Isabel Arraiza is an accomplished star of the silver and small screen. Currently, she stars as Maria Olivares in the Prime Video series Outer Range, and we had the distinct honor of sitting down with Isabel to discuss season two of the show.
 
John Betancourt: I would like to start off by knowing what it means to be part of such an ambitious show from a storytelling standpoint.
 
Isabel Arraiza: I mean, I just feel like it's a great gift. Are you kidding me, I got this job in the middle of COVID. And then they were like, “You're gonna be part of the Outer Range!” And I was like, and I knew Brian (Watkins), from acting school. So, I was already a big fan of his writing way before he wrote the show and created it. And I'm a huge fan of Lili Taylor, and Josh (Brolin), and Imogen (Poots). And so, I just feel incredibly fortunate to be alongside this group of incredibly talented people.
 
John Betancourt: So, this season has so much to it, which is just impressive. So much messaging, so many themes. I'm kind of curious as to what may be a central theme or themes you kind of hope the audience takes away from this season's journey?
 
Isabel Arraiza: I hope that some of the fans do feel like some of their theories of the first season are put to rest because they're finally going to be revealed. But I also know that we're going to leave them with more cliffhangers and that we've added some wrinkles into our story. So, it gets a little bit more convoluted, but hopefully, they're going to enjoy that. So, I think it's just going to be riveting, and heady and thought provoking, and just invigorating.
 
John Betancourt: Now from a more global standpoint, because this is also a big season of the big moments in general. We don't want to spoil those. But what are you excited for oddity to experience in general and season two?
 
Isabel Arraiza: Wow, honestly, I read the script, and I was blown away. It's like when some things were getting revealed. There's an episode, coming up, I'm really excited for. Mind you. I'm not in that episode. But I was just in awe. It's just such a good storyline for that character. And I'm excited for fans to see it. But I can't spoil it.
 
John Betancourt: Why do you think this show resonates so well with audiences?
 
Isabel Arraiza: I think it combines so many genres that people love in general, right. And I think we're at a time globally, where there's a sense of uncertainty. And so, I think people get obsessed with trying to find out what the answer is or what the future holds. So, I think that's one thing that's happening right now, just in this moment in time. But I also think, you know, it's, it's a wonderful show for sci fi lovers for Western lovers, because I think it combines those two worlds and creates this unique multi genre show that a lot of people can enjoy.
 
John Betancourt: What are you most proud of so far when it comes to your work on this show?
 
Isabel Arraiza: Honestly, learning and just getting better at the craft. I mean, every time I show up to set, I'm like, “Oh, no, no. What am I doing?” Which is normal for a lot of actors, but mind you, I trained for theater for so, so long. So, I mean, granted I've been doing film for seven years now, but I just feel like every time, I'm just growing and learning and just being alongside with Josh, who's also directing one of the episodes this season, it was just such a masterclass. So, I'm proud that I'm open to keep growing and receiving and learning from my peers. And hopefully you guys will enjoy it.
 
John Betancourt: Last question that I have for you today. If you had to describe season two in a single word. What would that word be?
 
Isabel Arraiza: Hmm. I would say atmospheric. Hmm. I don't know… that's not even a good adjective for it. I'm like, suspenseful, but it just feels really generic to say that. I'm like, suspenseful… hopefully satisfying. Let's go with satisfying.
 
This interview has been lighted edited and condensed for clarity.

Shaun Sipos and Noah Reid are a pair of accomplished actors that have appeared in some popular franchises. Such as, Reacher and Schitt’s Creek, respectively. Currently, they star as Luke Tillerson and Billy Tillerson, respectively in the Prime Video series, Outer Range, and we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with both of them to discuss season two of the show!
 
John Betancourt: I’d like to know what it means to each of you, to be part of such an ambitious storytelling show.
 
Shaun Sipos: It's a real blessing, an absolute gift, that I have Brian Watkins to thank for hiring me, and Zev (Borow). And obviously Josh (Brolin) had, you know, a say in that as well. And then for them putting together such an amazing cast that, you know, to be part of something like this… where you have actors that, in my opinion, are some of the best in the business, and it just makes you better, just by being around them and doing scenes with them. And everyone, everyone brought their A-game always. So, I couldn't ask for anything more.
 
Noah Reid: Yeah, I mean, I would echo everything that that Sean said, this project from the very beginning, from the first, you know, the first couple of words that I read about of this show, I just knew that this was a project of a really high caliber, you know, Brian's writing and the world that he invited us all into… very special, very unique. And a total thrill to be a part of something so considered. The inner lives, the characters were so well drawn, so complex, and so strange and unique. And then, you know, to be able to fill that world out with the cast that he assembled, along with Zev and Josh, and everyone involved. Just, you know, we just, I think, all felt super lucky to be there. Season One was, you know, happening at a difficult time for the world. And we had to, we had innumerable challenges to deal with, with the pandemic that was taking place. But, you know, we managed to kind of come together as a group during that time and create something, I think, really special. And so, to have an opportunity to expand on that in season two was a total thrill. To get to be back with this, this group of artists was, was pretty remarkable.
 
John Betancourt: Noah, what are you hoping audiences take away from this season from a messaging standpoint
 
Noah Reid: The continual thing with this show is that the hole is this… it's more than just a hole, it represents this kind of hole in the American psyche, I think for me, and to do with, with our past and the land and our footprint on it, and our struggle to own some something so that we can, you know, matter. And I think that all of these characters are, are in one way or another dealing with a kind of a crisis of identity and “who am I?” kind of moment in the massive expanse of the world and the universe and time. And everyone is really, you know, as Will Patton said at one point, “making desperate attempts at transcendence.” And I think that's, that's the thing that we really continue in this season. Everyone's trying to get some resolution and the audience is included in that, you know, so yeah, I'm excited to see where it goes. I haven't seen it myself. So, I'm curious.
 
John Betancourt: Shaun, what are you most excited for audiences to experience this season, without any spoilers, of course?
 
Shaun Sipos: I think just the expounding on the mystery that they feel I mean, if you watch the trailer for the second season, it really sort of sets up that mystery and wonder that I think people have been craving you know, that they want the hole to expand. They want to see what's in it, they want to see where it goes. They want to see what it does to people, they want to see what it does the world around them, and they get a taste of that, a good taste of it. So hopefully everyone…  by the time that they finish watching the second season, they feel like maybe they've had a taste of that mineral themselves. And that, that if any of them watched sort of like a Twin Peaks type of thing that they got a bit of a taste of that as well. Which people seem to have been really craving.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Michael Connelly is a New York Times Bestselling Author that has captivated audiences everywhere with his thrilling detective and legal novels, several of which have been adapted into television shows on Prime Video, such as Bosch and Bosch: Legacy. His current project, however, is the Audible Original, The Safe Man, based upon a short story that Michael wrote, and we had the distinct honor of sitting down with Michael to discuss this incredible new adaptation of a story that means a great deal to him. 
John Betancourt: What inspired The Safe Man to begin with?
 
