Theo Von

Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III, who describes his heritage as Polish and Nicaraguan, grew up in small-town Louisiana. He has said he was legally emancipated at 14. His first brush with celebrity came in 2000, as a teenage cast member on Season 9 of MTV’s “Road Rules” His podcast “This Past Weekend” began in the mid-2010s, in part as a platform for Von to talk about his addiction recovery process. It has become an interview destination for comedians, musicians, actors and politicians, Von has repositioned himself as a Forrest Gump-esque Everyman careening his way to the top of American popular culture and democracy. Last fall, his show went into overdrive, becoming a must visit for politicians and proxies from both parties: Trump, Bernie Sanders, JD Vance, Mark Cuban (stumping for Kamala Harris), Robert F. Kennedy Jr.