Katherine Ho

Thousand Oaks, CA native Katherine Ho went head-to-head with teammate Lily Green, singing a duet of “Lovefool” by The Cardigans. Katherine beat Lily, and Adam named her the winner of the battle. Both of Katherine’s parents have graduate degrees and work in science, but that didn’t stop the 16-year-old from pursuing her music dreams. A child of Chinese Immigrants, Katherine started playing piano at five and moved on to vocal lessons at nine. Her career was kick-started when her vocal teacher got her a professional gig as a session singer for the film “Valentine’s Day.” Last summer, Katherine was accepted to the ‘A Cappella Academy’ summer camp, which was founded by Pentatonix’s Avi Kaplan.

Scott Porter from Ghost Asylum

Real-Life Ghostbusters Investigate America's Most Terrifying Asylums in Destination America's Returning Hit Series Ghost Asylum Speak with Paranormal Investigator Scott Porter of the Tennessee Wraith Chasers Phantoms, demons, and shadow creatures beware! Destination America’s hit series GHOST ASYLUM is back following the Tennessee Wraith Chasers (TWC) ghost-hunting team as they investigate paranormal activity in America’s most frightening asylums, sanitariums, penitentiaries and haunted hotspots. Respect, detect, collect is TWC’s motto and the core process they follow in every investigation, which combines scientific methodology and ghost-hunting gadgets with Tennessee wit and thirst for adventure. TWC’s goal isn’t just to communicate with restless souls but to help them find peace beyond the gates of their ghostly tomb. Scott Porter, paranormal investigator and historian, became fascinated with hauntings at a young age after experiencing paranormal encounters. Since then, Scott has devoted his life to investigating paranormal activity, and hopes to help others who have had paranormal experiences understand and substantiate what has happened. Scott can discuss some of his team's most chilling experiences as paranormal investigators, the most terrifying locations they've encountered, and what's in store for the third season of Ghost Asylum.

Angie Keilhauer

Marietta, GA native Angie Keilhauer went head-to-head with teammate Teresa Guidry, singing a duet of “Back Seat Of A Greyhound Bus” by Sara Evans. Angie beat Teresa, and Blake named her the winner of the battle. Angie emigrated from El Salvador to the United States at 11, and didn’t pursue music until college. There, she balanced a job, school, and performing, which soon became overwhelming. In the madness of balancing her life, Angie realized that music was her true passion and dropped out of school, quit her job, and became a cruise ship singer, which is still her profession today.

Cheap Trick

Celebrating a long-anticipated induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cheap Trick today also announces an exclusive new deal with leading global independent record label Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift, Steven Tyler, Tim McGraw). The legendary band is currently hard at work finishing their Big Machine debut album titled Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello, slated for release on April 1, 2016. Produced by GRAMMY-winning producer Julian Raymond, the album marks Cheap Trick’s 17th studio album and first in more than five years. “We can’t thank the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame enough for honoring Cheap Trick. Thanks to all the fans who have supported us for all these years and to the Hall of Fame members who cast their votes. We are excited and honored,” said Cheap Trick bass guitarist Tom Petersson. “Coinciding with their entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I am beyond proud and excited to announce that Cheap Trick are the newest members of the Big Machine Records family,” said Big Machine Label Group President and CEO Scott Borchetta. “As a band, they’ve never stopped rock’n the free world and they play every night with as much conviction as their first power-pop-punk club shows from the mid ’70’s. I can’t wait for Cheap Trick fans everywhere to have the new album” Eligible since 2002, Cheap Trick will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after being nominated for the first time this year. More than 800 artists, historians and music-industry professionals determine the annual honorees, who are considered qualified 25 years after releasing their first single or album – 1990, for the newest crop of nominees. The 2016 Induction Ceremony is scheduled for April 8. Cheap Trick are an indisputable American institution, beloved around the globe since 1973 for their instantly identifiable, hugely influential, brand of pop rock ‘n’ roll. The band – Robin Zander (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar), Tom Petersson (bass guitar), and Daxx Nielsen (drums) – are truly one of a kind, power pop pioneers with an unparalleled streak of certifiably classic tunes, spanning “Surrender” and “I Want You To Want Me” to “Dream Police” and the worldwide #1 hit single, “The Flame.” Now well into their fourth decade, the band is among the most active and successful in music history with featured appearances on over 20 movie soundtracks, more than 40 international gold and platinum certifications, a myriad of awards and industry honors, and total record sales in excess of 20 million. Surely among rock’s greatest live acts, Cheap Trick continues to spend much of their time on the road. Upcoming dates include Napa, CA’s Uptown Theatre (December 18); Stateline, NV’s Harrah’s Hotel Casino – Lake Tahoe (December 19) and San Jose, CA’s City National Civic (December 20). A major North American headline tour will be announced in support of the new album – for news and ticket information, please visit www.cheaptrick.com/tour-dates. - See more at: http://www.cheaptrick.com/cheap-trick-celebrate-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-induction-by-inking-new-deal-with-big-machine-records#sthash.ZMVT0vta.dpuf

Douglas Cohn

Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, what you don’t know about “running for president 101” might shock you. Nationally-syndicated columnist, Washington insider, West Point graduate, US Army Captain (ret.), recipient of two Silver Stars and the Purple Heart, Douglas Cohn doesn’t fool around (like the candidates!) when it comes to mixing up political facts with fiction. In his new book, The President’s First Year: None Were Prepared, Some Never Learned—Why the Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency (Lyons Press; 2015; $26.95 Hardcover; ISBN: 971493011926), Cohn dissects every past presidential action since Washington, describing how various commander-in-chiefs over the centuries learned (or not) from the mistakes they made during their first year in office; and from that discovery, clearly makes the case for what Trump needs to do and what Hillary desperately must avoid in order to win the White House. Cohn’s non-partisan tome will change the way we view the candidates, and frankly, how sacred we should all hold the office of the president. For those on the campaign trail hoping to win a large, permanent place in American history, one fatal error or slip-up could shut the gates to the White House and end a career. Or, especially in today’s wildly unpredictable political climate, maybe not… As a political talking head, commenting on anything—from the debates to the campaign trail, and referencing The President’s First Year as pure fact—Cohn can discuss: • What caused this political race to morph into a popularity contest and a reality TV show? • Are the voters absorbing these changes as a modern form of revolution? • What five things should Donald Trump avoid or change? • What five things should Hillary Clinton avoid or change? • What must Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz immediately embrace to take their party’s lead? Douglas Cohn is the writer/owner of America’s longest running syndicated column, Washington Merry Go Round along with Eleanor Clift. A member of Critical Issues Roundtable, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank of retired generals, he is a graduate of West Point and the recipient of two Silver Stars and the Purple Heart. His previous TV appearances include A&E’s Biography Channel, the Military Channel, and CNBC. For more information, please go to http://www.douglascohn.com.

Caity Peters

Long Beach, CA native Caity Peters went head-to-head with teammate Joe Vivona, singing a duet of “Honesty” by Billy Joel. Caity beat Joe, and Pharrell named her the winner of the battle. Caity started singing in middle school and went on to excel in her high school choir. She attended the Young Americans College of the Performing Arts for two years where she took college classes and taught singing to students in Europe and Japan. She is now at home in Long Beach, CA - attending the city college and working on her teaching credential for elementary education.

Ace Frehley

Hot on the platform boot heels of his 2014 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ACE FREHLEY has announced Origins Vol. 1, a collection of 12 newly recorded classic rockers from Ace s formative years featuring some of the biggest names in music, on April 15, 2016. Most notably, KISS frontman PAUL STANLEY joins ACE on Free's cult hit Fire and Water. This collaboration marks the first time that Ace and Paul appear on the same studio recording since KISS' 1998 reunion album Psycho Circus. Other guests are none other than Slash trading leads on Thin Lizzy's classic Emerald, Lita Ford singing and playing lead on The Troggs #1 smash hit Wild Thing, Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 plays guitar alongside Ace as he sings his classic KISS composition Parasite for the very first time, as well as Jimi Hendrix's Spanish Castle Magic. Pearl Jam's Mike McCready also plays guitar with Ace as he finally sings his KISS Alive! mainstay Cold Gin. Ace s cover of Cream s White Room is also an instant gratification track and saw its premier by Rolling Stone early in February 2016. Origins Vol. 1 is the follow up to Space Invader, released in 2014. Space Invader was Frehley's first studio album in five years, and the LP debuted at #9 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, scoring the highest charting position of any KISS solo album ever, and marked Frehley's first return to the Top 10 since KISS' aforementioned 1998's Psycho Circus in 1998. Space Invader, received high praise from critics. Rolling Stone wrote: Gene Simmons has claimed Ace Frehley doesn't deserve to wear Kiss' Kabuki clown paint, but the former Spaceman's first solo LP in five years says otherwise. While the Associated Press hailed: The original Kiss lead guitarist has recorded his best solo album since his groundbreaking self-titled album in 1978. Paste Magazine also confirmed: Space Invader is a good rock album, and it s an even better guitar record.

Owen Danoff

Washington, DC native Owen Danoff went head-to-head with teammate John Gilman, singing a duet of “Runaway” by Bonnie Raitt. Owen beat John, and Adam named him the winner of the battle. Owen comes from a musical background – his father was in the group Starland Vocal Band, whose hit “Afternoon Delight” earned two Grammy Awards. His mother had a restaurant called “Afternoon Delight” that hosted live music, which inspired Owen to pursue the music path. He currently lives in New York City with his girlfriend and is working on his music career.

Laith Al-Saadi

Ann Arbor, MI native Laith Al-Saadi went head-to-head with teammate Matt Tedder, singing a duet of “Honky Tonk Woman” by The Rolling Stones. Laith beat Matt, and Adam named him the winner of the battle. Laith comes from a musical family, with the exception of his father who only listened to Arabic classical music growing up. When his parents divorced, Laith had the freedom to pursue all types of music, and learned how to play several instruments. Laith studied Jazz at the University of Michigan, and then went on to be the lead singer of the Detroit Lions’ pep band. Since college, he has worked as a full time musician and opened for big names like B.B. King and Gregg Allman.

