Stereoactive Presents

J. McVay and Joe Virgillito discuss the final days of the campaign between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, including the following events that have happened since they spoke last month… 1) Senator JD Vance and Governor Tim Walz, the Republican and Democratic nominees for Vice President, debated in New York, hosted by CBS. 2) Both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post withheld endorsements for Kamala Harris at the direction of their billionaire owners. 3) John Kelly, the longest serving White House Chief of Staff during Trump’s term in office, said in an interview that he believes that his former boss is indeed a fascist; this came apparently in response to Trump saying he would be willing to use active-duty military personnel against American citizens and also came after it was reported by Bob Woodward that General Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, had called the former president “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.” 4) Former President Donald Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden that many compared with a 1939 rally of American Nazis at the same venue. 5) Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally on the ellipse in Washington DC, the same spot where Trump urged his followers on January 6th, 2021, to march on the US Capitol – of course ultimately resulting in an insurrection and attempt to overthrow the 2020 election.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Guests - Joe Virgillito

Music - Hansdale Hsu

Produced by Stereoactive Media

Okay, so here I am again with a reminder about a simple truth about Donald Trump that, if the world were a rational place, would easily disqualify him from public life and public office. I’m mainly doing this as a means to maintain my own sanity in the run up to election day because considering how terrible a person Trump is, it’s ludicrous that the election is so close. He truly doesn’t deserve to have a platform for anything in public life and should not be close to the White House again… and he never should have been able to reach the office the first time around.

Somehow, though, here we are. Again.

And what I’m going to talk about in this episode could probably be considered the original sin of Trump – the thing that should have kept him out of public life before we had to ever suffer through all the other sins.

So, here’s just another reminder of one thing that should disqualify Donald Trump from being President: The man is a bigot.

I mean, seriously. What the hell? He started his career discriminating against black folks who wanted to live in the buildings owned by his family. Famously, the Nixon administration sued his family’s company over it. How racist do you have to be for Nixon, of all people, to come after you for discrimination. So that’s example one.

Example two, and I’m skipping ahead now, is his treatment of the so-called Central Park 5. These were children who were swept up by New York City police for supposedly attacking a jogger in Central Park in 1989. And those kids were the targets of racism from all sides. The NYPD essentially pinned the attack on them because of the color of their skin and little else. And that was good enough for Trump. He took out a full page ad in the NY Times calling for the death penalty to be brought back in New York so that these kids could be put to death. Over the years it became clear that they were innocent and police had coerced confessions out of them. As a result, all five were eventually released from prison and exonerated. But Trump still apparently thinks they’re guilty and they’ve even sued him for defamation in recent days because of comments he’s recently made to that effect.

Then of course, there’s Trump’s inane quest to prove that the first Black president of the United States wasn’t born here and therefore was illegitimate. Despite all his PT Barnum bluster about bombshell evidence that he was always on the verge of being able to share with the world, the evidence never came. And it never came due to a simple truth: it was complete and utter bulls**t. Barack Obama was born in the United States. But as has become abundantly clear through the years, if you’re not a rich, white, straight, cis man, Donald Trump just thinks you’re worth less and worthy of his scorn.

Then, of course, he launched his first presidential campaign with a thick dose of prejudice against Mexicans and went on, after taking office, to try and block people from Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. Fast forward to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he tried his damnedest to blame it on the Chinese. Oh, and let’s not forget the supposed horde of invading brown people he’d warn everyone about every time there was an election. Now, in recent weeks, he’s been demonizing trans people as yet another one of his many bigoted get-out-the-vote schemes. Plus, for all his supposed love of Jewish folks, you don’t have to dig very deep to connect how he talks about them to antisemitic tropes and conspiracies.

And here’s some late-breaking, wholly unsurprising news: The preferred candidate of David Duke and plenty of other American Nazis has, according to his former chief of staff, expressed admiration for Adolph Hitler and his generals.

So, yeah, these are pretty much the greatest hits of Trump’s prejudices… Suffice it to say, though, that you could devote a long-running weekly podcast to dissecting all the ways in which he’s a racist and a bigot. In a sane world, this would disqualify him from the presidency.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Music - Man In Gray, The Unsacred Hearts

Produced by Stereoactive Media

In a continuing attempt to maintain my own sanity in the run up to election day, I’m presenting reminders of some simple truths about Donald Trump that, if the world were a rational place, would easily disqualify him from public life and public office. This is the second in a series and, as I said in the first installment, I know I might be preaching to the choir to some extent. But as has become way too clear in the last decade or so, things that would have brought on certain consequences in the past have become normalized.

So, here’s just another reminder of one thing that should disqualify Donald Trump from being President: The man led an attempted coup against the United States of America.

