Matthew Weiner is the creator and showrunner of AMC's Mad Men, which is considered one of the best television shows of all time. It won 15 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama series four years in a row, as well as Emmys for Outstanding Writing, Acting, Casting, Cinematography, and more.

Before Mad Men, Matthew wrote for two seasons on The Sopranos, also considered one of the greatest television shows of all time. In 2013, he wrote and directed the feature film Are Your Here, starring Amy Poehler, Zach Galfianakis, and Owen Wilson, and in 2018 he wrote and directed every epiosde of The Romanoffs, the incredibly ambitious anthology series which streams on Amazon Prime.

In 2017, he published his first novel, the Upper East Side noir thriller, Heather, the Totality, a Barnes & Noble Book of the Year.

In addition to talking about Elmore, we discuss Cornell Woolrich, procrasticantion, evil characters, going from writing some of the greatest TV ever to a novel, and what really happened to Pete's mom.

Please enjoy.

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Links:

The Lottery, a classic long story.

Elmore's thoughts on Mad Men.

Cornell Woolrich biography First You Dream, Then You Die.

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Credits:

Guest: Matthew Weiner

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com

GET SHORTY is one of Elmore Leonard's best known and best regarded novels. But after re-reading it, both Alex and Judd believe it is still under appreciated.

In Part Two, they track Elmore's breadcrumbs, express appreciation for getting to see more of Ray Bones in the movie than what's in the book, admire Bo Catlett, and more. Also, Judd shares how his grandfather may have assisted James Gandolfini during production of the adaptation.

Links:

Dennis Lehane on Get Shorty at 30

What Scarred Alex

The Making of Aerosmith's PUMP

Credits:

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com

GET SHORTY is one of Elmore Leonard's best known and best regarded novels. But after re-reading it, both Alex and Judd believe it is still under appreciated.

In Part One, they dig into how only Elmore could write this book, what inspired it, some of the differences between the book and Barry Sonnenfeld's great movie, the connection between Chili Palmer and Sir Laurence Olivier, and more.

Links:

Dennis Lehane on Get Shorty at 30

What Scarred Alex

The Making of Aerosmith's PUMP

Credits:

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com

Eli Cranor is the Edgar Award-winning author of Don't Know Tough, as well as Ozark Dogs, Broiler, and most recently Mississippi Blue 42. He is the Arkansas Tech University Writer in Residence, not to mention a Swedish Football Champion.

Eli joins us to talk Elmore, fiction, great mentors, and so much more.

https://www.elicranor.com

https://www.lemuriabooks.com

Credits:

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com

Michael Connelly is one of our great working novelists. His Harry Bosch novels have been published into dozens of languages, and have spawned three television series, BOSCH, BOSCH: LEGACY, and BALLARD (all on Amazon Prime). His novel THE LINCOLN LAWYER has been adapted into a feature film as well as a television series (Netflix). His accolades include the Edgar Award For Best First Novel, the CWA Diamond Dagger award, the Outstanding Contribution To Crime Writing Award from the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England, and in 2023 he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

His latest novel, IRONWOOD, will be released on May 19, 2026.

We discuss Elmore, jazz, James Ellroy, getting lucky, writing at night, Twin Peaks, and more. Please enjoy.

Links:

www.michaelconnelly.com

www.killerinthecode.com

Credits:

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com

CARL HIAASEN is a best-selling and award-winning author and journalist. His novels include Tourist Season, Strip Tease, Skin Tight and the recently released Fever Beach. Adaptations of his work include Strip Tease (starring Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds, and Ving Rhames), Hoot (starring Brie Larson, Logan Lerman, and Luke Wilson) and Bad Monkey, starring Vince Vaughn and now streaming on Apple.

He joins the podcast to share what it was like collaborating with Elmore (as well as Jimmy Buffet and Warren Zevon), explain what makes Florida so magnetic, and tell us about that time he set up Elmore on national television.

www.carlhiaasen.com

The new Jim Harrison biography Carl mentions can be found HERE.

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Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com

Alex and Judd dive deep into PRONTO - the first book of Elmore Leonard's to feature Raylan Givens, the central character of FX's Justified.

They discuss how Elmore auditioned one of his greatest characters, what Raylan cares about most, and also touch on the moral decay and lack of respect among the youth.

Also, Judd spoils the ending to the 1993 Tom Cruise movie, The Firm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJaABnINadM

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com

Alex R. Johnson is an author and filmmaker. His debut novel Brooklyn Motto was published this year and his film Two Step, premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. He joins the podcast to talk Elmore and tell us what it's like to jump between film and books, learn from Jonathan Demme, and grow up in a house of spies.

https://haciendafilmsinc.com

Guest: Alex R. Johnson

Hosted By: Judd Rubin and Alex Leonard

Music by: Greg Ahee

Produced and Edited by: Judd Rubin

Executive Producer: Peter Leonard

Let's talk:

www.elmoreleonardofficial.com

X: @elmorepodcast

IG: @ElmoreLeonardInc

hello@theelmoreleonardpodcast.com