The Play Typer Guy

Kaitlin Byrd (Dame Magazine) joins me to discuss what the hell just happened on January 6, 2025.

In this episode, we will discuss:

• The easy concession by Democrats during the vote confirmation on January 6th
• Problems within the Democratic party and the need for younger people who understand the current political landscape
• How was Trump even allowed to take office after violating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment
• How politicians in the past did a better job of keeping their agendas in front of the people (even if in a creepy way)
• And more! 

Guest Info: 

Kaitlin Byrd has been commenting about American politics on Twitter since 2016, through published essays since 2018, and as a loudmouth her whole life. Born and raised in New York, Kaitlin is the second generation of her family to be from the city, and the first to grow up immersed in local politics, with her first door-to-door canvassing done at the ripe old age of three years old. In the wake of the Great Election Calamity of 2016, she began speaking out on social media about the past, present, and future of the United States with her unique blend of bluntness, humor and unyielding clarity.

Since then, she’s been asked to give her take on unfolding events by a range of publications and productions, including the Huffington Post, Bustle, the Boston Globe, The Cut, and Betches Media. She’s a monthly columnist for Dame Magazine and a weekly cohost of the Betches Sup podcast. She lives a very short commute away from her beloved Brooklyn, in New York.

Links:  

Kaitlin’s Website: https://www.gothamgirlblue.com/about

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Our guest this week is writer and author Matthew K. Manning. Matthew has written hundreds of comics and prose books for a range of publishers, including DC, Marvel, IDW, Scholastic, Disney, and many more. Some standouts are the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, the hardcover The Batman Files, the 12-issue comic series Marvel Action: Avengers, and a recent stint on the Dick Tracy comic strip.

Links:

https://www.matthewkmanning.com/

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In this episode, I interviewed author Tim English about his book, The Kennedys' New York: American Royalty in the Greatest City in the World, which I recommend even if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has permanently soured you on the Kennedy family or if you prefer New Orleans and Barcelona to New York.

You will hear:

• Why Tim chose to write about the Kennedys specifically and how he chose to make it different from other books on the family
• How the Kennedy family carried on in the wake of the assassinations of JFK and Bobby to keep their political and social work alive
• Details about the life and tragic death of JFK Jr.
• Where people can go if they are interested in visiting places in New York that had significance with the Kennedys
• And more!

Guest Info: 

Timothy English is a renowned pop culture historian. In addition to The Kennedys' New York, he is the author of the best-selling books Sounds Like Teen Spirit: Stolen Melodies, Ripped-off Riffs, and the Secret History of Rock 'n Roll, John Lennon: 1980 Playlist, and Popology: The Music of the Era in the Lives of Four Icons of the 1960s (JFK, RFK, MLK, and Thomas Merton).

His work has been featured in a wide range of media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, the Huffington Post, NPR's All Things Considered, and the Howard Stern Show. He is the winner of Independent Publisher's Bronze Medal for authoring one of the best books of the year. He was a weekly contributor to the Pete Mitchell Show on BBC Radio 2 for many years and currently appears each week on WFMU-FM's morning show.

Links:  

Tim’s Book The Kennedys’ New York: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D912MSJ9?ref=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_0DEWMAQ21J1Y3HV15NGJ&ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_0DEWMAQ21J1Y3HV15NGJ&social_share=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_0DEWMAQ21J1Y3HV15NGJ&language=en-US

Connect with Stephen:
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Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling was born on Christmas Day, 1924. I had the great honor of speaking with Emmy-winning writer, Joseph Dougherty (Thirtysomething, Pretty Little Liars), about his new book, Rod Serling at 100: One Writer's Acknowledgement, a wonderful tribute to Serling that examines his work and significant contributions to television.

You will hear:

• Rod Serling’s contributions to writing, especially for television and how it influenced more current day writers
• How Serling’s use of language and choices to change the ending to better serve the story move beyond the “twist”
• Using 25-minute “light” story episodes to pack a punch when it comes to how we look at problems happening in the real world
• How writing for television used to be versus the current streaming-service version where you have fewer episodes with less collaboration
• And so much more!

Guest Info: 

Joseph Dougherty's play "Chester Bailey," premiered at A.C.T. in San Francisco where it was selected Outstanding World Premiere Play and Outstanding Production of a Play by the TBA Awards. It was subsequently produced at The Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. He earned Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for his play "Digby" produced by Manhattan Theatre Club. He wrote the libretto for the Tony winning musical version of "My Favorite Year," presented at Lincoln Center.