Michael Connelly: I'll try to be brief, but it's somewhat tied into something that happened to me. In this story, it's about a house that's built on an island that was dredged from a bay in Tampa Bay, and I lived in a house like that, around the year 2000, I moved into a house like that. And the house had, oddly had a safe that was built into the floor, and it was locked. And this was an old house even by Florida standards, it was an old house, it was something like almost 100 years old. And it just kind of scared me that we, you know, we did some renovations on the house, a lot of people had been in and out of that house, and they would look and see the safe and it was locked. And I just, I'm a storyteller. And my imagination kind of ran wild about what would happen if we had like an intruder who said, “open the safe.” And he's like holding a gun to my head or something. And I could not open the safe. So, I had it drilled, I had the safe, drilled and permanently left unlocked because I really didn't have use for a safe in the floor. And that just from there, it kind of made me think about a story like that. And from that came, I got this request to write a short story based on what I have, not based on, but that is not in the genre or in the lane that you're used to traveling. You know, I'm known for detective stories. So, I decided I'm going to write… I love Stephen King's books. And I’m gonna try and go into Stephen King's lane here for a minute, you know, I'm sure that won't be welcomed by the Stephen King people, but I'm gonna give it a shot. And with short stories, you can really experiment, do whatever you want to do. And so, I wrote The Safe Man.
 
And then I was very happy with that story. And I always thought it had legs. In other words that could be delivered in another way if I ever got the opportunity. And so then, you know, many years go by I think I wrote that more than 10 or 15 years ago. And one of the people that work for me and my company on the television side, along with my fresh from film school daughter said like, “we want to try to make something out of that story,” because my daughter was really into that kind of storytelling. And so, we decided to make an audio drama out of it. Because again, I'm not known for this kind of stuff. So, it's not like I could walk into Hollywood and say, “Hey, how about making a TV show about this ghost story I wrote.” And so, we went to the audio drama route, I have a relationship with Audible from doing a true crime podcast with them a couple of years ago. And that was a great experience. And you know, I know Audible is the platform, if you want to do something like this. This is the place to take it to and having already been in a partnership with them. It was kind of a no brainer. So, here we are.
 
John Betancourt: What kinds of challenges came forth in expanding such a concise story into something so grand in scope?
 
Michael Connelly: Well, I mean, you got to keep in mind that, first of all, the as you said, the short story was concise, and it… It had to go further. And as I said before, I've always thought this story could go further. So maybe about 10 years ago, a friend of mine who's a writer as well, Terrill Lee Lankford. He liked the story as well. So, we wrote a screenplay and never did anything with it. I mean, I can't say it was rejected all over town because no one ever saw it. It just didn't -- it almost felt like an exercise. And we said we'd come back to it and make it better. And then when Theresa Snyder and Callie Connelly came and said, “this, this could be something that could be an audio drama.” I got it right away, and it still needed expanding even from that screenplay. And so, it's a different kind of storytelling. You know, it's serialized storytelling and so you're at you're very aware of needing many cliffhangers. Big cliffhangers, scares, sound design is the most important part of this. You know, we at first, it was the idea was that Titus Welliver, who I have relationship with from the Amazon Prime TV show, would direct this but we then we realized we needed sound design to be so important that we brought in Mark Philips as a co-director, I did the expanding of the, what was a movie script into an eight part series. And it kind of went from there. It all kind of fell in really, really quickly and really well, once we decided let's do this.
 
John Betancourt: Now since you’ve mentioned that this story had legs, is this is a story that you always wanted to revisit and wanted to really build into something this riveting? Or was it just an opportunity that presented itself.
 
Michael Connelly: That's a little bit of both. And by the way, thanks for using that word riveting. You know, if you have one word that you want to have said about a story like this, that's it. I mean, because you're really in the story delivery business of making people want to keep going, you know “what happens next” that that's the key to storytelling on any level. So, it seems to have worked with you. And that's great. But it was the one ghost story I've ever written. And now I want to write more, I want to write a sequel to this. But I mean, yeah, it's always been there as like, “Hey, that was a good story.” And yes, it was in a collection of short stories. But that's probably the smallest, you know, audience that you could have for something you've written. And, you know, I want to hit all the bases as a storyteller, you know, I wanted to hit an audio drama, I have some TV shows, I've had some movies, I write books, it all starts with books. But you know, I want to hit every, every way of delivering storytelling, because it's just fun to do things that are new. And so, this was like the perfect project to kinda, to find that script. And in fact, I had to do a little detective story, to even find a script, because I kept finding different levels of unfinished work.
 
And, and finally, I had to go to Terrill Lee Lankford, my co-writer on it, to find the last best version of this and then we then I took it and expanded it from there. But you know, it's tough, you know, this, I'll be honest, we saw this as an opportunity that if this does well, and that's where I come back to riveting. If this is riveting, and it does well on audio, then on Audible, then, you know, Audible is part of the synchronicity of storytelling in our, in our world right now, they have another delivery system that is huge, called Amazon Prime. And this could be, I don't want to say like a backdoor in, but this could be a way in to taking this story to another level and have it, you know, made into a television show. And so those things are all of mind, as you're going down this path, but you know, you got to pay attention and be really focused on the the step you are on, on that path. And so, you have to make the best, most riveting story you can make. As far as an audio drama goes before anything else would even be considered. So, you know, you got to keep your eyes on the ball as it bounces down the path.
 
John Betancourt: Now something that was a delightful surprise, was the sheer fact that this story is grounded in some deep fears about parenthood and fears regarding the safety of our children. What went into the decision to add that into the story?
 
Michael Connelly: I mean, you're right, I mean, it's like, you know, I'm a parent of one child. I came from a huge family where I had six brothers and sisters. And so, I went to the opposite path. But I realized that when you only have one kid, you have more worries, you know, you got one child. And so, there's, you know, this might be bad to say, but I'm kind of tapping into the fears of, of all parents. And you know, that's a universal thing. That's what you see. And Stephen King, who's one of the inspirations for this kind of storytelling for me, and they're the masters, that, that do that so well. And I just wanted to take that as a starting point, but then get into these larger questions that I never get into on my detective stories, where my legal thrillers are just not a place for that. But it's not like, I'm only one dimensional that I think about crime or something I think about, you know, like everyone does, where do we come from and where do we end up going? And so, this idea of the different realms of the eternal and the mortal realms and what passes in between, you know, it's just, to me it was just so delicious to delve into I'm, you know, I'm 67 years old. And I've created a reputation or whatever you want to call it for being the guy who writes the legal thrillers and the detective novels. But you know, at the end of the day, there are larger questions that I like to think about. And this became a way for me to explore that.
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean for you, for this story to have the legs and longevity it does.
 
