The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table

Comedy Cellar Network
  • 3.8 (24)
  • COMEDY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

For 30 years, New York's legendary Comedy Cellar has served as the launching pad for greatest stand up comedians in the world. Colin Quinn, Dave Chappelle, Ray Romano, Dave Attell, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, Dane Cook, Robert Kelly and Greg Giraldo are just a few of the comedians who began as Cellar regulars. But classic stage performances have never been the only show going on at the Cellar. The biggest comedians in the world come to sit at the table upstairs, where comedians come to argue and discuss the events of the day and their lives, sharpening their their comedy knives on each other. This kibitzing (an inspiration for Comedy Central's Tough Crowd), has always been a private affair... until now. Join us for a weekly peek into the happenings at the Comedy Cellar's comedian table, where the funniest people in the world debate and discuss. Subscribe now and don't miss a second of it. We would love to hear your comments. Email them to podcast@comedycellar.com

  1. 43M AGO

    Kristof’s Israel Allegations, the Danger of Circling the Wagons and More | Peter Savodnik

    Peter Savodnik joins us to talk about Nicholas Kristof’s column alleging abuse of Palestinian prisoners, including the most extreme dog-rape allegation, and how pro-Israel people should respond when the reporting is weak but the underlying issue may still deserve investigation. We talk about the difference between bad journalism and false accusations, the danger of reflexively circling the wagons, Ben-Gvir and the Israeli prison system, antisemitism, double standards against Israel, whether Jews are being pushed back into history, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Gavin Newsom, Jonathan Haidt, Twitter addiction, and the general collapse of everyone’s sanity online. Peter Savodnik reported for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, GQ, Wired and other venues from the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Asia and across the United States. His book, The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald Inside the Soviet Union, was published in 2013 by Basic Books. He is now a senior editor at The Free Press and based in Los Angeles. https://x.com/petersavodnik Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Peter Savodnik joins 01:16 Nick Kristof’s Israel prison-abuse column 06:15 Olmert, Benny Morris, Haviv Rettig Gur, and what may actually be true 10:00 Double standards, bad reporting, and how Israel should respond 15:56 The dog-rape allegation and the danger of reflexive denial 22:22 Why Israel may need its own serious investigation 24:23 Circling the wagons vs. demanding proof 28:17 What real reporting would require 34:03 Retractions, antisemitism, and “emptying our pockets” for every accusation 38:27 Are Jews and Israel entering a more dangerous historical moment? 49:11 JD Vance, Rubio, Trump, and the future of the Republican Party 57:18 Gavin Newsom, 2028, and the Democrats 59:26 Jonathan Haidt, NYU, wokeness, and phone addiction 01:04:13 Twitter fights, the new Comedy Cellar room and final thoughts

    1h 24m

  2. 6D AGO

    Dr. Feroze Sidhwa on Gaza Casualties, Starvation and Political Bias

    Noam Dworman and Periel Aschenbrand are joined by return-guest, Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, for a wide-ranging debate about truth, propaganda, evidence, starvation and the Israel-Gaza war. The conversation focuses on John Mearsheimer’s claims about October 7, whether public intellectuals should lose credibility when they make unsupported accusations, disputed casualty reporting in Gaza and the role political bias plays in shaping what people choose to believe. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa is a general, trauma, and critical care surgeon in California. He is also a humanitarian surgeon, having worked most extensively in Palestine, but also in Ukraine, Haiti, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso. He has written and spoken extensively about surgical humanitarian work, the United States’ role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the political consequences of medical relief work. Twitter/X @FerozeSidhwa Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Twitter fights 08:14 Mearsheimer, October 7, and “good faith” arguments 15:25 Trump, Epstein, and blackmail claims 22:01 The Israel Lobby and the Iraq War debate 34:05 Germany comparisons and collective punishment 37:09 Netanyahu, “Amalek,” and genocide accusations 46:15 Dead children, crossfire, and moral responsibility 47:43 Gaza aid shootings and casualty reporting 50:02 The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion controversy 55:11 Rashid Khalidi, sources, and historical credibility

    2h 12m

  3. APR 29

    Are NGOs an Anti Israel Scam? Gerald Steinberg on Power, Politics and the UN

    Noam Dworman is joined by Professor Gerald Steinberg. Steinberg breaks down the hidden world of NGOs—what they are, how they gained massive global influence and why he believes many have drifted far from their original mission. From organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to their role at the United Nations, Steinberg argues that these groups now act as powerful political players shaping narratives around conflicts like Israel–Palestine.  Gerald Steinberg is founder and president of NGO Monitor and Professor at Bar Ilan University. His research focuses on Middle East diplomacy and Israeli security, and the politics of human rights and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Prestigious grants and prizes include Israel Science Foundation, Bonei Zion Prize (2017) and the Bernard Lewis Prize in 2025. https://x.com/GeraldNGOM

