Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Pushkin Industries

Music, Society & Culture

4.5 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Michael McDonald’s husky baritone is one of the most instantly recognizable voices from the ‘70s and ‘80s. As a member of The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and a hitmaking solo artist, Michael McDonald’s career is one for the books.

Enter Paul Reiser—the comedic actor and writer behind New York Times best-selling books, popular movies and TV shows. Before the start of the pandemic, Paul met Mike McDonald at a party and the two became fast friends. Listening to Michael’s incredible stories, Paul found himself trying to piece together the arc of Michael’s career. They began recording their conversations and soon they had over 600 pages of stories that they eventually turned into the memoir, What A Fool Believes. The book chronicles the highs and lows of Michael’s career, his struggles with addiction, and his lifelong insecurities.

On today’s episode Justin Richmond talks to Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser about their unlikely working relationship. Michael also talks about why his proposed Quincy Jones-produced solo album never materialized. And he remembers the time one of his childhood heroes—Ray Charles—chewed him out while wearing a bathrobe.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Michael McDonald songs HERE.

And you can grab your copy of this fantastic memoir HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin
0:09.0	You come to the New Yorker Radio Hour for conversations that go deeper with people you really want to hear from whether it's Bruce Springstein or Questlove or Olivia Rodrigo
0:22.0	Liz Cheney or the godfather of art or colleagues at the New Yorker. So join us every week on the New Yorker
0:33.6	radio hour wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:37.0	Michael McDonald's Husky Bearton is one of the most instantly recognizable voices from the 70s and 80s.
0:47.0	As a member of the Dooby Brothers, Steely Dan,
0:50.0	and as a hit-making solo artist,
0:52.0	Michael McDonald's career is one for the books.
0:56.0	Enter Paul Reiser, the comedic actor and writer behind New York Times best-selling books,
1:01.0	popular movies, and TV shows.
1:04.3	Before the start of the pandemic, Paul met Mike McDonald at a party and the two became
1:08.1	fast friends.
1:10.0	Listening to Michael's incredible stories, Paul found himself trying to piece together the
1:13.6	arc of Michael's career.
1:15.6	They began recording their conversations and soon they had over 600 pages of stories
1:20.2	they eventually turned into the memoir,
1:22.2	what a fool believes.
1:24.4	The book chronicles the highs and lows of Michael's career, his struggles with addiction and
1:28.8	his lifelong insecurities.
1:31.4	On today's episode I talked to Michael McDonald's and Paul Reiser about their
1:34.9	unlikely work in relationship. Michael also talks about why his proposed
1:38.8	Quincy Jones produced solo album never materialized and he remembers the time one of his childhood
	...

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