Posts filed under 'tv episodes'
Some of the happiest hours of my childhood were spent watching "professional wrestling" with my maternal grandfather, Julius. After Lawrence Welk had entertained us, Grandpa would switch the TV to Channel 47, a station that seemed to broadcast entirely in Spanish -- with the exception of its nightly pro-wrestling show, which ran in English. Grandpa, a wiry, athletic man even then, in his seventies (he'd live to 103!), would station himself excitedly in his plastic-covered armchair -- while I, his chubby grandson, sat on the plastic-covered couch, unspeakably relieved that the blandly smiling Mr. Welk had been replaced on the small screen by such formidable gentlemen as Haystacks Calhoun, the Iron Sheik, Captain Lou Albano, Sgt. Slaughter (pictured), and, of course, the champ: Bruno Sammartino. As the good guy in each match would -- after drinking in much sham pain -- pummel the bad guy, Grandpa would bounce up and down in his chair, vocalizing -- "Oof!" "Ugh!" -- with each blow. An idealist, he was willing to believe that the bouts were legit -- until the sad day when shady wrestling promoter Vince McMahon Sr. fixed one of his fights too blatantly even for Grandpa to accept. After that, we watched wrestling on TV less frequently, and Grandpa gave up his regular visits to Madison Square Garden to see the matches live.
Since then, McMahon's son, Vince Jr., has pretty much taken over the gaudy mantle of pro-wrestling promotion -- with mixed, but mostly great, success. His lurid story is woven through Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal, the compulsively readable new book by Berkeley's own Irvin Muchnick, my delightful guest on tonight's show (at 7:30) -- which also features a "Wandering Josh" segment in which yours truly learns pro-wrestling basics from wrestler and mixed-martial-artist Daniel Puder. Irv's uncle, Sam Muchnick (pictured), was sort of the anti-McMahon: a wrestling impresario of the old school, whose courtly ways -- and aversion to the limelight -- were superseded by the younger man's brash, self-aggrandizing, ever-flashier promotions. In addition to Sam and the Vinces, there are colorful characters aplenty in Wrestling Babylon -- including the tragic, born-again Von Erich family, the volatile Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, and, of course, the hairline-challenged Hulk Hogan.
Throughout his book -- and our interview -- Irv Muchnick applies a philosopher's touch and a streetwise sense of humor to the often-sordid business of pro wrestling. The result is something that I think Grandpa -- once he'd gotten over the original hurt -- would have stood up from his armchair and applauded.
You can catch Mr. Muchnick live at Black Oak Books in Berkeley on Tuesday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. -- a free, book-launching event that will include a visit from a certain neurotic TV-show host.
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February 26th, 2007
Few writers have given me as much pleasure as Calvin Trillin, my guest on tonight's show (at 7:30; repeated on Friday at 10:30). Not that his subject matter has always been joyful. In fact, in his long career he's shown astonishing range -- producing comic novels (Floater, Tepper Isn't Going Out), humorous memoirs on eating out (The Tummy Trilogy), and political doggerel (A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme), but also stark reportage on terrible crimes (Killings). In recent years he's also given us a new kind of memoir -- nuanced, meditative, and often very moving -- such as Messages From My Father and, most recently, About Alice, a slender, poignant volume about his late wife. The new book is lovely, and getting a chance to talk with Trillin -- about Alice, but also about such silly topics as a tic-tac-toe-playing chicken -- was quite a privilege.
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February 19th, 2007
Josh Bernstein, the host of the History Channel's hit series Digging for the Truth and my first guest on tonight's show (at 7:30; repeated on Friday night at 10:30), has many fans. For instance, not only is there an unofficial Josh Bernstein website, there's even a website for his groupies! What might account for this popularity? It could be his on-camera savoir faire as he goes on death-defying adventures to solve great archaeological mysteries. Or it could be his telegenic good looks. Perhaps it has something to do with his abortive studies at rabbinical school. Maybe it's the ruggedness he's earned in the course of running his own outdoor survival company. My best guess, however, is this: it's because he has a great first name.
As for my other guest, Teresa Rodriguez Williamson, the only mystery is why she is not yet president of the entire world. So much energy! You can imagine how this former model and dating-game chaperone needed to take on a project commensurate with her ambitions. Her baby is the website Tango Diva, which gives women the tools to confidently travel the world alone. For those of you who crave the solidity of book knowledge, she's just come out with a volume titled Fly Solo: The 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel Alone, containing all the essentials. (I did think of asking her why she uses the word "girl," rather than "woman," but I figured she knew what she was doing -- and anyhow, as an interviewer and a feminist, I guess I'm not that kind of boy.)