Michael Connelly: Well, it's, you know, as a guy who does this for a living, it's pretty fantastic to know that something I wrote a long time ago, I don't want to say it was a throwaway. But as I think I said before short stories, they have a very limited audience. And to think that was one of my better ideas. And it's been sitting in a book that not many people saw a long time ago, let's give it new life. And maybe there could be something that, that leads to something else, you know, can lead to television, or can lead to a sequel. And these are all things that you know, it's like your stories are your children. And you know, if you get if you get a chance to see them grow up and do something different, it's really enticing and fulfilling when it happens. I mean, I love, I love this, I am so proud of what we were able to accomplish. And you know, I'm gonna get the credit for it. You're interviewing me, you're not interviewing Mark Phillips, who did the sound design, which is just I think, you know, without it, you wouldn't be using the word riveting. I'll tell you that. I mean, what he did on this was really cool.
 
John Betancourt: So, with it being out, what are you most excited for audiences to experience when they tune in, without spoilers of course.
 
Michael Connelly: Well, I mean, obviously It's like when you put out a book or a TV show, you want to see what the reaction is, and you hope a lot of people hear about it and get to it. And so, my big hope is that, again, this is a different way of delivering a story for me. So, it's a brave new world. Here I am, you know, almost 40 years into my career as a storyteller, but I haven't done this before. So, it's kind of the most exciting thing going for me at the moment.
 
John Betancourt: What did you enjoy the most about putting all of this together?
 
Michael Connelly: The end result. I mean, you know, I have this experience in a lot of ways. You know, I've sitting I'm sitting at a desk where I write most of my stuff. I got James M. Cain right there, you're probably wondering, who is that guy looking over my shoulder? And I got a Raymond Chandler. So, you know, this is my storytelling headquarters. And to see something, take it on its own life, you know, that goes out there. And as I say, I'm really excited about this new dimension of storytelling that I'm involved in now through Audible. And you know, I'm one of the best platforms to be doing that. So, the thing that that I liked, I like most about doing this, is when I see the end result of whether people jump on this and enjoy it, and we get feedback. I mean, that's, you know, you're talking to a guy -- any guy who writes books and makes TV shows has a pretty big creative ego who thinks that they're storytellers that should be seen by the masses heard by the masses. This is that point, where I want to see if people want to hear this story.
 
John Betancourt: Last question I have for you today, what are you most proud of when it comes this particular iteration of this project?
 
Michael Connelly: Well, you brought up parenting and so forth. You know, my daughter is a young person who was just fresh out of film school when she came to me and said, “Let's do this.” So, I'm really proud of what we have, how this took this step from being a short story, to being something that a lot of people are gonna get to listen to. And so that's what has been most interesting to me, to work with her on this. I mean, she's worked in the business now for few years. And I know she's good at what she does. And it's a different kind of storytelling than her old man is known for. But it's something I'm really proud of.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

D.J. Caruso is a highly accomplished Director and Writer, and an outright baseball fan. Which is why his current project is of note. For D.J. stepped behind the camera to helm the docu-series, Bronx Zoo ’90: Crime, Chaos and Baseball, on Peacock, which chronicles the wild story of the 1990 New York Yankees, and we here at NTG had the honor of sitting down with D.J. to discuss this ambitious documentary.
 
John Betancourt: I'm very curious what inspired you want to step behind the camera to shepherd through and tell this tale?
 
D.J. Caruso: Well, you know, when I read Joel Sherman’s journals and articles in the New York Post, I was just sort of compelled by the you know, there's a lot of things that you don't know about – you know, I know about the Yankees and the dynasty and how unbelievably successful they are as a franchise. I remember 1990, sort of, I remember Steinbrenner getting kicked out of baseball. But when I started to read this, there's so many great human stories in there, you know, some horrible things happened. But it just felt to me that there was this great, great template for, you know, in order to succeed, and in order to survive, you have to go through a lot of dark times. And so, the Yankees went through a lot of dark times in 1990. And they came out somehow stronger for it at the end. So that sort of theme and that parallel of me just loving baseball and loving sports. And also, I also felt like growing up in and around New York City, George Steinbrenner, when I was growing up, was a huge celebrity. Like, he was the first celebrity owner, and he was sort of like, Donald Trump before there was Donald Trump, right? And I thought, nobody's really ever dealt with that recently, you know, whether you're a Yankee fan or anybody else, he's such a compelling character, and he's flawed. He's loved, he's hated, and his behavior at times is reprehensible. And at times, he does things that are so human, and so kind, I just felt like there was a great tapestry to go in there and tell a story as a filmmaker and get behind it.
 
John Betancourt: Now as a fan of baseball, what did it mean to you now to be able to tell this essentially definitive story of the 1990 Yankees?
 
D.J. Caruso: Well, I do think baseball parallels life. You know, in baseball, if you succeed one out of three times, you're like a superstar. So that means you're great 33% of the time, right? And I think that's kind of like life. In life, if we can succeed 33% of the time, I think we'll be doing okay. So, there's a real parallel between baseball being a difficult sport, and life being difficult, right. So, I thought it was really nice to kind of get in there. And then also, there's beautiful moments in the documentary where someone like Kevin Moss comes in and gets a chance. And he has 10 minutes of fame where everyone in the city is enamored by this guy, even though the team is awful, there's this one thing. So, there's always that bit of hope. And so, I think baseball is always about the hope of hitting and the hope of doing something. So that was very compelling on that end, and then, you know, who knew that Deion Sanders was a Yankee in 1990, right? Like the Deion that we know. And so, it's sort of like all that stuff was sort of forgotten. So, I felt like for a baseball fan, it'd be great to just sort of get in there, cover the sport that I love so much, but also to tell stories that you sort of think you think you know about this story, but you really don't know what the truth is behind it.
 
John Betancourt: What kind of challenges went into assembling this amazingly broad and sweeping documentary?
 
D.J. Caruso: Well, the biggest challenge, the biggest challenge is it was 1990. And a lot of the stuff we're getting is 1980s. And so, it's like, you know, I always… like The Last Dance was a great, great documentary, but they were so fortunate that someone documented that entire season and had cameras in the locker room and all that. S,o they have all this great footage. And Peter Jackson got to do, you know, the Get Back documentary, and someone recorded the Beatles writing “Let it Be” so like, wow, we had to start from scratch. Like, there was not a lot a lot of stuff. There wasn't any filmmaker following them around, back then, believe it or not in 1990, it was all print media. You know the baseball coverage was more print media. And then there was one national game a week on Saturday on NBC, you get one baseball game a week on Saturday, if not, you have to watch the Yankees on channel 11. And the Mets on channel 9. So, it was really difficult to find people, find some of the old footage that we needed to find. And so, it was really like, it was research intensive, like we had a really good research team. And then also, you know, finding people that were still alive. Like there could have been a lawyer in certain cases. They were older. So, it was it was interesting. And then who remembers what. So, it was really it was an extensive research project. And it's the first time I've ever done sort of a documentary or docu-series. So, it was really interesting. It's almost like you're, you're almost like a college student writing a thesis and you want to hope that when you start to do these interviews that some of these things line up and support your thesis.
 
