The Wilder Ride

In this episode, we are joined by long-time political analyst, Bill Crane, seen on WSB-TV and heard on WSB Radio. He also owns a PR firm, CSI Crane. He has been involved with politics and business his whole life. We take a moment to get his backstory, including his decision to leave the family's newspaper business in favor of broadcast journalism. Along they way, he veered into politics, working on several campaigns on both sides of the political aisle. He then worked for the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in the years leading up to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He then moved to a public relations firm before deciding to start his own company in 2009. We wrap up the interview with some of the people and personalities he's met along his journey. Afterwards, Walt and Alan spend a few minutes talking about what they are watching and some podcast shout outs.

Movies/Streaming: Walt, under pressure from his friends, is getting ready to start binging Yellowstone. Alan, on the heels of being out for the week camping, reminded listeners to checkout Bosch on Amazon Prime. He also watched The Old Guard on Netflix, thanks to Walt's earlier recommendation. He also reminded folks about The Foreigner currently streaming on Netflix. Finally, Alan is in the midst of season four of Star Trek The Next Generation.

Podcast: Walt recommended, "The Buttpod," and, "The Blues Brothers Mintue," with Tom Taylor. Alan gave a shout out to, "The Rocky Minute," and to Fran, Cathy and Michelle of, "The Real Queens of Queens."

In today's episode, we bring the husband and wife podcast team of Pete and Sandra Marchese to our Listeners Lounge. We learn a little bit more about them before diving into their show, breaking down the film Blade Runner, one minute of the movie at a time. We have a blast learning about how their show evolved and how they let more of their relationship filter into the episodes. We then invited them both to hang out and comment on some strange and funny news stories. We close the episode going though a round-up of what we are watching, reading and listening to.

Movies and Streaming: Walt recommends the Netflix documentary, Fear City, diving into the history of organized crime. He finished the not-safe-with-kids Netflix show, The Norseman. He also gave two thumbs up to the final season of Star Trek: Voyager. Sandra finished the series, Motherland. She also enjoyed watching, The Cursed, on Netflix. Pete is in the midst of season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation. For laughs, he goes back and watches all three seasons of, Toast of London. Alan reminded everyone he is also going through TNG and is nearly done with season four. He also heartily recommends the movie, The Foreigner, with Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, currently streaming on Netflix. Alan is also streaming the cop show, Bosch, on Amazon Prime, finishing up season three.

Books: Walt just completed, "The Game," by Ken Dryden about sports. He is reading another book that was recommended by a Georgia Supreme Court Justice called, "Praying for Sheetrock." Sandra is always reading three or four books at the same time. She is currently reading, "Tom Boy Land," and, "The Electric Air." Pete is midway through reading the Rutger Hauer biography, "All Those Moments."

Podcasts and shout-outs: Walt suggested the show, "SmartLess," with Jason Bateman. Pete is listening to, "The Art of Manliness," and Sandra doesn't really listen to many shows. Alan reminded the audience of his work with the podcast "60 Minutes With" and the Soundcheck Metallica shows he is doing with Chris Jellyman. Alan also encouraged the audience to checkout, "The Blade Runner Minute."

Today we welcome Stephanie Swain to our Listeners Lounge. Stephanie is a regular voice on the Radio Labyrinth podcast and an active member of BarkVille Dog Rescue. We learned how an early internet chat room led to love and marriage. Stephanie and her husband moved to Georgia after living two years in Detroit. That's when she became an avid listener of The Regular Guys radio show. She was invited on-air as part of a challenge and befriended Tim Andrews. Over the years, their friendship grew and it led her to being invited to join his podcast. In the meantime, Stephanie has done stand-up comedy and tried her hand at improv. At her core, though, Stephanie is an avid dog-lover and can be found volunteering as much as she can with BarkVille Dog Rescue. After a great discussion about her life and interests, the show moved to odd news. Finally, the episode closes with what they are all watching or listening to along with some podcast shout outs.

