Michael and Us

What can we learn from Beto O'Rourke's trajectory from 2018 rising-star to 2019 flameout? We're joined by our old friend Chris Berube to revisit O'Rourke's brief period as a liberal cause celebre through the HBO/Crooked Media documentary RUNNING WITH BETO. Chris tells us about his experiences following Beto on the campaign trail for the popular podcast "Underdog." PLUS: the state of the Dem primary, and the latest evil machinations of the Disney company.

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116-comic-conned-29365538

"Nerd culture" is everywhere. Have the nerds won? Or have they merely been co-opted? We look for answers in Morgan Spurlock's puff-piece documentary COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN'S HOPE (2011), which struggles to position San Diego Comic Con as a grassroots phenomenon. Find out the surprising connection between corporate fan culture and the Democratic primaries! PLUS: we discuss the most dangerous person of our time... Susan Sarandon?

80 years before Jeff Bezos owned the Washington Post, a wealthy heir named Charles Foster Kane picked up a struggling New York newspaper. We watched Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE (perhaps you've heard of it?) to see what it could tell us about oligarchy and the media. PLUS: Joe Biden's "gaffes," Bernie Sanders v. the Washington Post, a rightward turn in Canadian media, and the clown prince of crime.

"You Must Be This Conservative To Ride: The Inside Story of Postmedia’s Right Turn" by Sean Craig - https://www.canadalandshow.com/the-conservative-transformation-of-postmedia/

"Why Joe Biden's Campaign is Struggling" by Philip Elliott - https://time.com/5634771/joe-biden-problems/

"Orson Welles as Ideological Challenge" by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Part 1: http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2018/02/orson-welles-as-ideological-challenge/

Part 2: http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2018/02/orson-welles-as-ideological-challenge-part-2/

See Luke discuss Canadian philosopher George Grant at House of Anasi Bookstore on August 21, 7pm - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/great-books-toronto-reading-george-grant-with-house-of-anansi-press-tickets-68004933587

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/29051578

Power corrupts, whether it's in France before the revolution, or Italy in the waning days of fascism, or in international airspace on Jeffrey Epstein's plane. As the Epstein story exposes the rot at the core of the modern elite, we find parallels in Pier Paolo Pasolini's anti-fascist (read: anti-capitalist) classic SALÒ, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (1975). PLUS: the Marquis de Sade, Bernie Sanders on Joe Rogan, the sorry state of film culture, and Michael Moore on Chapo Trap House.

The rubes and the hicks think that the politicians are squeaky-clean. But insiders like you and me? We understand that politics is a game... and the winner is whoever plays it best. That's the thesis of RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE (2016), a CNN docutainment series about the wheeling-and-dealings of presidential campaigns. We recall such titanic bouts as Kennedy v. Nixon, Bush v. Dukakis, and Clinton v. Bush, and ask, as we so often do: "Okay, but what were these campaigns ABOUT?" PLUS: the Democratic Party debates, the summer movies, and Luke's online brush with the First Family.

"Joe Biden Was a Trainwreck in Last Night's Debate" by Luke Savage - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/08/joe-biden-democratic-debate

"The Human Factor" by Will Sloan - https://willsloanesq.wordpress.com/2019/07/27/the-human-factor/

PATREON EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/112-bubble-boys-28625748

Like a lot of us, Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of Nancy) was shocked by the 2016 election. How could this have happened? Believing that we aren't getting "outside our bubble" enough, she takes a road trip of the red states to ask Trump voters why they voted Trump. What does she do with these findings? She collects them in OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE: ON THE ROAD WITH ALEXANDRA PELOSI (2018), a documentary that posits "conversation" as not the means to an end, but the end itself. This is a rough one, folks. PLUS: Britain's new Prime Minister, John Delaney, and the return of Toronto's coolest ex-politician.

Two years before 9/11, and nine years before the financial collapse, AMERICAN BEAUTY gazed upon the End of History and said: "...is that all there is?" And then it also asked, "Isn't that wife a real shrew, huh??" We revisit this painfully dated Best Picture winner and discover beauty all around us. PLUS: "The Squad" vs the Dem establishment, and the decline of Netroots Nation.

"Nancy Pelosi Has Lost Control" by Zach Carter - https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/nancy-pelosi-has-lost-control_n_5d2cb605e4b032ea741220ad

"How the Democratic Netroots Died" by Bill Scher - https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/07/17/democratic-netroots-markos-moulitsas-227363

PATREON EXCLUSIVE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/110-netroots-28326205

In the mid-2000s, a hot new thing called the "blogosphere" shook the very foundations of American politics, creating a progressive media ecosystem that helped launch the presidential candidacy of... er, Howard Dean. The 2006 documentary BLOG WARS chronicles this moment, with a particular emphasis on Daily Kos founder and Nancy Pelosi superfan Markos Moulitsas. We discuss the ideological project (or lack thereof) of the mid-2000s liberal blogosphere, and track the evolution of the online left. PLUS: Pete Buttigieg's "National Service Program," the changing media landscape, Adam Sandler, and a report for Burlington, Vermont.

Did you know that Nancy Pelosi's daughter Alexandra is a documentary filmmaker? During the 2000 election, she hopped on George W. Bush's campaign bus and chronicled life as a politics reporter... and inadvertently revealed why so much politics journalism is abject trash. This week, we watched JOURNEYS WITH GEORGE (2002) and felt a lot of fear and loathing on this campaign trail. PLUS: the Democratic Party debates, David Foster Wallace, and Stanley Kubrick.

PATREON EXCLUSIVE EPISODE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/27929927

They may be out of fashion, but they're not going gently into that good night. In November 2018, Bill and Hillary Clinton embarked on a stadium tour to discuss The Trump Era. Will & Luke missed out on their notoriously unsuccessful Toronto gig at the time... but thanks to the magic of the internet, now anyone can spend An Evening With the Clintons in Toronto. What do these tribunes of the End of History have to tell us about our modern world? Tune in to find out! PLUS: the state of the 2020 race, and more harsh words for mankind's greatest enemy, Tom Hanks.