{"id":2095619,"date":"2025-10-16T15:44:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T15:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2095619"},"modified":"2025-10-16T15:44:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T15:44:18","slug":"n-j-s-kal-penn-launching-podcast-harold-kumar-star-asks-why-does-history-keep-repeating-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/n-j-s-kal-penn-launching-podcast-harold-kumar-star-asks-why-does-history-keep-repeating-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"N.J.\u2019s Kal Penn launching podcast. \u2018Harold & Kumar\u2019 star asks \u2018why does history keep repeating itself?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kal Penn<\/a> has been an actor, producer, associate director of an office at the White House<\/a>, and, of course, a New Jersey icon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What else is left?<\/p>\n

Podcast host, naturally. <\/p>\n

(Why not? In 2025, everyone famous and not, along with their mother, uncle, second cousin and friend\u2019s sister\u2019s husband has one.)<\/p>\n

Penn is launching the podcast<\/a> \u201cHere We Go Again<\/a>\u201d Oct. 21. <\/p>\n

What is the subject of this podcast?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna take today\u2019s trends and headlines and figure out \u2018why does history keep repeating itself?\u2019\u201d Penn says in an introductory audio snippet, introducing himself as \u201cthe second-hottest actor from the \u2018Harold & Kumar<\/a>\u2019 movies.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I feel like Bill Murray in \u2018Groundhog Day\u2019 where I\u2019m watching the same neverending of things that are happening over and over and over again,\u201d he says in the clip. \u201cLike bridges collapsing, vinyl coming back, gas prices dropping and \u2018Fantastic Four\u2019 being rebooted again. Not that I\u2019m complaining \u2014 Pedro Pascal is obviously a zaddy. Along the way, I\u2019ve made some friends who are experts in science, politics and pop culture.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/b>Kal Penn interview: The actor on Hollywood racism, finding love and working in the Obama White House<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Those friends include Bill Nye<\/a> (\u201cthe Science Guy\u201d); Alok Vaid-Menon<\/a>, a nonbinary writer and artist; Pete Buttigieg<\/a>, former secretary of transportation; and Stacey Abrams<\/a>, former candidate for governor in Georgia and former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives who has fought against voter suppression.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world can feel pretty scary right now, right?\u201d Penn says. \u201cBut my goal here is for you to listen and feel a little better about the future.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\"Kal<\/picture>
Kal Penn with John Cho in “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.”New Line Cinema<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The podcast will take on topics like financial collapse, pet peeves including \u201cwhy there\u2019s never a gate agent ready when your plane lands,\u201d the new space race, secession movements and movie remakes. <\/p>\n

Penn, who was born in Montclair<\/a> and grew up in Wayne<\/a> and Freehold Township<\/a>, had his breakout role as Kumar Patel in the New Jersey-set stoner comedy \u201cHarold & Kumar Go To White Castle<\/a>\u201d (2004) opposite John Cho. <\/p>\n

He went on to star in \u201cThe Namesake<\/a>\u201d (2006) and two more \u201cHarold & Kumar\u201d movies and play Lawrence Kutner in the series \u201cHouse<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/b>See actor Kal Penn back home in N.J. on set of \u2018What the F*ck is My Password?!\u2019 movie<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Penn, now 48, left the TV show for the White House<\/a> in 2009.<\/p>\n

He became associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement<\/a> and liaison to young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the arts community in the Obama administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Penn, who also played a White House communications director in the ABC\/Netflix series \u201cDesignated Survivor,\u201d shared details from his New Jersey childhood<\/a> and introduction to Hollywood in the 2021 memoir \u201cYou Can\u2019t Be Serious<\/a>.” In the book, he covered racism in the entertainment business<\/a>, his time in the White House<\/a> and meeting his future husband<\/a>, among other subjects.<\/p>\n

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Kal Penn with Olivia Wilde and Peter Jacobson in “House.” Fox<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cBeing from New Jersey<\/a> is like an ethnicity,\u201d the actor told NJ Advance Media before the book\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the motivation that we have culturally just being Jersey<\/a> can go a long way. It\u2019s like a superpower<\/a> sometimes, you\u2019ve just gotta know when to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the new podcast, Penn \u201cwanted to combine institutional knowledge with uplifting, calm conversation that can help us all sort through the chaos of this planet we share,\u201d he said in an Instagram post.<\/p>\n

Last month, he was back in New Jersey filming<\/a> the upcoming movie \u201cWhat the F*ck is My Password?!<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

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