Moushumi

Brooklyn, NY native Moushumi went head-to-head with teammate Jonathan Hutcherson, singing a duet of “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran. Moushumi beat Jonathan, and Pharrell named her the winner of the battle. Moushumi’s parents immigrated to the United States to pursue careers in the medical field. With both of her siblings following in their footsteps, Moushumi felt the need to follow in their career path too. She attended medical school in Manipal, India, but always felt like music was her calling. Despite her parents’ wishes, Moushumi dropped out of school after two years and is now living with them in New Jersey pursuing music in New York.

Ryan Green

When Ryan Green, a video game programmer, learns that his young son Joel has cancer, he and his wife begin documenting their emotional journey in the form of an unusually beautiful and poetic video game. THANK YOU FOR PLAYING follows Ryan and his family over two years through the creation of “That Dragon, Cancer” as it evolves from a cathartic exercise into a critically acclaimed work of art that sets the gaming industry abuzz. Lauded as "unimaginably intimate" by The New Yorker and "profoundly moving" by Indiewire, THANK YOU FOR PLAYING is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the ability of art and technology to document profound experiences in the modern age. Directed and Produced by David Osit & Malika Zouhali-Worrall INTERVIEW WITH THE FILMMAKERS AND SUBJECTS OF THANK YOU FOR PLAYING FROM INDIEWIRE It's common to see films that deal with loss and the grief that follows, but in video games, such topics tend to crop up rarely, usually with a layer of abstraction present. That's not the case with "That Dragon, Cancer," a video game that was released in January by parents Ryan and Amy Green (who created it alongside programmer Josh Larson), who crafted it as a tribute to their son Joel, who they lost to cancer when he was just five years old. There is no abstraction here. The game is autobiographical and partially serves as a documentarian approach to the final months of Joel’s life. The Ryans' journey – and the stunning video game they made about it – are the subject of "Thank You for Playing," a new documentary by filmmakers David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, who took on the monumental task of committing the incredible story to film. Indiewire recently spoke with both Amy and Ryan Green and Osit and Zouhali-Worrall about their very special film. "Throughout history we’ve always seeked different ways to grapple with emotions like grief and loss," said Osit. "It makes sense that in our current day and age we would use this interactive medium to do that as well." The video game documentary is not unheard of. In 2012, "Indie Game: The Movie" was a hit on the festival circuit, as it followed a group of independent developers with projects in various stages of development, all while chronicling the merriment and frustration that comes with such projects. But "Thank You For Playing" is unique in that it is more of a companion piece to "That Dragon, Cancer" than simply a standalone entity. They complement each other and should be experienced likewise. "Both of our projects were serving the same goal," said Ryan Green. "The film shows you who Joel was. The projects show two parts of the same story." Osit and Zouhali-Worrall met the couple after watching early footage of "That Dragon, Cancer" at the 2013 Game Developers Conference. "We agreed to come out for a four-day shoot in Colorado, where they live," Osit explained. "That four-day shoot was the first of many. They were so open with sharing their story with us that we realized this wasn’t going to be a short film, but that we could do a lot more in following their story as they continued to make the video game." Those four days turned into 18 months, and the short project turned into the feature now known as "Thank You For Playing," the same message that pops up on the screen upon completion of the game. The final projects themselves do differ, however. "Thank You For Playing" is a very focused, linear progression of the Greens' lives during and after Joel's diagnosis. "That Dragon, Cancer" tells the narrative of Joel’s sickness and Amy and Ryan’s struggle pseudo-linearly, tossing in bits that represent more traditional gameplay with guided sections that mix home video moments and pre-scripted dialogue. It is not an entirely soul-crushing experience, and one that is occasionally quite fun. Ryan and Amy did their best to make it feel like the player belonged in the space they created for them. "They need to feel like they have the right to be there," said Green. "Rather than the empathy through role-playing, it’s intimacy through friendship." "That Dragon, Cancer" sets itself apart from other games in this way. The player does not take on the role of another character, or even Ryan or Amy, but themselves, the same role a viewer feels while watching a film. This allows the two to work in tandem. "We were able to collaborate with them creatively," Zouhali-Worrall said. "The film was it’s own independent separate thing. The game was their own separate thing. But in many ways we were working on projects that were trying to figure out how to creatively document the same thing." For some in the gaming community, there has been pushback to these projects and some have accused the Greens of taking advantage of their son’s condition for profit. "For us, it was taking cues from not wanting to show too much suffering," Osit said of the claims. "That’s not what the story was about to us. That’s certainly not what the story was about to Ryan and Amy. They wanted to capture the lovely relationship they had with their son. They also wanted to capture the process of wresting with these terrible fears and this emotion they were going through." More than anything, "Thank You For Playing" helps show the toll these emotions took on the family. It is a draining film not just because it shows suffering – it, in fact, shows more of Joel’s happiness than suffering – it is draining because of the effects on Ryan and Amy. It fleshes out the full picture of the situation and does not distract from the message Ryan and Amy were communicating. It strengthens that message. "It’s exciting to see people that know nothing at all about gaming come to see the film are really intrigued and excited to watch Ryan and Amy’s story and discover this new medium that they thought was only used for a very specific genre," Zouhali-Worrall said. The filmmaker was excited that the film allowed the story to touch more people than just those who would have gotten their hands on the game. "People can see it as art," Osit added. "It was really important for Ryan and Amy to have people see this as not just a representation of what games can be, but what art is capable of being." Even if games do not normally grab you, do yourself a favor and play the game before seeing the film. "Thank You For Playing" will only open your mind further to what the word "game" can mean. It makes sense of an abstract piece of art in ways that are so rarely achievable. "Even though we were telling Joel’s story, he represents all these other stories," Amy Green said. All stories that should, and now can, be heard. “Thank You For Playing” is showing now in New York and Los Angeles and will be available digitally on March 29.

Charlotte Burns

Hollis, NH native Caroline Burns went head-to-head with teammate Mike Schiavo, singing a duet of “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by Meghan Trainor. Caroline beat Mike, and Adam named her the winner of the battle. After 16-year-old Caroline had a no-chair turn audition in Season 9, Pharrell and the audience pleaded for her to come back. In the meantime, Caroline spent her time performing with her band “4:30 to 5,” practicing with her guitar-playing father and occasionally dressing up as a princess for kids parties. Caroline is ready and determined to prove she has what it takes to win

Brian Nhira

He was on a mission long before making his first appearance on NBC's The Voice. From the iHeart Radio Studio I'm Unplugged and Totally Uncut with Tulsa, OK native Brian Nhira. He went head-to-head with teammate Abby Celso, singing a duet of “Sugar” by Maroon 5. Abby beat Brian, and Pharrell named her the winner of the battle, but Adam pushed his button moments later and stole Brian. Brian’s parents moved from Zimbabwe to the United States 30 years ago. When he was young, his parents worked as traveling pastors and took Brian and his three siblings all over Oklahoma and Africa to work with their ministry, which is where Brian started singing. He attended Oral Roberts University and served as a worship leader for up to 3,500 people in a single service. Recently, Brian has gone back to Africa to work with his parents’ ministry, “Hope for All Nations,” visiting impoverished children and orphans in Zimbabwe and Uganda.

Jay Pharoah from Get A Job

TWITTER .@JayPharoah's chatting about his new comedy #GetAJobMovie in theaters & on demand TOMORROW! getajob-the-movie.com FACEBOOK .@JayPharoah is chatting about his new comedy #GetAJobMovie. In theaters & on demand TOMORROW! getajob-the-movie.com Starring: Miles Teller, Anna Kendrick, Brandon T. Jackson, Nicholas Braun, Christopher Mintz- Plasse, John C. McGinley, Marcia Gay Harden, Jay Pharoah, Bryan Cranston, and Alison Brie Miles Teller, Anna Kendrick, and Bryan Cranston star in this wickedly funny comedy about making it in the real world. Life after college graduation is not exactly going as planned for Will (Teller) and Jillian (Kendrick) who find themselves lost in a sea of increasingly strange jobs. But with help from their family (Cranston), friends and coworkers they soon discover that the most important (and hilarious) adventures are the ones that we don’t see coming. GET A JOB will be released by Lionsgate Premiere in theaters and On Demand March 25th. JAY PHAROAH BIO Jay Pharoah is best known on SNL for his wide array of uncanny celebrity impressions, including President Barack Obama, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Stephen A. Smith, Kanye West and Chris Tucker, as well as for his recurring character of school principal Daniel Frye. Pharoah developed his comedy skills at a young age, training in local comedy clubs. He went on to tour in the U.K., U.S. and Montreal. Pharoah recently released a series of music videos through Above Average including "Bad Kisser," a parody on Usher's "Good Kisser," and "Problems." Pharoah's previous Kanye West parody, "I Am a Dog," became an instant viral video reaching over a million views within the first week. His past feature film credits include "Ride Along" with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, "Top Five" and "Balls Out." This summer he debuted his first stand-up comedy special, "Jay Pharoah: Can I Be Me?," on Showtime. Originally from Virginia, Pharoah currently resides in New York City. His birthday is October 14.

