Jesse's Office: A Wondros Podcast

How Tim Kring turned everyday stories into heroic journeys. In this episode of Jesse’s Office, we’re featuring screenwriter and producer Tim Kring. Tim created the TV shows #Heroes and #Treadstone and helped shape the way we consume sci-fi on television.

This week on Jesse's Office, poet Walter Finnie discusses his journey growing up in Watts to performing at Barack Obama ’s White House, falling in love with lyricism and poetry, becoming a star of Get Lit Players and consulting for the Netflix hit show On My Block.

In this episode of Jesse’s Office, we sit down with Jim Keltner, a legendary drummer who has worked with music icons like John Lennon and Bob Dylan. Jim shares stories about what it was like to help record some of the greatest songs of all time and explains how to stay cool when performing alongside legends.

Today we’re talking to Linda Ramone about coming of age during the New York Glitter Rock scene, her late husband Johnny Ramone, the secret worlds of Club 82 and CBGB’s, and how style has (or hasn’t) evolved in the last 40 years.

Today we’re talking to Robert Greenberg, who invents biotechnologies. We’re going to discuss inventing the first bionic eye (essentially, a cochlear implant for the eye), how technology is allowing blind patients to see infrared, and how he’s engineering a functional human heart this week on Jesse's Office.  Robert Greenberg currently serves as Executive Chairman at the Alfred Mann Foundation. http://www.aemf.org

Today we’re talking to experimental physicist Maria Spiropulu, who worked at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and was on the team that discovered the Higgs boson. We talk about matter vs. antimatter, particle physics as art, and the text message that changed the history of science.  

Today we’re talking with social scientist Troy Campbell. Dr. Campbell studies bias, happiness, climate denial, and woke culture. He’s worked at Netflix and Disney, and his studies have made headlines in The New York Times, Wired, The Washington Post, Forbes, and many more.

Today we talk with Hitoshi Abe, professor at the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture. We talk about the changing nature of cities, buildings, and just what people mean when they say “design thinking.” Plus, how do we design spaces that can adapt to our changing world? And are we living in the post-Instagram era of architecture?

Today’s episode is a conversation with the infamously talented and talentedly infamous author and screenwriter Bruce Wagner. We discuss nuclear families going nuclear, movies, writing, and writing movies.

Today we’re talking with animal rescuers Eldad and Loreta from Hope for Paws. We’ll be talking about some of their truly incredible rescues, how their youtube subscribers help them save animals, and how a video of a stray rescue dog getting eye surgery gave young children the courage to brave their own surgeries. 

We’re having a conversation with renowned art dealer and curator, Jeffrey Deitch.  We’re asking ‘What is art’ and why he went to Harvard business school to study art criticism. We also talk about working with artists Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kaws, and a changing of the guard of the art world. 

Today’s conversation is with Brette Steele, Director of Prevention and National Security at the McCain Institute. She worked as an attorney at the Department of Justice investigating why people get radicalized and recruited into violent extremist movements as well as many of the misconceptions about this population. Steele believes rehabilitation is possible and creates programs to help people leave hate-based groups and terrorist organizations. 

Today’s conversation is with conservative political consultant and Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis. We talk a lot about 70s - 80s politics with stories about Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Bob Dole.

Today’s conversation is with Army veteran, Stacy Bare.  Stacy served our country, survived the war, but nearly lost his life to an internal battle with PTSD, depression, and addiction. Today, he guides trauma sufferers to healing and recovery through outdoor wilderness therapy and adventure.  He talks about brotherhood, patriotism, the realities of war, returning to society, debilitating depression and desperation, and putting off suicide to climb a mountain.

Today’s conversation is with aging-expert from the Milken Institute, Paul Irving. We talk about the future of aging, an aging world population, mortality rates, consequences of living longer on careers and retirement, socioeconomic disparities for mortality, blue zones, the upside of aging, and ageism.

Today we’re having a conversation with Kristy Edmunds, the Executive and Artistic Director at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA. We talk about what it actually means to be a curator, and how curators help preserve and promote diverse art forms. We also talk about the role of the artist in society, the importance of sharing the communal, fleeting experiences of live performance, whether it’s possible to decouple art from commerce, and the importance of a good flyer.  

Today we’re talking to cybersecurity expert Kiersten Todt, about what it was like at our nation’s capitol on 911, the forming of the department of homeland security the next day, and getting quarantined for anthrax.  We’ll also be talking about the three categories of malicious hackers and our unregulated and unsecured credit agencies.

Jesse and Priscilla talk with particle physicist at Google and MIT, Edward Farhi, about quantum mechanics, CERN, black holes, artificial intelligence, and what’s behind everyday reality.  They also talk about the joys of inquisitiveness and how to weather the current anti-science climate.

Today’s conversation is with visionary futurist designer Radha Mistry. We talk about projects like prototyping future cities, floating buildings, and whether sustainable architecture means impermanent architecture. We also discuss preserving culture and history in an increasingly volatile climate.

Master magician Michael Weber joins Jesse and Priscilla to talk about the differences between magic, illusion, and mentalism.  They also discuss deep fakes, working with David Mamet, and personal stories about the late, great Ricky Jay.