Mike Sweeney (Re-Release)

The Three Questions with Andy Richter

Team Coco & Earwolf

Comedy

4.5 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Three Questions will return for a NEW SEASON next week with a very special season premiere episode! Until then, we’re looking back at Andy’s 2020 conversation with Mike Sweeney - the executive producer and head writer of Sunday’s Academy Awards, hosted by our friend Conan O'Brien! The longtime Conan writer talks with Andy Richter about surviving a traumatic upbringing, his career trajectory from trial lawyer to head writer for Conan, and the value of being surrounded by funny people. Do you want to talk to Andy and friends live on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio? Tell us your favorite dinner party story (about anything!) or ask a question - leave a voicemail at 855-266-2604 or fill out our Google Form at BIT.LY/CALLANDYRICHTER. Listen to "The Andy Richter Call-In Show" every Wednesday at 1pm Pacific on SiriusXM's Conan O'Brien Channel.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, everyone. This is another episode of the three questions with Andy Richter, which is me.
0:18.4	And my special guest tonight is someone that I have known for a very long time.
0:23.1	It's practically family to me at this point.
0:25.9	And it's Mike Sweeney, who is a longtime head writer on the Conan show.
0:33.2	Now, what is your title now, by the way?
0:37.3	Yeah, what is it? by the way? Yeah.
0:38.0	What is it?
0:38.8	I guess writer, producer.
0:43.2	Yeah.
0:44.0	Well, tell people what the difference is between what you used to do and what you do now.
0:51.4	Well, now is much better.
0:54.0	Yes.
0:56.1	Let's just, the, the bad thing has gone away.
0:59.7	I, um, well, as head writer for 15 years, which I think is a sign of, uh, mental illness on my part.
1:06.5	Yeah.
1:06.6	I don't think you're supposed to be the head writer of a late night show that long.
1:09.6	It is a sense, it's a sense of,, of skill, of people's skills, and also something really, really wrong with you.
1:22.5	Very, very wrong.
1:24.1	And that should be really at the top.
1:25.6	The kind of the kind of codependence that you only find in someone who has made the choice to become someone's sidekick for the rest of their life.
1:37.3	That's another kind of sickness.
1:40.7	Yeah, but you took a big break there.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

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