John Betancourt: How long was the research phase to get all this information assembled?
 
D.J. Caruso: Oh, it was over a year and a half, like, you know, while we're doing it, we line up an interview, but then we have to go, “Great. Well, how do we find out about Dave Winfield? And how do we find out about the book that he wrote?” So, then we go, “Great.” And then you'd go down this avenue, and you realize, “Oh, that person is no longer with us. Great. So, who can we talk to?” And you know, “I want to talk to Fay Vincent but Fay’s older and doesn't want to go on camera” and certain things. “Okay, who is Fay’s number two person? Let's see if we can find him. He's in Florida. He's retired,” you know, so all those things. So, it just was an ongoing process of, of finding stuff and getting things together. So, you know, if it was difficult, but we had a really good team, a really good team.
 
John Betancourt: Now. I'm curious, was there anybody that was reticent to discuss anything that happened that season? Or was it pretty much an open book for those that did participate?
 
D.J. Caruso: The ones that participated, it was pretty good, it was really good, you know, they were kind of an open book, like the one person I really wanted to get, who didn't want to speak at all, because he doesn't want to go down this road at all, was Dave Winfield, because I felt like Dave would have been a great, a great person to talk to and get his perspective on what was happening. But it's interesting, you know, I think, to bring up something in 1990, that was not great for him, it just didn't seem like, he just didn't want to go there. You know, and I understand that, I respect that. But you know, everyone, was very pretty open talking about what they needed to talk about. And, you know, again, culturally, things were a little different in 1990. So, you know, particularly in the Mel Hall situation, they were all kind of like, “Well, it was weird, because her parents were there. And we just felt like everything was complicit, like, we didn't know.” And so, it's like, so it was just a different time, but everyone was really open. And I think again, they also look back in retrospect and realize, like, if it didn't get this bad in 1990, then we wouldn't be the championship team that we became.
 
John Betancourt: How many people declined to speak about the season?
 
D.J. Caruso: Oh, interview wise, I think maybe not that many, maybe three or four people declined.
 
John Betancourt: Wow. That's really impressive. People really wanted to talk about it.
 
D.J. Caruso: Yeah. People want to talk about it. You know, I think there's certain things you know, particular people and stuff, but yeah, I think maybe three or four people declined. It wasn't that many.
 
John Betancourt: Now, I knew nothing about the whole Mel Hall incident, and I was just stunned by that entire segment. How uncomfortable ws it to put that piece together? Because that's a pretty wild subject matter.
 
D.J. Caruso: Well, I think there's a little bit of, there's an aspect of being uncomfortable, but there's also the aspect of telling the story, right? So that lik, particularly like, you know, from Chaz’s perspective, and Chaz Easterly is an amazing woman, how to how to sort of earn her trust so that you can kind of get the story, take it in, how did this all happen? How did it get to your house? And you know, you just wanted to get a baseball signed in the mail, and how did he get your phone number? It's like, all of these things. So, there's a respect and a reverence you want to give her because of this. And then, you know, interviewing Mel in prison, it's, it's, it's uncomfortable, like, I'm not like a true crime guy who does this, you know what I mean? Like, you know, it was sort of like the whole idea that he was just a number. And he was Melvin Hall, Jr. and he was 106… inmate, one of the guys in Texas didn't know that he was a baseball player, they had no idea, right? Because he's just, that's Mel, he's an inmate, right? He's an inmate, he's going to be here forever. And so it was, it was interesting, but like I said, there was a little bit of uncomfortableness, but at the time, it was also just like, trying to be respectful and tell the story in a right way. Because I do think that Chaz’s and Mel’s story, particularly Chaz’s aspect of the story is someone who came out on the other side and came out stronger the way the Yankees did, like, they went through all this and they came out stronger. So, to me, as a filmmaker, I really liked that those arcs and those paths of those stories were, were sort of linked.
 
John Betancourt: Now as you mentioned, there's so much to dive into so much that was documented differently than it was now. What did you learn from this journey that you didn't know before?
 
D.J. Caruso: I think what I learned is that if you look at anything enough, and you know, a baseball season, and you look at the different personalities, I mean, a baseball team is like a family, right? It's sort of like, you have the well-behaved son in Don Mattingly who's doing everything, right, who gets hurt, and he hurts his back. You have the superstar athlete who's doing both things. And I think at the end of the day, what I really learned was that like the human aspect of, of behavior, and baseball, there's a real parallel between those two things. But the thing I got most out of it, was the idea of no matter how dark things can get, that if you really take your time and heal, you can come out stronger. So, I think that was probably what I wanted the documentary to be. And then not to my surprise, but I was so pleased that what it ended up being.
 
John Betancourt: Why do you think now is the right time to tell this story?
 
D.J. Caruso: I think now's the right time to tell the story because we're out of, you know, we're near to outside of this pandemic. And we've come out a little bit stronger. And like you want to kind of get back and you realize like, the tabloid journalism of Steinbrenner, and Winfield and how it was sort of ahead of its time, and how the New York media sort of almost mirrors like in a microcosm, it almost mirrors the way like social media is today. But in New York, it's like the way that all this news passed through and the stories of the reporters, going to the newspaper, and from the newspaper it went to the local TV station, local TV station to maybe ESPN. And so, it was sort of like in that pocket. It was something that I thought was incredibly fascinating. And fascinating in that way. So I think that's sort of why, and then any human story, right? Someone who's been through hell and come out stronger, someone who's made a lot of mistakes, who's going to pay for those mistakes and the human aspects and the human stories and Steinbrenner you know, it's just like, there's a love hate between someone like that, who's so passionate and wants to win it all, causes like, you know, you'll find Yankee fans… there’s a love-hate, there's no middle ground. And so, you know, even he had his heart pierced when he saw the fans cheering when he got kicked out of baseball, right? You love this town; you love the city. And all of a sudden, you realize like everyone is on their feet cheering, giving a standing ovation, because you're no longer going to be involved in the team that you love. So even there's like, you know, there's, there's that pain of making the mistake, of then maybe coming back and being a better person. So, there's a universality in all of this, whether you like baseball or not, you're going to find a character or story in here that's going to be fascinating to you.
 
