Christopher Walken Interviews Jack O'Brien, Public Radio Style

"Hi, I'm Chris Walken. Leonard Lopate took the day off and I'm filling in for him." Those are the first words from guest public radio host, actor Christopher Walken, who hosted WNYC's The Leonard Lopate Show on Monday. As if that's not enough of a treat, Walken interviews former Old Globe artistic director and three-time Tony winner, Jack O'Brien.

Walken starts out reminiscing about how he and O'Brien first met in 1969 at the Old Globe's Shakespeare Festival. The play was "Comedy of Errors." Walker played Antipholus and O'Brien actually had a ten-day run filling in for one of the actors. O'Brien, in cheeky fashion, calls his performance a "dazzling comic turn." O'Brien never acted again. It's a delightful interview, so be sure to check it out.

Alec Baldwin also made his public radio debut in March as host of WNYC's "Studio 360." He sits in for Kurt Anderson, and there's a nice reoccurring bit about where Anderson actually is and why he's not hosting ("I'm Alec Baldwin sitting in for Kurt Anderson, who's locked in the trunk of my Toyota.") In Baldwin's intro, he promotes a Happy Birthday story on Chopin, adding, "You look great for 200, baby."

Baldwin interviews actor Laura Linney and memoirist Mary Karr, author of "Lit" and "The Liar's Club" (Baldwin calls her his new favorite writer). He's got a good voice for radio and an easy (and quite eager) conversational style.