Michael and Us

The classic documentary BURDEN OF DREAMS (1982) captures director Werner Herzog as he's mounting the most ambitious feat of his career: attempting to haul a literal steamship over a literal mountain for his film Fitzcarraldo. We discuss how this legendary saga of directorial megalomania in a world where directorial megalomania has gone out of fashion. PLUS: the complicated reasons why there are no nice things in American politics.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/53342923 Your hosts met in person to record for the first time since March 2020, and the result is their wackiest, most stream-of-consciousness episode in years! The boys crack open a few cold ones and discuss AMERICANS (2012), a short "public service" film by Sean Penn and Kid Rock that clumsily sought to build a bridge between Red and Blue America. But this is mostly an opportunity for your very inebriated hosts to shoot the breeze over such diverse topics as Wetmovie1, working in public access television, and forgotten Canadian TV shows from the '90s. So pull up a chair and share a toast!

The HBO documentary THE SWAMP (2020) follows three "maverick" Republican congressmen who seek to fulfil Donald Trump's promise to "drain the swamp," even if that means alienating their party leaders. But what you really need to know about this documentary is that the main one is Matt Gaetz, and he is a huge doofus. PLUS: thoughts on Canada Day, Alex Gibney's Agents of Chaos, and a look back at the media coverage of the War in Iraq.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/53013461 We did everything we could to avoid watching Lin-Manuel Miranda's HAMILTON, but our Superdelegate patron tier finally made us confront the inevitable. We watched the 2020 Disney+ filmed recording of the biggest Broadway hit of the past decade. We found that it was - as advertised - the ultimate artistic expression of a certain kind of Obama-era liberal politics. PLUS: we gab about 1940s roadshow exploitation movies, Chet Hanks, and the state of the Biden presidency.

We're still not entirely sure what the mega-bestselling 2005 book "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" was about, but it seems to have had something to do with arguing that economics is all about incentives. The 2010 anthology film adaptation FREAKONOMICS explores this thin thesis across segments directed by such documentary legends as Eugene Jarecki, Alex Gibney, and (ugh) Morgan Spurlock... but its "counterintuitive" take on capitalism ends up reinforcing some ugly ideas. PLUS: the wacky institution that is the Canadian Senate, and the long right-wing preoccupation with postmodernism. "How postmodernism became the universal scapegoat of the era" by Richard Seymour - https://www.newstatesman.com/international/2021/06/how-postmodernism-became-universal-scapegoat-era

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/52738757 The acclaimed documentary CRUMB (1994) tells the story of Robert Crumb, the legendary underground cartoonist who has channeled his pain and unleashed his darkest thoughts into some of the funniest and most offensive comics ever made. We discuss how this film captures a longtime culture war lightning-rod during a very different moment in the culture war, and try to articulate usefulness of transgressive art. PLUS: culture wars of many stripes, from the uneasy relationship between Silicon Valley and pornography to Luke's reflections on writing about liberalism for The Atlantic.

He once served under Gerald Ford and rose to become Bill Clinton's labor secretary, but the economist Robert Reich has more recently been been a two-time supporter of Bernie Sanders' primary runs. But in the documentary INEQUALITY FOR ALL (2013), Reich claims he's not a socialist, and wants to tackle income inequality to save capitalism. We discuss the virtues and limitations of Reich's brand of left-liberalism, and the documentary as a time capsule of the post-Occupy, pre-Trump moment. PLUS: Vanderpump Rules, the increased durability of dynastic wealth, and memories of a nearly-forgotten failed Toronto-based media venture. "Amy Schumer, and a long winter nap" by the Toronto Standard - https://www.torontostandard.com/the-sprawl/amy-schumer-and-a-long-winter-nap/

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/243-more-things-52451160 In 1961, a famous Hollywood actor named Ronald Reagan recorded an LP warning his fellow citizens about the dangers of "socialized medicine." On this episode, we dig up RONALD REAGAN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SOCIALIZED MEDICINE (1961) to examine how the pillars of Reagan's talking-points remain more or less unchanged 60 years later - and have even been adopted by Democrats. PLUS: Canada's kooky constitution, and the "The Great Derangement" of the late Bush era.

The archetype of the shadowy, Machiavellian political strategist is potent in the popular imagination, and no strategist has leaned into this potency harder than Roger Stone. We look back at one of Trumpworld's wackier characters by watching the Netflix documentary GET ME ROGER STONE (2017) and discuss how he is both a more and less significant figure than he seems. PLUS: Roger Stone's fashion blog!

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/52173881 Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Monica... even 17 years after their show ended, these characters remain as dear as real-life friends for millions of viewers. But why has a show that's so stubbornly of the '90s endured? On the occasion of the megabucks FRIENDS: THE REUNION (2021) special, a longtime Friends hater (Will) and a Friends fan-turned-quasi-apostate (Luke) attempt to provide an answer. PLUS: examining Boris Johnson's side-hustle as an author/historian!

