I Couldn't Throw It Out
Revisit pop culture history as former People Magazine reporter Michael Small and guests decide the fate of the treasures they've saved for decades, including never-heard celebrity interviews, rare memorabilia, and maybe a little junk. Co-host Sally Libby helps decide if they should keep or toss their stuff. Will it be an epic case of Swedish Death Cleaning? Or an epic fail?
New to the podcast?
Check out some of our most popular episodes
2Pac's 1991 Interview: Kindness and Rage
Tupac Shakur talks about his violent arrest for jaywalking; his Black Panther family; Hollywood hypocrisy; and his program for poor urban kids. Plus, special guests discuss his contradictions (explicit)
Flashdance's Jennifer Beals: My 1983 Interview Tape
When 19-year-old Jennifer Beals enrolled at Yale – after starring in 1983's Flashdance -- she couldn't escape a People Magazine interview with me. Listen in as I replay her patient response to my ridiculous cringe-worthy mistakes.
Joni Mitchell: Our Day Together in 1985
For my People Magazine interview, Joni talked about flunking high school, Woodstock, Bob Dylan, her Chelsea apartment, poetry, painting, and much more. Do not ask me to toss those tapes. (Part 1)
Recent Episodes
Christmas Gifts and Hanukkah Cards: Toss or keep?
Listen up! A Violin Lesson With Strings Attached
Kooky reunion: 67-year-olds perform their 5th grade play
Ice-T: Never-heard 1991 interview
Scary! Stephen King and Peter Straub's lost interview
Love, Mom: Mother's Day advice from a 98-year-old mom
Listen On
Recent Blog Posts
Why I save Christmas and Hanukkah cards
A Play Reading: Inspired by the Violin
Ice-T: Links to his new life
About the Hosts
Michael Small
Host
Michael Small, the host of I Couldn't Throw It Out, can be seen telling stories on Youtube in the NYC storytelling showcase Tale. His plays have been presented in the New York International Theater Festival and The HOWL Festival. He and BT McNicholl co-wrote the book for the musical The IT Girl, which debuted Off Broadway in 2001 and is now performed regionally. His new musical The History of Light, which updates Gilbert and Sullivan songs with pop and hip-hop, was performed in a public reading at L.A.'s La Mirada Theater.
After 15 years as a reporter for PEOPLE Magazine, Michael became a manager of websites for Wired, Entertainment Weekly, and Rolling Stone, among others. Most recently, he was a product manager at MSNBC.com and NBC News Digital.
Michael's 1992 book Break It Down: The Inside Story of Rap included interviews with more than 60 hip-hop artists. And, yes, he also ghostwrote the biography of the superhunk Fabio. If you need a copy, let him know.
Sally Libby
Co-Host
Sally LIbby, the co-host of I Couldn't Throw It Out, has a book of humorous verse in the works about the movers and shakers in world history. She and Michael Small co-wrote a parody of tax preparation manuals called Up Your Income Tax. (Unfortunately, the publisher went out of business when the book was being printed. More on that in the podcast.) After college, Sally worked at ad agencies in Boston and Miami before deciding to focus on raising her two children, including the podcast's art director Riley Welsh. Sally is a life-long lover of puns and dogs, and an inveterate question asker, which earned her a major role on I Couldn't Throw It Out.