Here's the Thing


Here's the Thing is a public radio show and podcast hosted by actor Alec Baldwin. On October 24, 2011, New York City's WNYC released the first episode of Baldwin's podcast, a series of interviews with public figures including artists, policy makers and performers. Here's the Thing was developed for Baldwin by Lu Olkowski, Trey Kay, Kathy Russo and Emily Botein. Baldwin stated that the show's title derived from a phrase that Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels speaks "30 times a day."
Interviews include talk show host Dick Cavett, writer Lewis Lapham, comedian Chris Rock, raconteur Elaine Stritch, musician Herb Alpert, actress Kathleen Turner, actor Stacy Keach, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, economist Joseph Stiglitz, musician Billy Joel, singer/dancer/actress Debbie Reynolds, actor Michael Douglas, musician Peter Frampton, television personality Rosie O'Donnell, talk show host David Letterman, medical expert Robert Lustig, comedy director Judd Apatow, television news reader Brian Williams, baseball player Dwight Gooden, political consultant Ed Rollins, musician Wynton Marsalis, filmmaker Edward Norton, violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Lang Lang among many others. The interviews vary in length from 20 minutes to around an hour or more.
In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the show was to end after two seasons. However, it has continued. Between 2011 and 2020, Baldwin completed more than 150 interviews. A TV version is in development for ABC; a preview episode of Sundays with Alec Baldwin premiered in March 2018.