An Emmy and Humanitas Prize winner for his work on the groundbreaking series "thirtysomething," Joe has written several movies for HBO including the remake of "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," directed by Christopher Guest, and the Emmy winning Noir/Occult mashup "Cast A Deadly Spell," which was nominated for a Ray Bradbury Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

He has contributed as a writer and director to several television series including "Judging Amy," "Once and Again," and "Saving Grace." He was a writer, director, and executive producer on the hit series "Pretty Little Liars," co-created the Pretty Little Liars spin-off, "Ravenswood," and helped launch "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists". His books include Comfort and Joi, Trunk Piece, Psychopomp, and The Persistence of Phosphors, which received an AfterEllen Visibility Award as Best Book of 2013.

Links:  

Rod Serling at 100: One Writer’s Acknowledgement: https://www.amazon.com/Rod-Serling-100-Writers-Acknowledgment/dp/1959748181/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=20vO9&content-id=amzn1.sym.bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&pf_rd_p=bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&pf_rd_r=142-0259041-3253825&pd_rd_wg=dpXx8&pd_rd_r=6d18607b-f6cb-4d58-adb3-8f6eab8c1b20&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk

Connect with Stephen:
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YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: [email protected]

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In this episode, I am joined by previous guest and political analyst Cliston Brown for a post-election debrief to talk about what went wrong and what we need to do to get out of this situation going forward.

You will hear:

• Democrats have a problem connecting with everyday “normal” people and how that impacts the voters
• A realignment is happening along class lines rather than racial or ethnic lines
• Not listening to or dismissing the concerns of the people as unimportant will never get us where we need to go
• Why the Democratic party is being hurt more by the true information from far left extremists than actual Republican misinformation
• Traditional media vs. new media
• And more!

Guest Info: 

Cliston Brown is a political analyst and communications executive. He writes on U.S. politics at ClistonBrown.com, having previously written for the New York Observer and the California Globe. Additionally, he was a regularly scheduled weekly guest (“Listen to Cliston”) on The Hal Ginsberg Morning Show on Radio Monterey, and also has appeared on “Inside Story” on Al Jazeera English; A News (Istanbul, Turkey) with Andy Boyns, Zaviar Ahmed and Mark Mourad Hammami; India Ahead with Neha Khanna; “Left, Right, Center” with David Webb on the Sirius XM Patriot Channel; “The DeMaio Report” with Carl DeMaio on KOGO-600 AM San Diego; the CY Interview with Chris Yandek and Jay Bildstein; and “Millennial Talk” with Chelsea Krost. He has been mentioned in the Boston Herald, Newsweek, The New Republic, The Huffington Post, in Reason magazine’s “Hit and Run” blog and on Vox.com, among others, and he has spoken before numerous business and trade groups on U.S. elections.

Brown began his career as a journalist in the Chicago area in 1994, covering government and politics, intellectual property law, international business issues, education, and law enforcement. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 2001, where he served for two years as director of communications for U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Indiana), then transitioned back into the private sector as a communications professional and political analyst in the insurance industry, holding positions in Washington, Chicago and San Francisco.

A Midwesterner born and raised in the Northwest Indiana suburbs of Chicago, Brown currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, and graduated from Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Follow Brown on Bluesky or Twitter: @clistonbrown

Connect with Stephen:
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YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: [email protected]

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Writer Michael Mora joins me to discuss Donald Trump's historic performance among Latino voters in the 2024 election, which should not have come as a surprise to Democrats and pundits.

You will hear:

• How the party bases are treated by Republicans versus Democrats when it comes to speaking out against the radicals amongst them
• Why Democrats need to divorce themselves from the term “Latino” and how assuming all people with this ethnic origin are the same has backfired when it comes to getting the vote
• Strategy for changing the outreach towards Latino voters based on their own concerns, rather than assuming that all “Latino” issues (mass deportation, etc) will impact them equally
• How the Trump campaign was able to reach these voters
• And more!

Links:  

Michael’s BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/m3writer.bsky.social

Connect with Stephen:
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YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: [email protected]

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The Avengers (no, not those Avengers) remains my favorite TV show, so I'm thrilled to speak with author Michael Scott Phillips to discuss his book, Quite Quite Fantastic! The Avengers for Modern Viewers (The Grande Marque Edition). Pop open the champagne, watch out for diabolical masterminds, and enjoy.

You’ll hear:

• Michael’s interest in British cult (classic) television
• How the filming of shows like The Avengers hold up against other shows of its era and how they still hold up to similar shows filmed today
• How the different characters play off each other, giving each pairing the perfect chemistry
• And more!

