Michael and Us

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/43221887

Just when Luke thought he was out, they pull him back in. In another crossover event with the Current Affairs podcast, our resident West Wing expert chats with Briahna Joy Gray (National Press Secretary for the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, and co-host of the Bad Faith podcast) and Nathan J. Robinson (Editor-in-Chief of Current Affairs magazine) about the high-profile 2020 West Wing reunion special. How have Aaron Sorkin's politics adapted to the new reality? Folks, take a wild guess.

PATREON BONUS - https://www.patreon.com/posts/43213235

We had to do it. We discuss the new Borat movie, the difference between "good" and "bad" liberal comedy, and the difference between liberal and left comedy.

"Notes on Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" by Will Sloan - https://willsloanesq.wordpress.com/2020/10/25/notes-on-borat-subsequent-moviefilm/

Our episode on the original Borat - https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us/episode-30-borat

After he named names for HUAC, Elia Kazan made a movie about an informer. We watched ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), one of the great American films by the most famous American rat, and discuss its personal meaning for Kazan, and the historical context behind its powerful depiction of working-class New York. PLUS: a free-flowing discussion of celebrity and politics.

"Revisiting On the Waterfront" by Kathy M. Newman - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/07/revisiting-on-the-waterfront/

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/42981654

Since ancient times, a sacred caste of people known as "comedians" have told a secret joke - so powerful, so dangerous, that mere mortals like ourselves could never grasp it. The documentary THE ARISTOCRATS (2005) busts open the vault to reveal... not much at all. We analyze what this unbearably-smug and insidery documentary tells us about comedy. PLUS: fiery hot takes on Jeffrey Toobin and John Carpenter.

A former prickly TV personality tries to become a better man... a former president tries to refine his brand... on the pilot episode of the stupefyingly dull Netflix talk show MY NEXT GUEST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION... WITH DAVID LETTERMAN (2018), the onetime innovator of late night is joined by Barack Obama for a gruelling conversation. PLUS: batten down the hatches for Ron Howard's "Hillbilly Elegy."

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/42744256

What is real? What is fake? What is art? Is there such thing as expertise, and who should be the arbiter? Is there such thing as objective reality? When is a lie more true than the truth? Orson Welles's groundbreaking essay film F FOR FAKE (1973) doesn't provide answers to these questions, so we do our best to fill in the gaps. PLUS: we brainstorm ideas for the inevitable Austin Powers 4.

Some topics are too vast, too vital for us to cover on our own. Today, we address one such topic. We invited Jacobin Magazine's Meagan Day and Branko Marcetic for a roundtable discussion of Nora Ephron's YOU'VE GOT MAIL (1998), starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. We discover that this parable for gentrification may be the key to all of politics and culture in the 1990s. PLUS: thoughts on the Harris-Pence VP debate and the famous fly.

"Want to Know What a Return to 'Normal' Will Look Like? Stare Into Mike Pence's Dead Eyes" by Branko Marcetic - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/10/mike-pence-vp-vice-presidential-debate-trump

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/42484228

What happens to a man when he becomes the biggest star in the world overnight? The hair-raising documentary JIM & ANDY: THE GREAT BEYOND (2017) sees Jim Carrey reflecting on the experience of playing Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), during which he claimed to fully inhabit the identity of the long-dead comedian. The film offers an unsparing depiction of what fame does to the human brain. PLUS: we look back at our childhood love of Carrey, and discuss Carrey as Ace Ventura AND Joe Biden.

What does it mean to be "America's Critic"? What does it take to be the most powerful critic the world has ever known? Several months back we discussed "Siskel & Ebert," but now we turn our attention specifically to Roger Ebert, the Pulitzer-winner who may forever be America's best-known film critic. We watch the Ebert documentary LIFE ITSELF (2014), and ponder the movie's questionable assertion that "He did not get caught up in certain ideologies of what cinema should be." PLUS: why are liberals sending thoughts and prayers to the president?

NOTE: As a special experiment for the month of October 2020, we will be posting two episodes per week - one free, one Patreon-exclusive. Like the show and want more? Go to https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus.

Episode #152 ("Rule of Thumb" Part 1) - https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us/152-rule-of-thumb

"Roger Ebert's Zero-Star Movies" by Will Sloan - https://hazlitt.net/feature/roger-eberts-zero-star-movies

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/42221857

By popular demand, we tackle the Russophobic kitsch of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008), examining how the franchise's uncritical perspective on old-fashioned entertainment leads to an uncritical acceptance of its values. PLUS: fiery hot takes on Trump's tax returns and the first Biden/Trump presidential debate.