March 9, 2026 - Mark Malkoff on "Love Johnny Carson," Stereophonic, and Pedro Alonzo
About The Episode
Comedian and author Mark Malkoff joins The Culture Show to discuss his new book “Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan’s Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend.” Drawing on hundreds of interviews with comedians, writers, and others connected to The Tonight Show, the book revisits Carson’s career, comic instincts, and the influence he continues to have on late-night television.
The Tony Award–winning play “Stereophonic” is now on national tour and heading to Boston. The play captures the obsession, tension, and creative friction behind making an album that could define careers. We speak with cast members Jack Barrett, who plays Grover, and actor Steven Lee Johnson, who plays Charlie, about bringing this behind-the-scenes drama to life. “Stereophonic” is onstage at Emerson Colonial Theatre March 10 - March 15. To learn more go here.
And Culture Show contributor Pedro Alonzo returns with dispatches from a recent road trip through Mexico. From folk-art towns and a church tower rising from a field of lava to the cowboy culture of Sonora and new gathering spaces in desert cities, he shares stories about the places and cultural scenes he encountered along the way.
