Lit with Melinda Hill

Pamela Ribon explains how she parlayed her year of dating dicks into a memoir and a spot on the Oscar short list while her director Sara Gunnarsdóttir visits from Iceland.  Melinda aspires to delegation and automation outlined in "Breaking the Good Girl Myth" and "the Four Hour Work Week."

You know Broadway Barbara from her viral videos, Fosse tutorials and her sold out live shows but do you know the secrets of Broadway Barbara? Melinda chats with the creative genius who created Barbara, the lovely and talented Leah Sprecher, about the journey of becoming the brilliant and iconic Broadway Barbara. 

Personal trainer Steve Zim, who trains Marvel characters and also trained Melinda for LOVE, WEDDINGS AND OTHER DISASTERS, stops by to share his process for writing four books and becoming #1 on Amazon and his new workout website www.ATUmobile.com designed to helpe anyone feel like a superhero. 

Nicole Paone stops by on Thanksgiving to talk about her movie FRIENDSGIVING. The first feature Nicole wrote and directed is produced by Ben Stiller’s Red Hour and stars comedy powerhouses Kat Dennings, Chelsea peretti, Aisha tyler, Malin Ackerman, Deon Cole, Jane Seymour, Margaret Cho, Fortune Feimster and Wanda sykes. Nicole talks about overcoming her obstacles getting the film made and the advice that helped her get it done.

follow Nicole on Twitter & Instagram @NicolePaone

#directorialdebut #deoncole #janeseymour #wandasykes #nicolepaone #malinackerman #Katdennings #benstiller #redhour #thegroundlings #loveweddingsandotherdisasters #saban #sabanentertainment #dianekeaton #melindahill #chelseaperetti #mikerose #andrewsantino #comedy #thanksgiving #nickyweinstock #nicholasweinstock #aishatyler #margaretcho #fortunefeimster #juddapatow #adamsandler #bridesmaids 

Holly Ramos is an iconic singer song-writer and frequent collaborator of Jesse Malin's who discusses her new album about healing scars and making better choices.

Melinda's LOVE, WEDDINGS AND OTHER DISASTERS cast mate Todd Stashwick shares how the movie helped him process his father's passing. As a writer, actor and alumnus of Second City, he also explains his creative process for writing scripts and creating games involving meditation, cardio, and Dungeons and Dragons. Todd discusses how to make villains interesting in shows like Vampire Slayer, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Heroes, Supernatural, The Originals, Gotham, 12 Monkeys and Kim Possible and also his new venture Nerd Circus. Plus the origins of #HillthyTips!

Follow him here:

Twitter: @ToddStashwick @TSNerdcircusInsta: @Tstashwick @TheNerdCircus

Ray of sunshine Tara Strong chats about the extreme positivity that saves her, bullying, the #MeToo and #BLM movements, activism, veganism, voice acting and her solid creative process. Tara is known for her beloved characters “Bubbles” in The Powerpuff Girls, “Timmy Turner” in The Fairly Odd Parents, “Dil Pickles” in Rugrats, “Raven” in Teen Titans, “Twilight Sparkle” in My Little Pony, and so many more but most importantly she’s using her voice to fight for real change. 

Meditation teacher and founder of Meditation for Assholes, accessible activist, husband and parent of three adopted children Jason Daley Kennedy discusses his process of making a difference in the world and his pivotal role in Melinda's comedy special ideation through the use of meditation.

Navigating the journey from growing up with a drug dealer dad to becoming a bestselling author and writing coach, Kristen McGuiness discusses what she finds inappropriate about parenting in a pandemic, how to craft and package one's narrative and how to make peace with one's past.

The host of the Mental Illness Happy Hour discusses how to pivot out of toxic masculinity and the power of taking responsibility for one's actions.

Mary Lynn stops by Melinda's virtual screening to discuss her new comedy special "Inappropriate" now avail at melindahill.com.

Margaret reflects on Cardi B's WAP, where cancel culture makes cancelled people go, and overcoming invisibility as an Asian woman in comedy on the route to finding inner peace. Plus she shares a new recipe!

