Someone once said of actors that they have their emotions much closer to the surface than the rest of us, in order to make them more easily accessible. If this is true, than it might be said that for some comedians their emotions are not just close to the surface, but raw and fully exposed.
In the case of Robin Williams this certainly seems to have been the case. With Williams you always had the feeling that the more he exposed about himself and about the human condition, the more he made us see it and laugh about it, the more it took him to deep and dark places to find it.
With comedians it's often a question as to whether they are just reflective of the culture and the time they work in, or perhaps the way Lenny Bruce did, they actually help shape that culture.
For Williams the jury is still out. That’s why Dave Itzkoff’s new biography of Williams, Robin, is so important.
My conversation with Dave Itzkoff:
How We Got To Globalization Today: A Conversation with Jeffrey Garten
A Constitution of Knowledge: A Conversation with Jonathan Rauch
We Are Our Information: A conversation with Caleb Scharf
Amazon, Bezos and a Global Empire
Our New Addiction to Outrage: The American Psychosis
Reasons for Hope in Rural America: A Conversation with Gigi Georges
A Conversation with Chris Matthews:
The Secret Service and its Time of Reckoning: A conversation with Carol Leonnig
What Happened In Wuhan? Why the Lab Leak Theory Has Gained Traction
Campaigns Matter: A conversation with Edward-Isaac Dovere
With The American Experiment on the Precipice, It's Good To Know Our Shared Origin Story: A Conversation with Historian Patrick O'Donnell
Why New York is New York
The Notorious Maxwells
We Need Uniters, Not Dividers: A Conversation with Tim Shriver
How the Rich Really Live and Why We All Should Care
A Time When Oscar Winning Movies Really Mattered: The Making of Midnight Cowboy
The Founding Mothers of NPR
Toxic Masculinity In An Oil Boomtown
Elon Musk IS Leading Us Into The Future
Imagining the Next World War : 2034
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Jim & Bill (It‘s Another Day)
HauntingLive
Dr. Paul’s Worldviews
The Ben Shapiro Show
The Tucker Carlson Show