Paul Schrader's FIRST REFORMED (2017) looks at a world that might be beyond saving, and asks: "How can we go on living?" We discuss how this great film about religion, capitalism, and the environment is a rare Movie Of The Moment that actually is one. PLUS: the legacy of Canada's residential schools.

Why has an oligarch like Elon Musk attracted so many admirers? To answer that question, we looked at the short puff-piece documentary THE RISE OF SPACEX: ELON MUSK'S ENGINEERING MASTERPIECE (2020), which presents the story of his outer-space initiatives the way he would like them to be seen. We examine the very real political implications of his "apolitical" tech-guru brand. PLUS: an odd new footnote to Canadian WWII history, the Amazon/MGM deal, and the surprising career trajectory of Tucker Max. "The Rise of SpaceX: Elon Musk's Engineering Masterpiece" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_T4QayqtI4&ab_channel=ritm1

PATREON BONUS - https://www.patreon.com/posts/51686456 The boys have a chat about some of their current writing projects. Luke talks about a new wave of Republican legislation that represents an assault on American democracy, and why the Democrats are likely not up for the challenge. Then Will talks about a filmmaker who he passionately loves: the gutter auteur Andy Milligan. "If Democracy Is Dying, Why Are Democrats So Complacent?" by Luke Savage - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/democrats-voting-rights-filibuster/618964/

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/237-bills-brain-51613897 Microsoft founder/self-appointed global health czar/Epstein buddy Bill Gates is receiving his worst press in 20 years. To celebrate, we looked back all the way to 2019 at the documentary series INSIDE BILL'S BRAIN: DECODING BILL GATES - a hagiographic look at his selfless charity work and harmonious marriage. PLUS: Luke talks with novelist Cory Doctorow, a longtime critic of restrictive intellectual property laws, about Gates’s dogged commitment to monopolism.

THE SIMPSONS taught a generation to be skeptical of authority. And then, at some point, it stopped. We revisit one of the greatest television show with two of its greatest episodes - "Marge vs. the Monorail" and "Sideshow Bob Roberts" - before venturing into the Season 26 episode "The Musk Who Fell to Earth" with guest star (...sigh...) Elon Musk. PLUS: Netflix's Dirty Money, the shifting discourse on Israel-Palestine, and an airtight theory about what Kramer would be doing today.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/235-fuck-it-we-w-51343674 On this very special crossover episode, we're hanging out with our good pals from across the pond - Jack and Geraint from the great Reel Politik podcast - to share a few cheap laughs over a target that's just asking for it. Yes, we discuss "Renegades: Born in the USA," the new Spotify-exclusive podcast from Barack Obama and the boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. We discuss how the show represents much that is unfortunate about Obama's post-presidency, and how exactly it fits into Bruce Springsteen's long and glorious career as a celebrity avatar of the working class. (Don't worry, we're not going to be too hard on Bruce.) Check out Reel Politik - https://soundcloud.com/reelpolitikpodcast

In the wake of the Labour Party's disastrous performance in the 2021 U.K. local elections, we're taking a look back at a key moment in recent British history. The made-for-TV movie COALITION (2015) documents the wheelings and dealings that led to Nick Clegg's Liberal-Democrats joining forces with David Cameron's Conservatives after. the 2010 election left no party with a parliamentary majority. We share some larfs over a perfectly mediocre movie, and. discuss the true meaning of "Cleggmania" and its aftermath. PLUS: Why can't Keir Starmer sell centrism like Tony Blair could? And reflections on Toronto's alt-media landscape, from NOW Magazine to Eye Weekly to The Grid. "The Grid R.I.P." - http://radiofreecanuckistan.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-grid-rip.html "Keir Starmer’s Televised Meltdown Was Decades in the Making" by Luke Savage - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/05/keir-starmer-bbc-meltdown-labour-election-hartlepool

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/51068447 How has it taken this long? We finally discuss David Fincher's FIGHT CLUB (1999) and its vision of consumerism, masculinity, and late '90s America. And of course we go over how the past 21 years have amplified/distorted/weakened/possibly even strengthened the experience of watching this dorm-room staple. PLUS: thoughts on Labour's disastrous performance in the 2021 U.K. local elections, and horrible tales what REALLY happened to the Three Stooges.

