The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Saturday Special - Colin speaks with Writer/Producer Brian Koppelman

Episode Date: June 15, 2019

Colin talks with Brian Koppelman who not only has written such films as Rounders and Ocean's Thirteen but is also the Creator and Executive Producer of the Showtime series Billions which is Colin's new obsession.  They discuss the creation of the series, what it’s like working with such amazing actors and the difficulties of writing season and eventually series finales. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's our Saturday morning podcast where I get to explore things that don't necessarily find their way into the show. And there's a show right now called Billions that I would put in, among my five or six TV shows of all time, you know, from Mary Tyler Moore to Cheers to Sopranos,

Narcos, and I would put billions in that. And Brian Koppelman is the co-creator, executive producer of billions, the writer, the director, the producer. You know, let me start, Brian. First of all, thank you so much for coming on. I want to start with this. When you start to write a project like this, I always feel like a writer wants to say something.

Your big picture is, could I say that what you were trying to say in the growth of this was, hey, corruptions everywhere, even the good guys can be bad guys. Or am I way off? Well, you're not way off. And, you know, I make the show with my lifelong best friend and partner, David Levine. And first of all, man, I'm so psych to do this. and the way in which you talk about the show all the time and all different kinds of media has really reached us, and we totally appreciate it.

And I want to start by saying, in fact, it's so great because I know one of your favorite guys, Hank Azaria, and you know, he's a fanatic for you. He's Brockmeier, obviously. He's never seen your show. Well, so Hank and I play poker together. And he's constantly given me shit about the fact that he hasn't watched it. And then one day he comes to the game of a big smile in his face, and he says, well, I think karma got me because I love God, Coward, and he hasn't watched Brock Meyer, and all he wants to talk about is doing.

And by the way, I have watched Brock Meyer a handful of episodes, but I'm addicted to your show. Yes, which drives Hank insane. Which gives me no end of delight. So I just texted Hank right as you picked up, and I said, by the way. way. I'm going off a collar right now. By the way, let's get Hank on our podcast next week. This is a good heads up to our guys, because I have watched Brockmire, and I think it's a riot. But there is something about billions. I like true crime and I like dark. And I find from Maggie Siff to Damien Lewis to the great Paul Gemani,

there's a darkness here that I really crave and I really like. Well, all right, so let me step back and answer in all seriousness. But I'm glad you said you watched Brockmeier, because Hank said if you watch Brock Meyer, he will watch Billions, and now next week have him on and hold his feet to the fire. I will. Here's the thing. Dave and I don't speak that often to like these themes. What we're happy about is if someone like you picks up on those themes,

or someone like you understands what we're trying to say about supposed good guys and supposed bad guys in America right now. And look, we notice. that there were these people in positions of power supposedly trying to serve the public good who ended up actually just trying to serve their own good. And when you see that, you kind of can't look away from it, right? Right. Because the moment that the blindfold's taken off and you see the way the world really is,

you can't tell yourself it's some other way. So whether it's Elliot Spitzer, who was, you know, a moral crusader who it turned out was leading a very different. life. By the way, not a life that necessarily, you know, guy wants to, if a man's unhappy or a woman's unhappy in their relationship, there are lots of ways out of it. But if you're going to live the life that you want to lead, then you shouldn't be someone crusading on issues of black and white right or wrong. That's Chuck Rhodes, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. And that's what really lands with me, because I found myself through the show initially, liking Bobby Axelrod, knowing he is manipulative and dark.

And Chuck Rhodes bothered me. I kind of turned, I love Jammadi and everything. But I think the way it landed for me, just a kid who does sports, was I was almost like, remember when Oliver Stone made Wall Street? And he was shocked how popular Gordon Gecko got. And I watched Bobby and I thought, oh, hell, same thing. I'm falling for the guy who I should hate and I hate the guy who I should love. But here's the thing.

One of the things, I'd say one thing that's different, and there are certain similarities about Reagan's America and the American Now, you know, the America that Oliver Stone was writing about and the America now, right? But what Dave and I started thinking about, and what we wanted to see, what we wanted to sort of put out there for people to watch and make their own decisions about was we noticed that guys like acts in the real world, guys who had a lot of charisma, a lot of money, a lot of money, a lot of. of power, great verbal skills, that those characteristics started standing in for people for qualities of character, like kindness, empathy, charity, right? And that as a culture, we started celebrating these people. So we in the first season, you know, you present acts in a way, he seems cool, it's Damien Lewis, he moves a certain way, he speaks a certain way, he's funny in a dark way. But he does terrible fucking things, man.

