Dedicated with Doug Brunt

Catherine Grace Katz: Aperol Spritz (3 ounces prosecco, 1 1/2 ounces Aperol, orange twist)

Catherine delivers a stunning hot take for Alex Rodriguez and the NY Yankees, discusses the advent of news radio at the time of the Hindenburg disaster, names authors and specific works that have influenced and inspired her own work including Erik Larson’s DEAD WAKE, composes a fascinating dinner guest list that spans three centuries, names her favorite museum in America, and weighs the potential pros and cons of AI for authors and lawyers.

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John Searles: Cosmopolitan ( 2 1/2 ounces citrus vodka, 1 ounce Cointreau, 1 ounce cranberry juice, 3/4 ounce lime juice, lime garnish)

John talks about developing his love of reading in the back of the cab of his father’s truck, his journey from truck driving and waiting tables to becoming the Executive Editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine, the process of writing the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel STRANGE BUT TRUE, his favorite Cosmopolitan covers of all time, the moment in his NYU creative writing class that gave him fuel for a writing career, how he got better at doing book segments for NBC’s Today Show, the definition of feminism, which actress would play Helen Gurley Brown in the screen adaptation of SINGLE GIRLS.

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Chuck Lorrie: coffee

Chuck discusses whether he has any regrets about his memoir after the initial reactions from Tom Arnold, Roseanne, Charlie Sheen, Brett Butler, Amy Palladino and others, describes his experience inside and then leaving the Church of Scientology, the environment in his writers room, the game of thrones that Cybill Shepherd would play when making demands of his scripts, his opportunity to come full circle with Randy Newman, his Top 5 comedies and Top 5 dramas of the last forty years

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Simon Sebag Montefiore: Negroni (1 ounce gin, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, 1 ounce Campari with large ice cube and orange rind)

Simon talks about his work in a South African gold mine, his long friendship with King Charles who brought Simon together with his wife, the cauldron of the Middle East and its history, the mutual dislike of the Shah and JFK despite their similar behaviors with women, the enormity of the 1979 revolution in Iran that has forever changed geopolitics, his favorite Romanov, and gives his frank opinion of the leadership of Trump and Netanyahu.

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Harry Connick Jr: green tea

Harry plays a game of battle of the bands, ranks his preference for genres of music, tells the story of composing and recording a musical tribute for a victim of the Newtown school shooting that is too painful ever to perform, describes his creative state when writing the music of his mother’s (Babe’s) life, tells the story of setting foot inside Carnegie Hall in 2026 for the first time ever to perform the tribute for Babe, tells the story of calling Carnegie Hall as a ten year old boy when first learning of his mother’s cancer diagnosis, shares stories from his career in film, TV and Broadway.

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Dolph Lundgren: Hard Cut Vodka (3 ounces shaken over ice, sip neat)

Dolph discusses the physical abuse he suffered from his father and how that drove many of his decisions in his adult life, how he broke the cycle of abuse with his own children, strange moments inside Studio 54 with Grace Jones, his terrible experience with the Swedish healthcare system, whether he might have more children, who wins the fight between Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Lorenzo Lamas, Wesley Snipes and Jason Statham.

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CJ Box: Blanton’s bourbon whiskey

CJ tells the best first-agent-first-book-deal story I’ve ever heard (by far), shares his daily writing routine in Wyoming, describes the way working in print journalism has helped his fiction career, reveals that people have frequently thought they are a character in one of his novels, gives a raw appraisal of Taylor Sheridan.

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Douglas Brunt: Negroni (1 ounce gin, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, 1 ounce Campari, garnish with orange rind and Luxardo cherry)

Elliot Ackerman (best selling author, former special forces and intelligence officer) guest-hosts Dedicated, including bartending, to interview Doug about THE LOST EMPIRE OF EMANUEL NOBEL. They discuss the world's century-long quest to capture oil, Russia and Ukraine from the time of Nobel and Stalin that mirrors the present day, Rasputin and the Romanovs, the differences between fiction and nonfiction writing (Elliot and Doug have each published both), and how to make a good cocktail.

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Gregg Hurwitz: gin and tonic

Gregg takes us inside the famous NYC Thrillerfest event, offers advice to aspiring writers on how to develop sales momentum for their books and pitfalls to avoid, names one thing that Artificial Intelligence will *never* be able to do, offers thoughts on how to approach a career path in the face of AI, describes the secret squirrel work he’s currently doing to detect foreign state-sponsored efforts to foment discord in the United States.

