1512 Michael Ian Black has answers & Dr Alejandro Velasco on Venezuela + News & Clips
Stand Up! with Pete Dominick
Pete Dominick
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 115 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today's show, I have two great guests joining me. The legend Michael Ian Black comes on at about one hour and 12 minutes but before that at 49 minutes, I speak with Venezuela expert and NYU historian Dr. Alejandro Velasco.
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Michael Ian Black is a multi-media talent who's starred in numerous films and TV series, written and/or directed two films, is a prolific author and commentator, and regularly tours the country performing his ribald brand of jokes and observations.
He most recently starred in TVLand's "The Jim Gaffigan Show" and Comedy Central's "Another Period." He also reprised one of his iconic film roles in Netflix's "Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later," and previously in "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp." His third standup comedy special, "Noted Expert," was released on Epix.
Black's authored 11 books, including the recently released best seller, "A Child's First Book of Trump." He's written two well-received memoirs: "Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom's, which I know sounds weird)", and "You're Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Sex, Death and Other Humiliations." In 2012, he collaborated with conservative Meghan McCain on "America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Freedom." He's the author of "My Custom Van (and 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays That Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face)," and seven children's books, including "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo-Bop!," "Naked", "Chicken Cheeks," "The Purple Kangaroo," "A Pig Parade Is A Terrible Idea" and "I'm Bored." He also writes book reviews for the New York Times.
Previously, Black released two stand-up specials, "Very Famous" and "I Am A Wonderful Man." He and Tom Cavanagh host the popular podcast, "Mike and Tom Eat Snacks." He also writes and hosts a podcast with Michael Showalter, "Topics," and his own interview podcast, "How To Be Amazing." He hosts "Debate Wars" on SeeSo, and he recently hosted "Easiest Game Show Ever" on Pop TV.
Sketch comedy fans know Black's work on "The State," "Viva Variety," "Stella" and "Michael and Michael Have Issues" all of which he co-created, wrote and starred in. Other TV credits include quirky bowling alley manager 'Phil' on the NBC series "Ed," and his hilarious commentary on cable's "I Love the..." series. He recently starred in two hit web series that migrated to cable TV: "Burning Love" on E! and "You're Whole" on Adult Swim.
Black's movie roles include "Slash," "Smosh: The Movie," "They Came Together," "Hell Baby," "This is 40," "Wet Hot American Summer," "Take Me Home Tonight," "Reno 911!: Miami," "The Ten" and "The Baxter."
Black wrote and directed the film "Wedding Daze," starring Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher. He also co-wrote the comedy "Run, Fatboy, Run," directed by David Schwimmer and starring Simon Pegg, Hank Azaria and Thandie Newton.
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Alejandro Velasco holds joint appointments in the Gallatin School and the Department of History, and was Executive Editor of the NACLA Report on the Americas from 2015 to 2021. Before NYU, he taught at Hampshire College, where he was Five College Fellow, and at Duke University. His research in the areas of social movements, urban politics, and democratization has won support from the Social Science Research Council, the Ford and Mellon Foundations, and the American Historical Association, among others, and has appeared in journals including the Hispanic American Historical Review, the Latin American Research Review, Labor, and others. Velasco's first book Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela (University of California Press, 2015), won the 2016 Fernando Coronil Prize for best book on Venezuela, awarded biennially by the Section on Venezuelan Studies of the Latin American Studies Association. His teaching includes interdisciplinary courses on contemporary Latin America, among them seminars on human rights, cultural studies, and urban social movements; historical methods courses on 20th-century revolutions; graduate courses on urban political history and oral history; and workshops with primary and secondary school educators. A frequent media contributor, his editorials and analysis have appeared in NACLA, Nueva Sociedad, The Nation, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Current History, History News Network, BBC History Magazine, and others. Velasco also frequently contributes radio and television commentary in outlets including NPR, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, CBS, France 24, the BBC, and the CBC.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | supposed to brush my cat's teeth. |
| 0:02.4 | That was sprung on me recently |
| 0:03.4 | by that. You've got to start brushing her teeth. |
| 0:05.1 | I was like, okay, I wouldn't have gotten the cat. |
| 0:12.9 | Just saying, had I known, I would have considered it for one second. |
| 0:17.5 | If it's too late, I love her. |
| 0:19.9 | So I went on YouTube looking for tutorials how to brush your cat's teeth. |
| 0:24.1 | Thought there might be one or two. There's thousands of them. |
| 0:27.4 | All the same, none of them are helpful. |
| 0:30.2 | They're all like, here's how you brush your cat's teeth. |
| 0:32.3 | First start out with the world's most relaxed cat. |
| 0:43.3 | Stand up. with the world's most relaxed cat. Comedian Todd Barry, getting your day started with a very funny joke. |
| 0:48.8 | I like to open with a joke. |
| 0:50.3 | Not always. |
| 0:51.3 | I like to surprise you. |
| 0:52.3 | Sometimes it's a cold opening. |
| 0:53.6 | Sometimes it's a joke. Sometimes, you know, it's just the music as always. I'd like to surprise you. Sometimes it's a cold opening. Sometimes it's a joke. Sometimes, you know, it's just the music, as always. Happy to have you here. I've got two great guests joining me today. First, I found an awesome expert to talk about Venezuela from NYU historian and PhD. Dr. Alejandro Velasco and I had a great conversation yesterday. |
| 1:14.5 | You might have seen it if you were watching live on YouTube or Substack or many of the other |
| 1:18.7 | platforms that I broadcast my interviews. |
| 1:20.5 | Generally speaking, most of the time, live on. |
| 1:23.9 | If you want to listen to that right now, skip the news and skip the clip show. |
| 1:28.2 | You can jump to my conversation and learn a lot from Alejandro Velasco. It begins at 49 minutes. Also yesterday, |
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