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Jim Gaffigan is a Grammy-nominated stand-up comedian, writer and actor who began his career in comedy in the early 1990s. In his new book, "Dad is Fat," Gaffigan explores his role as a father of five and in one chapter concludes "there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor." After moving from the Midwest to pursue acting and comedy in New York, he landed a spot on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 1993, and his clever, quiet style has earned him an unprecedented number of appearances on "Letterman," "Conan," and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." Since then, he's been in several television shows and films, plus three one-hour stand-up specials: "Beyond the Pale" (2006), "King Baby" (2009) and most recently "Mr. Universe" (2012).
Linda Cardellini is an actress best known for her numerous roles on popular television shows. Long before appearing as Don Draper's neighbor on "Mad Men," Cardellini played Lindsay Weir alongside James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel in Judd Apatow's cult television classic "Freaks and Geeks" (1999). Cardellini went on to play Nurse Samantha Taggart on the long-running hospital drama "E.R." (2009). Cardellini has appeared in movies such as "Legally Blonde" (2001), "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), and "Grandma's Boy" (2006). Other television roles have included stints on "The Goode Family," "Robot Chicken," "Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated," "Out There," and "Gravity Falls."
TONIGHT
Jim Gaffigan is a Grammy-nominated stand-up comedian, writer and actor who began his career in comedy in the early 1990s. In his new book, "Dad is Fat," Gaffigan explores his role as a father of five and in one chapter concludes "there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor." After moving from the Midwest to pursue acting and comedy in New York, he landed a spot on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 1993, and his clever, quiet style has earned him an unprecedented number of appearances on "Letterman," "Conan," and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." Since then, he's been in several television shows and films, plus three one-hour stand-up specials: "Beyond the Pale" (2006), "King Baby" (2009) and most recently "Mr. Universe" (2012).
Dawn Porter is an accomplished documentary filmmaker. Her latest documentary, "Gideon's Army," premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which tells the story of three young public defenders working in the Deep South, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. An alumni of the Tribeca All Access program, she founded Trilogy Films. Porter's various projects include a documentary about an effort to undermine the civil rights movement called "Spies of Mississippi" (2013) and a documentary about celebrity Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli. In 2009, she was the executive producer of the feature film "Serious Moonlight," starring Meg Ryan. A former lawyer, Porter's filmmaking career began after she served as Director of News Standards and Practices at ABC News, and in a similar role with A&E Networks. Porter attended Swarthmore College and earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Tom Brokaw was the anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" from 1982 to 2004 and he remains a special correspondent for NBC News. A native of South Dakota, Brokaw dropped out of the University of Iowa before earning a political science degree from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. His first television job was at KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa. From there he moved to Atlanta to report on the civil rights movement in 1965, then joined NBC News in 1966 and anchored the late-night news for a Los Angeles affiliate station. Brokaw was transferred to Washington in 1973 as NBC's White House correspondent, going on to host the "Today Show" from 1976 to 1982. After that he landed behind the NBC "Nightly News" desk as anchor, where he held the first one-on-one American television interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev and Vladimir Putin. He covered the fall of the Berlin Wall live from Berlin and he remained on-air during 9/11 and for two days thereafter. Brokaw is the author of several bestselling books, including "The Greatest Generation" (1998), "A Long Way from Home" (2003) and "The Time of Our Lives: A Conversation about America" (2011). He is also the host of "The Boys in the Hall," a Fox Sports Net baseball documentary series.
Tom Brokaw was the anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" from 1982 to 2004 and he remains a special correspondent for NBC News. A native of South Dakota, Brokaw dropped out of the University of Iowa before earning a political science degree from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. His first television job was at KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa. From there he moved to Atlanta to report on the civil rights movement in 1965, then joined NBC News in 1966 and anchored the late-night news for a Los Angeles affiliate station. Brokaw was transferred to Washington in 1973 as NBC's White House correspondent, going on to host the "Today Show" from 1976 to 1982. After that he landed behind the NBC "Nightly News" desk as anchor, where he held the first one-on-one American television interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev and Vladimir Putin. He covered the fall of the Berlin Wall live from Berlin and he remained on-air during 9/11 and for two days thereafter. Brokaw is the author of several bestselling books, including "The Greatest Generation" (1998), "A Long Way from Home" (2003) and "The Time of Our Lives: A Conversation about America" (2011). He is also the host of "The Boys in the Hall," a Fox Sports Net baseball documentary series.
Dawn Porter is an accomplished documentary filmmaker. Her latest documentary, "Gideon's Army," premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which tells the story of three young public defenders working in the Deep South, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. An alumni of the Tribeca All Access program, she founded Trilogy Films. Porter's various projects include a documentary about an effort to undermine the civil rights movement called "Spies of Mississippi" (2013) and a documentary about celebrity Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli. In 2009, she was the executive producer of the feature film "Serious Moonlight," starring Meg Ryan. A former lawyer, Porter's filmmaking career began after she served as Director of News Standards and Practices at ABC News, and in a similar role with A&E Networks. Porter attended Swarthmore College and earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Jim Gaffigan is a Grammy-nominated stand-up comedian, writer and actor who began his career in comedy in the early 1990s. In his new book, "Dad is Fat," Gaffigan explores his role as a father of five and in one chapter concludes "there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor." After moving from the Midwest to pursue acting and comedy in New York, he landed a spot on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 1993, and his clever, quiet style has earned him an unprecedented number of appearances on "Letterman," "Conan," and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." Since then, he's been in several television shows and films, plus three one-hour stand-up specials: "Beyond the Pale" (2006), "King Baby" (2009) and most recently "Mr. Universe" (2012).