On January 6th, 2021, Donald Trump stood before a crowd of his supporters and urged them to march on the US Capitol. This came after weeks and weeks of rhetoric and actions after his loss of the 2020 election that ratcheted up tensions around the prospect of a peaceful transfer of power. Through evidence and testimony uncovered by reputable reporters, as well as the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, it is clear that, at the start of that day, Donald Trump intended to stay in power despite 1) his clear loss of the election and 2) the clear inability of him or anyone on his disreputable team to uncover any evidence of election fraud that he claimed cost him the election.

The truth is Joe Biden won the 2020 election and, rather than accept that fact, Donald Trump followed the 3 rules of his mentor, Roy Cohn: Attack attack attack. Admit nothing, deny everything. Always claim victory.

In recent months, Trump and the people around him have tried to rewrite history, saying January 6th, 2021, was a quote “peaceful” day.

It was not.

Those of us who watched it live, or saw it after the fact, witnessed a violent mob storm the US Capitol with the intention of blocking the certification of a legitimate election. Police officers were injured and, in the aftermath, several died. One of Trump’s supporters died. Some in the mob sought to physically harm members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence.

Again, this was instigated by the then-sitting President of the United States, Donald Trump. He not only meant for his supporters to violently storm the capitol, he also meant for them to do worse harm than they even did. But failure to execute a successful coup does not mean nothing happened. I can’t recall who I’m paraphrasing here, but failing at attempted murder doesn’t mean you just get to go on living life; attempting a crime is still a crime. Donald Trump attempted a crime. In a sane world, this would disqualify him from the presidency.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Music - Man In Gray, The Unsacred Hearts

Produced by Stereoactive Media

In the first in a series of short episodes, I'm highlighting some of the many reasons that Donald Trump should be disqualified from the presidency... So look, I’m probably largely preaching to the choir here, but if you’re like me, this election might have you questioning your own sanity to some extent. And it’s not like this is new or anything. At this point, Donald Trump has been a fixture of American politics for going on a decade – or more, really. How anyone can find him to be anything other than a repulsive human being utterly unqualified to do anything, much less be President of the United States, is so far beyond me that I’ve tried my best to just just stop attempting to even figure it out. He’s always been a crook. He’s always been a bad person. He’s always aimed for the lowest common denominator and ended up falling short of even that. But even knowing all that, I personally find it helpful sometimes to just remind myself that if we were living in a 100% rational world, the things he has done would disqualify him from at least public life, but especially public office. If you’re like me, maybe just hearing a reminder of the facts helps you to keep some sort of perspective on things. 

So, here’s just a reminder of one thing that should disqualify Donald Trump from being President: The man is a convicted felon.

Let’s remember that on May 30th of this year, a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts related to paying hush money to Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair he had with her. As the Associated Press put it the day after the conviction, “For another candidate in another time, a criminal conviction might doom a presidential run…” It is just worth reminding ourselves that 1) it is not normal for a former president to be a convicted felon, and 2) it is not normal for a convicted felon to be so close to potentially being president. Trump not only clearly committed crimes, according to testimony and evidence presented to the public and to a jury, but was convicted of that crime. In a sane world, this would disqualify him from the presidency.

Check back in the coming days for more short episodes like this, as I continue to scream into the proverbial void.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Music - Man In Gray, The Unsacred Hearts

Produced by Stereoactive Media

Welcome to the second installment of USELESS/USEFUL, in which we discuss topics of interest, broken into two categories. USELESS covers topics that have to do with pop culture, music, film, etc. – and the term “useless” is used lovingly, hearkening back to the DIY Brooklyn venue Fort Useless and the community around that. USEFUL covers topics like relief efforts, charitable campaigns, and social issues that we want to draw attention to. We’ll also share about projects going on at Stereoactive Media. Here are our topics for this episode… 

USELESS ITEM ONE: ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’ and the very Nineties phenomenon of true crime crossing over into pop culture.

USELESS ITEM TWO: Malvina Reynolds, the folk-singer perhaps best known for her song, “Little Boxes.”

USEFUL ITEM: “A smart, seasoned collective of writers, editors, and creatives — are launching The Flytrap, an independent, collectively owned media outfit that’s bringing feminist thought and cultural criticism against the algorithm back to the internet and into your inbox, starting November 5, 2024. (Yes, Election Day!)”

STEREOACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD: Our latest RedactedAV release features Lafayette, LA band FIGHTs performing “Shellac” for our ‘Hear & There’ series.