Melissa Rauch from The Bronze

Making strides in the world of television and film, Melissa Rauch is blossoming in her roles as an actress and writer. Rauch can currently be seen on the most-watched network comedy show THE BIG BANG THEORY as the hilarious Bernadette Rostenkowski. In 2013, Rauch was nominated for a Critics' Choice TV Award in the category of “Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series” along with the nomination for “Favorite TV Gal Pals” at the People's Choice Awards. The show was nominated in 2011, 2013, and 2014 for a Golden Globe Award, was nominated for an Emmy Award from 2011-2015, and won the Critics' Choice Award for “Best Comedy Series” in 2013 and 2014. Rauch and the cast have also been nominated in the category of “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series” by the Screen Actors Guild from 2012-2015, and the cast won the People's Choice Award in the category of "Favorite Network TV Comedy" in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. In addition to THE BIG BANG THEORY, Rauch has starred in a number of television series including TRUE BLOOD, KATH & KIM, THE OFFICE, and 12 MILES OF BAD ROAD. On the big screen, Rauch most recently co-wrote, along with her husband Winston Rauch, and starred in the comedy THE BRONZE, which opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Rauch plays a bitter former gymnastics bronze medalist who must fight for her local celebrity status when a new young athlete star rises in town. VARIETY's Ramin Setoodeh, wrote “[Rauch] delivers the best breakthrough comedic performance by an actress since Melissa McCarthy in BRIDESMAIDS.” LA TIMES’s Steven Zeitchik said, “It's Rauch who steals the show, morphing her lovable network-TV shrillness into something more unrecognizably dark.” Sony Pictures Classics is set to release the film on March 18, 2016. Rauch can soon be heard as the voice of Francine in the upcoming animated comedy ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE. COLLISION COURSE is set to be released in theaters July 22, 2016 and is the fifth installment in the popular cartoon franchise. Other voices joining her include Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, and Jennifer Lopez. Rauch's past film credits include Bob Castrone’s FLOCK OF DUDES (2015), William Savage's IN LIEU OF FLOWERS (2013), Matthew Weiner's ARE YOU HERE (2013), John Hamburg’s I LOVE YOU MAN (2009), and Tom DiCillo’s DELIRIOUS (2006). Rauch started her career as a standup comedienne and became a fixture on the fan favorite vh1 show BEST WEEK EVER. She later starred and co-wrote her own one-woman show, THE MISS EDUCATION OF JENNA BUSH, where she played the former President George Bush's daughter. Her sold out production garnered her a win in the category of “Outstanding Solo Show” at the New York International Fringe Festival as well as the “Theater Mania's Audience Favorite Award” and was an official selection of HBO's US Comedy Arts Festival. Rauch currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her husband. ABOUT THE BRONZE, IN THEATERS NOW SYNOPSIS A decade ago, Hope Ann Greggory (Melissa Rauch, Stephanie on ) was America’s sweetheart. Her inspired performance on a ruptured Achilles at the world’s most prestigious gymnastics tournament clinched an unlikely bronze medal for the U.S. team and brought glory to her hometown of Amherst, Ohio. But in the years since that epic third place victory, Hope hasn’t done a whole lot with her life. Still living in her dad Stan’s (Gary Cole) basement, still sporting her daily uniform of a Team USA gym suit with teeny-bopper bangs, ponytail and scrunchie, she spends her days at the mall milking her minor celebrity for free food and favors. Hope’s routine is upended when she learns that she must coach Amherst’s newest gymnastics prodigy Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson) in order to receive a sizeable financial inheritance. The hard-edged yet insecure Hope is faced with a serious dilemma: does she jeopardize her “hometown hero” status by devotedly training this rising star to achieve the dreams she never could? Or does she attempt to sabotage the impressionable Maggie to ensure that she remains the one and only star in Amherst?

Jesse Metcalfe from Gods Not Dead 2

Jesse Metcalfe is one of Hollywood’s rising leading men, and recently was seen as Christopher Ewing in the popular TNT series, “Dallas.” Born in California and raised in Waterford, Connecticut, Metcalfe played in several basketball leagues in his youth. Studying acting at New York University at the famed Tisch School of the Arts, Metcalfe’s first role on television was starring in the NBC series “Passions” as Miguel Lopez Fitzgerald. After a successful five-year stint on the show, Metcalfe took a brief break from “Passions” to pursue other opportunities. He returned to make his final appearance in January, 2005. Metcalfe went on to star as the teen gardener John Rowland on ABC’s hugely popular “Desperate Housewives.” His storyline of an illicit affair with Eva Longoria’s character, a married housewife, garnered fan and media attention. He won a Choice TV Breakout Performance Male at the Teen Choice Awards for his role on the show, as well as a nomination for Choice TV Actor in a Comedy and a SAG Award for Best Television Ensemble. During this time, Metcalfe also played the title character in the 20th Century Fox black comedy film “John Tucker Must Die.” The film, which also starred Sophia Bush, Brittany Snow and Ashanti followed three friends who set out to break the heart of a serial cheater by setting him up with the new girl in town. Metcalfe’s other film roles include “Insanitarium,” “The Other End of the Line,” “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” (with Michael Douglas) and “The Tourtured.” On television, he also starred in the Jerry Bruckheimer series” Chase” for NBC. Most recently, Metcalfe was the lead character, John, in the digital film “Dead Rising,” which is produced by Legendary Entertainment. “Dead Rising” is based on the popular video game franchise by the same name. The game has sold 6.5 million copies worldwide and has a huge pre-existing fan base. Other recent projects include the indie film “Destined”digital film DEAD RISING, and the Hallmark Channel’s original movie “A Country Wedding”. Outside of work, Metcalfe is a huge professional basketball, football and baseball fan. He also works out religiously and is still a regular on the basketball court. A music lover, Metcalfe is an accomplished guitarist and pianist. He is also into classic cars, motorbikes and is an avid poker player. He is also active in several charities, including North Texas Food Bank, The Go Campaign, Weingart Foundaton and UNICEF. ABOUT THE MOVIE GOD’S NOT DEAD 2, IN THEATERS APRIL 1ST When a Christian teacher is asked an honest question about Jesus in her public-school classroom, her reasoned response lands her in big trouble—almost before she finishes giving her answer. This is the thought-provoking setting for GOD’S NOT DEAD 2, the new movie from Pure Flix. This inspiring drama examines the high cost of taking a stand for God in today’s public square and advances many of the themes from the award-winning 2014 megahit GOD’S NOT DEAD with a cast of new and returning characters. Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart) helps students understand and enjoy history at Dr. Martin Luther King High School in Little Rock, Ark. Her love of teaching, her dedication to her students her students and her passion for truth all come from the same place: her dedication to Christ. But her faith comes under attack when Brooke Thawley (Hayley Orrantia), a hurting student grieving the death of her brother, begins reading her late brother’s Bible and asks Grace about the similarities between Jesus’ teachings and those of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King. When Grace explains that what Jesus taught was an inspiration for King’s nonviolent activism, her principal (Robin Givens) is informed, and school district officials demand Grace apologize for violating the “separation of church and state.” But Grace, with the emotional and spiritual support of her grandfather (Pat Boone), refuses to admit wrongdoing, saying she would rather stand with God and be judged by the world than stand with the world and be judged by God. Enter a lawyer (Ray Wise) for a zealous civil liberties group with no love for Christians, who convinces Brooke’s parents to sue Grace in a landmark case designed to prove, once and for all, not only that God is dead, but that Jesus never lived. Grace fights for her rights and her livelihood with the help of her union-appointed attorney, Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe), who must employ some unusual tactics in his efforts to convince the jury of Grace’s innocence and prevent God’s name from being banned from the public square. GOD’S NOT DEAD 2 stars Melissa Joan Hart (SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, MELISSA & JOEY), Jesse Metcalfe (DALLAS, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) Hayley Orrantia (THE GOLDBERGS, THE X FACTOR), Ernie Hudson (GHOSTBUSTERS, OZ), Sadie Robertson (DUCK DYNASTY), Robin Givens (HEAD OF THE CLASS, BOOMERANG), the late Fred Dalton Thompson (LAW & ORDER, DIE HARD 2) and Maria Canals-Barrera (CRISTELA, WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE), with Pat Boone and Ray Wise (FRESH OFF THE BOAT, MAD MEN). Stars from the original GOD’S NOT DEAD return as well, including fan favorites David A.R. White (Rev. Dave), Benjamin Onyango (Rev. Jude), Trisha LaFache (Amy Ryan) and Paul Kwo (Martin Yip), along with a special appearance by Newsboys. GOD’S NOT DEAD 2, reuniting the creative team behind the original, is directed by Harold Cronk (GOD’S NOT DEAD, JERUSALEM COUNTDOWN) from a script by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon (GOD’S NOT DEAD, DO YOU BELIEVE?). Michael Scott, David A.R. White, Brittany Lefebvre and Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis and the late Russell Wolfe are producers.

John C McGinley

Starring: Miles Teller, Anna Kendrick, Brandon T. Jackson, Nicholas Braun, Christopher Mintz- Plasse, John C. McGinley, Marcia Gay Harden, Bryan Cranston, and Alison Brie Miles Teller, Anna Kendrick, and Bryan Cranston star in this wickedly funny comedy about making it in the real world. Life after college graduation is not exactly going as planned for Will (Teller) and Jillian (Kendrick) who find themselves lost in a sea of increasingly strange jobs. But with help from their family (Cranston), friends and coworkers they soon discover that the most important (and hilarious) adventures are the ones that we don’t see coming. GET A JOB will be released by Lionsgate Premiere in theaters and On Demand March 25th. JOHN C. McGINLEY BIO (FROM ROVI) John McGinley, often credited as John C. McGinley, has become one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood since he first got noticed in Oliver Stone's Platoon (1986). The intense, unblinking actor specializes in sarcasm, cynicism, and a used car dealer's unctuous insincerity, meaning he can play either wacky or sinister in both comedies and dramas. Although he has appeared in six Stone films, his breakout performance came in a very different format, as the acerbic and piercingly straightforward Dr. Perry Cox on the hit NBC sitcom Scrubs (2001). McGinley was born on August 3, 1959, in New York City. Growing up in Millburn, NJ, he was more involved in sports than theater. He began studying acting at Syracuse University, continuing at N.Y.U.'s Tisch School of the Arts. McGinley then toiled both on and off-Broadway, as well as two years on the soap opera Another World, scoring his first film role in the Alan Alda-directed Sweet Liberty (1986). It was while he was serving as John Turturro's understudy on the play Danny and the Deep Blue Sea that a casting scout in Stone's employ spotted him and got him an audition for Platoon. McGinley was cast as the sycophantic Sgt. Red O'Neill in the eventual Oscar winner. McGinley followed up Platoon with another one-two punch of Stone movies, Wall Street (1987) and Talk Radio (1988). In interviews, McGinley has described theirs as a "strong working relationship," not a friendship per se with the demanding director. He appeared in a handful of other films before his fourth Stone collaboration, Born on the Fourth of July (1989), which was quickly followed by his first screenwriting effort. McGinley co-scripted and co-starred in the 1990 film Suffering Bastards, alongside Talk Radio's Eric Bogosian The 1990s were a period of intense work for the actor, who appeared in an average of three movies a year, sometimes as many as seven -- a necessary but no less tricky feat for a character actor earning modest paychecks. The most heralded of these were David Fincher's Seven and Stone's Nixon (both 1995); the most forgettable were Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) and the Steven Seagal starrer On Deadly Ground (1994). For most moviegoers, he remained under the radar. Two showy roles in 1999 ably demonstrated McGinley's facility for comedy. As a callous efficiency expert brought aboard to reorganize (i.e., downsize) the tech firm at the heart of Office Space, McGinley grinned and joked his way through a round of heartless layoffs. A similar oiliness informed his loud, obnoxious, kiss-ass portrayal of a Jim Rome-type sports interviewer in Stone's Any Given Sunday It was soon after, in 2001, that McGinley was brought aboard for the role destined to identify him beyond any single film. As the default mentor on Scrubs, McGinley alternated hard-knocks frankness, biting wit, and a genuine desire to be left alone, in turn creating a hilarious persona and sealing his fate as an unwitting cult figure to the young surgeons. He recently starred in the TBS sitcom Ground Floor from 2013 to 2015.

