Stories from the Cultural Fringe / The Originals: Volume 4

Howard Rosenman shares stories of producing films, but it’s the stories from his rich, turbulent life that will leave you amused, astounded, and occasionally scandalized. After spending an hour with this master raconteur, you will never, ever forget him.

Joel Thurm shares his memories of working on The Golden Girls and reveals how Betty White’s fellow castmates really felt about the comedy legend. Art Linson remembers his near death experience producing 1997’s The Edge with Alec Baldwin. Finally, actor and writer Fred Stoller shares tales of bullying, theft, and tennis involving his (mostly) friend, Norm Macdonald.

The celebrated author of The Black Dahlia, James Ellroy came on to promote his new Audible Originals series, “James Ellroy’s Hollywood Deathtrip,” but was not at all interested in discussing his life as a pervert and womanizer, a reputation borne out of his his two very dirty memoirs.

Daphne Merkin is a novelist, essayist, and reviewer who became famous for her 1996 New Yorker essay “Unlikely Obsession,” about her fetish for spanking. Discussed: why she’s never driven a car, horndog Philip Roth, and whether Woody Allen should be considered a sex offender.

Andrew and iconic new journalist Gay Talese settle an old beef involving Sinatra’s hairpiece, then go deep into Talese’s sexy years researching Thy Neighbor’s Wife and the big headaches that came with his blockbuster New Yorker story, “The Voyeur’s Motel.”

Steve Madden, the creative honcho of the eponymous shoe giant, details his tireless quest to vanquish all of his rivals and lay claim to every female foot on planet earth. Andrew digs in his heels to explore Madden’s incredible rise and fall and rise again tale.

Texas-born comedian Ron White has become one of the highest paid comedians in the world with an act that has consisted of him recounting his exploits as a hard-partying “amok-running motherfucker.” White discusses what his life and career look like now that he’s booze free.