Catherine Tate: How Anxiety Built a Comedy Empire
We assume the loudest performer on stage is a giant extrovert offstage. But Catherine Tate, creator of shrieking national catchphrases, describes herself as an incredibly negative person who suffers p...
23 Jun 23min
John Candy: The Hidden Anxiety Behind Hollywood's Warmest Smile
On the exact day a five-year-old boy was meant to blow out his birthday candles, his father died of a sudden heart attack. That boy grew up to be John Candy, the man who brought more comfort to audien...
23 Jun 19min
Paul Reubens: The Hidden Man Behind Pee-wee Herman
The man who brought more candy-colored joy to 1980s television than anyone spent his entire life in hiding. He hid his sexuality, his private life, and a fatal six-year cancer battle behind a bright r...
23 Jun 20min
Bob Newhart: The Jazz Musician of Awkward Silences
He was an accountant so conflict-averse he balanced the petty cash drawer with his own pocket money just to avoid an awkward conversation. That same man became one of the most groundbreaking comedians...
23 Jun 21min
Pope Pius IX: The Liberal Hero Who Became a Prisoner
He came to power in 1846 as the progressive darling of the entire world, freeing political prisoners and throwing open the gates of Rome's Jewish ghetto. Thirty-two years later, he died a self-declare...
23 Jun 24min
Groucho Marx: The Survivalist Behind the Greasepaint Mustache
He was forced out of school at 12 with dreams of becoming a doctor, yet he made his living with a painted-on mustache, a hunched chicken-walk, and a relentless barrage of insults. His proudest achieve...
23 Jun 21min
Dan Castellaneta: The Invisible Genius Behind Homer Simpson
His voice is recognized by billions, yet he can stroll through any grocery store completely unnoticed. It's a profoundly strange kind of stardom: cultural ubiquity paired with total physical anonymity...
23 Jun 19min
Rosa Luxemburg: Smuggled in a Hay Cart to Revolution
In 1889, a teenage girl with a permanent limp was smuggled across the Russian border hidden under a pile of straw, the priest driving claiming he was taking her to be baptized. In reality, she was fle...
23 Jun 22min
