Fog of Truth

John, Justina, and Bart talk about Robert Greens's Procession, Sundance, and industrial Musicals.

Justina, John, and Bart discuss their top 10 documentary lists of 2021, and former Fog of Truth co-host Christopher Llewellyn Reed chimes in his updates about him, his top 10 list, and his love life.

John Bart and Guest Host Bruce Richardson talk Beatles

John, Justina, and Bart talk about The Neutral Ground

John Justina and Bart interview Keith Maitland about his new film "Dear Mr. Broady"

We are back, with new hosts Justina Walford and John Wildman. This week we review Morgan Neville's "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain"

In this bonus episode, we invite back our former cohost Summre Garber to talk about the documentary slate at the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival, where she is co-captain of the documentary-features program. Then we all discuss, in depth, the following three films: Code Name: Nagasaki, Everyone Wants to Be the Next Weismann and Holy Frit. This episode marks the departure of Chris Reed as permanent cohost, leaving Bart Weiss in charge of the future. Should be fun! Enjoy!

Group Review Documentaries:

• Code Name: Nagasaki (Fredrik S. Hana, 2021)
• Everyone Wants to Be the Next Weismann (Alberto Triano, 2020)
• Holy Frit (Justin S. Monroe, 2021)

Other Films/Series Mentioned:

• Bleeding Audio (Chelsea Christer, 2020)
• Dick Johnson Is Dead (Kirsten Johnson, 2020)
• Firebones (Greg Brownderville/Bart Weiss, 2021)
• 306 Hollywood (Elan Bogarín/Jonathan Bogarín, 2018)
• Workhorse Queen (Angela Washko, 2021)

Links to reviews by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

• Hammer to Nail review of Code Name: Nagasaki
• Hammer to Nail review of Everyone Wants to Be the Next Weismann
• Hammer to Nail review of Holy Frit

Timestamps:

• 00:40 – Intro
• 03:49 – Summre's recap of Slamdance 2021 documentary slate
• 07:33 – Group discussion of Code Name: Nagasaki
• 13:33 – Group discussion of Everyone Wants to Be the Next Weismann
• 21:35 – Group discussion of Holy Frit
• 31:51 – Outro and End Credits

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS≥ (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Editing and shownotes by Christopher Llewellyn Reed

In this bonus episode, cohosts Bart and Chris revisit their favorite documentaries of 2020, and then invite, each in turn, six guest hosts from the past year to chat about their own favorites. Those guests, in alphabetical order, are: Hannah Buchdahl, Sandie Angulo Chen, Leslie Combemale, Roxana Hadadi, Lisa Sanchelo and Debra Zimmerman. Chris and Bart each gave a Top 10, while our guests each listed a Top 5. Those lists follows, below, in the order given on the episode. Enjoy, and see you in 2021!

Chris's List (in alphabetical order):

• Boys State (Amanda McBaine/Jesse Moss)
• Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Justin Pemberton)
• Collective (Alexander Nanau)
• Crip Camp (James Lebrecht/Nicole Newnham)
• Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President (Mary Wharton)
• John Lewis: Good Trouble (Dawn Porter)
• Mayor (David Osit)
• 76 Days (Hao Wu/Weixi Chen/Anonymous)
• Space Dogs (Elsa Kremser/Levin Peter)
• A Thousand Cuts (Ramona S. Diaz)

Bart's List (in alphabetical order):

• Boys State (Amanda McBaine/Jesse Moss)
• Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Justin Pemberton)
• Disclosure (Sam Feder)
• Feels Good Man (Arthur Jones)
• Jasper Mall(Bradford Thomason/Brett Whitcomb)
• John Lewis: Good Trouble (Dawn Porter)
• The Last Dance (Jason Hehir) (10-part Netflix series)
• Mayor (David Osit)
• A Thousand Cuts (Ramona S. Diaz)
• Totally Under Control (Alex Gibney)

Sandie's List (in alphabetical order):

• Boys State (Amanda McBaine/Jesse Moss)
• The Dissident (Bryan Fogel)
• John Lewis: Good Trouble (Dawn Porter)
• River City Drumbeat (Anne Flatté/Marlon Johnson)
• Time (Garrett Bradley)

Hannah's List (in order of preference):

1. Collective (Alexander Nanau)
2. Tie: John Lewis: Good Trouble (Dawn Porter) / The Way I See It (Dawn Porter)
3. Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President (Mary Wharton)
4. Tie: The Dissident (Bryan Fogel) / A Thousand Cuts (Ramona Diaz)
5. Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You (Thom Zimny)

Debra's List (in order of preference):

1. Collective (Alexander Nanau)
2. Tie: Belly of the Beast (Erika Cohn) / Coded Bias (Shalini Kantayya)
3. Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Justin Pemberton)
4. Tie: Dick Johnson Is Dead (Kirsten Johnson) / Time (Garrett Bradley)
5. The Earth Is Blue as an Orange (Iryna Tsilyk) – not yet released

Roxana's List (in alphabetical order):

• Boys State (Amanda McBaine/Jesse Moss)
• Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy (Elizabeth Carroll)
• The Last Dance (Jason Hehir) (10-part Netflix series
• Midnight in Paris (James Blagden/Roni Moore)
• Time (Garrett Bradley)

Lisa's List (in alphabetical order):

• American Murder: The Family Next Door (Jenny Popplewell)
• Athlete A (Bonni Cohen/Jon Shenk)
• Baby God (Hannah Olson)
• Becoming (Nadia Hallgren)
• Class Action Park (Seth Porges/Chris Charles Scott III)

Leslie's List (in order of preference):

1. Crip Camp (James Lebrecht/Nicole Newnham)
2. Welcome to Chechnya (David France)
3. The Painter and the Thief (Benjamin Ree)
4. Boys State (Amanda McBaine/Jesse Moss)
5. John Lewis: Good Trouble (Dawn Porter)

Other Films Mentioned:

• Born to Be (Tania Cypriano)
• The Disrupted (Sarah Colt/Josh Gleason)
• The Fight (Eli Despres/Josh Kriegman/Elyse Steinberg)
• Icarus (Bryan Fogel)
• The Mole Agent (Maite Alberdi)
• The Social Dilemma (Jeff Orlowski)

Timestamps:

• 00:52 – Intro + Chris and Bart's respective Top 10 lists
• 11:31 – Sandie Angulo Chen's top docs of the year
• 18:02 – Hannah Buchdahl's top docs of the year
• 23:58 – Debra Zimmerman's top docs of the year
• 30:03 – Roxana Hadadi's top docs of the year
• 37:11 – Lisa Sanchelo's top docs of the year
• 43:42 – Leslie Combemale's top docs of the year
• 50:51 – Closing + End credits

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS≥ (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Editing and shownotes by Christopher Llewellyn Reed

We wrap up Season 10 with returning guest host Anuradha Rana (Associate Professor, School of Cinematic Arts, DePaul University) as we review Daniel Lombroso's White Noise, a profile of some of the current leading figures among the alt-right. This leads to a discussion of the dangers of turning one's lens on problematic ideologues, given how the camera may amplify their message even as it deconstructs and criticizes it. From there, Bart and Chris interview the great Errol Morris, whose American Dharma offers a portrait of right-wing activist Steve Bannon. We've wanted to have Morris on an episode since we started, given how we named our podcast partly in homage to his The Fog of War. Though occasionally contentious, as Chris questions Morris on his approach to Bannon, our conversation proves fascinating and respectful. What a great way to end the season! Listen in and enjoy.

Group Review Documentary:

WHITE NOISE (Daniel Lombroso, 2020)

Available now on demand. Clips provided courtesy of director.

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

AMERICAN DHARMA (Errol Morris, 2018)

Streaming now on Topic.

Other Book/Films Mentioned:

• Donald Trump on Citizen Kane (Errol Morris, 2002)
• Errol Morris's Oscar Short Film: 2002 Oscars (Errol Morris, 2002)
• First Person IFC/Bravo series (Errol Morris, 2000-2001)
• The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (Errol Morris, 2003)
• My Psychedelic Love Story (Errol Morris, 2020)
• Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know book (Malcolm Gladwell, 2019)
• The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988)
• Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, 1935)
• Twelve O'Clock High (Henry King, 1949)
• The Unknown Known (Errol Morris, 2013)
• Us Kids (Kim A. Snyder, 2020)
• Wormwood Netflix series (Errol Morris, 2017)

Links to reviews by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

• Film Festival Today review of White Noise
• Hammer to Nail review of American Dharma

Timestamps:

• 00:42 – Intro
• 04:33 – Group Discussion of WHITE NOISE
• 21:49 – Bart and Chris interview Errol Morris on AMERICAN DHARMA
• ­­47:43 – Doc Talk
• 55:14 – Closing and End Credits

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS≥ (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Editing and shownotes by Christopher Llewellyn Reed

We have our second new guest host of the season join us this week: Inkoo Kang, formerly of Slate and now of The Hollywood Reporter. Together, we review the new Showtime documentary Citizen Bio, which profiles the late Aaron Traywick and his (not so) merry band of biohackers at Ascendance Biomedical, and pair that with an interview that Bart and Chris conduct with Sharon Shattuck, one of the directors of Picture a Scientist, an examination of pervasive gender bias in the sciences. Yes, the nation may be riven by election madness and discord, but we thought we'd take a break from our recent political coverage to talk about different topics. Enjoy!

Group Review Documentary:

CITIZEN BIO (Trish Dolman, 2020)

Playing now on Showtime.

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

PICTURE A SCIENTIST (Ian Cheney/Sharon Shattuck, 2020)

Currently only available for educational and private group screenings. One can request a screening at www.pictureascientist.com. Sign up for mailing list on the website for broadcast and streaming announcements.

Other Films/Podcast/Series Mentioned:

• All About Almodóvar podcast (Inkoo Kang/Daniel Schroeder)
• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Jason Woliner, 2020)
• Fyre Fraud (Jenner Furst/Julia Willoughby Nason, 2019)
• Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Chris Smith, 2019)
• Human Nature (Adam Bolt, 2019)
• The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (Alex Gibney, 2019)
• McMillions HBO series (James Lee Hernandez/Brian Lazarte, 2020)
• Radiolab podcast (Jad Abumrad, WNYC)
• Spaceship Earth (Matt Wolf, 2020)
• Surviving R. Kelly Lifetime series (now on Netflix) (Joel Karsberg/Jesse Daniels/ Dream Hampton/Tamra Simmons, 2019)
• The Vow HBO series (Karim Amer/Jehane Noujaim, 2020)

Links to reviews by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

• Hammer to Nail review of Citizen Bio
• Hammer to Nail review of Picture a Scientist

Timestamps:

• 00:43 – Intro
• 04:11 – Group Discussion of CITIZEN BIO
• 21:16 – Bart and Chris interview Sharon Shattuck of PICTURE A SCIENTIST
• ­­40:47 – Doc Talk
• 50:36 – Closing and End Credits

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS≥ (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Editing and shownotes by Christopher Llewellyn Reed