Michael Carbonaro

A crazy combination of magic and comedy. But performed live on the street. Almost like Candid Camera. But with a lot more wow and how did he do that? From the iHeart Radio Studio I'm Unplugged and Totally Uncut with Tru TV's Michael Carbonaro. truTV's hit comedic series The Carbonaro Effect features Michael Carbonaro, magician by trade and prankster at heart. In each new episode, Michael performs ingenious tricks on unsuspecting members of the public, all caught on hidden camera. Watch jaws drop when he causes a car to disappear into thin air or turns a tuft of hair into a living puppy. Whether posing as a coffee shop barista, museum curator or seemingly unremarkable store clerk, Michael Carbonaro's effect on people will leave you laughing out loud with his bewildering and thrilling illusions. Michael is known for his “Magic Clerk” segments on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno & Jimmy Kimmel Live and as one of The Academy of Magical Arts’ prestigious Magicians of the Year (they’re the organization that owns The Magic Castle) In case you haven’t had a chance to catch The Carbonaro Effect before, Michael can make people believe the impossible through a mix of creative magic and great comedy improv that leaves his unsuspecting targets shocked and awed. Coming up this season, Michael convinces people that we live among cyborgs, that a man can morph into a pig, and that humans are delivered by drones. Here's a link to some clips from his show to see his disarming charisma in action: http://www.trutv.com/shows/the-carbonaro-effect/videos/index.html MICHAEL CARBONARO BIO Michael Carbonaro is an actor, magician, comedian, and improv artist. Michael is known for his unique acts of magic and outlandish stunts on late night television, including THE TONIGHT SHOW and JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE. Michael has also appeared on shows such as HAPPILY DIVORCED, THE NEWSROOM, 30 ROCK, WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE, CSI MIAMI, and LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT. He is an OutFest Best Actor Award winner as well as a two-time nominee for an Academy of Magical Arts Magician of the Year award. Michael hosts and performs shows of comedy, magic, and other bizarre acts at a variety of clubs worldwide, including NYC's Joe's Pub and Hollywood's Magic Castle.

Shalyah Fearing

Shalyah Fearing, 16 (9-10AM eastern) Hudson, FL Tonight on The Voice’s battle round, Hudson, FL native Shalyah Fearing went head-to-head with teammate Tamar Davis, singing a duet of “Lady Marmalade” by Labelle. Tamar beat Shalyah, and Christina named her the winner of the battle, but Pharrell pushed his button moments later and stole Shalyah. 16-year-old Shalyah started singing when she was five. Due to financial hardships, Shalyah’s family had to downsize their living situation. Shalyah currently helps her mom with housekeeping and taking care of her seven siblings. Shalyah hopes to make a team on ‘The Voice’ to jump start her music career and help ease her parents’ financial burdens

Nate Butler

Shamong, NJ native Nate Butler went head-to-head with teammate Natalie Yacovazzi, singing a duet of “Hollow” by Tori Kelly. Nate beat Natalie, and Adam named him the winner of the battle. Nate fell in love with music at the age of 10, when he started performing with the Philadelphia Boys Choir. He continued on his musical journey as the lead in all of his high school musicals. Throughout his life Nate has been bullied at school for being a singer. Now, Nate wants to make it on ‘The Voice’ to validate the harassment he went through and prove to all his naysayers that he has a true gift.

Jamie Kennedy

Jamie Kennedy stars as brilliant but bizarre Dr. Callahan on NBC’s new drama “Heartbeat.” An actor, producer and comedian, Kennedy’s recent work includes starring roles in the latest installment of the “Tremors” film franchise, Chris Carter’s “The X-Files” and Amazon’s drama pilot “The After.” He is also voicing multiple characters on the new Comedy Central animated series “Legends of Chamberlain Heights.” Kennedy had a recurring role as a sleazy boxing manager on “Kingdom” for DirectTV and was a voice actor on Fox’s “The Cleveland Show.” In all, he can be seen in more than 190 hours of television under his belt on several broadcast and cable networks. Kennedy landed his big break when he was cast in Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet,” alongside Leonardo DiCaprio as a punked-out rival to John Leguizamo. His career soon kicked into high gear as he co-starred in Wes Craven’s “Scream” and its follow-up, “Scream 2.” Kennedy has worked alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Steve Martin in “Bowfinger” and Jack Nicholson in the Oscar-nominated “As Good as It Gets.” In 2002 Kennedy created “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment,” which became the WB’s highest-rated show at the time. Kennedy portrayed a number of wacky characters, but the audience’s favorite was Brad Gluckman, the white rapper from Malibu. A year later Kennedy brought Gluckman to the big screen in “Malibu’s Most Wanted.” Other film credits include “Three Kings,” directed by David O. Russell; “Enemy of the State,” directed by Tony Scott; and “Boiler Room,” opposite Vin Diesel. Kennedy can also be seen performing his stand-up show around the country. ABOUT HEARTBEAT, PREMIERING TUESDAY MARCH 22ND AT 9/8 CT ON NBC “Heartbeat” is a character-driven medical series that follows the professional and personal life of world-renowned heart transplant surgeon Dr. Alex Panttiere (Melissa George, “The Slap”). There is nothing conventional about Dr. Panttiere, who is as cutting edge and unorthodox in the OR as she is with the two men in her life. Her approach to medicine is without boundaries, as is her approach to everything else in her world. Between Dr. Panttiere’s hectic hospital life that includes a tumultuous love triangle with two brilliant but stubborn surgeons (Dave Annable and Don Hany) and her household of two kids and a homosexual rock star ex-husband (Joshua Leonard), Alex is constantly striving to overcome numerous daily obstacles and be the best mother and doctor possible. Jamie Kennedy, D.L. Hughley, Shelley Conn, Maya Erskine and JLouis Mills also star. Loosely inspired by the real life and achievements of Dr. Kathy Magliato, “Heartbeat” is executive produced by Jill Gordon, Amy Brenneman, Brad Silberling, Mark B. Perry, Jennifer Cecil and produced by Universal Television. Please visit the official show site at http://www.nbc.com/heartbeat/ For the latest “Heartbeat” news, videos, and photos, please like on Facebook, follow on Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/NBCHeartbeat https://twitter.com/NBCHeartbeat #Heartbeat https://www.instagram.com/nbcheartbeat/

Mary Sarah

Tonight on The Voice’s battle round, Richmond, TX native Mary Sarah went head-to-head with teammate Justin Whisnant, singing a duet of “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” by Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn. Mary Sarah beat Justin, and Blake named her the winner of the battle. Mary fell in love with classic country music when she was nine. While singing at traditional Texas opries as a teenager she caught the attention of the well-known group The Oakridge Boys and got the opportunity to sing “Where the Boys Are” to their sold out crowd. After her debut with The Oakridge Boys, Mary got the opportunity to make a duet album with country stars Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and more. The album, “Bridges,” was released last year and Mary plans to use The Voice to determine the next step in her career.

Jessica Crosbie

Tonight on The Voice’s battle round, Plymouth, England native Jessica Crosbie went head-to-head with teammate Nick Hagelin, singing a duet of “Electric Feel” by MGMT. Nick beat Jessica, and Pharrell named him the winner of the battle, but Adam pushed his button moments later and stole Jessica. Although Jessica Crosbie’s first passion is definitely music, travelling comes in a close second. At age 17, Jessica took a life changing trip to Africa and later got involved with a group called “Camps International” where she would work on projects that benefitted various communities. Jessica has traveled to 16 countries where she has built houses, taught English, and helped many women and children. After graduating high school, she moved to Atlanta, GA to live with her aunt and uncle and quickly fell in love with the music scene. The move, however, was more difficult than she expected. Jessica hasn’t booked any big gigs and has lost a lot of confidence, but hopes that ‘The Voice’ will give her the platform she needs to kick start her career.

Kata Hay

Kata Hay went head-to-head with teammate Chelsea Gann, singing a duet of “I’m the Only One” by Melissa Etheridge. Kata beat Chelsea, and Christina named her the winner of the battle. Kata has been singing since she could talk. At age two, she begged her father to pay a $50 entrance fee for a beauty pageant. She ended up winning that pageant, and started singing at Oprys and fairs around Oklahoma - even performing at the Rodeo Opry with Blake Shelton. When she was 13, she was urged by a young Kacey Musgraves to enter the National Yodeling Competition and ended up winning the crown for the next five years. She met her now ex-husband when she was 18 years old and together they performed at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede and The Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show. After her marriage fell apart, she met her current girlfriend, Savanna. The couple recently moved to Nashville where they work at The Wild Beaver Saloon.

Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran

Duran Duran are originally from Birmingham, England. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s commercially and a leading force in the MTV hyped "Second British Invasion" of the USA. Since the 80s they have had 14 hits in the UK top 10 Singles Chart and 21 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and have sold over 70 million records. Duran Duran were created by Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy, with Roger Taylor joining later and, after numerous personnel changes, Andy Taylor, and Simon Le Bon. (None of the Taylors are relatives.) DD has never disbanded, but the line-up has changed to include guitarist Warren Cuccurullo from 1989 to 2001, and drummer Sterling Campbell from 1989 to 1991. The reunion of the original five members in the early 2001 created a stir among DD's fans and music press. Andy Taylor again left the band in summer 2006, and London guitarist Dom Brown has been working with the group, as a session player and on tour since.