Fresh off of Tinder, comedian Ant has been many things: a flight attendant who became an overnight comedy sensation, a judge on LAST COMIC STANDING, and a TV star with a secret drug habit but today he is clear that his primary purpose is staying sober and helping others do the same.

Dwayne Perkins chats about his process for staying positive & prolific with his unique CAKE system which helped him write, produce and star in a movie (DYING TO KILL) and comedy special (TAKE NOTE) all in the same year. He also stresses the importance of knowing what to do with yourself when others aren't able to figure it out & choosing to fill the mind with PBS over people getting punched in the face. Oh and he wrote a book called ZOMBIE RUN! What can't he do?!

Tom Stern, filmmaker, writer, director known for FREAKED,  KEVIN HART'S GUIDE TO BLACK HISTORY, ANDY MILONAKIS SHOW, CRANK YANKERS and more, discusses overcoming depression, self medicating induced psychotic breaks, and toxic shame on his journey to writing on a major commercial franchise & spearheading the Butthole Surfers documentary.

Billy Idol guitarist/Royal Machines co-founder/ fine art painter Billy Morrison discusses his journey from a heroin addiction that had him pushing a shopping cart on Hollywood Blvd. to a morning ritual that includes waking at 5 a.m., transcendental meditation, and pilates-- or *"Punk Pilates" as IG live listener Kerry Stranman labeled it. 

Fabulous Michelle, prolific burlesque superstar who was banned from YouTube, overcame the heartbreak of alopecia when she stopped hiding and realized that beauty is embracing one's truth.

Vegan activist comedian Myq Kaplan (from Conan and Comedy Central) walks us through overcoming divorce and high school hardships with the healing modalities of meditation and ayahuasca, arriving at full acceptance of all the feels.

Yassir Lester from Showtime's BLACK MONDAY and GIRLS talks about the hustle that brought him from door man at Hollywood Improv to TV writer & how he's using the pandemic downtime to create new work.

John Dimaggio, best known for Futurama, Adventure Time, Disenchantment and Better Call Saul talks about the importance of not questioning your intuition.

Liz Feldman, creator and showrunner of Netfix's DEAD TO ME, discusses her trajectory from child comedian to head honcho of one of the hottest shows in Hollywood and how she moved through grief by using reframing and gratitude to rewrite the story of her life.

Fabulous Rebecca Cutter (creator and showrunner of HIGHTOWN) shares her writing process and secrets for creating a hit show.

"Some trauma survivors become perfectionists, perpetually working to prove worthiness. I hope in this mandatory season of stillness, we come home to the truth that we are enough. We have nothing to prove. Any moment we catch a glimpse of this truth is freedom. #Breath" --by @DrThema

The great Brian Dannelly (writer/director SAVED, WEEDS, IN THE DARK) discusses the importance of humility, overcoming evangelical trauma, second chances and working with strong women. 

Wonderful Neda Disney graciously rolls with the trauma of our technical difficulties to discuss how happiness affects ambition,  her writing process, her novel PLANTING WOLVES and her bestie Brian Dannelly.

Tracy McMillan is television writer whose credits include Mad Men and Good Girls Revolt, a relationship expert whose Ted talk “The Person You Really Need to Marry” has more than 12 million views and host of the relationship reality show FAMILY OR FIANCE on the OWN network. 

Bridget McManus had a MeToo moment but she didn't let it stop her from becoming a television host, screenwriter, producer, director and award-winning performer who created and hosted two television shows for the Logo Network: the award-winning comedy talk show, Brunch with Bridget, and Bridget McManus Presents: That Time of The Month. She shares her inspiring and artistic journey from her first and her process of becoming a TV star from her a project she made in her single apartment in Hollywood.

Greg Behrendt, New York Times bestselling author, comedian, musician, life coach and and positivity trainer who’s sold over 4 million books and hosted two talk and reality shows bearing his own name shares how overcoming cancer and a subsequent opioid addiction inspired his spiritual enlightenment and his new book “Don’t Take Bullshit From Fuckers.”

Hilarious Danny Zuker is best known for his Emmy Award winning work as a writer and executive producer of ABC's Modern Family. He discusses his fascinating journey with overcoming cocaine addiction & how daddy issues can be a comedian's greatest asset.