Interview

Celebrity Deaths

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … [https://deanandphil.substack.com] universe of shows, these celebrations are always interesting, occasionally inspiring, frequently delightful, and sometimes downright bizarre and hilarious! This week, the gentlemen set a personal record by remembering and celebrating the following TEN media notables: *Astronomer Alan Hale *Oscar-winning and Tony-nominated costume designer Albert Wolsky *Oscar-winning editor Marcia Lucas *Two character actors who made their marks on the big screen, the small screen and in the world of “The X-Files”: James Handy and Charles Cioffi *Transatlantic television and stage star Anthony Head *Musician, educator and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” regular Joe Negri *Graphic novelist and award-winning filmmaker Marjane Satrapi *Chart-topping R&B great Robert “Peabo” Bryson *Happy, the 55 year-old Asian elephant whose uncommon intelligence made her the focus of a legal emancipation fight Celebrity Deaths: Because as Dean Haglund says, “Remembering things is fun!” Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Art Life

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! A few weeks back, the #1 late night show in the U.S.A. went off the air. Dean, Phil and Jon wished to pay tribute to both “The Late Show” and its host, Stephen Colbert. So they each take turns answering more than a dozen of the usual questions in the “Colbert Questionert”! Colbert’s spoken goal for the questionert is that each person who took it would feel “truly known” afterwards. Trust us, you will, at the very least, know Dean, Phil and Jon better at the end of this episode than you did at the start! Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Chillpak Hollywood Hour

Phil was actually worried he and Dean wouldn’t have enough to discuss to fill this week’s show and wow was his worry unfounded! The gentlemen get the conversational ball rolling with the return of “What We’re Reading” wherein four quite fascinating and quite disparate works get covered, leading to in-depth discussion about such topics as painting watercolors, epistolary novels, the comedic genius of Norm Macdonald, and life in Austria-Hungary of the early 1900s. All the major prizewinners at Cannes 2026 get discussed, and the early summer U.S. box office gets celebrated. Then, however, the tone turns darker, as the need for a full-on boycott of Paramount and its properties gets expressed, and the ramifications of waiting for the Warner Bros. merger to launch said boycott get explored. Dean saw The Sheep Detectives and shares his thoughts. Phil watched the classic 1945 film noir Detour and spills the dirt on its director’s fall from grace, hails the film as a must-watch for aspiring filmmakers, and regales Dean with a delightful fact about the career of the film’s lead actress, Ann Savage. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Television with Marc Hershon

Welcome to our most action-packed installment yet of Television with Marc Hershon as Marc and host Phil Leirness discuss such current series as “The Boys”, “Hacks”, “Rooster”, “Widow’s Bay”, “Spider-Noir” and “Last One Laughing” (UK edition). As has become their custom, they usually discuss shows by defining which ones are worthy of “binge-watching”, which ones might be “guilty pleasures” and which ones, no matter how good or how popular, are “nope” they aren’t going to be watching! Marc even adds a new category to the mix! He and Phil share a couple of all-time favorite “guilty pleasures” and in honor of Stephen Colbert’s final episode of “The Late Show”, Marc takes the Colbert Questionert. As a special bonus, a never-before-heard outtake of Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ Interview [https://open.substack.com/pub/deanandphil/p/interview-73d?r=3e3grq&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] with legendary broadcaster, podcaster and academic Alex Lewczuk, wherein Alex reveals his all-time television selections, gets included as well! Marc Hershon is a branding expert who has dreamt up names for countless hit products. He is a comedy veteran, a comedy impresario, and he teaches improv comedy. He has penned several television movies, and is the co-author of I Hate People, a guide to getting “what you want out of your job.” He has reviewed comedy podcasts for The Huffington Post and Splitsider and was the longtime producer and host of “Succotash [https://succotash.libsyn.com/]” the comedy podcast podcast. Marc has spent much of his adult life trying to get people to stop using the word “podcast” and to use “soundcast” instead. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Art Life

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s show runs the gamut from the business of movie trailers to the personal as the gentlemen reveal their all-time favorite classes and Jon reveals which of his songs came from despair. Other topics explored on this episode include … *Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters *The Sheep Detectives *Why the USA always seems to be in the doldrums whenever a major anniversary of its existence comes around *Which America250 celebrations Phil is looking forward to attending in Charleston, South Carolina, and which ones Jon might attend in New Jersey *Two cocktails that might well be battling for the title of THE Cocktail of Summer 2026 Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]