Douglas Michael MacKinnon

Douglas Michael MacKinnon, author of The Forty Days: A Vision of Christ's Lost Weeks. MacKinnon was a speech writer for President Ronald Reagan, President George H.W. Bush, and was also press secretary to former Senator Bob Dole. Seventy years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in a poor, one room home built from stone, mud, and straw located just outside of Jerusalem, a frail old man tells his granddaughter and her husband of an amazing and miraculous secret. A secret that, because of fear, he kept to himself for decades. When he was an orphaned nine-year old street urchin on a street in Jerusalem, he had an encounter with a “bloody and beaten” man who was being forced to drag a heavy timber cross for His own crucifixion. The old man tells of what he witnessed first-hand of the last forty days Jesus walked the earth. BIO: D. Michael MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official. While at the White House he had the high honor to write for two Presidents. Additionally, he has written for every major paper in the nation as well as appearing on all of the major television and cable networks as a political commentator. He is a bestselling author and novelist. Often homeless as a child, at five years of age a little plastic replica of the Baby Jesus touched him and changed his life forever. WEBSITE: posthillpress.com/book/the-forty-days-a-vision-of-christs-lost-weeks

Hannah Huston

Grand Island, NE native Hannah Huston went head-to-head with teammate Maya Smith, singing a duet of “Elastic Heart” by Sia. Hannah beat Maya, and Pharrell named her the winner of the battle. Growing up, Hannah loved singing but never did it in front of people. In her junior year of college, however, her friend asked her and a few others to sing while he proposed to his girlfriend. Everyone was amazed at her talent and Hannah made the decision to pursue music as a career. She performed a show at a local coffee shop for about 60 people, and that is still her biggest show to date. Now out of college and working full-time as a pre-school teacher, it’s difficult for her to find time for music, but she sings to her preschool class daily and is looking forward to performing for her largest audience ever at The Voice.

Katie Basden

Durham, NC native Katie Basden went head-to-head with teammate Ryan Quinn, singing a duet of “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney. Ryan beat Katie, and Adam named him the winner of the battle but moments later Blake pushed his button and stole Katie. At 15, Katie found her passion for music when she learned to play guitar and began writing songs. She moved to Nashville to attend college at Belmont University where she found a small amount of local success with her original music. Shortly after graduation, Katie’s father developed health issues that required open-heart surgery. Realizing the gravity of the situation, she moved home to be with her family. Katie’s father has since improved and she is ready to pick up her music career where she left off.

Bryan Bautista

Brooklyn, NY native Bryan Bautista went head-to-head with teammate Malik Heard, singing a duet of “It’s a Man ’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown. Bryan beat Malik, and Christina named him the winner of the battle. After gaining some notoriety from a National Anthem performance at the Barclays Center, Bryan Bautista decided to give ‘The Voice’ a try and auditioned for Season 9. Although he was unsuccessful at turning any chairs, Adam strongly encouraged him to come back for Season 10. Since then, Bryan has quit his job at the Barclay’s Center and began taking vocal lessons. With all of his focus on music, Bryan plans on wowing the coaches and making a team in Season 10.

Dean Caine from Hit The Floor

Actor Dean Caine has VH1 on the basketball court rockin with dram. Hit the Floor is back for a 3rd season. From the iHeart Radio Studio I'm Unplugged and Totally Uncut with the Superman of prime time TV. Dean Cain grew up in Malibu, CA and made his feature film debut in 1984 in the critically acclaimed film, The Stone Boy, which also starred Robert Duvall and Glenn Close. An athlete at heart, he next attended Princeton University, and became an All-American defensive back, setting two NCAA records for interceptions. He signed with the Buffalo Bills, but a knee injury quickly ended his professional career before it began. Dean returned to acting, and is perhaps best known for his role as Superman on ABC’s LOIS & CLARK, the popular ABC series that averaged 15 million viewers during its run. Dean is currently starring in a number of projects, including the third season of VH1’s hit series, HIT THE FLOOR, recurring on the hit CBS series, SUPERGIRL, and hosting the third season of the CW smash hit, MASTERS OF ILLUSION. Dean next stars in the feature film, GOSNELL, due out in early 2016. Dean has starred in over 100 films, including the cop dramedy, Best Men, with Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson, Flight of Fancy, Dog Boys, Rag and Bone, Christmas Rush, Futuresport co-starring Wesley Snipes and Vanessa Williams, as well as the Hallmark Hall of Fame film, The Runaway with Maya Angelou. Cain also spent a season playing Rick on the popular series “Beverly Hills 90210.” Dean was seen recurring on the Fox comedy DON'T TRUST THE "B" IN APARTMENT 23 starring Krysten Ritter, and starred on NBC's competition series, STARS EARN STRIPES which benefitted the Wounded Warrior Project (partnered with American Sniper, Chris Kyle). His feature credits include THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB, OUT OF TIME (opposite Denzel Washington), GOD’S NOT DEAD, and VENDETTA. Dean is also well-known for starring in numerous other films, television series and TV movies, including USA Network's THE PERFECT HUSBAND: THE LACI PETERSEN STORY as well as memorable roles on LAS VEGAS, HOPE & FAITH, and CLUBHOUSE. Dean also served as Host of the long-running TBS series RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! which he also produced. ABOUT HIT THE FLOOR, Mondays at 10/9 CT ON VH-1 Last season on Hit The Floor, the Devils won the Championship, but not without their share of scandal. With Devils owner Oscar Kinkade behind bars for one murder, another killer is still at large: Ahsha's long-time boyfriend German, who was revealed in Season Two's shocking finale to be Olivia Vincent's killer. Unaware of her boyfriend's secret, Ahsha harbors a secret of her own. After being fired from the Devil Girls by her own mother, Ahsha struggles to find her place in the world. She may have ended her passionate but rocky romance with Derek, but Derek has sworn to win her back. The Devils not only have a title, but they have a new boss in the front office: Lionel. She didn't just marry Oscar; she took his place in the owner's chair thanks to an uneasy alliance with Jelena. Now Lionel's ready to make life hell for Sloane and Pete (Dean Cain) but Sloane's not about to back down. Jelena continues to pull the strings while tending to an injured Terrence, who is determined to get back on the court after sacrificing himself to get the Devils their title. Meanwhile Zero isn't quite so willing to let Jude go. Can Jude resist him? Hit The Floor Season Three is filled with more bombshells, sex, drama, secrets, and excitement as well as ten new jaw-dropping dance routines choreographed by the legendary Michael Rooney.

Luke Steele from Empire Of The Sun

Empire of the Sun is an Australian electronic music duo from Sydney, formed in 2007.[2] The band is a collaboration between Luke Steele of alternative rock act The Sleepy Jackson, and Nick Littlemore of electronic dance outfit Pnau.[3][4] Their 2008 debut album Walking on a Dream brought the duo international success and has been certified double platinum in Australia and gold in the United Kingdom (UK).[5][6] The album provided a number of internationally charting singles including "Walking on a Dream" which peaked at number ten on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and reached number sixty four on the UK Singles Chart, and "We Are the People", which peaked at number fourteen on the UK Singles Chart.[7] The duo's second album Ice on the Dune was released in June 2013[8] preceded by lead single "Alive" on 16 April.[9] The band are signed to EMI/Virgin.[10] A live-band, fronted by Steele, has performed internationally and is known for its flamboyant appearance and elaborate stage-sets.[11][12] The duo have won a number of Australian music awards

Michael Yo

Michael Yo is a stand-up comedian, coming up under the wings of Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately as a recurring comedy panelist. He is headlining the national Hot Mess Comedy tour between his Hollywood reporting. Yo brings his comedy to the top podcast, "The Michael Yo & Leo Show", as its co-host. Additionally, Michael Yo is Hollywood's resident entertainment and pop culture expert. He can be seen on CBS' The Insider, for which he covers the latest in celebrity news and gossip, as well as guest co-hosting CBS' The Talk and can be seen on Wendy Williams as a Hot Topic Talker. The self-proclaimed "Half-Black Brother with a Korean Mother" is known in the entertainment industry as the "more respectful" entertainment news correspondent as he will always embarrass himself more than his interviewees. Visit: http://michaelyo.com/ Showtimes: Fri. 8:30PM &10:30PM / Sat. 8:00PM & 10:00PM / Tickets: $26 Call: 212-367-9000 / Visit: http://gothamcomedyclub.com Gotham Comedy Club is located at 208 W. 23rd Street New York, NY 10011

Gary Cole from The Bronze

Gary Cole can currently be seen on HBO’s Emmy winning comedy “Veep” opposite Julia LouisDreyfus, and he has received an Emmy nomination for his work. He recently completed work in the Blumhouse feature “The Town that Dreaded Sundown” and appeared in the New Line feature “Tammy” opposite Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, and Allison Janney. Best known for his film roles in classic cult comedies such as “Office Space,” “Pineapple Express,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” and “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” Cole is a veteran of both the screen and the stage. As an ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theater Company, Cole’s theater credits include “August: Osage County,” “Collected Works of Billy the Kid,” “Speed the Plow,” “American Buffalo,” “Flyovers,” and “Balm in Gilead.” Additional film credits include: “American Pastime,” “The Ring 2,” “Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!,” “I Spy,” “One Hour Photo,” “A Simple Plan,” “The Brady Bunch Movie” and Clint Eastwood’s “In the Line of Fire.” Television credits include: “Midnight Caller,” “The West Wing,” “Arrested Development,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Chuck,” “The Cleaner,” “Entourage,” “The Good Wife,” “True Blood,” “Suits,” and “Hart of Dixie.” ABOUT THE BRONZE, IN THEATERS MARCH 18th SYNOPSIS A decade ago, Hope Ann Greggory (Melissa Rauch, Stephanie on ) was America’s sweetheart. Her inspired performance on a ruptured Achilles at the world’s most prestigious gymnastics tournament clinched an unlikely bronze medal for the U.S. team and brought glory to her hometown of Amherst, Ohio. But in the years since that epic third place victory, Hope hasn’t done a whole lot with her life. Still living in her dad Stan’s (Gary Cole) basement, still sporting her daily uniform of a Team USA gym suit with teeny-bopper bangs, ponytail and scrunchie, she spends her days at the mall milking her minor celebrity for free food and favors. Hope’s routine is upended when she learns that she must coach Amherst’s newest gymnastics prodigy Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson) in order to receive a sizeable financial inheritance. The hard-edged yet insecure Hope is faced with a serious dilemma: does she jeopardize her “hometown hero” status by devotedly training this rising star to achieve the dreams she never could? Or does she attempt to sabotage the impressionable Maggie to ensure that she remains the one and only star in Amherst?