Right by the end of that first season, and this is spoiler to anyone who hasn't watched the show. So Hank is Harry a turn off this for one second and go catch up. But in the first season of the show, you know, a guy who he clearly cares about, he lets that guy die sooner than he had to because that's the way that he could win this engagement against Chuck Rhodes and keep himself free. And we wanted to see when people would recognize. You know, this is this guy. his actions, if I remove myself from being charmed by him, if I step back from the way that how cool he is, his actions are terrible.

And someone in my real life did these things, I would think they were a pretty bad guy. And by the same token, right, Giamadi's character supposedly wears the sheriff's badge. But there's a moral erosion, right? There's a lie that people in power sometimes tell themselves, which is, hey, when I get to the next spot, I'll be able to do so much good for the world, that it doesn't matter how much bad I do to get there. Only, they never get to that final place, right? And so, you know, yes, if you pick up on the fact that we're showing you a world that feels dark, I just think it's a reflection of the world that we've seen now. We want the show to be entertaining. We want the show to be fun.

We want you to be able to laugh. We want you to be able to enjoy the references to the movies and music and all that stuff. But we definitely also want you to think about why you feel the way you feel about these various characters and how it reflects on the world in which we live. Well, yeah, it's complex. And the river running beneath the show, Sopranos wasn't just a mob story. It was a guy having a midlife crisis. That's the river running beneath the show.

And so it was very relatable. He's like his son's driving him. nuts and his wife's driving him nuts and he's going to a therapist. And outside of the affair part, I could totally relate to all of it and that and whacking people. But, you know, it is funny. The personal experiences, you know, sometimes I watch the show and I'm like, somebody that wrote this show got hosed in an investment. Did you take, like, it is funny. Did you have some personal experiences because there's so much nuance. The writing is so smart. I have a couple buddies who are in finance and they love the show. Who have you used and leaned on for the lexicon,

the financial lexicon, the political lexicon? Well, we find these experts. You know, Dave and I have been doing this for a long time. Yes. If you even go back to our first movie Rounders where we found this poker scene and then spent a lot of time with these card players to understand the ways that they thought and talked and their customs and culture. So it's the same thing with this. We spent years thinking about it. We spent. We spent years with these people writing down what they would say. I was talking to a guy the other day who's a really successful guy on Wall Street. And we gave an I at dinners of them over the years.

And he said, you know, you guys fool me. You keep me talking about me and Dave. We'll go to dinner. And he goes, you're telling stories. You're getting me to tell stories. I'm talking. I'm talking. And then I notice your partner just quietly taking out a little piece of paper and writing down everything that I say.

Right. And that's what we do. You know, and we tell these guys, look, we're going to protect. your identity, we're not going to sell you out, but we are going to use pieces of what you explain about the world to make the world of the show more realistic. And they love it. You know, they, I'll get taxed on a Monday morning from five different hedge fund people saying, I noticed that little moment that I told you a story, you changed it, but it's kind of like that. And they love it. And for us, it's great access. And a great way to make sure that we're

We're getting it right. And the same thing on the world of the lawyers and politics. We do the same run. And then we hire consultants to vet it all with so that we'll hire an expert like downtown Josh Brown on the finance side or a lawyer who was the U.S. attorney and David Miller on the legal side. So we'll do that so that we get the stuff right. And, you know, it's more fun to get it right and then see within the world as it really is how to make it compelling.

Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsCise on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Cliver Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

American soccer is about to explode. Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about

Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team.

It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. You also introduced a character after a couple of years, Taylor Mason. Asia Kate Dillon plays the character brilliantly. when you introduce that character, which is a real curveball, it is this sort of, not even a Spengali, a genius enters the show. And it is initially an ally, but I could sense, okay, she's not going to stay under anybody too long.

How much of her storyline had you developed pre-insertion? Or have you just gone, you know, you sit down and you go, okay, let's have her go here, here, here. Did you, when you introduced Taylor, did you know going in, she's going to become the arch nemesis of Axe and Chuck and all that at the end? Well, first of all, I just want to say not a she, they, Taylor is a Gen. I'm a binary, and so is Asia Kate Dillon. But we knew that we wanted to introduce a character who would seem from the outside, very different from Axe, whose external characteristics, who extransely, seem different, but who intrinsically had certain similar qualities that, like, Axe would recognize in them. And we hoped that the sparks would fly so that we could do this kind of story with Taylor. And so that's what we're – you know, you never know.