John Betancourt: Now, I hear some serious passion in your voice when you talk about the sport, what is it that you genuinely love so much about baseball?
 
D.J. Caruso: It's funny because I played tennis in college. But I have three sons that are all playing, two that played Division One baseball, and one that's about to play Division One baseball, so from the Little League on you know, and in seeing baseball, I really have a love for baseball and sort of what it represents, particularly here in America and how it's sort of an American sport. And so how regional, like you know, whether you're a Yankee fan or a Met fan, or you're a Rockies fan, how you sort of adopt these players and you adopt them, and they become part of your family. Right. And so, I think there's something I love about that, like I'm, I grew up a Met fan. So here I am, like Tom Seaver is still my hero. And he was my hero, and the Mets and all these things. So, I think there's sort of like, I love, I love the fact that baseball becomes like, your baseball team becomes your extended family. And you feel like you get to know them. Because guess what, in baseball, you're playing 162 games a year. It's not like football, where there's one game a week and you get to see your guy, and he goes, with baseball, like every you can almost count on every day. From you know, April to September, you can turn on the TV and see your friend playing baseball, like it's all part of your family.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously, we talked a bit about what you kind of hope audiences universally take away from this and the inspiration in that story. But there's gonna be a lot of sports fans that gravitate to this particular piece and I’m curious what you hope sports fans take away from this documentary?
 
D.J. Caruso: I think sports fans -- I want sports fans to kind of take away things that maybe they didn't know about the Yankees and you get to see the dynamic between an owner you know, an owner who signs you know, he gets… George Steinbrenner comes in, he has Reggie Jackson, who's the hero of all heroes in the 70s they win these World Series. He then goes out and buys the greatest player in baseball, Dave Winfield, to replace him. And the day that he signs Dave Winfield and realizes his contract was not what he expected, he wants to divorce him, so he married Dave Winfield and wants to divorce on the same day. So, if you're a baseball fan, you have to realize that they went through 10 years of that drama. You get to see Deion Sanders play against Bo Jackson an amazing experience and amazing game you get to see someone throw a no hitter, and lose, which is something you'll never ever see. Right. And so, for a baseball fan, and then the Kevin Moss experience, the Kevin Moss of it all, of a guy who came in and had his 10 minutes of fame in the city went crazy for him and all that stuff. So that's great. And then you get to see a guy like Don Mattingly, one of the important things to me like Don Mattingly never made the World Series as great as the Yankees would be, such a great Yankee, that he never made the World Series, but he does have this… there's a really emotional moment for me at the end. When Don gets up and he has that one graded bat in the playoffs, and he hits home run and the stadium… is just rocking right? So, if you love baseball, there's a lot of goosebump moments that's in here for you. And then like I said, if you're not a full-on baseball fan, there's great human stories in here that you're going to find captivating,
 
John Betancourt: Since this is the definitive story of this wild season, what do you hope the legacy of this docu-series is going to be?
 
D.J. Caruso: I hope the legacy of the docu-series is what we talked about before is like, man, it was awful. It was terrible. But if you kind of keep persevering and coming out, you can see and, and there's a bittersweet aspect to it like Buck Showalter. And I think this way, life is like, you kind of, you don't really get credit for things you do, always, but you kind of know that you were part of it. And I think there's a bittersweet aspect of that I want people to get out of it and say, like, “Hey, I was part of this. I was part of this resurgence. I was part of this disaster. But somehow again, we came out and we worked, we came out stronger,” like Don Mattingly, Buck Showalter, Gene Michael, who even orchestrated building this team. They weren't around when the Yankees won the World Series, because the way Steinbrenner was. So, I think in life, it's all, there's a universality in all of us trying to do the best we can and not always getting credit. So, you'll see a lot of that in this documentary. But in the end, I just want people to know, like, you know, the Phoenix can rise from the ashes and you can rise and you can come out stronger, and a lot of bad things can happen to you like they did to the 1990 Yankees, but in the end, if you if you persevere, you can be okay.
 
John Betancourt: Now I’d be remiss to not ask this, but as a fan… man… what did you enjoy the most about getting to talk to some real legends, like Don Mattingly?
 
D.J. Caruso: Like… there was a reverence to just interviewing Don Mattingly, to sit down with Don Mattingly because, you know, growing up and, you know, my friends who were real big Yankee fans had their Hitman poster in their room and all that stuff. And I, you know, I just always thought Don was the guy who came into work and did his job and kept his mouth quiet until Steinbrenner provoked him. So, I really, I really enjoyed that part of interviewing him. And then again, I think I mentioned this to you, like I was, I was fascinated. I almost feel like you can make a movie just about these. But like, the beat reporters, these young people the Michael Kay's, the Joel Sherman’s, Suzyn Waldman, who was also assigned to the Yankees. They were like… anything that you learned came through these reporters. Like, it wasn't anything. It was all pen and paper and notebook. And when Dave Winfield, imagine today, you know, Juan Soto, the biggest Yankee, you know, the signing, they spent a fortune on him. If the Yankees decided today, they were going to trade Juan Soto and have a press conference. Okay, that would be seen by a billion people in less than five minutes, right? They would literally go all over the world. So, when they decided, they were going to trade Dave Winfield and make the announcement in Seattle. There were six reporters, there with notebooks. Yeah, there were no cameras, there was no anything. And so, the timing is so… the power of the beat reporter like the journalistic integrity and the journalistic, insular way that they got in with the team was something that was that wow, this is really fascinating. Like, it could be this could be its own a movie in itself, you know. And so, I thought that was fascinating.
 
 
John Betancourt: Last question that I have for you today. What are you most proud of when it comes to what you've assembled here?
 
D.J. Caruso: I'm most proud of just the team and the research team. And it's such a collaborative effort, a documentary a docu-series, it's a collaborative effort. And, yes, you're the filmmaker and all that. But I was so pleased with the collaborative effort of the team and digging up footage and finding things that we could do. And you know, there's, a lot of stories in here that maybe baseball doesn't want you to tell or hear and talk about. But you know, just the fact that we collaboratively all went to do this. And two of the biggest researchers that are producers on this research project were my sons. Because during COVID, we started to read these articles. And once we knew we were gonna get involved, they just went into this deep dive. So, it was a great family effort to work with both of my boys on this. And they both were baseball players in Division One and they both love baseball. So, for me, it was an incredible experience to work with my two sons on something that you know… is gonna live forever. So, I'm proud of that. That's pretty awesome.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Imogen Poots is a highly accomplished actor that has appeared in some important projects over the course of her career, such as the powerhouse film Green Room, and the iconic horror feature, 28 Weeks Later. Currently, she stars as Autumn Rivers in the Prime Video series, Outer Range, and we here at NTG were honored to sit down with her to discuss season two of this magnificent series.