Dr Sinatra Health Revelations From Heaven and Earth

What did a plumber learn about health and healing after dying and coming back? And who was the cardiologist, seen on “Dr. Oz” and “The Doctors”, with four decades of medical expertise and scientific evidence whose research confirmed the same findings? Two very different approaches. One set of conclusions. Currently the #1 Best Seller in Energy Healing on Amazon HEALTH REVELATIONS FROM HEAVEN AND EARTH (Rodale Books) is the prescriptive guide offering the eight health revelations to live your best, healthiest life, revitalize yourself and embrace a newfound sense of purpose and spiritual balance - gleaned from Tommy’s experience and fully corroborated by four decades of medical expertise and other scientific evidence by integrative cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, MD, FACC. Tommy Rosa is a spiritual counselor who helps people conquer their fear of death. He is also the founder of the Unicorn Foundation in Stuart, Florida, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to educational endeavors and community outreach projects. He lives in Stuart, FL. Stephen T. Sinatra, MD, FACC, is a cardiologist and psychotherapist with 40 years of clinical experience treating heart disease. He lives in St. Petersburg, FL, and Manchester, CT. “As one of America’s foremost integrative cardiologists, Dr. Sinatra wonderfully explains how to apply the invaluable health lessons Tommy Rosa learned on his journey to Heaven. While not everyone has the opportunity to have a NDE, the authors make this rare and special experience accessible — bringing Heaven and Earth just a little bit closer.” - Mark Hyman, MD, author of The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet “Health Revelations from Heaven and Earth is mesmerizing. For the first time, the revelations (of Heaven) from a near death experience have been skillfully used to teach us how to live healthfully in our bodies right here on earth. I love this book.” - Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause

Jimmy Blackmon Pale Horse

This book introduces the American reader to the soldiers that defend our nation. Jimmy Blackmon found that the average American citizen knows little about just what today’s soldiers go through in combat. In his new book, PALE HORSE: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes with the 101st Airborne Division (St. Martin’s Press, on sale March 8, 2016, $27.99) he takes readers inside the heads and hearts of these servicemen and women. In examining this perspective of the combat soldier the reader sees how they feel, think, and act. Through countless hours of interviews Blackmon did with his soldiers he had them search deep inside themselves. Their powerful narrative discussing their fears, doubts, anxieties and focusing techniques in the face of battle will leave the reader feeling as if they too had been in combat. The stories told in PALE HORSE show that these soldiers are in so many ways literally the kid next door. Half a million strong, they are the sons and daughters of our nation. Most of those who served under Blackmon voluntarily joined after the terrible attacks of 9/11. As Blackmon says, “They knew they were going to combat, and that they might die. America deserves to know them. America’s longest war will not soon be forgotten, but the men and women who fought it will fade with time to nothing more than a serial number on a roster pressed between pages, if we allow it.” To a combat veteran like Blackmon, the draw down in Afghanistan is a time of mixed feelings. He and his soldiers gave (and lost) so much there. He certainly doesn’t want to see it become another Iraq. He understands the nefarious intents of not only the Taliban but of al Qaeda, ISIS, and other organizations bent on terror. Can Afghanistan stand on its own as a nation? The battles he discusses here have produced over the years 10 Medal of Honor winners. What was fought for and what is being left behind are current and relevant. PALE HORSE presents this dilemma and examines other issues such as: • This is the first combat action book written from a helicopter pilot’s perspective since Vietnam • The gripping narrative will enable readers to feel the emotion of combat up close • Coming to know exactly what our soldiers experienced in Afghanistan • First-hand experience of the action in battles that produced so many Medal of Honor winners • In-depth understanding of what it’s like to fly and fight in a helicopter with the famed 101st Airborne Division • Life and death decisions that are made in the heat of combat • Experiencing combat with the 101st in the valleys where the attacks on 9/11 were planned and rehearsed • An account of a year in eastern Afghanistan fighting a seasoned and hardened enemy from the perspective of an aviation task force • A heroic story of a young boy from humble roots in northern Georgia who went on to command a task force in the storied 101st Airborne Division • The reader will feel their heart race as if they were strapped themselves into an Apache gunship and experience combat from the cockpit PALE HORSE demonstrates that this war was fought by everyday Americans, men and women from Anytown, USA. They came from wealthy and poor families alike. Their mothers and fathers were doctors, lawyers, shrimp boat captains and mill workers. They were white, African-American, Latino, American Indian, Asian American, Hispanic, Samoan, and many other diverse heritages and backgrounds, and they were all extraordinary. ABOUT JIMMY BLACKMON Jimmy Blackmon has served in various command and staff positions throughout the army in the two plus decades since he started out as a second lieutenant in army aviation. He has commanded soldiers at every level from platoon through brigade, including commanding soldiers in combat at the squadron and brigade level in the famed 101st Airborne Division. He has served two tours in the Balkans, two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan. He is married with four children and lives in Virginia.

Neil Pasricha

What’s the formula for a happy life? Neil Pasricha is a Harvard MBA, a Walmart executive, a New York Times–bestselling author, and a husband and dad. After selling more than a million copies of his Book of Awesome series (in which he observed the everyday things in life that were awesome), he now shifts his focus from observation to application. In his new book, The Happiness Equation, he shares how to want nothing, do anything, and have everything. If that sounds like a contradiction, you simply haven’t unlocked the “9 Secrets to Happiness.” Each secret takes a common ideal, flips it on its head, and casts it in a completely new light. Pasricha then shows how to apply each secret to live a happier life today. Controversial? Maybe. Counterintuitive? Definitely. Join Neil Pasricha on Tuesday, March 15th as he discusses: • Why success doesn’t lead to happiness • How to make more money than a Harvard MBA • Why multitasking is a myth • How eliminating options leads to more choice • Why retirement is a broken theory The Happiness Equation is a book that will change how you think about everything—your time, your career, your relationships, your family, and ultimately, your happiness. With over 25 business executives (from Audi and Starbucks to Zappos and the Four Seasons) and accomplished authors weighing in on The Happiness Equation, Pasricha is already hitting a nerve with people looking to live a happier, more fulfilling life. About the Author: Neil Pasricha is the New York Times–bestselling author of the Book of Awesome series, which has been published in ten countries, spent more than five years on various bestsellers lists, and sold more than a million copies. Pasricha is a Harvard MBA, one of the most popular TED speakers of all time, and the founder of the Institute for Global Happiness. He has dedicated the past fifteen years of his life to developing leaders—creating global programs inside the world’s largest companies and speaking to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Pasricha lives in Toronto with his wife and son.

Lauren Weedman

Lauren Weedman is not okay. She’s living what should be the good life in sunny Los Angeles. She has a great career, a loving husband, and an adorable baby boy, but she finds herself starring in a tabloid-worthy nightmare: she’s a Hollywood actress whose husband has an affair with their babysitter. Join Lauren on March 15th as she turns a piercingly observant, darkly funny lens on the way her life is actually Not Okay, discussing: • Meeting her birth mother for the first time: “Our reunion, though life-changing, wasn’t the hysterical emotional scene I’d been led to believe it would be from all the dramatic reunions I’d been watching on Oprah since seventh grade.” • First (and only) threesome: “They shouldn’t call them three-ways. They should call them “piles of idiots.” • On becoming a mother: “People keep assuming that I’m going to be this wacky mom type. They’re assuming that my whole “I’m an asshole who can’t do anything right!” is real, and I’m going to play that shtick right into motherhood. That’s not really me. Yet when it comes to what kind of mother I’ll be, I have no idea.” • Learning to be grateful: “My house envy has the tendency to become painful and ridiculous if I don’t watch it. I need to watch it. I’ve watched Dateline specials on serial killers and I find myself envying them for their basements.” In a voice reminiscent of a grown-up Lena Dunham, Lauren Weedman’s MISS FORTUNE is not only hilarious, but is shot through with a powerful undercurrent of vulnerability that pulls off a stunning balance between comedy and tragedy. About the Author Lauren Weedman is an award-winning comedic actress, playwright and author. Her television credits include The Daily Show, True Blood, United States of Tara, Reno 911, Curb Your Enthusiasm, New Girl, Arrested Development, Horny Patty on HBO's HUNG and Doris on HBO's Looking. Film credits include Imagine That, Date Night and A Five Year Engagement. Weedman's first book, A Woman Trapped in a Woman's Body: Tales from a Life of Cringe, was named by Kirkus as a top ten Indie book for 2007. Weedman is the host of the popular Moth Storytelling series in LA. Visit Lauren on Instagram: @lauren_weedman

Sharon B Burgess Unraveled Faith

The huge congregations, the dazzling technological productions, the excitement, the influence in the community – what’s not to love about a megachurch? But more congregational experts are sharing their concerns on why smaller churches may not want to emulate one. Some concerns include findings that megachurch congregations tend to be less committed to attendance and that each church has a unique style, so the megachurch “formula,” so to speak, isn’t for everyone. “A church is meant to serve God and engage members to be participants, not mere members,” says Sharon B. Burgess, who grew up the daughter of a pastor in a small rural town in South Carolina, church. In addition to the above concerns, Burgess has had personal experience attending a megachurch, where, behind the scenes, there are often unscrupulous practices. That may include church leaders who get the rock star treatment and think of themselves as such, rather than as God’s servant. “An unethical pastor is like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” says Burgess, author of the new novel “Unraveled Faith,” (www.sharonbburgess.com), which pulls back the curtains of a megachurch and examines what a true love relationship between God and man should be. The story is told from the perspective of a recently divorced single mother who is seeking spiritual significance. “You have true believers seeking to make a meaningful improvement in their lives,” Burgess says. “Sadly, however, some church leaders are far more interested in taking advantage of their congregation. Frequently, these rock star church leaders are exposed, yet many of us are surprised by news of corruption.” Burgess discusses these potential behind-the-scenes aspects of a megachurch and how it can affect members of a congregation. About Sharon B. Burgess Entrepreneur Sharon Burgess ventures into the life and four walls of the church with her inaugural novel, “Unraveled Faith.” As the ex-wife of a pastor, she faithfully serves in ministry, advocating for children and adults with mental and physical disabilities via various professional and community programs that facilitate independent living. Sharon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and public administration. She remains busy with helping the geriatric population and her a goal is to open a homeless shelter to aid individuals in getting job coaching, psychiatric counseling and everyday living skills to promote independent living.