One of the great things about a long-running TV series is you can try – so you can have this idea. Now, if Asia came in and couldn't, and in a magic didn't happen, we would have had to have gone a different way. But what was this our hope? Our hope was that when we introduced Taylor, Taylor could be the kind of character who could take up a lot of real estate on the show and who would be able to interact with these characters. And then, as you say, I mean, Asia is just a knockout performer. Oh, she steals that. She steals the oxygen in this scene. She's brilliant.

she's sinister, she's caring. She's, again, she's wild, they is wildly complex. Yes, exactly so. And I think, and I think it's an incredible character. But I always wonder, you know, when Bill Belichick's game planning, you know, on Tuesday, he may change the identity of his offense from Monday. And it goes, and then he gets new film. I'm always interested when you insert a character.

Well, I love that. Yeah, we always take in new information. I was talking to the great poker player, Eric's side. at all once. And I was saying, hey, Eric, if you make a read on the fly, if you, you know, you have a read on when you just have the whole card and then a flop comes out, I said, are you one of those poker players? And, you know, Eric's like the third winningest player of all time. I said, are you one of those guys who just, hey, I make a read, I stick with it. And Eric said, no, then you have to always be taking in new information. So you have your opinion

and you hold to that opinion until new information tells you that you're wrong. And he's Like, you have to be willing to both commit and then go, wait a second. I now see I was wrong and throw the hand away. And so it's the same thing, right? It's, yes, we have this plan, but if a better idea shows up, if an actor shows up who blows our mind, I mean, that happens all the time where an actor is so good, you just want to keep writing for them. I will say, though, that the general notion of where the Taylor character could go,

that that character could eventually, could seem like one thing, but could eventually become a rival for acts that was in our minds at the beginning. But as I say, man, we could have easily shifted it, had to shift it if Asia wasn't so terrific. As the summer starts to sizzle, do you feel like you're cooking in your clothes? If you can't handle a heat, you need new underwear. Tommy Johns would I wear the perfect solution. innovative cool cotton underwear for men and women is a summer must have. It's like your own on-body air conditioner. Cool cotton fabrics feature breathable, lightweight fibers, keep you two to three times cooler,

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Right now, go to Tommyjohn.com slash herd. Hurd, get you 20% off your first order. That's Tommyjohn.com slash heard. Tommyjohn.com slash H-E-R-D. Brian Coppelman joining us co-creator, showrunner, executive producer, Billions on Showtime with his partner, David Levine. They write this show.

It's amazing. It's fascinating. It's one of the five or six shows of my life. tend to like dark stuff and complex odd stuff. It reminds me of living in Connecticut so often. And it also reminds me that I was next to New York and the intensity of it. You've worked with Matt Damon, okay, a star. You've worked with, you know, Damien Lewis, Paul Jamati, multiple people.

Is there Maggie Siff, remarkable. Is there a theme or a talent? With actors, whether it's a great character actor or a star. Where is the opening? Because I, I, I, I, I, the idea, Chuck, Paul Jammati's facial expressions are so good. Yeah. He can, he, he, he could, you could turn the sound down on Paul and I would still have a feeling I know what he's saying. Um, he's so, he's so animated.

Where's the opening? What if I said, okay, here's the foundation of great action. What's the base? Where does it come from? Where's the opening? Well, I would say, by the way, I love that you, people who are in Connecticut, Levine, my partner in the show, he lives in Greenwich, too, which is another way we got great insight into this world because he's surrounded by these hedge fund guys, right? Openness. I would say the ability to be really present.

What these actors have, that is amazing, is they can. memorize the lines, so they have the lines memorized so deeply that then they're free to just react. They're not worried that they won't say the lines, so they're present, they're watching what the other actor does, and they're not over-planning what they're going to do. There are some actors who plan it out who come onto the set and know, this is what my emotional arc is going to be for the scene, but there are other actors, and my favorite actors are the ones and these are the ones that Dave and I work with the most. They're there to see what happens, how they would feel in that moment. And it's very hard. I don't know if you've ever tried,

you know, if you've done commercials and stuff, you've done a lot of, like when it's, I've, like, I've acted in movies. I'm in Michael Clayton. I have a really fun little part in Michael Clayton, and it's a great thing if you're in my job to act once in a while because you remember how hard it is. It is so hard. I was at dinner with JJ Reddick the other night. If I can just bring sports into this for a second. And I love JJ. We spend time together.