The year is 1965. Bob Dylan, tired of being "the voice of a generation," is on the verge of going electric... but he still has a tour of England to do. In D.A. Pennebaker's iconic documentary DONT LOOK BACK (1967), Dylan spars with journalists who question his prophet status while also trudging through protest songs that no longer mean much to him. We discuss how this film captures Dylan at a turning point. PLUS: Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell, consuming culture in the Biden era, and reflections on Biden's first 100 days. "Joe Biden Is Not a Radical" by Luke Savage - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/05/joe-biden-radical-policy-liberalism-first-100-days

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/50787521 It's time for another selection from our Superdelegate patron tier, and boy, they picked a doozy. On this episode, we shack up with the Bundys and dive into MARRIED... WITH CHILDREN (1987-1997), the raunchy family sitcom that became a flashpoint in the culture war. We discuss the show's bleak worldview, try to make sense of several of the most famous episodes, and discuss how conservative moral-panics like the one that greeted this show have changed in the decades since.

We finally tackle the ultimate movie about '80s Wall Street excess, AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000), which refracts Bret Easton Ellis through the prisms of Mary Harron and Christian Bale. We discuss its central performance, its many ambiguities, and why it is a quintessentially late-'90s statement on the '80s. PLUS: how capitalism is prolonging the pandemic, and why the drug companies are not your friends.

PATREON EXCLUSIVE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50510542 With his HBO documentary series Q: Into the Storm, filmmaker Cullen Hoback manages to demystify QAnon, exposing the mechanisms that underpin the right-wing conspiracy theory — above all, how it gives its followers a way of making sense of the spectacular failure of so many powerful institutions. Luke talks to Hoback about Q and the series.

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/50457119 It was one of the worst-received comedies of all time. Twenty years later, its cult following cannot be denied. On this episode, Will makes a passionate case for how the passage of time has been kind to Tom Green and FREDDY GOT FINGERED's destructive project, while Luke works through his complicated feelings. PLUS: a plethora of topics, from Doug Ford vs. Alex Jones to the White House Press Corps under Biden to an aggrieved right-wing columnist who feels wokeness has destroyed Disney World.

When human rights lawyer Steven Donziger won a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the oil giant Chevron, the company retaliated by setting out to destroy Donziger’s life. Now in his twentieth month of house arrest on the orders of a Chevron-linked judge, his Kafkaesque story is a window into the corrupt and corporate-captured US legal system. Visit the #FreeDonziger website - https://www.freedonziger.org/ Donate to the Steven Donziger Legal Defense Fund - https://www.donzigerdefense.com/

We travel back to Nixon's America with 1974's DEATH WISH, the franchise-spawning Silent Majority hit in which Charles Bronson transforms from a bleeding-heart liberal to a gun-wielding avenging angel. We discuss how the film's reactionary politics and apocalyptic vision of an American city are still being replicated in conservative media today. PLUS: The Last Blockbuster, new advancements in product-placement technology, and an unlikely new kingpin in the NFT landscape.

Patreon Episode - https://www.patreon.com/posts/50195779 Under the eccentric management of CEO Adam Neumann, the baffling real estate/tech company WeWork became a multibillion-dollar Wall Street giant without ever turning a profit. The new Hulu documentary WEWORK, OR: THE THE MAKING AND BREAKING OF A $47 BILLION UNICORN (2021) explores how it all came crashing down... but we're joined by startup veteran turned leftist writer Wendy Liu (author of Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism) to discuss how its prescription falls short. Check out Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism by Wendy Liu - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622177/abolish-silicon-valley-by-wendy-liu/

A gay communist atheist directing the most reverential film ever made about Jesus Christ? It happened! Pier Paolo Pasolini's THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW (1964) uses neorealist aesthetics to emphasize the material side of Jesus's life over the divine, and foregrounds His politics over his miracles. PLUS: the pleasures and perils of being extremely online during a pandemic, and what conservatives say about democracy behind closed doors. "A Cinema of Poetry" by Patrick Rumble - https://www.artforum.com/film/patrick-rumble-on-pier-paolo-pasolini-38175 "Behind Closed Doors, Republican Plutocrats Conspiring Against Democracy Let the Mask Slip" by Luke Savage - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/04/voting-rights-hr1-bill-republicans-antidemocratic "Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century" by Jane Mayer - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century Check out our Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Get it - https://www.patreon.com/posts/49872356 Yes folks, we're returning once again to our roots. In a special crossover episode with The West Wing Thing podcast, we join forces with Dave Anthony and Josh Olson dissect Aaron Sorkin's recent appearance on Michael Moore's podcast "Rumble." Does the encounter bring out the best or the worst in both men? PLUS: we discuss the pleasures and perils of "Rumble with Michael Moore" itself. Check out The West Wing Thing - https://westwingthing.libsyn.com/