LINKS:

‘Monsters’ trailer: https://youtu.be/_EaEllq5FLk

“Little Boxes” by Malvina Reynolds: https://youtu.be/-Cjk0zst3Cs

The Flytrap Kickstarter: http://kck.st/3Y75MUI

“Shellac” by FIGHTs: https://youtu.be/JVYnYgh-lyM

Welcome to the first installment of USELESS/USEFUL, in which we discuss topics of interest, broken into two categories. USELESS covers topics that have to do with pop culture, music, film, etc. – and the term “useless” is used lovingly, hearkening back to the DIY Brooklyn venue Fort Useless and the community around that. USEFUL covers topics like relief efforts, charitable campaigns, and social issues that we want to draw attention to. We’ll also share about projects going on at Stereoactive Media. Here are our topics for this episode… 

USELESS: R.E.M. – specifically, their 1994 album, ‘Monster’ /// ‘The Substance,’ now in theaters and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Quallet, and Dennis Quaid

USEFUL: Relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene.

STEREOACTIVE MEDIA: RedactedAV /// When We See Each Other

LINKS:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/hurricane/2024/09/28/keaton-beach-damage-photos-hurricane-helene-florida-video/75426982007/

https://www.commoncause.org/north-carolina/articles/what-you-can-do-to-help-western-north-carolina/

https://www.redactedav.com/

https://redcircle.com/shows/whenweseeeachother

Jeremiah and Joe discuss the evolving 2024 election landscape, reviewing key events like the Democratic National Convention, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s endorsement of Trump, and the Harris-Trump debate, analyzing their potential impact on voter sentiment. Joe shares his fatigue and mixed feelings on the campaign’s warped timeline, following President Biden's dropping out and VP Harris dropping in. They also delve into the debate performances, particularly Harris's assertiveness and Trump’s controversial moments, and discuss the importance of moderators in upholding journalistic standards such as, you know, fact-checking. As we near the election on November 5th, they reflect on the unpredictable nature of the race and the significance of the upcoming VP debate and whether there may be any further Presidential debates.

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0:00 - Introduction to the 2024 Election

1:28 - Overarching Thoughts on the Race

4:34 - Impact of the Democratic National Convention

6:57 - Harris's Campaign Strategy

11:54 - The Big Tent Democratic Party

17:24 - Analysis of the Recent Debate

32:14 - Fact-Checking and Moderator Dynamics

47:10 - Importance of Vice Presidential Debates

49:58 - Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Guests - Joe Virgillito

Music - Hansdale Hsu

Produced by Stereoactive Media

Back in 2020, J. McVay and Joe Virgillito did a regular series of discussions on the previous incarnation of this podcast, leading up to that year’s election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Now that the looming specter of a depressing rematch between those two is behind us, they’re now embarking on hopefully the first of a new series of chats leading up to this November’s election. So, here;s the state of the race so far: 1) Joe Biden did terribly in his June debate with Donald Trump; 2) Trump was shot at a rally; 3) JD Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate; 4) The Republican National Convention happened; 5) Democrats managed to convince Biden to drop out of the race and Vice President Harris immediately became the heir to the nomination; 6) Tim Walz was picked to be Harris’ running mate. With all of that as table setting, along with the looming possibilities of Project 2025 if Trump is elected, and the “uncommitted” movement showing Biden’s weakness in Democratic primaries earlier in the year, Joe and J tackle the following questions… How surprising was Vice President Harris’ quick ascension as Biden dropped out of the race, and how does she seem as a candidate now as compared to 2020? Where does JD Vance fall on the Palin Scale – is he more or less of a drag on the Trump ticket than Palin was for McCain in 2008? How does Tim Walz stack up as a running mate for Harris as compared to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shaprio and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly? With Democrats adopting the messaging that the GOP is “weird,” and the Harris/Walz team seemingly presenting themselves as something like a “return to normalcy,” what are their prospects as they head into a Democratic National Convention where they’re probably going to be largely selling the idea of “Normcore 2024?”

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Guests - Joe Virgillito

Music - Hansdale Hsu

Produced by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay reviews George Miller’s 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,' distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Since its release in 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road has moved close to the top of many, if not most, lists of the greatest action films ever made. So, it was never going to be an easy feat to create a film that could be viewed as a worthy follow up to such an accomplishment.

Of course, throughout his career, director George Miller has proven that he is anything but averse to challenges. After all, it took him two or three decades to finally get Fury Road made, depending on which point in the early gestation of the project you start counting from. So, at least as far as time is concerned, bringing Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga to screens less than a decade after the previous film could be viewed as a sign the process was at least a bit smoother this go-round.

That said, reports on the production of Fury Road make it pretty clear that it would be hard to outdo the difficulty of that past endeavor. Again, though, Miller is anything but averse to challenges and in Furiosa, against the odds, he has managed to create a work that rivals his masterpiece.