Movies/Streaming: Walt is finishing up Star Trek Voyager on Netflix. He also enjoyed the Netflix documentary, The Business of Drugs. He also suggested Greyhound and the Midway remake. Stephanie recommended The Colony, with Lawrence Fishburne and Bill Paxton. Alan recapped going back to the movies to see the third Harry Potter flick, The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Podcasts: Walt recommeds SuperEgo. Stephaine suggested Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast and An Oral History of the Office. Alan did a podcast shout-out to Tronologically Speaking, a podcast breaking down the 1982 Disney flick, Tron, in the movies-by-minutes format. Alan also recommended About Space Today, with host David Denault, talking about America's return to space.

We welcome to the Listeners Lounge musician Ben Cramer of the band Old Sea Brigade. Ben has been drawn to music nearly his entire life and took time to chat with us about his career thus far. In the way-back machine, he and some friends created a Green Day cover band as young teenagers. His music abilities grew and led him to a tour with the rock band, Kansas. Upon his return from his touring with them and others, Ben decided to refocus his efforts and created Old Sea Brigade. The band name had been conceived many years before, but had not yet been used. Working out of Nashville, Ben has seen his career grow incrementally and steadily and he would not have it any other way. He has a new album releasing in August of 2020 and hopes to be able to get back into the live performance as soon as possible.

Movies, television and streaming:

Walt really liked The Old Guard on Netflix starring Charlize Theron. He also mentioned some classics from the 80's -- Commando, The Naked Gun and Spaceballs. He said Commando and Spaceballs have not aged well, but The Naked Gun is still as funny as ever. Walt wraps up with a reminder of the remake, Midway, which Ben also said was a great flick.

Ben got pulled into the documentary, World War II in Color. He also finds himself going back to binge epsiodes of The Office. He just saw (and liked) Being John Malkovich. Additionally, he admits he had avoided horror movies in his past, so he made himself watch The Shining and Silence of the Lambs.

Alan was back to supporting older movies being released in the movie theaters. His recommendation was for The Empire Strikes Back, which just hit it's 40th anniversary. Alan also relayed having seen the Altanta Symphony Orchestra play the score live to the film and suggests everyone should do that one day.

Music:

Ben is listening to the new Neil Young release of some older pieces called, "Homegrown." He has also been listening to a lot of The Grateful Dead. This led to a conversation with Ben and Walt about The Dead and Dead and Company. Alan went in a different direction and mentioned the New Age group 2002. He also discussed playing the entire Rush discography, one album a night, after the passing of Neil Peart in January of this year.

Podcasts: Walt does NOT recommend "Tuesdays with Stories" but loves "TV Confidential."

Ben likes "Off Camera with Sam Jones," "The Working Songwriter," "Atlanta Monster," "S-Town" and "Wind of Change," which is about the CIA writing the hit song for the Scorpians.

Alan suggests catching up on the new studio look of, "The Golden Rage of TV" with prior guest, Pat McCormack. He also suggested, "The Hitchcock Minute," which just finished.

Today we welcome a pair of guests to our show, Doug Greenberg and Jason Hanes, hosts of the Rocky Minute podcast. They both also happen to be police officers for nearly 20 years, serving in New Jersey. We started the discussion with how they were drawn to law enforcement. They discussed the wave of pro-police sentiment that existed post-9/11 and where it is today. They explained several changes they've seen, both inside the department and outside. Along the way, they both realized they shared a love of the Rocky franchise and they decided to start a podcast about it. They use the same movies-by-minutes format to break the films down, one minute of the movie at a time. Doug and Jason hang out through the remainder of the show as Alan and Walt go through the crazy news segment. They also provided the listener with some entertainment suggestions.

Movies/Streaming/Books: Walt gives the reboot of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix a solid two thumbs up and reminded folks that Dragon Con would not be live this year, only virtual. Walt also finished reading, "In Memory of Todd Woods," by Tom Taylor, one of the podcasters on The Indiana Jones Minute and other shows.

