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This week’s guest on Pop Culture Warriors with Lisa De Pasquale: Michael Malice
One of the best aspects of Red Eye (and now Gutfeld) on Fox News was that it was a platform for the eccentric guests who didn’t necessarily fit in on other political or entertainment shows. Red Eye is where I first saw author Michael Malice. His humor has been described as “cruel” (by Kurt Schlichter, no less!). Malice says Ann Coulter once called him a brat on-air, but behind his back she tells me he is “a great interviewer!”
In this latest edition of Pop Culture Warriors, it is my aim to expose Michael Malice for who he truly is – one of the nicest, most positive people I know.
He is the author of several bestselling books. His latest, The White Pill: A Tale of Good and Evil, consistently outranks The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx in the Communism & Socialism category on Amazon since it debuted in December.
I am tickled to bring you my fellow Texan this week – the optimistic warrior, Michael Malice
Q: Who inspires you?
MALICE: Bizarrely enough, my audience. I constantly hear people telling me they respond to my content because they are not in a position for various reasons to be as outspoken as I am. And since I'm a huge fan of so many things myself, I'm always trying to put on a show for the viewers as much as I can. I'm also anti-inspired by lots of media personalities, I look to see what they're doing wrong and try to avoid their mistakes.
Q: What was your childhood pop culture obsession?
MALICE: I learned English by watching Three's Company. Years later I ran into Suzanne Somers in a green room and kept my composure enough to tell her. She was extremely sweet and friendly about it. Apparently, it's not that uncommon since so much of the show was broad physical comedy, so you could pick up on what they were saying.
Q: Tell us about the last movie, TV show, book you consumed for entertainment.
MALICE: I just watched Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead for the first time, they held up quite well despite being so thoroughly mimicked in the years since. I'm making my way through the last season of Dragula and just finished a book about FDR's 1940 election. I find having eclectic tastes is very useful for being a media personality, because you can almost certainly weave in references that will be new to any given audience.
Q: As a Texan, why do you think its culture superior to New York's?
MALICE: Texans brag about being tough whereas New Yorkers brag about being tough enough to survive New York. At a certain point, maybe having all those black eyes and broken arms isn't really a sign of your toughness so much as your inability to make a change and cut your losses. Also, I don't have to live in fear in my home, I have a gun in case things go south and I wouldn't be afraid of legal repercussions if I had to protect myself in my own home.
Q: What would you say to readers who say they’ve opted out of the pop culture war?
MALICE: You made the right decision, but you might not have that luxury for very long.
Q: What can readers do to support you and your projects?
MALICE: Pick up The White Pill at whitepillbook.com, but more importantly, figure out ways that they can thrive and better themselves. That's what I enjoy hearing from the fans.
