The Hamilcast: A Hamilton Podcast

Here we are! We've hit the 500th and final episode of The Hamilcast (at least for now). Please excuse the shameless reference, but I am honored and thrilled that in this episode, Lin-Manuel Miranda really and sincerely teaches me how to say goodbye. 
And honestly, we have a blast! This episode is beyond packed! We talk about how much we love Renee Elise Goldsberry (including Co-Op and Girls5Eva), the Dawson's Creek reunion, we cast movies (and Hamilton!) with The Muppets, you'll learn about Lin's very specific favorite parts of Hamilton including references that were cut almost immediately and the things that really are just coincidences because in a show with layers on layers on layers, some things really are just happy accidents.
Lin also talks about The Hamilton Mixtape, that time Steven Sondheim visited his high school and shared a bunch of West Side Story secrets with the class, and there are at least TWO deep dives: one is Lin's writing process with Warriors: The Concept Album and working on bringing it to the stage, and the other is about professional wrestling AND WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT. I'm not even kidding; it is fascinating and so much fun. 
And speaking of fun... I mean it 100% when I say I've had the time of my life making this podcast for you. The Hamilcast has changed my life, full stop. It's been a decade of stories and memories and friendships and "skitch, how did we get here?" moments. Each and every one of you have really made me feel like the richest girl in town, especially as we've been celebrating the end of the show and the journey we've all been on together. I also mean it when I say that there is always a possibility the show will drop more episodes in the future (Mariska, call me!), so you never know what the future may hold.
The Hamilcast website is staying up, the episodes will live online forever, and @TheHamilcast will continue to be active on socials. You can find me online @GillianWithaG and I'll still be recapping true crime documentaries with Patrick over at True Crime Obsessed. Mike - you know Mike! - is @MPSmithNYC on everything. 
These last eight episodes with The Cabinet were recorded at WTF Studios in Manhattan in October and November of 2025. They were produced by Natalie Grillo from Any Moment Productions, in collaboration with Meghan Miles. These two incredible women are invaluable and I am so grateful for them both. 
Thank you to everyone who took the time to come on this show and generously share your stories with me, sometimes more than once. I am so lucky to call so many of you my friends. And to the listeners, to quote Tommy Kail when he first came on in 2018: I made this show for you. Thank you for being excited about things with me. It has been a true honor to do this for ten years and 500 episodes and I could not have done it without you. My dearest, Patreon Peeps: you are one in a million and are definitively the kindest, warmest, and most welcoming corner of the internet.
With my unending gratitude… I am G.Pen. 
xoxoxo
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Warriors: The Concept Album
Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner
Daniel Pollack-Pelzner on The Hamilcast
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#88: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part One (2017)
#89: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Two (2017)
#90: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Three (2017)
#91: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Four // The B-Sides (2017)
#92: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Five // The B-Sides (2017)
#225: Lin-Manuel Miranda Returns! // Part One (2020)
#226: Lin-Manuel Miranda Returns! // Part Two (2020)
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Lin-Manuel Miranda returns to The Hamilcast for the third and final time… at least for now. Lin was first on the show in 2017, and it was true Russell Hammond partying with "real Topeka people" moment when he came over to a then-stranger's apartment and recorded in my living room for about four hours. In this penultimate episode, we're talking about HamilTEN, HamilTEEN, and HamilTIME. Translation: the ways the show did and didn't celebrate the ten year anniversary, the fact that Hamilton will be the high school play in a few years (!!!), and how things and people have changed over the last decade of Hamilton being out in the world.
We also talk about Lin's experience with Jonathan Larson's tick, tick... BOOM!, from having his mind blown after seeing it for the first time over 20 years ago, to directing the film adaptation ("Andrew Garfield was the other hand on the ouija board" - whaaaat?!), and the similarities and differences in Lin's and Jonathan's writing styles.
And hey boppers, I hope you're ready because we get into Lin's work on Warriors: The Concept Album with Eisa Davis and I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. Lin talks about how the concept album came to be, what it was like to work on this extremely women-centric project, how 1979 is "fertile" for music, our mutual love for Aneesa Folds, and the fact that Lin asked super famous MCs like Nas to rap lyrics THEY DIDN'T WRITE about the BOROUGH. THEY. ARE. FROM. Incredible.
We wrap it all up talking about Basketcase, Lin's nineties jukebox musical that lives in the hearts of millennials and Gen Xers everywhere.
This episode was recorded in November of 2025 at WTF Media Studios in Manhattan and produced with Natalie Grillo from Any Moment Productions in collaboration with Meghan Miles.
