Joseph Heller
American author of novelsWikipedia
36
MENTIONS
26
EPISODES
26
PODCASTS
Search complete. 36 mentions across 26 episodes found for "Joseph Heller".
Sep 14, 2026
ChayaHOST
I mean, books for me that the titles have outlived the name that when...
ChayaHOST
Catch 22, Sophie, by Joseph Heller, was gonna be Catch 18.
ChayaHOST
It was changed twice to avoid clashing with Leon Uris' Mile 18 and the film Ocean's 11.
ChayaHOST
[laughs]
Scott PhillipsGUEST
And there's a hedge fund billionaire over in the corner.
Scott PhillipsGUEST
And Kurt Vonnegut turns to Joseph Heller.
Scott PhillipsGUEST
Joseph Heller, thank you.
Scott PhillipsGUEST
Thank you, thank you.
Scott PhillipsGUEST
Turns to Joseph Heller and he says to Heller, that guy over there made more money today than you've ever made in your entire life through royalties on Catch-22.
Scott PhillipsGUEST
Famous book for those who don't know it.
Scott PhillipsGUEST
Very good book.
GemmaHOST
Well, it turns out, the problem is if you dope somebody too far, they don't get REM sleep.
GemmaHOST
But the psychiatrist who had been doing this for years, in fact, you can find it in Joseph Heller's novel, Catch-22.
GemmaHOST
He talks about his experience, it's thinly veiled autobiography.
GemmaHOST
He talks about his experience in World War II with a doctor who did this when an airman came back from a very traumatizing flight.
Chris DaemsGUEST
But if you're in a position where, like me, you appreciate that time is the biggest commodity you've probably got, how do we leverage that? And how would someone go about leveraging that? I think the starting point on that is clarity.
Chris DaemsGUEST
So what is your number? There's a great story that I love to share by two novelists, Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller, both really, really famous novelists, go to a party in New York.
Chris DaemsGUEST
They go to this private island in New York with a hedge fund manager.
Chris DaemsGUEST
And these two novelists were wandering around, and Vonnegut always used to wind Heller up.
Chris DaemsGUEST
So he said to Heller, you know what? this guy probably earned last week what your entire book earned for its entire run.
Chris DaemsGUEST
And Hello went, yeah, you're probably right.
Chris DaemsGUEST
But I've got something he hasn't got.
NateHOST
Potentially it's the only rational thing to do.
NateHOST
I mean, if you ever read Joseph Heller's Catch 22, right? Like, you know you have intrusive thoughts, you know bad things will happen if you voice those or y- you know, your life will drastically change if you voice those, whether that be, you know, having to go into a hospital or inpatient only or whatever, right? So then isn't it more rational to withhold them? But then you're not getting the help, so you're kind of in a weird...
NateHOST
Again, not defending Lindsay or the hospital or the hotline or whatever, it's just think about the things.
MikeHOST
Yeah.
Jack StewartsonHOST
That isn't to say it's all sophisticated chuckles either, as Watchmen is chocked full of crude, often cruel humor.
Jack StewartsonHOST
It's funny in the same way that the best Coen Brothers films are funny, or a Joseph Heller novel is funny, or Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal is funny.
Jack StewartsonHOST
It's a black comedy.
Jack StewartsonHOST
It's why Rorschach, the book's prime cast member, is a disgusting dweeb with speech patterns based on Herbie the Fat Fury.
Michael SheinbergHOST
Okay, well, look, we can go a bit over time.
Michael SheinbergHOST
Yes? What is your second touch? Well, it's a copy of a book by Joseph Heller called Catch-22.
Michael SheinbergHOST
Oh, okay.
Michael SheinbergHOST
Yes, yes.
Elin HilderbrandHOST
Okay.
Elin HilderbrandHOST
Joseph Heller.
Elin HilderbrandHOST
I mean, yeah, but you're right.
Elin HilderbrandHOST
Those kind of guys.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
And so here's a quote out of that book, Ben.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal Joseph Heller that their host, the hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
Heller responds, yes, but I have something he will never have.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
Enough.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
I was stunned by the simple eloquence of that word stunned for two reasons.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
First, because I've been given so much in my own life.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
And second, because Joseph Heller couldn't have been more accurate.
Bryce HoldawayHOST
So.
David C. RobersonHOST
I remember the old movie.
David C. RobersonHOST
But you know, the old Joseph Heller book.
David C. RobersonHOST
Yeah.
David C. RobersonHOST
That's a classic.
16 more episodes mention Joseph Heller.
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