I'm a huge basketball freak. And I'm a good foul shooter. And I said, like in high school, my team, you know, I shot close to 80%. And I said, JJ, I don't understand why guys miss foul shots all the time. And he looked at me. And he was like, well, first of all, understand.

You're running the court, right? And obviously, JJ is one of the best who ever lived at it. He said, I have a lot of sympathy for guys who missed these fell shot. He's like, you're running the court, you're gasped. You have 15,000 people shouting at you. You have everybody you know watching at home. Also, you know, most of these guys, their hands are too big for the basketball. And he's going on and explaining to me why I'm an idiot. And he's right. Why I'm an idiot to sit at home and be like, well, I'd make that fell shot. And when you get on a stage to act, it is so hard to stay relaxed and

calm and cool and feel present and alert and alive and in the moment because your self-consciousness creeps in. So the greatest actors don't have that self-consciousness. They're other directed. They're looking at the other actors. They're reacting and they're living in the moment. Like the best ballplayers. The ballplayers who remember the moment, the ballplayers who are aware of how big the moment is,

are the ballplayers who often crumble, right? Brooks Kepka, the entire attitude that Kepka takes out onto the course, I think is created so that he doesn't get overwhelmed by the pressure of the moment, right? He's constantly saying, hey, man, this doesn't matter, it's just golf, right? It's just hitting the ball. And each time he says that he reinforces to himself, don't feel pressure, don't think about the stakes, don't think about history. And I have to think that that makes it easier for him to succeed, and I think it's similar

with the actor. So does that make sense? Yeah, no, Derek Jeter, whenever asked about a slump, and he didn't have many long slumps, but people would ask him and he says, listen, hit the ball hard. Don't overthink the room. Just be up to the plate, react to the pitch, and just hit bat on ball hard. Like live in the moment, live in the pitch, go back to fundamentals and react. And it's just react to the moment.

Kobe's the same thing. Kobe had brief slumps. It's like, man, you just get the ball, you go to your process. You know, A-Rod's an overthinker. He had longer slumps. Jeter, you know, Jeter said years ago, this is why Sam Darnold's going to be good for the Jets. Sam Darnold, who I'm a Jets fan because I'm a Sam Darnold fan. I'm a Jets fan, too, sadly.

So I saw Darnold's first practice in college, and I walked up to Steve Sarkesian, and I said, that's Andrew Luck. And he said, just more athletic. Is that Darnold has enough sort of blue collar. simplicity to his brain. It's a real interesting combination. A-Rod was almost too smart. Michael was smart enough

but could relax and go right back to what he was in the moment. I know this is kind of confusing. But Darnold has this. That Darnold, Peyton Manning was a teeth clencher. He was too smart. He thought too much. Brady's just smart enough to not overthink.

And that's what Darnold has. He's got this kind of sense simple sensibility. He's like a country boy who can memorize a playbook. And so to your point, the great actors, they live in this moment where they just, they're confident enough to go into a scene free of netting, I guess. Yeah, no, that's exactly right. Free of, three of the stakes of the thing outside of the, right, free of all the reasons it matters outside of what happens during action and cut. And they prepare. pair. So that's what I was saying about them having memorized lines. That's what you're saying about

Donald Bill in the playbook. They are prepared enough. They think about it enough. They own the character enough that they can sort of let all that go when they walk onto the floor and they're going to do a scene. And they're all very smart. I would say you can't really be great at acting. I don't think if you're not bringing a certain amount of intellect to bear on the material, before you walk out of the floor. By the way, Brian Koppelman joining us, your ending did not reach. There was no reach. It was smart.

It was thoughtful. And it left me wanting more. And this is not a shot at Game of Thrones or Seinfeld or, you know, last episodes where it feels like, wow, I'm a, that's a little too many. Well, because we're cool. But also in fairness, those guys had to end their series. We're still going. Yes. I mean, it's really hard to end your series well.

And I hope we don't end ours for a few more seasons. but it's easier to do, listen, it's all hard relative, you know, I live a charm life, I love what I do. We feel a great obligation to our fans, the people who love our show are fanatics like you, like they're so into it. I don't know, we just feel terrible to let you down. That said, ending a series, I think, is really difficult to satisfy. Well, I wasn't bothered by the Sopranos, Brian. I thought it, I didn't think it gave me a... I love it.