Warriors: The Concept Album
Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner
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#88: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part One (2017)
#89: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Two (2017)
#90: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Three (2017)
#91: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Four // The B-Sides (2017)
#92: Lin-Manuel Miranda // Part Five // The B-Sides (2017)
#225: Lin-Manuel Miranda Returns! // Part One (2020)
#226: Lin-Manuel Miranda Returns! // Part Two (2020)
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Hamilton director Thomas Kail is back for round two and he usually makes me cry at the end of the episode, but this time he's switching it up and doing it at the top of the second episode. But don't worry, I deflect and change the subject pretty quickly! Whew! 
Tommy is as thoughtful as he is honest, so while he talks about the power of live theatre and offers insight into how and why he works the way he does, he also asks the questions that permeate almost every single project he works on: How much time do I have? And what do I do with my time? Those questions, and the fact that he takes such amazing care of the audience (regardless of the medium) are two of the reasons why I'm so honored he took the time to record with me again, almost seven years after his first visit to the pod. I've said it a million times on this podcast, but I'll say it again because it's true: if you want to truly be seen and heard, have a conversation with Thomas Kail. 
And yes, we also laugh a lot and have fun! Tommy talks about his kids, It's a Wonderful Life, upcoming projects (live action Moana!), and why he's never leaving New York City. It's all about balance, mostly because "sometimes you're the Tommy, and sometimes you're the Lin." 
This episode was recorded in November of 2025 at WTF Media Studios in Manhattan and produced with Natalie Grillo from Any Moment Productions in collaboration with Meghan Miles.
#124: Thomas Kail // Part One (2018)
#125: Thomas Kail // Part Two (2018)
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Hamilton's brilliant director Thomas Kail helps me wrap up the podcast with two thoughtful, insightful, and sweet episodes. Tommy is known as "The Architect" and I'm telling you, the guy lives up to the title and then some. This week T.Kail unpacks a lot of the HamilTen celebrations and how they came to be, including how they landed on the decision to release the Hamilfilm in movie theaters, his profound experience with the original cast reuniting for the Tony Awards, and Leslie Odom Jr.'s reprising Aaron Burr in Hamilton on Broadway. 
Tommy also talks a lot about editing the Hamilton film (or as he calls it, his love letter to the original company) and how incredibly moving it was to watch it with them at the famous Delacorte Theater, under a full moon. 
Plus, we gush about Freestyle Love Supreme and the episode ends on a very rare cliffhanger! I don't know if that's ever happened on the pod but I explain why at the end of the episode. It's nothing crazy, it's mostly a timing issue, but here we are!
This episode was recorded in November of 2025 at WTF Media Studios in Manhattan and produced with Natalie Grillo from Any Moment Productions in collaboration with Meghan Miles.
#124: Thomas Kail // Part One (2018)
#125: Thomas Kail // Part Two (2018)
#230: Jonah Moran // #HamilFilm Editor // Part One
#231: Jonah Moran // #HamilFilm Editor // Part Two
#232: Jonah Moran // #HamilFilm Editor // Part Three
Freestyle Love Supreme
Freestyle Love Supreme on The Hamilcast
Moondrunk - "My Words"
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Alex Lacamoire is back for round two and I hope you're ready because not only does he put that keyboard to very good use, but Alex was also kind enough to bring isolated stems from the Hamilton cast album. Yep, I know, it's insane. Not only does he play some of his favorite parts (the Stevie Wonder moment in One Last Time and the Eleanor Rigby part of the opening number, for example) but Alex gives us a tour around the orchestra, one instrument at a time: strings from Burn, percussion from Guns and Ships, guitar in Helpless, stride piano in The Room Where It Happens, the list goes on and on and onnnnn. 
Plus! We talk Billy Joel, Chopin, Steven Sondheim, Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl, the connection between The Beatles and Sisqó, and Alex shares fantastic stories from his experience working on Sweeney Todd.
This is such a deep dive and I promise that you'll love every second of it! Seriously, this barely scratches the surface of Lac's generosity. What'd I tell you? The vibes. are. PRISTINE. 
This episode was recorded in November of 2025 at WTF Media Studios in Manhattan and produced with Natalie Grillo from Any Moment Productions in collaboration with Meghan Miles.
#126: Alex Lacamoire // Part One (2018)
#127: Alex Lacamoire // Part Two (2018)
#128: Alex Lacamoire // Part Three (2018)
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MUSE: Musicians United for Social Equality
Alex Lacamoire on Instagram
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#118: Andrés Forero: When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again // Part One
#119: Andrés Forero: When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again // Part Two
#475: Jonathan Dinklage // Hamilton Broadway's Concertmaster // Part One
#476: Jonathan Dinklage // Hamilton Broadway's Concertmaster // Part Two
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The Hamilcast on TikTok
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