10 Podcasts About Celebrities and Hollywood

Podcasts are the definition of a godsend in this lonely world. They invite you to listen to a genuine conversation, lecture, or story on topics that you personally love. This makes them addictive. My addiction is rooted in podcasts about Hollywood. I love podcasts that feature contemporary interviews, Hollywood history, or even just feature celebrity hosts. If you’re like me, then check out these 10 podcasts about celebrities and Hollywood. Note, this post contains affiliate links for bookshop.org, and I will earn a commission on any sales.

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Armchair Expert is hosted by actor/comedian Dax Shepard and actor/writer Monica Padman. Each week, they interview celebrities, either on zoom or in pre-Covid times, in the attic above Shepard’s garage. These celebrities include actors, musicians, authors, scientists, sociologists, and mental health professionals.

It’s a long form interview to say the least. The average episode runs between 90 minutes to three hours. Each guest tells their life story and digs deep into their life philosophies, past hardships, and current interests.

Shepard gets his guests to open up by candidly revealing his own struggles, flaws, and fears. He also allows each guest to dictate what content airs and doesn’t press them to discuss anything that makes them uncomfortable.

Essentially, Armchair Expert is a self-help podcast disguised as a celebrity interview podcast. It really humanizes celebrities, showing that their lives truly are not easier as the result of being famous. It also gives you access to real professional and amateur advice that you may crave, either consciously or unconsciously.

Life Is Short with Justin Long

Life is Short is hosted by actor Justin Long and produced by his brother, Christian Long. Similar to Armchair Expert, Long interviews fellow celebrities, almost exclusively actors. The episodes run between one to two hours and also asks celebrities to tell their life story. The first half of the interview primarily focuses on how they grew up and broke into the industry. Then, they delve into their own views on the meaning of life and what legacy they hope to leave behind. The interview concludes with a set of arbitrary but fun rapid fire questions that is asked of nearly every guest, such as:

“Who is your favorite Muppet?”

“If you could have one snack food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

Each episode is bookended by conversations with Justin and Christian. It begins with a personal story that segues into the featured guest. After the interview, Christian reviews the interview with Justin. This gives him plenty of opportunities to tease his brother. He also points out things he liked or found interesting about the guest.

They typically conclude with a letter written by a fan which highlights how they get the most out of life. Life is Short has a loyal following made up of fans who call themselves “shorties.” They congregate in a Facebook group where they discuss each week’s episode, post relevant memes, and engage with one another on this shared interest.

Hollywood Babble-On with Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman

Hollywood Babble-On is typically a live comedy show hosted by director Kevin Smith and actor Ralph Garman. They often perform at comedy clubs in Hollywood, but they’ve also been known to go on the road to various venues throughout the US and Europe. Going to a live show has become a sort of pilgrimage for members of “The Garmy.”

The format of the show features various segments that have evolved throughout the years. They start out reading emails from members of the audience who typically request birthday shout outs or suggestions for one of Garman’s many celebrity impressions (ex. Sylvester Stallone singing a Lady Gaga song). Many fans have contributed to the show by writing segment jingles, submitting artwork, and suggesting new segments. This includes submitting photos of “inappropriate toys” found in dollar stores or toy aisles or actual towns with dirty names.

The meat of the episode/show is spent discussing Hollywood headlines, upcoming film and TV projects, and celebrities that they like to make fun of. They try to keep things light and jokey (caution: sometimes the humor can get really raunchy), though it’s not unusual for them to have heavy and sentimental moments (ex. the episode following the death of Adam West).

Each New Year’s Eve, Kevin and Ralph host a special show where they ring in the new year live on stage. It’s a fun podcast if you’re a fan of Smith’s and are looking to laugh for 90 minutes.

Unqualified with Anna Faris

Actor/comedian Anna Faris hosts this podcast where she interviews fellow celebrities before they switch gears and take calls from fans looking for life advice. The interviews themselves range from serious to completely outlandish. However, all contain a dose of silliness. Faris will grill guests about their craft one moment and then ask them to choose between eating two gross foods the next.

She also shows off some original characters that she created. If her guest is game, she will also occasionally launch into improv scenarios. One or more of these characters will come out and take over the interview, or they will act out a scene together.

The “unqualified” audience question segment is the most interesting to me. Fans submit their questions in advance. Then, Anna, her assistant, Sim, and that week’s guest call and talk to them about their problem. Topics include parenting, relationship, and job advice. Though she’s not an expert, Faris tries to give her callers the best advice she can manage. She asks follow up questions without getting too personal and extends genuine sympathy for the hardships that the caller is going through.

After the coronavirus pandemic hit, Anna began to take a backseat during the unqualified segment and bring on actual relationship and mental health experts to help give professional advice to her callers. Anna still weighs in on her end and helps to lighten the mood, but she leaves the heavy lifting to the experts.

