Iffley Road track in Oxford (renamed Roger Bannister running track) Thing: A phrenology head

On the fifth Person Place Thing Randy welcomes Samantha Bee and R.L. Stine . Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee got her start in comedy in children’s theatre, where she worked with future husband and fellow Daily Show reporter Jason Jones. The founder of sketch group The Atomic Fireballs, Bee is the author of I Know I Am, But What Are You. Horror writer R.L. Stine, a.k.a. Jovial Bob Stine, is the author of the hugely popular Goosebumps and Fear Streetseries, which have sold millions of copies. Educated at Ohio State, Stine has also written dozens of joke books, novels, and short stories.

Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee got her start in comedy in children’s theatre, where she worked with future husband and fellow Daily Show reporter Jason Jones. The founder of sketch group The Atomic Fireballs, Bee is the author of I Know I Am, But What Are You. Person: Her mother Place: A jungle hotel in Cuba Thing: Her grandmother’s ashes

Horror writer R.L. Stine, a.k.a. Jovial Bob Stine, is the author of the hugely popular Goosebumps and Fear Street series, which have sold millions of copies. Educated at Ohio State, Stine has also written dozens of joke books, novels, and short stories. Person: Mad Magazine illustrator Will Elder Place: A creepy pile of stones behind his childhood home in Columbus, Ohio Thing: A 21-disc box set of Laurel and Hardy

Former New York City Mayor and Congressman — and, it should be noted, famed cinephile — Ed Koch spent three terms running the Big Apple and another eight years in the House of Representatives. Since leaving office, he has worked as a political reformer, commentator, actor, People’s Court judge, author, columnist and movie critic. Person: Anwar Sadat Place: His burial plot in Trinity Church’s Manhattan cemetery Thing: The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (the 59th Street Bridge)

Musician Rickie Lee Jones has excelled across many genres since she burst onto the national radar as the Best New Artist at the 1980 Grammy Awards. With more than 15 albums to her credit, Jones has parlayed her distinctive voice into a lasting and varied career, often singing and writing about the small-town poverty and people she knew as a child. Person: Frank “Peg Leg” Jones Place: Orangewood, Avenue in 1963 Phoenix Thing: Her horse

Journalist and author John Hockenberry has been covering hotspots around the globe and the U.S. for more than three decades. He has reported for NPR, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and various other outlets and written two nonfiction books. He currently hosts The Takeaway at WNYC and has won several Emmy and Peabody awards. Person: George Seldes Place: Bucharest, Romania Thing: A typewriter