Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly

I talk to director David Tedeschi about his new Beatles film. Produced by Martin Scorsese, it captures the mania of Beatlemania when the Fab Four land in New York for the first time in 1964, including their historic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. David tells us how it all came together, and what surprising things he learned about this first Fab Four trip. The film contains 17 minutes of brand new footage (restored by Pater Jackson’s company), the soundtrack has been remixed by Giles Martin, and contains new interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. 

Mark has produced nine albums for Ringo. Before that, he was part of the Hudson Brothers. They had hit songs and the Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle TV show made them teen idols in the 70s. Mark is a huge Beatles fan and collector - and has spent time with all four Beatles. He’s a great storyteller.

Companies are spending big bucks advertising weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Rybelsus. This week, we’re dropping an episode of Brian Goldman’s White Coat, Black Art podcast into our feed.We thought you might find the topic interesting. In Canada, "reminder ads" can only give the medication's name, but they can’t tell you what the drug is for. They just tell people to ask their doctor for more information. I join Dr. Goldman in this episode to talk about those ads.Are those ads good – or are they bad?

Mark Hamill not only owns collectibles, he is a collectible. Mark talks to us about his first blush with the Beatles, how he began collecting Beatles memorabilia, that time he met George Harrison on a plane, and whether or not he let his kids play with Star Wars toys.

In this interview, Max talks about his favourite Beatle albums, Ringo’s profound influence on rock drummers, and what happened onstage at a Springsteen concert the night Lennon was murdered.

Tom Halley was one of the brilliant animators on Yellow Submarine. The film is considered one of the most inventive animated films of all time. In this interview with the late animator, he tells us how he came to be involved, how they all managed to create this classic film in just 11 months. And much to our surprise, Tom tells us he was also an animator on the Beatles cartoon series.

With the Paris Olympics in motion, it is a good time to revisit this episode from our archives.From the first ad at the first Olympics in 1896, to the hundreds of millions spent on today's advertising contracts, sponsorship money has always been a contentious issue. The Olympics cost a fortune to stage, and sponsorship money makes it possible. But there's a price to pay when there's a price to pay. How marketing has evolved at the Olympics is a fascinating story.

David Sheff conducted the last major interview with John Lennon. Just as Double Fantasy was being released, Sheff interviewed John & Yoko for Playboy magazine. It was the famous interview where Lennon went through the Beatles catalogue song-by-song - just before he died. The backstory of that interview is fascinating.

I did a lot of commercials with Bob Newhart in the late 90s. He was one-in-a-million, a joy to work with, and he will be missed. And I want to tell you a very funny story that happened as a result of those commercials.