    1h 10m

  4. APR 24

    Military Expert Andrew Fox: Gaza Casualties, Hamas Propaganda and the Iran War

    Andrew Fox joins Live From The Table to talk about personal courage, Gaza, Hamas casualty numbers, Israel’s military strategy, Iran, the Strait of Hormuz and what modern war actually looks like. Andrew Fox is a former British Army officer (three tours in Afghanistan), now a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank. Fox has been to the frontlines in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine. He wrote the first papers worldwide exposing the Hamas fatality figures manipulation in Gaza and showing how Israel actually fought on the ground in Gaza from a tactical perspective. mrandrewfox.substack.com https://x.com/mr_andrew_fox 0:00 Intro 1:00 Serving in Afghanistan 4:00 Looking back on the war 7:30 Hamas casualty numbers in Gaza 10:00 Why Andrew looked into the numbers 12:00 Hamas figures, IDF figures, and media coverage 15:30 Civilian casualties and Hamas’s strategy 18:15 Child fighters and Hamas 19:25 Why Andrew speaks up for Israel and Jews 22:00 Problems inside the IDF 28:40 Iran and the wider war 31:50 Why stopping Iran’s nuclear program matters 37:30 Strait of Hormuz 42:00 What kind of Iran deal would make sense? 47:20 Why this is different from the JCPOA 54:00 Gaza casualty ratios and urban war 57:00 Was the Gaza war worth it? 1:02:00 Why Israel went into Gaza first 1:04:30 Final thoughts

    1h 7m

  5. APR 16

    Eliot Cohen: 3 Things the Consensus Gets Wrong About the Iran War

    Separating Politics from Reality. Is the war going better than we realize?Eliot A. Cohen is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is a professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University, the author of the forthcoming book The Strategist: How to Think About War and Politics, and a co-host of the Shield of the Republic podcast.

    57 min

  6. APR 15

    From Cranks on the Fringe to Tucker Carlson: How Ideas Go Off the Rails with Jamie Kirchick

    Jamie Kirchick joins the crew for a sharp discussion on ideology, hypocrisy and why smart people can still fall for bad ideas. A wide-ranging, no-filter conversation about Iran, nuclear tensions, global risk—and the dangers of antisemitism. They discuss everyone from Tucker Carlson and Daryl Cooper to Bryon Noem. This episode addresses serious geopolitical stakes and is part political analysis, part philosophical sparring and part classic around the table repartee. Jamie Kirchick is a journalist and the New York Times-bestselling author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age. He is a contributing opinion writer to the New York Times and a writer at large for Air Mail. https://x.com/jkirchick

    1h 17m

  7. APR 9

    The Dangerous Rise of Conspiracy Thinking-Trump, Iran and JFK

    Are conspiracies and misinformation beginning to erode the basic assumptions on which public discussion depends? Trump. Israel. JFK. Epstein. Iran. Big Pharma. What is real, and what is conspiracy? In this episode of Live from the Table, we sit down with Gerald Posner to talk about the JFK assassination, conspiracy theories, misinformation, Trump, Israel, Iran, the opioid crisis, RFK Jr. and Jeffrey Epstein. The conversation moves from the enduring debate over whether Oswald acted alone to the ways conspiracy thinking spreads online, distorts public judgment, and reshapes political argument. It also turns to Posner’s reporting on Big Pharma, the Sacklers and the failures that fueled the opioid epidemic, along with his views on Epstein’s finances and the broader culture of suspicion surrounding high-profile events. Gerald Posner is the author of thirteen acclaimed books, including New York Times bestsellers Case Closed, Why America Slept, and God’s Bankers. A Pulitzer Prize finalist in History and contributor to Forbes, he has been called “a merciless pit bull of an investigator” (Chicago Tribune). His 2020 book PHARMA was praised by The New York Times as a “withering, encyclopedic indictment” of the pharmaceutical industry. https://x.com/geraldposner

    1h 22m

  8. APR 2

    Walter Russell Mead: Weighing Action vs Inaction in Iran

    Featuring Walter Russell Mead, this conversation dives into one of the most dangerous questions in the world right now: what happens if Iran gets the bomb—and is it already too late to stop it?  From the real stakes behind the Strait of Hormuz to the risk of a global oil shock, nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, and the limits of deterrence, Mead breaks down why the situation is far more complex—and more urgent—than most people realize.  The discussion explores whether war with Iran is avoidable, how U.S. politics and leadership shape these decisions, and why history suggests the cost of inaction could be far higher than we think. Mead addresses several important questions:   What happens the day Iran gets a nuclear bomb? Are we already too late to stop Iran? Would a nuclear Iran trigger World War III? Could one chokepoint crash the entire global economy overnight? Is doing nothing the most dangerous option of all? Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World. His most recent book is titled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. His recent piece in WSJ https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-is-surprisingly-good-for-the-world-b97e7b8e?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqecxWBrLmx573zbVo7yOBqntjzcRpFCYAQSv7RM5rosCy_YOIAMNCb6yOB0apk%3D&gaa_ts=69cddce9&gaa_sig=HpttmDViumH2cVRMuhAJiCGUkqg0x4FrdbN2ie-VtdgjgeCKjr5ZV_oW2JJzRYiKuyr-Nf6aGXt22IgzXXwylQ%3D%3D Walter Russell Mead on X: https://x.com/wrmead?lang=en

    1h 1m
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3.8
out of 5
24 Ratings

About

For 30 years, New York's legendary Comedy Cellar has served as the launching pad for greatest stand up comedians in the world. Colin Quinn, Dave Chappelle, Ray Romano, Dave Attell, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, Dane Cook, Robert Kelly and Greg Giraldo are just a few of the comedians who began as Cellar regulars. But classic stage performances have never been the only show going on at the Cellar. The biggest comedians in the world come to sit at the table upstairs, where comedians come to argue and discuss the events of the day and their lives, sharpening their their comedy knives on each other. This kibitzing (an inspiration for Comedy Central's Tough Crowd), has always been a private affair... until now. Join us for a weekly peek into the happenings at the Comedy Cellar's comedian table, where the funniest people in the world debate and discuss. Subscribe now and don't miss a second of it. We would love to hear your comments. Email them to podcast@comedycellar.com

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