I love the ambiguity. of it. I loved it. And I love Mad Men's ending, too. Mad Men is my favorite show of all time. Man Men and Sopranos are my favorite shows of all time. And for me, both of those endings were exactly what I wanted them to be. Yeah, like a little ambiguity, but, you know, I love the characters and what happened after it went black, I was okay with either way. Me too. I agree. Brian Coppelman is joining us. You had something to add here? Well, I was going to say, you were talking about our ending. I was saying it was easy to, right.

Easier to do an ending in the middle of your run than at the end of your run. And I'm glad to hear that it left you wanting more. Now, that's perfect. Thanks for saying that. Now, do you, but do you think about the ending, knowing that you have a year or two left? Is this something discussed between you and David? Yeah, we talk about it all the time. We talk all the time about building it right.

So in other words, if you're going toward a certain ending, as you get into your fifth and six seasons, like let's say we're going to make seven seasons. As you get into your fifth and six seasons, you have to start, even if they're not putting blocks in place that the audience is going to recognize yet, you have to start drawing that out a little bit, right? You have to start game planning for the end. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source,

the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many. many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth.

And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama wants you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend Janet. Hey.

And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later. We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink.

Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. Oh, what are y'all doing? Microphones?

Are you making a rap album? Come on. I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic.

You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, no, listen, this is, the New England Patriots have never scored a touchdown in eight Super Bowls in the first quarter. Think about that. The best offense, the greatest quarterback, never a touchdown.

It's amazing. It's amazing. So what they're telling you is it's Ali. Ollie didn't have very many first and second round knockouts. I'm going to feel you out. I'm not going to engulf my team or I'm not going to unveil my tricks. I did this is new England this is why I see I think Belichick's one of the smartest coaches ever every Super Bowl they tend to run more than they passed during the regular season

they're significantly worse in the first quarter and significantly better in the fourth quarter he everything with him is the long play he's the classic 401k he never takes it out and and and so Brian I think to a large degree you you are moving because I can kind of see where it's going. But I do think you do as a writer have to think about the end, even if you're nine episodes, 12 episodes from it. Yeah, you have to. You're exactly right. I want to end on this. When you do something and you're in this, I would imagine creatively, it can be engulfing. Can you work on other projects while you're doing this? Or do you have to be completely committed to this. When we're making the show, we've got to just make the show. It's similar to coaching

quarterback. It's similar to a head coach in the NFL. So this is the first time right now, as you're talking to me, is the first sort of time I've had any time off since we started the show. Oh, my God. We, Dave and I each got ourselves like about two months to just clear our heads. Last season, we had three days between finishing the post-production and starting the writer's room. Oh, Lord. We're opening the writer's room in July. So, no, what I do is I try to do things that are very different. So in any, like, I covered a couple golf tournaments for Sports Illustrated, where they were like, hey, just go write whatever you want at the master's or go write whatever you want about the PGA. And that's awesome for me.

Like, anytime I can do something like that where I'm able to write because I love writing and I love thinking about this stuff, but where it's not about the show, it really helps the show. It really helps when I go back to the show to sort of have a clear mind. So that's where I am. That's where I am right now. You think Tiger's going to win today? No. I do think it's a unique U.S. Open because Rory just won. Mickelson won at Pebble Beach in February.

Brooks Kepka owns the world. Tigers healthy. I think it's a very unique U.S. Open where our big guns, our cleanup hitters, they're all on hot streaks. and I think it's going to, and that course is beautiful, it's tough. I think it's going to be art. That's a painting, and I think this weekend it's a painting, not the Last Supper, but it's memorable iconic figures in this canvas, the most beautiful canvas in golf in the world,

and I think it has a chance to be an all-time U.S. Open. Me too, man. I'm so excited. I'm so excited to watch. And I think there's a chance Tiger can do it. He loves the course. He's won a lot on this course. And I just think that there's a chance that with the small greens,

his ability to hit those irons is going to intimidate people a little bit. Well, you know, Tiger is one of the only athletes that got me to a TV Sunday at 4 o'clock for about a decade on Sundays at 4. Sopranos has done it. Brian, you have done it. You and David with billions. Your podcast is The Moment with Brian Coppelman. This past Sunday was the season four finale. It's just a real honor to have you on.

And thank you so much for your time. Get busy. Hey, man, I'm thrilled to talk to you. And hey, Hank is area. Colin is watching Brockmeyer, so you have no choice now. You must watch Billy. I am. Thank you, man.

You bet. We'll talk to you. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the Internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlyce comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline.

And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.

And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis' keep coming to you. He's like, you know I love you. dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.