Doug is re-watching The Wire and says of all the cop shows, its one that hits pretty close to home when it comes to the reality of being a police officer.

Jason recommended the book, "The Impossible First," written by Colin O'Brady about his solo crossing of the Antarctic.

Podcasts: Walt suggested "A Way with Words" and "Culpable" as two podcasts worth exploring.

Doug suggested "Team Never Quit," a show hosted by two Navy Seals who find inspirational people and their stories of never giving up in the face of tremendous adversity. He also likes, "Big Screen Sports," a podcast that is going through all of the sports-related movies and whether or not they are close to what really happened.

Jay didn't have a particular show, but was so impressed with the story of former Navy Seal, Chadd Wright, he suggested searching for his name and listen to whatever shows where he is a guest.

Alan did a shout-out to "The Real Queens of Queens," for hitting their one-year anniversary. He also said that he and Walt would be upcoming guests during season two of their show. He then did a shout out to the, "Bad Cop, Bad Cop," podcast, giving both Jerry and Dave two thumbs up for a very irreverent and non-politically correct take on current events.

Today's show welcome's Randi B. Okray, aka, Randi-O to the Listeners Lounge. Randi started off her career getting a degree in broadcast journalism. She found her way to Atlanta and began working in internet radio while working several other jobs. Eventually, her no nonsense hustle got her in front of an HR manager for Cox Communications, leading to a job with WSB Radio. Her main role is digital content, managing the various social media outlets used by the top News-Talk station in the Southeast. She can sometimes be heard on the Mark Arum Show playing Milennial Match Game or chatting about events of the day. You can also hear her and her co-hosts on the podcast, "Black, Educated and Broke," as well as, "The Power Pod." Randi-O continues to push her career forward and was gracious enough to share her story with us.

Movie/TV/Streaming recommendations: Walt - The Disney+ documentary, Marvel - Assembling a Universe and the family friendly, My Spy.

Randi-O - The Chi on Netflix

Alan - Went to the movies for some throwbacks, including Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws and Jurassic Park.

Podcast recommendations: Walt - Seinfeld Minute where he just recently guest hosted the "gum" episode. He also really loved the true crime show, Thunder Bay.

Alan - The Andromeda Minute, hosted by podcaster Jim O'Kane. Both Alan and Walt were guest hosts for minutes 40-42 of the Michael Crichton inspired film, The Andromeda Strain.

Make sure you have subscribed to The Wilder Ride on your pod-catcher of choice so you will not miss a single episode! If you have not already done so, please come join our Listener's Group on Facebook. Just visit our public page and click on the button to join the group.

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Today's guest in our Listeners Lounge is, Dean Sharp, aka Dean of the Dead, who discovered a love of creating new and invetive hot sauces. Before Dean sits down with hosts Alan and Walt, Walt recounted a story of a friend who went to Jamaica. Someone had broken into their room and ransacked the place, but nothing was missing. The camera had all the pictures taken on the roll. The couple didn't really learn the whole story until the film was developed weeks later.

Dean began his story of hot sauce entrepreneur by attending a chili cookoff. With his love of horror and an inventive way of approaching his sauces, Dean of the Dead was born. The Covid-19 pandemic put a wrench into year-two plans, but Dean is not detered. He has hopes for a few conventions later in the fall. From there, he hopes to get some television coverage as he begins year three of his journey.

Walt's picks for film/television included Jaws (45th anniversary), the Ray Romano special on Netflix, the show Norsemen and a resounding NO on Ad Astra with Brad Pitt.

Dean's picks included the newly remade Invisible Man , The Hunt, Haunt and the show People Just Do Nothin.

Alan was hitting the movie theater to see Raiders of the Lost Ark followed by Jaws.

Podcast picks included Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Darkest Night on Shudder and 60 Minutes With.