Starting off the program is a very silly archaeological dig that, in honor of Mr. Bernstein, I conducted at KQED. For some real history of our great station, you can check out this page on our website.
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February 12th, 2007
As I vaguely recall from my high-school social-studies class, Reconstruction was the period in American history, following the Civil War, in which African-Americans in the South made the transition from bondage to freedom. Even at the time, I suspected that it wasn't that simple: seeing how much racism still existed in 20th-century America, it was hard to imagine that blacks in the 1860s and '70s would have been allowed a smooth transition to equal citizenship.
But it wasn't till recently, when I read Lalita Tademy's latest historical novel, Red River, that I began to understand just how harrowing their experiences were, and how many sacrifices that generation made so their descendants might actually have a chance to experience freedom. Tademy, my guest on tonight's show (at 7:30; repeated on Friday night at 10:30), is one of those descendants -- and she has done her ancestors, and us, a great service by fictionally re-creating their struggles.
Her first novel, the New York Times bestseller Cane River, traced her mother's lineage; Red River now does the same for her father's side. What Tademy has uncovered in her latest researches -- centering on a racial massacre in which three of her forebears suffered -- makes for harrowing reading.
I guess it would be a lot easier just to stick with the simpler narrative I learned in school: you know, Lincoln freed the slaves and everything was just fine. But I suspect that unless we face the ugliness in our past -- as well as celebrate the everyday courage of those who have fought injustice, often at great personal cost -- we won't have any hope of healing the bitter rifts that still divide us today. By making an imaginative leap into the minds and hearts of those whom history has long ignored, Tademy has performed a valuable reconstruction of her own.
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February 5th, 2007
If not for the kindness and protection of Tom Zimberoff, my first studio guest on tonight's episode (at 7:30; repeated on Friday night at 10:30), I suspect that I may have been forcibly abducted into a biker gang. At least, that's the vibe I got at the Cow Palace's recent motorcycle show, which I attended with a large amount of trepidation. Tom was there, showing off his beautiful new book of photographs of custom-made motorbikes, Art of the Chopper II -- and he was kind enough to introduce me to some fine artistic people sporting impressive tattoos. There were some enormous, heavily bearded folks at the Cow Palace that day who looked like they might like to eat me for brunch -- and I'm just talking about the grandparents! But with Tom at my side, they began to cotton to me -- and by the end of the day I'd achieved a certain level of popularity (though not, to be sure, as much as the Oakland Raiderettes and Hooter Girls, who also were in attendance and didn't need Tom to help them draw a crowd).
In the second half of tonight's show, I had a great time talking with two local pioneers in the field of human-powered two-wheeling: mountain bike visionaries Joe Breeze and Jacquie Phelan. Back in the day, Joe cobbed together what was arguably the very first mountain bike; now he makes "Breezer Bikes," which are designed to make self-powered commuting as convenient as humanly possible. Jacquie -- who was in the vanguard of women mountain-bikers -- is one of those people whom you might take, at first glance, to be "wacky," but is in fact incredibly thoughtful. (And yes, okay, she's also pretty wacky.) One of Jacquie's ongoing projects is WOMBATS: the Women's Mountain Bike & Tea Society -- an organization so delightfully utopian that (to my relief) both men and coffee are heartily welcomed.
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January 29th, 2007
I first became aware of the satirical newspaper The Onion a few years ago, when my sister gave me a year's subscription to the print version. This was during dark times politically -- oh, wait, they're still pretty dark right now! But back then I guess the times seemed somewhat darker. Quickly I came to rely on my weekly dose of The Onion to reassure me that (a) other people shared my horror at current events and (b) some very talented people were actually able to make brilliant humor out of those same events.
Now our country's greatest fake newspaper is available online and in various eateries throughout the country, including the Bay Area. Sometimes the stories are good, and sometimes they're amazingly great -- but I'm always grateful for their wry perspective, which provides inoculation from not just frustration but also self-righteousness. So it was a joy to meet Onion editor-in-chief Scott Dikkers, who managed to give me some insights into the nuts and bolts of his job while also being, for the most part, extremely silly.