John Betancourt: I would love to know, what it means to be part of a show that is so ambitious storytelling wise.
 
Imogen Poots: Oh, it means so much to me, I think shows that are completely their own breed and not feeling that pressure to conform are few and far between. I think original content is harder than ever to get off the ground and get people to have faith and put money behind those ideas. So, it's really cool to be a part of something that very much was a risk, but seemed to connect with a lot of people. And yeah, I'm very proud of that. It’s cool.
 
John Betancourt:  You bring up a very good point that I'd love to follow up on. Why do you think this is a series that resonates so well with audiences?
 
Imogen Poots: Well, I think on the one hand, it's because people were sort of hungry for something which didn't feel like anything else. And also, I think, just the questions regarding all of these conundrums and queries that we all have, within humanity, things we really know nothing about, we don't really know what's going on. So, with parallel universes, and, you know, nature and time and the unknown, and our past, I mean it's all something that's very, very relatable to a lot of people. And then I also think on the flip side, if you're a fan of, which I am, of something like Twin Peaks, where it's just kind of… there are potential mysteries to be solved or clues that you may regard or discard. And there's a kitschiness to it, which I always really love that with, certainly with sort of sci fi movies and things.

John Betancourt: Now you do some heavy lifting in season two acting wise, and I’m very curious how you handle such gravity mentally, since Autumn has been through it.
 
Imogen Poots: Yeah, it's just tough. And I think it's that real specific place of feeling very relaxed and feeling very focused. But the actors in this cast are so insane that like, any scene, you get to be in with one of those actors, it's like, all you have to do is be present. And truthful to the moment. I mean, it's just, it's like a crazy caliber of, of talent in the cast.
 
John Betancourt: I’m also curious, what you hope audiences take away from season two from a depth standpoint?
 
Imogen Poots: I hope that they feel… there's more of an emotional engine generating throughout season two, and I hope that they themselves consider, you know, time. (Laughs) I think, I mean, I think season one was a setup of so many ideas. And season two is an exploration of those things. And in terms of what people like take away from it, I guess it's just about, it'd be fun if people spoke about it, what do you think is actually going on? And also, what could potentially happen? Because it opens itself up to that potential. And, yeah, it's sort of, you know, about how humans behave under pressure. And always in the face of sort of a desire or hunger for something greater. This notion that you could somehow transgress or transcend even humanity because of… it's very, it's very dark. So, I hope it teaches people some stuff.
 
John Betancourt: Last question I have for you today, what are most excited for audiences to experience in season two? Without any spoilers of course.
 
Imogen Poots: I think… there's something about the American West, the myth of the American West that I've always found… I've probably fetishized it, you know, I obviously, am English, and I grew up always with this fascination of the American West and, and the more I learned about it and read and saw, of course, there's also a real sinister side to that myth as well. And I think it's interrogating these ideas, interrogating masculinity, faith, power, the importance of family, and where you're from. I think all of those themes are in the show and those are quite cool to ponder.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Charles Murray is an accomplished writer and producer, who has worked on some incredible productions, such as Luke Cage. Currently, he serves as the Showrunner of Outer Range on Prime Video. And we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with Charles to discuss the highly anticipated second season of this series.
 
John Betancourt: This is a really ambitious season of storytelling. I mean, I am in awe of how much stuff was accomplished in it. I'm very curious as a showrunner, what went into the decision to create such an ambitious season?
 
Charles Murray: We felt like we had to kind of cover season one. And then project forward. Right. And so, when you're doing this kind of serialized storytelling, you know, I am a student of (Steven) Bochco and (David) Milch. And those guys packed every episode, so it was just instinctive for me to go,” how much can we put to an episode without getting confused? And how much can we put in an episode without fatiguing people?” And so, in that regard, it was like, I kind of wanted to get an audience to a place where they stand up to go to the kitchen, but they can't really. (Laughter) You know what I mean? It's like, “Wait, just pause it. No!” You know? And once that conversation happens, I feel like we got ‘em.
 
John Betancourt: I'm also curious as to what kind of what message specifically, you kind of hope that the audience pulls away from this particular season.
 
Charles Murray. The truth hurts, but sometimes you can't get around it. You know. And especially if you've been keeping it from people for a long time, you can't expect to be absolved, for finally telling it when you can't do anything else.
 
John Betancourt: What are you most excited for audiences to experience in season two, period?
 
Charles Murray: I'm really excited for them to experience the show, because I feel like… it's a roller coaster. And at the same time, when the roller coaster comes to an end, hopefully you want to get back and take another ride.
 
John Betancourt: What are you most proud of when it comes to your work on this show?
 
Charles Murray: I'm proud of the fact that as the kid of two steel workers in Gary, Indiana, I get to do what I told them I wanted to do when I was nine years old. You know, and this is just a part of, my story, is telling stories and you know, and I get to work with people who are absolutely amazing at their craft, and we get to build something that will be here long after I'm gone. And, you know, it's when… there are times when what we do… your side, my side, all of the sides. We forget about all of the people who wish they could do what we're doing and don't get to do it. And so, when I think about the work that I do, I'm always thinking about when I was that person who was on the outside, and how I get to do this and hopefully inspire other people to do. So that's, that's kind of my takeaway in a bigger sense. You know, the show. Yeah, watch the show. I hope you love this show. It's great. You know, but at the same time, you know, you have to think inside and outside as a writer, as a showrunner. And so, I think a lot of times, we forget, we are the inspiration of people who come to do this next. And so, I hope to continue to inspire folks to do it next.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.​

Michelle Paradise is a highly accomplished writer and producer, who currently serves as the Co-Showrunner of Star Trek: Discovery on Paramount+. Recently, Michelle attended SeriesFest: Season 10 in Denver, and we here at NTG were fortunate enough to sit down with her to discuss the farewell season of Discovery.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to start by knowing what it means to you personally be essentially the shepherd of Star Trek: Discovery’s farewell tour.
 
Michelle Paradise: Oh my gosh. I don't think I can put it into words. You know, the show means so much, to me personally, it means so much to everyone who's worked on it. It launched the new, you know, all the new Trek that's happening. And it's been the flagship show for Paramount+, and CBS Studios. And I know what it means to Alex (Kurtzman) and so to be entrusted with that is huge, and a privilege. And you know, we didn't know it was going to be the last season, but every season we go in, we know that, that we want that season to be even better. And so, when we did find out that it would be our last season, in doing that last bit of it, to wrap it all up, it was just so important that we got it right. And anyway, it's been huge.
 
John Betancourt: I was very surprised to see that there's a lot of intermixing of faith in season five of the show, as kind of an underlying theme. Which Star Trek hasn't done a whole lot of but I'm very curious as to what was the decision or went into the decision to kind of explore faith a bit in a world where it may not be necessary, so to speak?
 