Filmed over three years, the new HBO docuseries Q: INTO THE STORM (2021) seeks to find an answer to the question that plagued the Trump years: who is Q, the mysterious leader of the "QAnon" movement? The documentary offers a provisional answer... but of course, there is no one simple explanation for how QAnon came to dominate the past few years. We discuss the backwash of the Trump era, PLUS: a report on Fox News' new late-night talk show "Gutfeld!" "Howard Dean pushes Biden to oppose generic COVID-19 vaccines for developing countries" by Lee Fang - https://theintercept.com/2021/04/08/howard-dean-biden-covid-vaccines/ "Is Gutfeld! the Worst Show on Television?" by Alex Shephard - https://newrepublic.com/article/161985/gutfeld-worst-show-television Check out our Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Patreon Episode - https://www.patreon.com/posts/49602781 The latest Superdelegate selection is the Canadian cult classic CUBE (1997), in which a handful of people need to find their way out a mysterious, deadly structure comprised of many identical cubes. The structure is, of course, a metaphor for our society, but what, exactly, is its ideology? We offer a theory. PLUS: the return of Godzilla, Luke's days as a child actor, and why the Biden years will be The Era of the Mods.

With the British monarchy at its lowest ebb of popularity since the week after Diana's death, we consider these two moments within the context of the wretched institution's ignoble history. We watch Christopher Hitchens' documentary DIANA: THE MOURNING AFTER (1998) - a controversial dissenting take on the Diana myth - and also discuss Netflix's THE CROWN and the Harry/Meghan phenomenon. In the process, we speculate how the existential threat facing this frankly worthless institution might lead to an unholy reinvention. PLUS: a rueful look back at James Berardinelli, the most popular web-based critic of the '90s. "The British Monarchy Will Not Survive Late Capitalism — And Harry and Meghan Are Proof" by Luke Savage - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/03/british-monarchy-neoliberal-age-prince-harry-meghan-markle

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/49309128 In 2006, Neil Young reunited with Crosby, Stills, and Nash to embark on a tour that he hoped would raise consciousness against the Iraq War, swing the midterms for the Democrats, and establish a link between the protest music of the '60s and the George W. Bush era. Jack Frayne-Reid (cohost of the Reel Politik podcast) fills in for Luke to discuss Neil Young's documentary CSNY/DEJA VU (2008), and the mild pleasures and serious limitations of Young's Iraq War-themed music. PLUS: the strange story of former Labour MP Mike Gapes.

The forces of liberal democracy (Jimmy Stewart) and rugged frontier self-reliance (John Wayne) come head-to-head in John Ford's masterpiece THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) - an elegiac look at a Wild West becoming tamed by progress. Aisling McCrea (contributing editor and podmaster general at Current Affairs magazine) fills in for Luke to discuss who shot Lee Marvin's chaotic outlaw, and what it means. The answers may surprise you! PLUS: the death of "mythos" in cultural criticism, and the history of "the Dilbert guy." Check out the Current Affairs podcast - https://www.currentaffairs.org/podcast "Satanic Panics and the Death of Mythos" by Aisling McCrea - https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/02/satanic-panics-and-the-death-of-mythos "The Adams Principle" by Aisling McCrea - https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/the-adams-principle "Dilbert: A Reckoning" by Miles Wray - https://www.theawl.com/2017/12/dilbert-a-reckoning/

PATREON EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/49010494 Several months ago, we watched KICKASSIA, the first of several horrific movies directed by internet comedian Doug "The Nostalgia Critic" Walker as part of his "Channel Awesome" empire. The experience nearly drove us mad. This week, our old friend Alex Ross subs in for Luke and heroically wades through SUBURBAN KNIGHTS (2012), the 130-minute (!!!!!) sequel. Nearly everyone involved with this movie has since disowned it, and we discuss how this mind-melting movie has become a fascinating time capsule of a long-gone internet subculture AND of a plainly toxic workplace. PLUS: Homer Simpson is a millennial now???

In 2020, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced one of his biggest scandals yet when a charitable organization to which his family had longstanding (and lucrative) ties was given a plum contract to build a high-profile volunteer program for Canadian youth. The ensuing conflict of interest scandal brought down WE Charity (formerly Free the Children), the brainchild of Canuck philanthropy wunderkinds Craig & Mark Kielburger. We watched THE PRICE WE PAID (2021), fine new investigative documentary by the CBC's The Fifth Estate series, which broke down the WE Scandal and the shady practices of the disgraced charity. We discuss how WE Charity is a perfect symbol for the deep rot in the soul of corporate philanthropy. PLUS: the Alberta government's war with Netflix; Celebrity Apprentice memories; and an introduction to the world's best/worst Oscar blogger. Watch "The Price WE Paid" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC_wos7MwHo&ab_channel=TheFifthEstate "Jason Kenney’s Energy War Room Launches Campaign to Stop Netflix Children’s Cartoon About ‘Bigfoot’" by PressProgress - https://pressprogress.ca/jason-kenneys-energy-war-room-launches-campaign-to-stop-netflix-childrens-cartoon-about-bigfoot/ Jeffrey Wells's "Hollywood Elsewhere" blog - https://hollywood-elsewhere.com/