George and Paco talk American politics with comedian Allen Strickland Williams. The strategies and rhetoric around campaigns, public debate, comedy in divided America, and the failures of the Left (ahem, Jon Ossoff) all come up in this discussion of Best Of Enemies.

'Best of Enemies' is a documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. 'Best of Enemies' delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, 'What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?'

Allen Strickland Williams lives in Los Angeles writing and telling jokes. He's performed stand-up comedy on CONAN and was named one of Comedy Central’s Comics to Watch. Allen performed at South by Southwest, Moontower Comedy Festival, Funny or Die’s Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival, the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, CROM Comedy Festival in Omaha, Comedy Carnivale in Salt Lake City, Hell Yes Fest! in New Orleans, and the RIOT Festival in Los Angeles.

Topics discussed:

What It Takes

Bogeyman about Lee Atwater

Haskell Wexler - Medium Cool