Nemr

Nemr is a Lebanese/American Stand Up Comedian who is credited with establishing and pioneering the stand up comedy scene throughout the Middle East where he performs in English. He grew up in San Diego and then moved back with his family to Lebanon where he went on to break down barriers and unite people in a region where bombing on stage can have a completely different meaning. He is an accomplished comic with six full feature specials, a prime time television show 'A Stand Up Comedy Revolution', a movie release of two of his specials, 'EPIC' and 'Victorious Secret' – which, when it played live and subsequently formed the basis of the movie, sold out to over 3,000 people in one night and played in a Roman Coliseum. He currently holds the record for the biggest show in every major country in the Middle East, with his latest special, Uninterrupted Funny Observations, selling out to over 4,000 people in one night in Beirut alone in July of 2014. In May of 2014 he also featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine (Middle East) solidifying Nemr’s legacy as ‘The biggest name in Stand Up in the Middle East’ in writing. He is now back in the USA and aims to do in America what he did across the Middle East, bring people together through laughter and merriment. He comes bearing gifts of myrrh and frankincense. No you can't smoke them. In his Debut U.S. tour Nemr will be performing in Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Florida, Michigan, Cleveland and before continuing to record breaking shows all over the Middle East and then returning to Los Angeles on May 14 at Club Nokia to finish this global event! Be sure to download the NEMR app from your App Store to stay up to date with everything NEMR, and download his specials FOR FREE! You can also put your email above to subscribe to the newsletter.

Brian Posehn

Performing this weekend at Charlotte's Comedy Zone. The actor/comedian that you want to be exactly the way they come across on tv and in movies. From the iHeart Radio Studio I'm Unplugged and Totally Uncut with Brian Posehn. Comedian/actor/writer Brian Posehn has most recently been seen on Comedy Central's popular show, "The Sarah Silverman Program" and on tour as one of the original members of the "Comedians of Comedy". Besides writing and performing on HBO's acclaimed "Mr. Show", he has appeared in sitcoms such as "Just Shoot Me", "Seinfeld", "NewsRadio", "Everybody Loves Raymond", and "Friends". Brian has also appeared in several movies, including Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", "Sex Drive" and "Surfs Up". In 2006 he released his first graphic novel, "The Last Christmas", and a comedy album: "Live in Nerd Rage". His music video for "Metal By Numbers" has been viewed over two million times on You Tube and My Space. He is a regular on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and was a crowd favorite at the recent Bob Saget Roast on Comedy Central. In 2008 he headlined the comedy stages at the popular music festivals, Download, Sasquatch and Bonnaroo. He also played a man with a prolapsed rectum on "Californication". In 2009 Brian wrote an episode of "The Sarah Silverman Program" and wrote the story for a "Metalocalypse' episode. He also made an appearance in the Judd Apatow film "Funny People". He also directed a video for the hilarious hair metal band, Steel Panther. In 2010 he continues to tour, is releasing a new album called "Fart and Wiener Jokes" and a new video for "More Metal Than You", and was recently featured on the Golden Gods Awards performing his new song with his all-star metal band. Posehn is currently working on a new comic book ("Science Projects").

Josh Wolf In New York

Comedian, actor, and writer Josh Wolf has become one of the most sought after personalities in comedy today. From adding his quick witted commentary on comedy round tables, to becoming a New York Times Bestselling Author, writing on hit television shows, and headlining stand-up comedy tours across the nation, Wolf has proved time and time again he is one of the most dynamic and multi-faceted comedians in the entertainment business. Wolf was a regular round table guest and writer on the hit E! series “Chelsea Lately,” and recently appeared as a performer on the new E! series “After Lately.” In March 2013, Wolf debuted his latest book, “It Takes Balls: Dating Single Moms and Other Confessions from an Unprepared Single Dad.” Funny and brutally honest, the book details Wolf’s adventures as a struggling stand-up comedian, while juggling being a single parent in Los Angeles. Visit: http://comedianjoshwolf.com/ Showtimes: Fri. 8:30PM &10:30PM / Sat. 8:00PM & 10:00PM /Sun. 8:00PM / Tickets: $26

Marina Zenovich

Acclaimed Filmmaker Marina Zenovich Discusses Her New Film, Fantastic Lies, and How the Duke Lacrosse Events Changed College Sports Fantastic Lies takes viewers back to the night of March 13, 2006, when Duke University lacrosse players threw a team party that ended up changing lives, ruining careers, tarnishing a university’s reputation and even jeopardizing the future of the sport at the school. The film, from Emmy Award-winning® director Marina Zenovich (Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired), premieres on the 10th anniversary of the party that ignited what became a national firestorm and resulted in a highly charged legal investigation. Usually confined to the sports section, lacrosse suddenly appeared on the front pages of newspapers because of the lurid details of the case and the hot buttons that it pushed: sex, race, class, violence. Director Marina Zenovich is available to discuss the strange events that took place including the hiding of DNA evidence, an unfair trial process, and media reporting on rumors and inaccuracies. She can reveal what she learned after interviewing many of the key figures in the incident and trial, and discuss how the scandal forever changed the landscape of college sports.