Michelle Paradise: Well, I think it kind of comes out of the themes that we're exploring this season, themes of purpose and meaning. And for some individuals, faith comes into it. And you know, Star Trek is not and wouldn't ever be aa religious show, per se. But I don't know that you can explore personal meaning without also having faith as a facet of that, because it is so important to some folks. And whether that's faith in a being, or faith in oneself, or faith in one's partner's, faith in one's crew. And, you know, we're really looking into that, particularly with Culber’s arc this season. And he felt like a natural character to explore that with, and I'm really excited with --- Wilson (Cruz) was just incredible with that season. And I'm really excited for where that goes. And as the next few episodes starts to come out, we'll see a bit more with that in a really cool and Star Trekkie kind of way.
 
John Betancourt: Last question that I have for you today, what do you ultimately hope the legacy of Star Trek Discovery is going to be?
 
Michelle Paradise: I hope ultimately, it's one where you know, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, or longer, as with The Original Series, people look back and feel like they can see themselves. Feel, continue to feel inspired, continue to feel empowered. And you know that that as more Trek comes, you know, that we have had the privilege of helping to launch all of that and, and it's amazing, and there's so many wonderful new shows coming out. You know, I just, I hope that people look back and see, you know, what we've done with it and what we strived to do, and that they're really… that they continue to enjoy it many years from now.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

If there is one word to describe Jane Seymour, it would have to be, legend. For Jane has been involved in countless iconic franchises, and is genuinely beloved by fans everywhere and of course, she continues to grace our screens with her incredible presence. In fact, she currently stars as Harry Wild in the smash Acorn TV hit series, Harry Wild, and recently at SeriesFest, we had the distinct honor of sitting down with Jane to discuss the show’s upcoming third season. 
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean to you to have fans embrace this show the way that they have?
 
Jane Seymour: Oh, very exciting, especially since you know, the takeaway is that people are now curious about reading. People that never read. And the other thing that I really love is that people in the literature world and professors of literature are all coming up to me saying how much they love it. So, you know, I mean, it's obviously it's a spoofy kind of, comedy, but people love it. And it's intelligent and amusing and it’s a really good thriller. I never know who did it. I can never figure it out. That’s the genius of Jo Spain. She is a hidden element, because in Ireland and in England, she's a number one, you know, crime novel writer. 
 
John Betancourt: Last question that I have for you today. Without spoiling anything, what are you most excited for everyone to experience here in season three? 
 
Jane Seymour: Oh, well, we have definitely got some new elements, coming up. You know, there's possibly a mysterious other person around that Harry's not sure about and Samantha Mumba comes in as Fergus’ mom who's come back and is causing havoc. We don't know whether to trust her or not, what her motives are, and what she's up to. And then I think the crimes are even more bizarre. (Laughter) But then, Fergus and I, we really… we've really got a good detective agency going now. And my son continues, to be completely useless. But, you know, what can I tell you, he's a guard. (Laughter)
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Dr. Beth Goodwin is a Marine Biologist whose work was recently featured in the Apple TV+ series, Earthsounds. In fact, while shooting “Earthsounds,” Dr. Goodwin and team used a remotely operated vessel the size of a surfboard, with a built-in hydrophone, and discovered a new corridor for humpback whales moving between Hawaii and Mexico in waters thought to be unreachable to them, highlighting the importance of this remote area of the ocean. Further information on the waveglider’s discovery can be found HERE. And we here at NTG were fortunate enough to sit down with Beth to discuss that discovery and her involvement with the show.
​
John Betancourt: How did you come to be involved in this particular series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: I'm not really remembering how we first connected about Europa's missions in search for humpbacks whales in remote deep ocean basins, but in short order, we were like "family" making plans to film Europa's mission and results.
 
John Betancourt: Let’s talk a little bit about the discovery your team made filming, first what was it like to see it play out?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: It was an amazing experience having never really been a part of a professional film. The attention the crew had to detail and accuracy while still getting stunning background footage, close up sounds and details, capturing the true essence of the waveglider was quite remarkable. It took a superb level of skill for the time and patience the crew had to have to capture the scenes they did. I learned a lot about the process to get just one scene!!
 
John Betancourt: What does it mean to you to have that discovery documented in this series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: It's a bit of legacy for Jupiter Research Foundation, Europa, and myself. It's a way for your results to be broadcast to a very large audience, both in the scientific community and as well as the general community interested in protecting our planet.
 
John Betancourt: What do you hope audiences take away from your discovery?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: That there is so much more we don't know about whales, our planet, and that we are all interconnected. That new technology will continue to open our eyes to the world we haven't seen.
 
John Betancourt: What do you hope this series does for science and environmental awareness?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: The series really did a fantastic job at recording, discovering, and presenting new discoveries to the public. I learned so much from the docuseries and have shared with fellow researchers who have said the same thing. It presented new material, showed how we are all connected and how creative scientists have to be to keep exploring and learning about our environment.
 
John Betancourt: What does it meant to you, to be part of this ambitious series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: A real joy! Brilliant!
 
John Betancourt: What are you most proud of when it comes to your work on this series?
 
Dr. Beth Goodwin: Being a part of Jupiter Research Foundation, which developed the waveglider, and enabled us to develop Europa with sensors that could explore deep ocean basins like never before and make a very unexpected discovery about humpback whales, their migration, behavior, and song, thereby having an impact on future management. That Offspring and Apple were able to see just how impressive this work truly is and wanted to include it in a most brilliant docuseries.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Sy Montgomery is an author that has spent a great deal of her time writing about and studying the Octopus. Adam Geiger is a director/writer/producer/director of photography and Dr. Alex Schnell is a National Geographic Explorer, and the host of a series that ties all three of these individuals together, Secrets of the Octopus. A powerful documentary that is out now and to celebrate its release, and Earth Day, we sat down this trio to talk about the show and all things octopus.
 
John Betancourt: What it is about the octopus that has captivated all of you so much, to bring a series like this to life.
 
Dr. Alex Schnell: I think they offer a very beautiful balance between something that is so different from us. They have eight arms, a beak, blue blood, three hearts. But then we're starting to find these glimmers of similarity in a way that allows us to connect with them.
 
Adam Geiger: I think that what's most surprising about octopus is that when you look in the eyes of an octopus, when you're underwater and close to them, there is a presence looking back at you, there's so much more to them than so many other animals. And it just reminds us that they are, we’re part of… of a bigger world. And they're a fascinating, fascinating part of it.
 
