Alan Alda

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 May 2022

⏱️ ? minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Alan Alda has been performing for over six decades. He played the iconic role of Hawkeye in M*A*S*H , was Arnold Vinnick on The West Wing and starred in several other memorable roles over the years. He has also had parts in a number of films and performed on Broadway. Alda is also an almost-journalist, a communicator and an interviewer. For almost thirty years now it has been his second career. First on television in the PBS series Scientific American Encounters and now on his podcast, Clear+Vivid . One listen to Clear+Vivid and you can tell that Alda has found his passion as a podcast host. Alan Alda joins Bullseye to talk about Clear+Vivid and dives into some of the different guests he has had on the show. He also shares what it was like when M*A*S*H, the television show that gave him his big break, came to an end. Plus, he talks about his years performing improv.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:14.1	From MaximumFun.org and NPR, it's Bullseye.
0:24.5	My first guest this week is Alan Alda. The Alan Alda, Hawkeye for Mash, Arnold
0:31.8	Vinnet from the West Wing, Academy Award and Tony nominee, Sixth Time Emmy winner, and
0:38.2	lately encroaching on my territory as a podcast host.
0:42.3	The 86-year-old Alda has headed up the show Clear and Vivid for four years now.
0:47.6	Not as, you know, a way for Alda to talk with his friends about their latest movie or the
0:52.9	good old days. Sure, some of the guests are friends of his, but there's also scientists,
0:57.8	researchers, writers, he admires. One listen to Clear and Vivid and you can tell he's found
1:03.4	his second passion as podcast host. Before we get into my interview with Alan Alda,
1:08.1	here's a little bit from the show. In this clip, he's talking with another legendary performer,
1:12.7	Mel Brooks. I've known you for over 50 years. Yes, you have.
1:18.4	And we met, do you remember we met 60 years ago on a late night radio show in New York?
1:24.3	Yeah. Very gray, very gray show. Oh, oh, T. You remember? Oh, my God.
1:28.9	I remember it very hot. I remember how generous you were because I had just opened in a
1:32.9	place that night and you had seen the play and it was a terrible play. And you said,
1:38.6	this play is great. I know funny and this play is funny. Yeah. And it really helped us
1:44.1	cause it didn't close until the next night. I kept it open another night.
1:50.0	And the whole day. Yeah. And you were good. Except you told me a crazy story that you were wearing
1:59.2	a rope into playing the robes on fire. That one. The rope caught fired.
2:04.4	Alan Alda, welcome to Bullseye. It's great to have you on the show. Thank you.
2:07.6	Thank you. It's nice to hear Mel too. Oh, that we all could only have interview subjects
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.