Guest Info: 

Michael Scott Phillips is an author, graphic designer, and oil painter. Mainly, he writes space opera, though he doesn't feel bound by any particular genre and tends to write whatever idea thrills him. He also enjoys film photography, SF television shows, classic films, and developing alien languages and symbols—such as his semasiographic language, Astivian.

Michael’s debut science fiction novel, When Morpheus Overslept, is a space opera about a brilliant physicist who is trying to develop a faster-than-light drive system but instead crash-lands on a distant planet in the far future. Cornered by a terrifying alien in a ruined city, he discovers that telepathy is the key to escaping and saving an entire star system of peaceful insectoid aliens.

Michael also wrote Quite Quite Fantastic! The Avengers for Modern Viewers, the definitive book on the classic television shows, The Avengers and The New Avengers. His articles on cult television have been published in the magazine Chromakey.

Link:  

Michael’s website: https://michaelscottphillipsauthor.com/

Connect with Stephen:
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YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: [email protected]

Join  the Player Typer Guy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenrobinson

This week we are taking a break from natural disasters and political mayhem to have a pleasant conversation with Oregon’s Mallory Smith from Alt Wine Fest.

You will hear:

• How Mallory got into wine thanks to the owner of a wine and beer bar
• How she teaches wine classes based on the history and geography of wine using writing and storytelling
• The creation of the Alt Wine Fest with her partner, Martin
• The history of grapes/wine in Oregon pre- and post-prohibition and how to look at more than Pinot Noir for a great Oregon wine
• And more!

Guest Info: 

Mallory Smith and Martin Skegg started the annual Alt Wine Fest in 2019 as a way to celebrate the 80-odd grape varieties in Oregon that aren’t pinot noir. They wanted to put the spotlight on these ‘alternative’ grapes, moving it away from pinot, which dominates production and the conversation around wine in Oregon.

Since then they’ve highlighted dozens of different grapes (including some esoteric varieties you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the country), and showcased the passionate, resolute—possibly crazed—winemakers who see the future in asking “What else?”

The mission now is to continue to spread the word about the flip side of Oregon and its pioneering winemakers—while hooking people up with the most exciting wines in the country.

Links:  

Alt Wine Fest: https://www.altwinefest.com/

Sunday School Wine Society: https://sundayschoolwinesociety.com/

Connect with Stephen:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SER1897
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: [email protected]

Join  the Player Typer Guy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenrobinson

On this week’s bonus episode, Stephen is joined by actor, writer, and comedian Tess Rafferty. They discuss her wonderful Kat Kelly mystery series and how mysteries can provide a much-needed escape and catharsis during America’s slow creep toward fascism. 

You will hear:

• The inherent interest and sexiness brought out in mystery stories
• How the election in 2016 impacted Tess’ writing
• How much of what we see in entertainment today is an impact of the Trump era of the past decade
• And more!

Guest Info: 

Tess Rafferty: Writer for TV. Author of the Kat Kelly mystery series. Columnist for Dame and Ms. Day drinking enthusiast. Caftan aficionada. Yes, I was in that video where I called Trump supporters a bunch for racists.

Links:  

Check out Tess's Substack newsletter, Recipes for the Resistance: https://tessrafferty.substack.com/

Connect with Stephen:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SER1897
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: [email protected]

Join  the Player Typer Guy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenrobinson

Author and playwright Laramie Dean (Black Forest) joins me for The Play Typer Guy's second annual Halloween special! This time, we're celebrating the witchy women of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! (Spoiler Alerts for Agatha All Along included)

You will hear:

• Witches in fiction, from the Weird Sisters in MacBeth to Maleficent and the Evil Queen in Snow White, among others
• Agatha All Along and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the aftermath of WandaVision and The Scarlet Witch’s take over of an entire town with her ability to reshape reality and mind control
• Queer representation in the show without it being made into a major plot point or shown as code for the “bad” character minority group
• Witches (women in power) and how they are typically shown to be unable to handle the power, which is why they go off the deep end
• Why we like our witches to be terrifying
• And more!

Guest Info: 

Laramie Dean was born and raised on a ranch in northeastern Montana. He is the author of Black Forest, a novel from Inkshares, as well as several plays from Theatrefolk, including Frankenstein Among the Dead, Dracula, The Gorgon Sisters, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Finding Jo March. Currently, Laramie enjoys his dream job as the Theatre Director at Hellgate High School in Missoula, Montana.

Links:  

Laramie Dean’s website: https://www.bylaramiedean.com/

Connect with Stephen:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SER1897
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: [email protected]

Join  the Player Typer Guy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenrobinson