Lawyers, Guns & Money

One thing we discuss in the latest ediiton of our NFL podcast (see below!) is the concerns about the rough rookie season that Caleb Williams is having. I roughly half-buy this apologia for Williams — nobody will confuse Shane Waldron with Andy Reid, the skill talent Chicago has is solid on paper but not a great fit for a McVay-derived system — and it would br way to early to write him off. On the other hand, I think there’s reason for pretty serious concern, starting with the fact that I’m not inclined to just quickly yadda-yadda over the fact that Waldron had above-average offenses two years in a row with Geno Smith at QB.

I am, however, going to object to this:

The quarterback billed as a generational prospect is off to a generationally disappointing start.

Caleb Williams was a good prospect, a solid #1 pick, and that’s all he was. He was not a “generational” prospect. There is by definition not a “generational” pick in most drafts. Williams regressed in his senior year — he wasn’t mentioned on a single Heisman ballot and didn’t deserve to be — and showed a lot of the problems he’s shown at an NFL level. Had the Bears taken Jayden Daniels at #1 this would have been mildly surprising, not shocking. Please stop using this word to describe every B+/A- QB prospect who got buzz before his junior year, Thank you.

And BTW one way you can tell that in the NFL tanking is an idiotic strategy is that the last genuinely “generational” prospect to actually become a generational NFL player was Peyton Manning.

Podcast transcript available here. These are time-cinsuming to produce and edit, so if you enjoy please consider becoming a Patreon. Enjoy!

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In the second half of our interview with Chris Kempshall, we continued our discussion of the History and Politics of Star Wars. This included discussions of the depiction of warfare across the series, the depressing collapse of every democratic project in the series, and finally of the failure of the Jedi Order. As we note in the podcast, the sequel trilogy aren’t just sketchy films; together, they represent a profoundly depressing coda to the events of Return of the Jedi.

Later in the podcast we turn to Kempshall’s more recent book, the Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire. This is an in-universe history of the Galactic Empire written by the historian Beaumont Kin, portrayed above by recovered hobbit and former bassist for Drive Shaft Dominic Monaghan. This means that, effectively, Dan and I interviewed an in-universe Star Wars character, which I believe makes the LGM Podcast canon as far as Disney is concerned.

Transcript available here.

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Last week Dan and I had the opportunity to speak with Chris Kempshall, author of The History and Politics of Star Wars and of The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire. The conversation was so productive and enjoyable that we went on for long enough to justify two podcast episodes. In the first we work through the academic logic of writing books on Star Wars, then move into an in depth discussion of the first chapters of History and Politics, particularly the history and politics of the Galactic Empire. We’ll post the second ep next week.

This one is really fun. Transcript available here.

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Rob, Erik and I were fortunate to be able to chat with David Nir, formerly of Daily Kos elections and now at an indispensable Substack, the Downballot. We discuss a wide range of issues about the non-presidential races in the 2024 elections. This was a terrific conversation and I learned a lot from it, as always.

These podcasts are time consuming to do and produce, so contributions to our Patreon are much appreciated.

Transcript available here.

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Here’s the second half of our NFL preseason podcast, focusing on the NFC.

Should be fun tonight with the NFL starting! Unfortunately, I have to finish an article before I can watch, so we will see, but Chiefs-Ravens, dang, that’s a heck of an opener!

The AFC Preview is here:

Transcript is here.

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Erik, Rob and I recently had our annual NFL preview podcast. Part one covers the AFC — has the window closed for the Bills? Can anyone beat the Chiefs? Can the Ravens finally turn a regular season powerhouse into postseason success? How will year 1 of the Harbaugh/Herbert marriage go? We discuss this and much more.

If you enjoy the podcast, they take a considerable amount of time to record and produce, so please consider donating to our Patreon. Enjoy!

Transcript available here.

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On Friday Scott and I had the opportunity to speak with long-term friend of the blog and contributor Dr. Chris Koski of Reed College about the current state of the election. We worked our way through how the race has changed since the Big Thing, the stark limitations of JD Vance, the ways in which Donald J. Trump has lost something off his fastball, and the implications of the Presidential race for downballot candidates. We finished up with discussion of expectations of the Democratic Convention, and made some very hesitant guesses about what the results might look like in November. Give it a listen!

Transcript is here.

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In a Very Special Edition of the LGM podcast, Rob and I had a great conversation with the great critic and friend of the blog Glenn Kenny about his new wonderful new book The World Is Yours: The Story of Scarface. We talk about Brian De Palma’s legacy as a “great artist and serious man,” the film’s many memorable scenes and treasure trove of great character actors, working with Al Pacino, De Palma’s relationship with screenwriter Oliver Stone, film production being chased out of Miami, what the movie kept and changed from the Hawks/Hecht original, and many other subjects. One of the most enjoyable interviews we’ve ever done here and I hope you enjoy it to. Don’t get high on your own supply while listening.

These podcasts are very time consuming to prepare for, do, and edit, so if you would consider donating to our Patreon we would appreciate it. Thanks for listening!

Transcript available here.

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Last week I had the extraordinary good fortune to speak with Reuben Keith Green, a retired US Navy officer and the author of Black Officer, White Navy, a new memoir available from the University Press of Kentucky. Reuben’s memoir covers his youth, his decision to join the Navy, his naval career (including a command stint in the Pegasus PHM squadron), and his reasons for eventually leaving the service. On the podcast we discuss all of these issues. Reuben continues to work extensively on racial issues in the US Navy, including the prospective renaming of the John C. Stennis.

Give it a listen! Transcript available here.

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I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with LGM Blogger Emeritus Dave Brockington about the upcoming British general election. Quick summary, things do not look great for the Tories, but Labour is inheriting a lot of intractable problems. We also talked a bit about the results of the European Parliament elections and the big, extremely dangerous bet that Macron made on dissolving the National Assembly.

Transcript available here.

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