Fantasy Colbert League: June 28-July 1

I am quite excited for this week. John Waters should be a great guest for all the theatre-loving fans out there since he is the brainchild behind Hairspray, and also co-wrote the score with our friend, David Javerbaum, for the musical Cry-Baby. I always love a good politican and we have one with Julian Castro. In addition, the guest which excites me the most is Nicholas Carr because I read some of his work for an upper division class in college. I hope you are as excited as I am!

John Waters does a bit of everything – he is a filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist who might be best known for writing and directing the original Hairspray film which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and another movie. Now, Waters has a new book out called, Role Models. The book is not only about his role models, but he also discusses celebrity in general. Other books that John has written include Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste and Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters. A lifelong resident of Baltimore, Waters sets his movies in his hometown, though he also maintains residence in New York City, San Francisco, and Provincetown. He has appeared in a number of movies, and has played himself in the features Divine Trash, Jackass: Number Two, and The Film is Not Yet Rated. After being kicked out of New York University, Waters continued to make his own movies, often using the same actors and actresses in multiple works. He is known for his transgressive cult films and “trash films.”

Fract: Trademark feature? One thing which makes John Waters recognizable is the pencil-thin mustache that he has had since the 1970′s.

Tuesday, June 29: Julian Castro

Julian Castro is the mayor of San Antonio, Texas. He was elected a little over a year ago after having served on San Antonio’s City Council from 2001 through 2005. In the time between his tenure on City Council and becoming mayor, Julian began the civil litigation practice, The Law Offices of Julian Castro. He also served on the boards of the San Antonio National Bank Advisory Board, the Clear Channel San Antonio Advisory Board, and the Family Services Association. Graduting from Stanford University in 1996 with degrees in Political Science and Communications, the mayor then went on to attend Harvard Law School, and has now taught classes at Trinity University, St. Mary’s Univeristy, and The University of Texas at San Antonio. This has led Castro to bring education to the forefront of his political platform. He advocates “a holistic approach to raising local educational attainment levels by increasing city participation in early childhood education, high school dropout prevention and comprehensive higher education counseling,” according to his biography. His brother also serves Texas in the Texas House of Representatives, and his wife also promotes education as an elementary school teacher.

Follow the mayor on Twitter here.

Fract: A youngin’: Castro is the youngest mayor in a Top 50 American city.

Wednesday, June 30: Nicholas Carr

Nicholas Carr is a prominent writer on the topics of technology, business, and culture. His newest book is called, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. He previously wrote the books, The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google and Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage, having also appeared on The Colbert Report back in 2008. His book, Does IT Matter? supplemented his article in the Harvard Business Review, “IT Doesn’t Matter.” You can read about the history of the article here. Nicholas Carr is also maintains the blog, Rough Type, and wrote the famous article that appeared on the cover of The Atlantic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”. Educated at Dartmouth and Harvard, Carr has been a speaker at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, NASA, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, Wharton. He has served as the executive editor of the Harvard Business Review, and also takes part in the the World Economic Forum’s cloud computing project as a member of the steering board, and is a member of the editorial board of advisors for Encyclopedia Britannica.

You can check out Nicholas Carr’s official website here.

Fract: Read around the world: Nicholas Carr’s book have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Thursday, July 1: Manny Howard

Manny Howard is the author of the new book, My Empire of Dirt: How One Man Turned His Big-City Backyard into a Farm , which was released in April. The book chronicles Manny’s attempt to live solely off what he could produce in his Brooklyn farm for a month. The project took many more months and Manny faced many hardships along the way. His original article in New York magazine, by the same name, began the project. His blog, Mannyland, also gives more information. The list of publications for which Manny has completed work is not short: GQ, Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Us Weekly, Details, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, and Maire Claire, among others. Manny now owns Ringalevio Media as well.

Follow Manny on Twitter here.

Fract: A feminine side? Manny graduated from Vassar college, the sister school of Yale after it became coeducational.

Enjoy this week’s shows!