You Must Remember This with Karina Longworth

If you’re more into classic Hollywood rather than contemporary interviews, I recommend You Must Remember This. Host Karina Longworth narrates this show about the first century of Hollywood history. Each season of the podcast focuses on a different topic, often covering a linear story about that particular topic. She’s covered Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, Dead Blondes, The Manson Family Murders, and more.

Episodes run under an hour each. Longworth narrates the majority of each show. Occasionally, she will bring on celebrities to read quotes or writings from the classic stars that she features. She digs deep with her research, pulling old newspaper articles, interviews, and reading biographies to condense an actor’s life, event, or era in history into a detailed, slow burning tale that makes you feel like a film history buff after each episode.

Fresh Air with Terry Gross

Fresh Air is not exclusively a Hollywood podcast, but they frequently feature interviews with actors, filmmakers, and other contemporary celebrities who are plugging their latest projects. Produced by NPR, veteran interviewer Terry Gross asks a ton of personal, and sometimes uncomfortable, questions to her guests. As a result, they open up about their life and work.

Half of the interview is dedicated to their careers while the rest discusses their personal history or addresses current or past controversies for the guest to explain in their own words. In between segments, they play clips of the guest’s most famous and most recent work.

Gross’ questions are ruthless, but her demeanor is gentle and respectful.  So, she is able to get answers out of them without bullying or coercing them into saying more than they want to say.

When they’re not interviewing celebrities, they feature journalists, authors, or other guests who have newsworthy or controversial stories to tell. They also put out episodes regularly. Even if they have no new material to dispense, they will repeat old episodes for a recently deceased guest or put together compilations or “best of” episodes to hold you over until the next new episodes are released.

Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin

Actor Alec Baldwin hosts his own NPR podcast where he interviews a variety of guests, mostly fellow actors. A celebrity himself, he mainly tries to discuss the guest’s creative process. This can lead to some really interesting conversations that you won’t find on your average talk show segment.

Baldwin is a genuine cinephile with a wide arrange of knowledge on a subject. He maintains a very professional, dry demeanor with his interview style, taking himself very seriously, unless he has a good friend or comedian on. Then, he gets looser and even shares personal stories or opinions on air. It’s a classy podcast for those who want a more sophisticated version of the classic Hollywood interview.

Literally! with Rob Lowe

Launched in the summer of 2020, Literally! with Rob Lowe is another long form celebrity interview style show. Its title comes from Lowe’s character’s famous catchphrase on Parks and Recreation. This podcast was teased on some of the above-mentioned shows before its premiere. So, it hit the ground running despite being so new to the game.

If you’ve read either of his memoirs, Stories I Only Tell My Friends and Love Life, it’s easy to see how Lowe gets the guests that he does. He has encountered so many celebrities in such surprising ways. And he has been working in the industry (in TV, movies, and theater) long enough that he has developed close friendships with many of his guests. He has stories about everyone and has such an easygoing persona that they trust him enough to open up and reveal their own juicy memories and opinions.

Lowe keeps things lighthearted but isn’t afraid to take jabs at the right guests and often himself. He can keep up with the timing of his comedic guests as well as ask appropriate questions to his more serious guests. No episode is long enough, and even if you’ve heard a guest on another podcast previously, Lowe gets new information and insights out of them that they haven’t shared before.

Sibling Revelry with Kate and Oliver Hudson

Sibling Revelry is a podcast hosted by the famous brother/sister duo whose mission is to interview other siblings to try to learn more about the dynamics of having siblings and how it affects your trajectory in life. Both siblings don’t have to be famous. In fact, many of the guests that they’ve interviewed have brought on their non-famous siblings.

The Hudsons are still getting used to the interview process, but their laid back demeanor makes for a more entertaining format. They also have a serious interest in sibling topics such as birth order, parenting styles, and age gaps.

They also get a lot of personal history out of their guests by sharing their own family history. Then, they compare and contrast their experience to others. Growing up in a famous family, they recognize the uniqueness of their childhoods but also know that the human experience is a shared experience. And they are interested in exploring the many forms that childhood and sibling relationships take on.

Talkin’ Toons with Rob Paulsen

If you like cartoons, especially 80’s and 90’s cartoons, Rob Paulsen will be your new favorite podcast host. Having voiced popular characters from such shows as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jimmy Neutron, The Animaniacs, and countless others, Paulsen has a huge body of work and relationships that have formed the basis of his podcast, Talkin’ Toons.

Paulsen loves to have his fellow voice actors on to discuss their careers and show off their wide range of voices. It’s always a surprise to hear the real voices behind your favorite characters.

Paulsen tends to dominate the conversations. But his high energy and good-natured personality makes him fun to listen to.

Others

Check out my Giveaways, Contests, and Promotions section for more podcast recommendations from authors and bloggers I have interviewed.

What are your favorite entertainment podcasts? Leave your answers in the comments below!

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