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Jack Carr: whiskey

Jack talks about what Chris Pratt does to set the tone on the set of TERMINAL LIST, the experience filming the show in Morocco, why he decided to develop a new character and very different feel for his new novel THE FOURTH OPTION, how he draws on his own experiences downrange to inform his fiction, his thoughts on whether the world is a safer place today compared to when he was last on DEDICATED in June 2023.

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Tim Blake Nelson: green tea

Tim names the best actor of his generation (and the certain things that this actor requires of everyone on set), shares thoughts on AI and the future of film, describes the difference between films that lead with art or with entertainment, reveals how the generosity of Robin Williams touched his family, explains why there can never be another Picasso, and lists the best superhero movies ever made.

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Joshua Hammer: Negroni (1 ounce gin, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, 1 ounce Compari, garnish with orange rind)

Joshua tells of his harrowing kidnapping in Gaza in 2001 while he was the Jerusalem bureau chief for Newsweek, then of his second kidnapping in Iraq in 2004, recounts overlapping with Jon Meacham at the Reagan Ranch, gives his thoughts on how to structure a magazine piece and a book-length work of narrative history, tells the pros and cons of being an expat in Berlin, and paints a bleak picture for the future of the print magazine.

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Nick Petrie: whiskey on the rocks

Nick reveals the sage advice CJ Box gave him at the reception for the Edgar Awards that he’s held onto ever since, explains how his work as a building inspector meeting veterans who were buying a first home became a driving force for his debut novel, tells the meaning behind the character name Peter Ash, identifies the key differences between being a full-time or part-time writer, names the two possessions of each writer.

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Julian Sancton: dry martini (3 ounces gin, 2 drops dry vermouth, lemon twist)

Julian shares the greatest sunken treasure story of all time (and it’s real) that makes the treasure of the Outer Banks tv series look puny, warns of the harm that Bob Iger and Disney’s move into OpenAI could do, discusses the impact that podcasts will have on the media landscape, reveals the pros and cons of growing up with a father and grandfather who are published authors.

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Grant Ginder: Negroni (1 ounce each of gin, sweet vermouth, Campari served with orange rind)

Grant tells the story of taking a fiction writing class with Colson Whitehead, describes his reaction to reading drafts of the screenplay for his novel The People We Hate at the Wedding that starred Kristen Bell and Allison Janney, reveals what you can expect from the writing course he teaches at NYU, talks about the process of writing speeches for John Podesta and others, offers a powerful piece of advice for aspiring writers.

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Brad Meltzer: Asombroso tequila, neat

Brad discusses the elusiveness of closure in life and how writing THE VIPER helped him come to terms with his own relationship with his father, reveals certain aspects of the top-secret Dover Air Force Base, shares the mysterious ways that witness protection has changed, gives the behind-the-scenes story of his wildly viral commencement speech at Michigan, and names his favorite podcast.

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Doug Picks 4 books for 2026 with background noise provided by his dog Thunder who is romping in the snow

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Catherine Grace Katz: Gunner (equal parts ginger beer & ginger ale with fresh lime juice and dash bitters)

Catherine describes how Stalin made an emergency dash to the bathroom during the 1945 Yalta conference which was briefly mistaken for an American kidnapping plot, the treasures she found in personal letters of the Churchill and Harriman archives, the friendships and rivalries and sexual affairs that took place in the insular wartime diplomatic community, the key piece of advice she followed throughout the writing process to make the book a success, and which of the Big 3 had the most significant impact on the 20th century.

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Rick Atkinson: Manhattan (2 1/2 ounces Michter’s rye, 1 ounce sweet vermouth, dash bitters served up with Luxardo cherry)

Rick names the most intelligent of the Founding Fathers, shows the ways King George III has been misrepresented in history, explains his experiences visiting the battlefields he writes about and why the visits are important, talks through the ways to manage personal finances in the career of a writer, and suggests that a knowledge of history can help us to cope with life in the present day.

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Tony Lyons: whiskey sour (2 1/2 ounces rye, 1/2 ounce lemon juice, sugar in shaker with ice, served up with cherry and dash bitters)

Tony tells the wild story of meeting in Woody Allen’s apartment in person to sign the deal to publish Woody’s ‘banned’ book, what it was like working with Melania Trump on her memoir, how he personally got the audio recording of Alan Dershowitz’s Epstein accuser that exonerated Dershowitz, the extensive fact checking involved with publishing RFK Jr.’s book, his mission for Skyhorse Publishing, and the type of employee at Meta/Facebook whose book he’d pay big money to publish.

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