Fred Kaplan

For all the headlines about cyber warfare as a new type of conflict, few realize that it in fact dates back nearly 50 years, to the birth of the Internet. And while most news stories on cyber attacks focus on Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, the first and still most serious hacks were mounted—and the first ideas about cyber war were conceived—by the United States. In DARK TERRITORY: The Secret History of Cyber War (March 1, 2016/$28.00 hardcover), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author Fred Kaplan probes the inner corridors of the National Security Agency, the beyond-top-secret cyber units in the Pentagon, the “information warfare” squads of the military services, and the national security debates inside the White House, to tell the story of the officials, officers, scientists, and spies who devised this new form of conflict and who have been planning—and, more than most people know, fighting—these kinds of wars for decades. Kaplan reveals the never-before-told story of the computer scientists and policymakers who invented—and now explore, exploit, and worry about—cyber war, which has spawned the world’s fastest-growing, most mysterious sector of military activity. Kaplan shows that this “new” kind of war actually has a long secret history, stretching back to the birth of the Internet, in the late 1960s, involving an entire community of technologists and spies, mainly in the National Security Agency, the Air Force Information Warfare Center, the Navy cryptology departments, and a special-access bureau within the Pentagon’s Joint Staff called J-39. Drawing on little-known documents and exclusive interviews with more than 100 participants in the story (ranging from cabinet secretaries, generals, and admirals—including six NSA directors—to midlevel officials and analysts, to technical wizards in the secret labs of the national-security bureaucracy), Kaplan delivers many news-making revelations, including the role that “information warfare” has played in tilting the outcomes of conflicts in Haiti, Serbia, Syria, the former Soviet republics, Iraq, and Iran. Spanning half a century, DARK TERRITORY also shines an unsettling light on our future. The cyber era allows almost every country to become a cyber war power, with the ability to disable critical infrastructure around the world with lightning speed. Ironically, Kaplan argues, this leaves America—the innovator and most technologically advanced country in the art and science of cyber war—most vulnerable of all, because we are the most advanced, the most immersed in a matrix of computer networks, which are all vulnerable. With all the resources at our disposal, the U.S. still has no effective defense against a determined cyber attack. REVELATIONS FROM DARK TERRITORY A pivotal moment in U.S. cyber policy came when President Ronald Reagan watched WarGames, the popular 1983 movie about a teenage tech wiz who unwittingly hacks into the military’s early-warning computer and almost triggers World War III. Four days after screening the film at Camp David, during a meeting of his national-security advisers, Reagan asked Gen. John Vessey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “Could something like this really happen?” Vessey came back a week later and replied, “Mr. President, the situation is much worse than you think.” This exchange led, a year later, to a National Security Decision Directive, NSDD-145, the first White House policy statement on computer security. The directive put the National Security Agency in charge of setting security standards for all American computer systems and networks. Civil-liberties advocates in Congress—noting that the NSA’s charter allowed it to monitor only foreign communications—overrode the policy. The tensions between security and privacy, which the battle set off, persist to this day, most dramatically in the controversy over Edward Snowden’s leaks. Vessey answered Reagan’s question the way he did because a small group of national-security scientists had been worrying about the looming problem for more than a decade. Sixteen years before WarGames, in 1967, on the eve of the rollout of ARPANET (the military’s precursor to the Internet), Willis Ware, a computer scientist at the RAND Corporation (an Air Force-sponsored think tank), warned in a classified paper that putting information “on-line” (perhaps the first use of that phrase), and thus allowing access by many people at unsecured locations, would create inherent vulnerabilities; it would no longer be possible to keep secrets. The engineers who built ARPANET read Ware’s paper but argued that the project was hard enough without saddling it with security requirements; besides, they reasoned, it would take America’s foes decades to exploit the program’s flaws. It did take three decades, but meanwhile whole systems and networks grew up and spread with no provision for security. All of today’s problems with cyber attacks stem from this omission. Willis Ware (who, in a coincidence that Kaplan also uncovered, advised the screenwriters of WarGames on a crucial plot point) could envision the future because he was also on the Scientific Advisory Board of the NSA. He knew that the NSA was intercepting Russian and Chinese phone calls and radio transmissions. (This was before these Communist foes had computers, but for many years all computer modems were hooked up to phone lines.) Ware knew that if we could hack them, they could hack us—if not at the moment, then sometime soon. It took another 15 years after Reagan for senior officers and politicians—who, like most people at the time, knew little about computers—to take the threat seriously. In a highly classified 1997 war game called “Eligible Receiver,” a team of 25 NSA operatives, using commercially available equipment and software, easily hacked into Defense Department computer networks worldwide—halting, rerouting, and distorting communications—without their targets even knowing they’d been hacked. A few months later, real-life hackers penetrated the networks of several military agencies and command posts. The hackers turned out to be a pair of mischievous teenagers in northern California. Some officials heaved a sigh of relief, but others were more panicked: if a couple of kids could pull this off, what could a nation-state do? A few months later, the answer was clear: in an operation codenamed Moonlight Maze, Russian intelligence services did the same thing the kids had done—but far more widely, in a more sophisticated and persistent fashion. A few articles have been written over the years about Moonlight Maze. But Kaplan tells the previously untold story of a trip that U.S. officials made to Moscow in April 1999—at the dawn of warm, post-Cold War relations between the two former rivals—to confront Soviet officers about the hack. At first, one Russian general cooperated with the probe, supplied the Americans with files, and cursed what he assumed were rogue elements in the intelligence service who’d committed these outrages. The next day, the cooperation ended, contact was cut off. It was clear that the hackers weren’t rogues. The cyber-attacks stopped for a while, but soon resumed—and, no later than 2001, the Chinese entered the field as well. But long before this time, the United States was already secretly hacking enemy networks. Kaplan provides previously unrevealed details about these operations • In the months leading up to the first Gulf War of 1990-91, a joint NSA-Pentagon intelligence team discovered that Saddam Hussein had laid fiber-optics cable from Baghdad to Kuwait, so he could send commands to his officers. No one yet knew how to intercept those kinds of communiqués (that would come later), but the intel team found out from Saddam’s European contractors where the cable’s switches were laid. When the war started, U.S. bombers blew up the switches. As a back-up, Saddam sent orders through microwave transmissions. A new secret U.S. spy satellite, designed to scoop up microwaves, was positioned right overhead. The U.S. commanders won the war swiftly, in good part because they knew the precise locations, plans, and movements of Iraqi soldiers. (The head of the intelligence team was Rear Admiral Mike McConnell. A few years later, when he became NSA director, he created a new office called the Director of Information Warfare; he filled it with an NSA field agent named Richard Wilhelm, who had been his deputy during the Gulf War.) • In 1994, President Bill Clinton planned an invasion of Haiti to oust a gang of warlords who had toppled the elected government. The Pentagon was looking for a way to fly combat and transport planes across its borders without detection by radar. Some young analysts at the Air Force Information Warfare Center in San Antonio, Texas, discovered that Haiti’s air-defense system ran on the island’s commercial phone network—and one of these analysts knew how to make all the phones in Haiti busy at the same time, thus disabling the air defense system too. (The invasion proved unnecessary; after a stern warning, the coup-plotters fled.) • Soon after Haiti, the Air Force created the 609th Information Warfare Squadron. In its public statements, the unit was said to develop plans to defend against foreign attacks on U.S. military communications networks. But in fact, two-thirds of its time and budget were devoted to planning U.S. attacks on foreign communications networks. • In 1998-99, during NATO’s air war on Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, the NSA, CIA, Britain’s GCHQ, and other secret agencies expanded the notion of “information warfare,” not only tapping into Serbian air-defense radar—which, like Haiti’s, operated on the local phone system—but also using this penetration as a prelude to tracing Milosevic’s social network, then sending threats and messages to his cronies warning them to drop their support of the dictator. • Long before this, in the 1980s, when the Reagan administration was warning of an overwhelming Soviet threat, the NSA had in fact so thoroughly penetrated Soviet command-control networks that many analysts believed the U.S. could win a major war before it had begun. At first this inspired Reagan to push the U.S. advantage in hawkish rhetoric—but then led him to back off and seek arms-control treaties, after he realized the Soviet leaders felt encircled. • During this era, the U.S. spies in Moscow were monitoring Soviet leaders’ telephone calls by beaming microwaves from the embassy’s 10th floor. When a fire broke out in the embassy, the Moscow firemen said they wouldn’t put it out unless they were given access to the 10th floor. The State Department asked NSA director Bobby Ray Inman what they should do. Inman replied, “Let it burn.” These information-war campaigns were conducted with pre-cyber technologies—phone lines, radio and microwave transmissions—but they set the pattern for cyber-war tactics and strategies after the NSA caught up with the new technology. Much of this catching up was done by the NSA’s Office of Tailored Access Operations, a special unit of elite hackers that grew in size from a couple dozen—when it was created in 1999—to several thousand, in remote locations around the world by the middle of the next decade. TAO was the cyber equivalent of the CIA’s “black-bag” operations. (Its motto: “Getting the ungettable.”) Just as CIA spies stole documents out of foreign safes or planted taps on enemy phones, TAO’s operatives hacked into foreign computers and cell phones. Sometimes CIA and NSA worked together: a CIA office known as the Information Operations Center would plant a device on a foreign target, which then allowed the TAO to hack the system and network. (Their first joint operation was in Serbia: CIA attached the tap at the headquarters of Belgrade’s phone company; TAO used the assist to hack its network.) The combination of TAO, higher-speed computers, and new processing technologies, many of them conceived at NSA headquarters, led to a major ratcheting up of cyber warfare’s possibilities. The story of Stuxnet—the U.S.-Israeli computer virus that sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program for a year, starting in 2009—is well known, but Kaplan reveals other, equally elaborate, secretive, and consequential cyber operations. • In the latter part of the Iraq war, beginning in 2007, U.S. forces suddenly experienced a dramatic decline in casualties. Many accounts attribute this trend to President George W. Bush’s “surge” of U.S. troops and to a shift in strategy under the new U.S. commander, Gen. David Petraeus. These accounts are true, to some extent, but another reason for the change was cyber warfare. The NSA started hacking into insurgents’ computers. Then, with Bush’s permission (because presidential authorization is required for cyber operations that could kill people or wreak physical destruction), NSA linguists wrote phony emails to insurgents, instructing them to meet at a certain place—where U.S. Special Operations Forces would be lying in wait to kill them. More than 4,000 insurgents were killed in this fashion. Over a period of a few years, in Iraq and Afghanistan, 6,000 NSA analysts were deployed to the battlefield; 22 of them were killed, mainly by roadside bombs, while they were looking for more enemy computers. • In June 2007, four Israeli F-15 fighters flew more than 100 miles into Syrian territory and dropped bombs on a nascent nuclear reactor. They were able to do this because Israel’s secret NSA counterpart, Unit 8200, hacked the data link between Syria’s radars and radar screens and injected false images making it seem that no planes were in the sky. • In 2015, after Sony Entertainment was famously hacked, U.S. officials knew—and announced in unusually certain language—that North Korea had launched the attack because the NSA had long ago penetrated North Korea’s computer networks. NSA analysts weren’t tracking the country’s activities in real time, but they could pull out the files and watch what the Korean hackers were watching on their screens at the time of the hacking. • When China hacks into defense networks, including some defense industries, the NSA is frequently able to watch what the hackers are doing. In some cases, when Chinese hackers think they’re stealing American trade secrets, they’re in fact grabbing phony documents—“honey pots”—that the NSA has planted to mislead them deliberately and to follow their movements. • In 2010 Pentagon officials drafted public statements acknowledging America’s own cyber-offensive strategies and capabilities. But after President Obama started publicly criticizing China for its widespread hacking, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta spiked the drafts and halted the plans for more openness, fearing that they might make Obama look hypocritical. (Obama has since signed a top-secret Presidential policy directive, PPD-20, that outlines cyber-offensive operations in far greater detail than any previous president—and has also let Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter issue public statements that are far more open about these policies.) However, as Willis Ware predicted back in 1967, what America can do to its foes, its foes can someday do to America—and that someday is now. • After Stuxnet, Iran launched a massive cyber-attack on Aramco, the Saudi-Arabian oil company, melting 30,000 hard drives and planting the image of a burning American flag on all of its computer screens. Iran also hacked records and destroyed thousands of hard drives belonging to Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s hotels and casinos after its owner, right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adleson, advocated dropping a nuclear bomb on Iranian territory. • As far back as 1997, during the Eligible Receiver game, the NSA team noticed signs of real-life French hackers roaming inside a Pentagon network—a discovery that was kept quiet, even in many top secret briefings about the game’s results. • Over the past several years, in every Pentagon war game testing the vulnerability of Defense Department networks, the hackers have broken into the networks. In recent classified studies, advisers have concluded that there is no defense against competent hackers. This is distressing since the U.S. military’s qualitative advantage hinges on high-tech weapons and sensors that depend on computer connections. The Pentagon has started to focus more on the ability to detect cyber attacks and to recover the damage quickly. Kaplan also tells, in great detail, the behind-the-scenes story of the five-man commission, appointed by President Barack Obama, that proposed NSA reforms after the Snowden disclosures. The most controversial proposal, which Obama accepted, involved removing “metadata” files from NSA headquarters and storing them with telephone companies. Kaplan reveals that this idea—which many Republican politicians warned would “blind” our intelligence capabilities—came from the NSA director at the time, Gen. Keith Alexander, who assured the panelists that storing the files elsewhere wouldn’t impede investigations. (The panelists discovered that metadata hadn’t helped nab any terrorists, though they also concluded that another controversial program, called PRISM, which involved using FISA court orders to hack into Internet networks, had helped stop 53 terrorist plots.) Like the commission, Kaplan concludes that the NSA has only rarely abused its intrusive powers for domestic political purposes, but that the potential for abuse is enormous. He also concludes that U.S. Cyber Command—which was created in 2009 and, by charter, is headed by the same four-star general or admiral who directs the NSA—is putting too much emphasis on cyber-offensive operations, even though no one has thought through such basic questions as what a prolonged cyber war would look like, how to keep it from escalating, or how to deter it from happening in the first place. One key problem, Kaplan concludes from his history, is excess secrecy. When the NSA was strictly into making and breaking codes, extreme secrecy made sense: if enemies knew we had broken their codes, they would make new ones, and we’d have to start all over. But now that the NSA is wrapped up in a combat command, it’s dangerous that it operates in total darkness without outside influence or public debate. The title Dark Territory comes from Robert Gates, who, as secretary of defense in the late Bush and early Obama administrations, proposed that the major cyber powers get together behind closed doors to set informal “rules of the road,” barring cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure—electrical power grids, air-traffic control systems, water works, etc. Even during the worst days of the Cold War, the Russians and Americans followed some rules: for instance, barring each side from killing the other’s spies. In cyberspace, though, there are no rules. “We’re wandering in dark territory,” Gates said. The term was coined by North American railroads to signify stretches of track ungoverned by signals. Gates’ grandfather had been stationmaster on the Santa Fe Railroad for almost 50 years. Gates heard lots of railroad terms growing up in Kansas, used it frequently through his adult life, and thought this one was a neat parallel to cyberspace—except that the latter’s dark territory was much vaster and more dangerous because its engineers were unknown, its trains were invisible, and its collisions could be far more deadly.