Make sure you have subscribed to The Wilder Ride on your pod-catcher of choice so you will not miss a single episode! If you have not already done so, please come join our Listener's Group on Facebook. Just visit our public page and click on the button to join the group.

You can learn more about us by visiting our About Us page. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Today's episode features Eric Wojciechowski, a long-time probation officer by day and author by Night. He also is active in the area of UFOlogy. Before we bring on the guest, Alan and Walt recap their week since the last episode. Walt reminded us of having to question his dad over his apparent death. Then Walt recounts the tale of a large, naked whale seen at the gym. Alan talks about getting ready for a glamping trip on his Father's Day weekend. He was also part of a group planning a surprise party for a friend turning 50. The party was followed by going out on the lake the next day. Alan realizes the bulk of his naked body hasn't seen the sun in over a year! When Eric takes the stage, Alan recounts their lifelong friendship, starting with computer gaming, D&D and cable television. Eric then delves into his career move into the Department of Corrections for the city of Detroit. While working the day job, Eric took 15 years to complete his first novel, Three Condoms for Sarah. Also during that time, he found out he had developed stage 2 colon cancer, which had to be treated twice! The second round resulted from a spot on his liver that began to grow. After completing treatment, an idea of a second book formed and it eventually became the novel, Chasing Disclosure. He is set to release his third book, a collection of short stories, on September 11 called Chasing Magic. He will present that at the 3rd annual UFO Con in Detroit on that same weekend.

The guys moved into their strange news segment with Eric joining in the running commentary. After, they began to wrap up with some movie and streaming recommendations. Finally, their podcast shout-outs included Seinfeld Minute, Monster, Making Sense with Sam Harris, Joe Rogan, Micah Hanks, Somewhere in the Skies, In Research Of, Monster Talk and 60 Minutes With - The Metallica Show.

Today Alan and Walt welcome special guest, Kristen Gates, morning host on 94.9 FM The Bull in Atlanta. They first open with a short week in review, discussing work, family and dogs. This leads to Alan talking about having to put down their eldest dog, Rufus. Once Kristen joins, it's all about her career starting back in college. She was originally going to school with a pre-med curriculum. A counselor in her senior suggested she might want to try a few other things and it lead to some communications classes and a radio internship. She has been in radio ever since, now hosting one of the biggest "new country" stations in Atlanta, 94.9 The Bull.

Along the way she has learned a lot, being a female talent on-air. She has also had to deal with real life issues, like getting divorced, being a single mom and trying to hold a career. Then, in March of 2019, she had to have brain surgery to remove a golf ball sized tumor. She is more energized than ever about life and her career in morning radio. They all move on to some wacky news items before closing with some movie and podcast recommendations.

Walt once again recommended Fake Doctors, Real Friends. Kristen did a shameless plug for their morning show found on iHeart Radio. Alan did a shout out to the Andromeda Strain Minute hosted by long-time podcaster, Jim O'Kane.

In today's episode, hosts Alan and Walt are joined by musician and star of The Golden Rage of TV, Pat McCormack. Before Pat joins, Alan and Walt discuss some current events related to protests turned violent. Next, Walt explains why he had to text his dad to find out if he is still alive. When Pat McCormack joins, the focus turns toward the start of his music career, being "discovered" by Ronnie Montrose. After time on the road in a band, Pat would then go on to be part of the daytime TV soap opera, General Hospital. After that stint, he wrote a them for a roller-coaster ride and then began work on creating rock guitar versions for classic television themes.

While working on putting together a road show version of the album, Pat began to realize he was suffering from a hearing issue. It was confirmed he had developed Tinnitus and was going to have to hang up his guitar. Undaunted, Pat then turned his creative pursuits toward producing 1-2 minute short documentaries about the people and shows from the golden age of television. With over 200 episodes under his belt, he has only just begun. The guys then dive into a handful of truly strange news stories. They talk about some movies to watch or stream and end with podcast recommendations.