Sy Montgomery: Well, when I started writing about octopus in 2011, even the title of the first book I had in mind gave people pause, because it's titled The Soul of an Octopus. How could an octopus have a soul? And the subtitle was A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness. And consciousness is one of those questions that some philosophers think we don't have it. But I can tell you after having been friends with just a small handful of octopuses, but having spent years knowing them, that if I have a soul, they have a soul. And this series, Secrets of the Octopus goes one step further than I was able to back in 2011. And it's answering so many of the questions that came to me, when I first began to know these animals.
 
John Betancourt: What have each of you learned about our world, spending so much time with these amazing animals?
 
Sy Montgomery: Well, I'm gonna quote Thales of Miletus, the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, as one does. (Laughter from everyone) “The universe is alive, and has fire in it, and is full of gods, that the universe is far more alive, and adamant, and holy, then we can imagine, and that demands of us a reverence for all of life, and that we journey through this life on this gorgeous Earth with wonder, and love.”
 
Adam Geiger: What she said. (Laughter from everyone) Look, I couldn't agree more. I mean, I think that for me, personally, the revelation over, you know, I was fascinated with octopus, which is what got us into this, this whole mess really. But over the course of the filming, and reviewing the footage, and having Alex's input and Sy’s input, and even Jim Cameron's, just understanding how intelligent and how much personality and how much of a being exists out there in the natural world that we have for so long felt we were above, was really, really humbling to know that this animal that you know, that is… we're not anywhere nearly close to it, you know, we're separated by 500 million years of evolution. And yet here is this intelligent animal that gives you pause; makes you understand where your where your places in the natural world.
 
Dr. Alex Schnell:  I think that, as humans, we're always drawn to animals that are most closely related to us. We feel empathy and compassion for the animals that look and behave in similar ways and then as you move across the evolutionary tree of life, we feel indifferent and maybe disconnected from those other species. And what I hope this series really brings, is that you can connect to an animal that is so alien. And I really believe that octopus are the ambassadors that are really allowing us to have respect and compassion for diverse critters. They don't have to look like that they don't have to behave like us. But they still deserve our respect. And you know, we shouldn't overlook all the critters that inhabit our planet that we share our planet with. And so, what I'm really hoping for is just this shift in perspective so that we can connect more to nature and all the animals out there, not just the big, very charismatic ones.
 
John Betancourt: What are you most looking forward to audiences experiencing, when they settle in to watch this show?
 
Adam Geiger: I think when the audience watches this, I'm hoping that Secrets of the Octopus makes them find a surprising connection to an animal that is so different to us. I think that's really one of the biggest goals is to create that empathy in that connection. And to demonstrate that this, this odd creature actually has a personality, it has a soul.
 
Dr. Alex Schnell: I think that what we offer in this series is we reveal a lot of secrets. Even all of us were really blown away by the new behaviors that we were seeing, even though I've worked with them for over a decade. You've (Sy) been watching them for years and years. And you've also been studying them since, you know, looking into them since 2011. And I think in terms of even though they're so different, the way that we can remove the barrier of otherness is to help the audience understand them more. And that'll help them connect with them more. And then the more we understand about nature, and all its critters, the more we want to love and protect it. And that's really the take home that I hope happens with the series.
 
Sy Montgomery: Oh, absolutely, what they said, and particularly right now, when there's so many divisions that are separating human beings, it's good to exercise those muscles of connection. And interestingly, in cultures around the world, the octopus, unsurprisingly, able to stretch those elastic arms out in all directions, is often used as a symbol of uniting diverse peoples. And this, this series, who knows may be able to help us do that really sacred important… thing.
 
John Betancourt: I’m noticing more and more, we are seeing nature documentaries focus on specific species of animals, and I’m curious why you all think now is the right time to make the Octopus a focus.
 
Dr. Alex Schnell: Well, I think we can say this is the golden age of octopus. And you know, maybe 10-15 years ago, people wouldn't have been as interested but there's been certain books like Sy’s book, the Netflix series My Octopus Teacher, that I think can pique the interest of our viewers, and we just want to learn more. And I think that when I first started working on an octopus 15 years ago, the reaction that I would often get is, “Ew, why!? They're so grotesque, and they're slimy, and you know, they're delicious. I love octopus, you know, what have they got to offer?” Whereas now, I think with the series and the intimate interactions and the behaviors and the storytelling, we are really offering a window into the octopus mind and also a different perspective. So, people are going to walk away seeing a completely different side of octopus and people are ready for that.
 
Adam Geiger: You know, only about 5% of octopus species have even been studied, and that's mostly in the laboratory, because they are notoriously difficult to study in the wild. What Secrets of the Octopus did was groundbreaking in putting scientists, authors, filmmakers in the field for extended periods of time to create that intimate portrait of, of these rather enigmatic animals. And I think that's going to really create a connection for the audience. And they're ready for it.
 
Sy Montgomery: Oh, I’d also like to call attention to all the different species that are featured in Secrets of the Octopus. From little, little, tiny coconut octopuses that actually walk into your hand when you extend it, to Scarlett who stretches out her arm, up to octopuses, like the Mimic, who can change in the blink of an eye from looking exactly like a lionfish to no, a poisonous flounder to wait, you know, I'm not completely, um, a bunch of sea snakes. They have so many amazing -- we are seeing octopuses trundling around on the sea floor like a weary commuter, dragging their suitcase. We are seeing a little tiny octopuses looking like algae just flowing along. We're seeing octopuses mate, we're seeing octopuses fight, we're seeing octopuses, working with other species to find their food. So that breadth of different species and different talents that octopus has, to which you went to literally the four corners of the Earth to get is something that has never been seen before.
 
John Betancourt; The last question I have for you is a bit more technical, but I think it's important .What can viewers do to get more involved in conservation efforts, since we are at a point where that is always a concern?
 
Sy Montgomery: Well, one thing, you can join Octonation, which is big octopus fan club, and they will you keep abreast of all things octopus, anything we can do to help our seas, such as use less plastic, use your vote, to vote for candidates in our political system who are going to protect our Earth and our seas. And there's a proposal right now to factory farm octopuses in the Canary Islands in Spain. And as I'm sure folks have heard about factory farming of land animals, it's wasteful, it causes a great deal of pollution. And it's extremely cruel to the animals that are being farmed. So, I would say, let's add our voices to folks that are trying to stop this project in the Canary Islands.
 
Adam Geiger: I just, I just think that as, as a citizen of, you know, of Earth as somebody on the spaceship, we have to do everything we can to try to keep the natural world alive, because ultimately, that's what will keep us alive. So, reducing the use of plastic, understanding that the ocean, when you look at it as an opaque surface, you can't see what's down there. But you have to understand it is not a garbage can. We have to do everything we can to let the species that are there thrive. And same on Earth or, you know, terrestrially but the ocean is the heart of the lungs of the planet.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. To learn more about Octonation, click here.