In terms of story and theme, Furiosa vastly deepens Fury Road. Part of the way it does this is that it takes a sort of incidental, yet incredibly important, element of previous entries in the franchise and moves it more front and center, thematically, than it's ever been before. As much as Furiosa is about the backstory of its title character, previously played by Charlize Theron – played here by Anya Taylor Joy and Alyla Browne – it’s also about the importance of storytelling itself.

With that in mind, it makes a certain sense that, unlike other Mad Max films, this one features delineated chapters with titles telegraphing what’s to come and imbuing the internal plotting and characters with a sense of thoughtful importance. The key to this meta-element of the film’s storytelling about storytelling is a climactic scene between Furiosa and her antagonist, Dementus, played expertly against type by Chris Hemsworth.

“Do you have it in you to make it epic?” he goads her.

And perhaps this is an oblique comparison, but it immediately made me think of the scene in Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans when that film’s protagonist got this sage advice from one of his filmmaking heroes, John Ford, about how to frame a shot:

“When the horizon’s at the bottom, it’s interesting. When the horizon’s at the top, it’s interesting. When the horizon’s in the middle, it’s boring as shit.”

The point of both, within the context of their respective films, is that approaching something straight on may get the job done, but it’s often not the most fulfilling way to go. In the world of Mad Max, especially as envisioned in Furiosa and Fury Road, self-mythology is a means of survival. For the big bads of this post-apocalyptic world, self-mythology helps them to maintain power by giving their underlings something to strive toward and buy into. For the tentative heroes, though, it offers some small yet crucial avenue toward freedom. 

If, as the so-called History Man tells Furiosa early on in the movie, making yourself invaluable to those you are forced to serve is important for self-preservation, the message she receives from Dementus about making it “epic” is her key to becoming invaluable. It’s her way of tapping into the power of self-mythology that her vicious boss, Immortan Joe has fostered. If she can build herself into an epic figure, so good at her given job that she must be relied on regardless of how much incidental trouble she may carry with her, then she can survive her current low status long enough to find a way toward her inevitable goals, as depicted in Fury Road.

But the History Man is not only a giver of sage advice; he is also the narrator of the story we’re seeing on screen. In this way, we the audience are made a part of the film, essentially cast as silent listeners taking in his tale from some future time. This is not the first time the franchise has used this trope, but it’s arguably the most self-reflexive and effective.

Ultimately, what we’re left with is perhaps the most thematically, emotionally, and dramatically complicated Mad Max film of all. This is not to say it either is or isn’t better than Fury Road. But just as that film’s standing and reputation only grew over time, almost certainly, the same will happen for Furiosa – even if it, disappointingly, hasn’t found its full audience yet, as unfortunately evidenced by its relative box office revenue so far.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Music - Hansdale Hsu

Produced by Stereoactive Media 

https://www.stereoactivemedia.com/

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Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hF0CffGCWqY

J. McVay reviews Dev Patel's debut as a director, 'Monkey Man,' distributed by Universal Pictures.

The backstory of Dev Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man, is nearly as compelling as the film itself. The film was first announced back in 2018 and was set to begin production in early 2020, though it had to be postponed once the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down.

By March of the following year, filming was complete and Netflix acquired it. But the subject matter apparently made them squeamish and they nearly canceled its release. Eventually, though, Jordan Peele saw the film and convinced Universal Pictures to buy it and give it a theatrical run.

For that, we’re lucky.

It’s an impressive looking film that plays great on a big screen. The action, along with the film’s production design, cinematography, and editing make for a truly visceral experience that becomes overwhelming in a theater, in the best way.

Patel has been a welcome big screen presence since his debut in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionare back in 2008 – even in films that never quite lived up to his own appeal and talent as an actor. And Monkey Man proves that, if he likes, he can create his own path now that he’s a distinguished and capable multi-hyphenate: a writer-director-producer-star. 

But he’s more than just capable. 

The story he’s crafted with his co-screenwriters is a solid revenge tale that touches on the corruption often inherent at the intersection of religion, politics, and industry. Overall, they’re smart to let those elements live around the margins and bleed into the main thrust of the plot just enough to elevate the stakes and offer a sense of higher purpose to Patel’s central character. That said, the villains he’s after are drawn a bit too faintly, leaving the climactic moments feeling just a bit underwhelming. 

But the previously mentioned viscerality of the filmmaking does a surprisingly good job of making the journey of the 2 hour runtime feel satisfying enough to overcome a good deal of that let-down of the climax. And that’s a feat in itself, as so many films with underwhelming climaxes feel retroactively deflated once the credits roll.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host - J. McVay

Music - Hansdale Hsu

Produced by Stereoactive Media