Linda Cardellini is an actress best known for her numerous roles on popular television shows. Long before appearing as Don Draper's neighbor on "Mad Men," Cardellini played Lindsay Weir alongside James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel in Judd Apatow's cult television classic "Freaks and Geeks" (1999). Cardellini went on to play Nurse Samantha Taggart on the long-running hospital drama "E.R." (2009). Cardellini has appeared in movies such as "Legally Blonde" (2001), "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), and "Grandma's Boy" (2006). Other television roles have included stints on "The Goode Family," "Robot Chicken," "Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated," "Out There," and "Gravity Falls."
Fareed Zakaria is the host of CNN's international affairs program "Fareed Zakaria GPS," an editor-at-large at TIME magazine and a columnist for The Washington Post. His books include "From Wealth to Power" (1998), "The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad" (2003), "The Post-American World" (2008) and "The Post-American World (Release 2.0)" (2011, paperback edition 2012). Zakaria has won several awards for his journalism, in particular for his October 2001 Newsweek cover story, "Why They Hate Us." He received a B.A. from Yale and a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. He lives in New York City with his wife, son and two daughters.
Mavis Staples is a celebrated R&B and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. Her latest album is "One True Vine" (2013). Staples' career began in 1950 in Chicago with her family group, The Staple Singers, which performed in churches and on a weekly radio show before hitting the road in 1957. Her father played guitar in the group and after he established a friendship with Rev. Martin Luther King, The Staple Singers' music played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. In the early 1970s, the group landed two No. 1 singles at the top of the charts, "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again." Since then, Staples has forged a successful solo career. Her albums include "Oh What a Feeling" (1979), "Mavis Staples" (1984), and "We'll Never Turn Back" (2009). In 2001 she partnered with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy to create the album "You Are Not Alone." The two performed at the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Staples has received honoray doctorates from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and Columbia College Chicago.
Armando Iannucci is an Oscar-nominated satirist, writer, producer and director. He is the creator and executive producer of the HBO comedy "Veep," starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Born in Scotland, Iannucci's career began at the BBC where he produced the current affairs radio parody show "On The Hour." His radio work led to a role as a producer on the TV series "The Day Today" (1994) and in 2001 "The Armando Iannucci Shows." Iannucci has executive produced many TV series including "Lab Rats" (2008), "Genius" (2009), and more recently "The Thick of It" (2005-2007). He's also an accomplished screenwriter. His adapted screenplay for the film "In The Loop" received an Academy Award nomination in 2010.
Seth Rogen is an actor who got his start in comedy by performing stand-up at the Jewish youth camp he attended. His latest movie is "This Is the End" (2013). At the age of 16, he won Vancouver's Amateur Comedy Contest. His first big acting role was in Judd Apatow's cult-classic television series "Freaks and Geeks." Apatow, who became a close friend and mentor, next cast Rogen in a series called "Undeclared," which was canceled in 2002, and Adam McKay's hit film "Anchorman" (2004). In 2004 Rogen became a writer for "Da Ali G Show," a job that earned him an Emmy Award nomination. The following year he appeared in (and co-produced) Apatow's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (2005). In 2008 he took on his first leading-man role, starring opposite Katherine Heigl in Apatow's "Knocked Up." That year also saw the release of "Superbad," a film Rogen had begun writing with a friend when he was a teenager. Rogen has voiced characters for animated films including "Horton Hears a Who!" (2008), "Kung Fu Panda" (2008), "Monsters vs. Aliens" (2009) and "Kung Fu Panda 2" (2011). His comedies also include "Pineapple Express" (2008) and "Funny People" (2009), plus television shows including "Family Guy," Eastbound & Down," and "Arrested Development."
Jon Favreau is the former Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama. He served in the White House from 2009 to 2013, but his role as Barack Obama's speechwriter began back in 2005. After graduating from Holy Cross in 2004, Favreau joined John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004, working his way up to Deputy Speechwriter. He met then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama on the campaign trail and Obama later hired him when he won election to the U.S. Senate. Favreau left the White House in February 2013 to co-found Fenway Strategies, a consulting firm, and to pursue an interest in screenwriting. He lives in Washington, D.C.
A longtime friend-of-the-show, Brian Williams is the anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News" and the host of "Rock Center with Brian Williams." A native of New Jersey, Williams worked briefly for the National Association of Broadcasters' lobbying arm before joining KOAM-TV in Missouri. After spending several years as a reporter in Washington, D.C., Williams became NBC's chief White House correspondent. He began anchoring the network's nightly news broadcast in 2004. In 2005 his reporting from New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina helped NBC win a Peabody Award. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.
Maxim Pozdorovkin and Mike Lerner are documentary filmmakers who collaborated to create the film "Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer." The film, which tells the story of three young artists in Russia who face prison time after their performance inside a Moscow cathedral sparks controversy, was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Mike Lerner is an accomplished documentary producer. Over the past 25 years, Lerner's work has been featured on the BBC, the Discovery Channel, HBO, and PBS. Maxim Pozdorovkin wrote and directed "Pussy Riot." He also directed "Capital" (2009), a documentary about Kazakhstan's newly relocated capital city, Astana. Pozdorovkin holds a Ph.D. from Harvard, where he is a current member of the Society of Fellows.
Phil Jackson is considered one of the greatest basketball coaches in the history of the NBA. As head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Jackson coached legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to six NBA championships. From 2000 to 2010, Jackson won five championships as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Adding together the two championships he also won as a player for the New York Knicks, Jackson holds the record for most combined NBA championships by a player and a head coach. His new book is "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success."