But I'd have to say Dikkers was a model of sobriety compared to my other guest, Peter Hilleren, his collaborator on the faux presidential memoir Destined for Destiny: The Unauthorized Autobiography of George W. Bush. I highly recommend that you take in this literary work the way I did, via audiobook -- that way, you can enjoy Dikkers's spot-on impersonation of our president. (I've also been enjoying the weekly fake presidential radio address that these two have been putting out -- again featuring Dikkers's wicked vocal stylings.)
All in all, the thing I'm proudest of from this interview is that neither of my guests chose to sue me for my reckless onion-juggling. Comic relief is nice; legal relief even more so.
Get the podcast, download now, or stream the video (requires Real)
January 22nd, 2007
Tonight's episode, a tasty rebroadcast from earlier this season, is titled "Food and Wine Challenge." (It airs tonight at 7:30, and will repeat itself -- like history -- on Friday night at 10:30.) But perhaps since my thoughts today have been focused on Martin Luther King Jr., I've been reflecting on a much more serious "food challenge" -- one that changed history, in fact: the early-'60s series of sit-ins at Woolworth's lunch counters throughout the country. Recalling these actions by nonviolent protesters -- and the often-violent reactions from the forces of segregation -- in turn reminds me of a great quote from the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, whose writings were a major influence on Dr. King: "Man's inclination to justice makes democracy possible; but man's capacity for injustice makes it necessary." Amen.
January 15th, 2007
I'm kind of on the run this evening, so I'll only jot down a quick item to mention that tonight's show (at 7:30; repeated on Friday night at 10:30) is a proud rebroadcast of an episode from a few months ago in which I visited with some local icons of fashion. They were very nice to me, but somehow I sensed that my red socks were not being regarded as "fashion forward." Still, it was lots of fun. ...
By the way, during the show I asked the incredibly well-dressed Joseph Pineda to explain the old-fashioned term "shooting your cuffs." He was unable to oblige me, but after the program aired I received many helpful messages telling me it involved pulling out your shirt cuffs so they showed just the right amount beyond your jacket sleeves (this, of course, assumes that you'd be wearing a jacket in the first place -- in which case, I'm guessing you wouldn't be wearing bright-red socks). So once again, thanks to my viewers for continuing my education as a grown-up!
And thanks to my other guests, talented local designers Umay Mohammed and Marie Biscarra of Nisa, for making me feel kind of glamorous -- perhaps a bit like the great model Iman might feel if she were a middle-aged bald Jewish guy who knew nothing about fashion. ...
If you want to read the original blog item I wrote about this episode, just click here.
January 8th, 2007
This evening's episode (at 7:30; repeated on Friday night at 10:30) is a pristine rebroadcast of an interview I did a little while ago with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. We talked about her new book of photos, the massive and moving A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005, as well as her very influential magazine work. I found her to be disarmingly down-to-earth: an immensely gratifying person to interview.
Also in this show is a "Wandering Josh" in which -- overcoming daunting obstacles -- I managed to get an on-camera interview with one of my favorite actresses, Helen Mirren, when she was feted at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Dame Helen looked fabulous; I looked just okay, but what can you do?
You can read my original blog item on this episode here.
January 1st, 2007
Po Bronson is my guest on tonight's episode (rebroadcast from last season). He's a wonderful, passionate writer, and his latest book -- "Why Do I Love These People?" -- will be coming out in paperback next month. It was cool hanging out and talking with Po about his exploration of family dynamics, based on umpteen interviews he did with people from an astonishing variety of backgrounds. ...
Something quirky I just discovered as I was creating the link to Po's book: he, or his publisher, has been very promiscuous when it comes to subtitles. At the time of our interview, for example, the book was subtitled "Honest and Amazing Stories of Real Families." But now I see that the paperback will be subtitled "Understanding, Surviving, and Creating Your Own Family." (I guess they're targeting the how-to crowd.) Plus they've dropped the quote-marks from the title -- just the kind of thing to drive copy editors wild (believe me, I know). ... But it doesn't stop there! The U.K. edition, besides missing the quote-marks, is subtitled "the Families We Come From and the Families We Form." Yes, you read that right: apparently the British, whom we beat fair and square in 1776 and 1812, can't be bothered to capitalize the first letter of a subtitle. (One wonders whether they could muster any more energy to put into their families.) ...
Okay, I admit I got a little distracted there. Po's great. The book's swell. I hope you enjoy the interview -- which I am hereby subtitling "Hipster Authors and the Caffeine Addicts Who Talk to Them." Except in England, where it will be known as "Kippers, Colours & Crumpets," for no reason whatsoever. ...
December 18th, 2006
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