HD033 - WGA Writer's Strike [9:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

UPDATE II: Insider sources have informed us that the WGA strike is already settled and work will officially start again on January 18. This is hearsay, of course, but it comes from good sources. Scratch that. Look at this for an explanation of the Producers’ latest “offer.”

UPDATE: It’s being reported today that the WGA and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers are back at the table, and perhaps close to a deal. But you should still listen to this podcast to understand what is at stake if these talks don’t work out! And now back to your regularly scheduled post…

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’re aware that the writers behind all of your favorite sitcoms, hour-long dramas, cop shows, talk shows, lawyer shows, movies, and pretty much everything else you can think of (don’t worry - the commercial writers aren’t unionized, so there’ll still be something to watch during the Super Bowl) have gone on strike against the Corporations that buy, produce and distribute their product.

This is turning out to be the first “New Media” strike in more ways than one. For one, the main reason for the strike is that creative artists aren’t getting any piece of the New Media pie, and also, the battle for public opinion is largely taking place in the new media marketplace. As an example, take a look at the videos below, all produced by the Writer’s Guild of America, the union for creative writers (Why do all creatives actually have “Guilds” instead of “Unions? Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America, etc. Is it because most of them never grew out of their Renaissance Faire days?). Even more prolific are the blogs devoted to this issue, such as United Hollywood.

Never fear. As usual, Brick Hawke and Attacus Dove wade into these murky waters unafraid to muddy the issues even further.

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 HD032 - Happy Thanksgiving Celebration in Song [11:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Myron Bunkerling moderates a Thanksgiving celebration as Brick Hawke and Attacus Dove put aside their differences to celebrate and be thankful for the past year of podcasts, disagreements and debates. After discussing how each will celebrate the holiday this week, Dove invites in a very special Native-American guest and his Band of Indians.

We hope this episode leaves you warm-hearted and touched by the magical power of music.

Dove lists the following as his musical references: Leonard Cohen, Robbie Robertson and Zamfir.

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 HD031 - The Torture Debate [11:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thanks to the confirmation of Judge Michael Mukasey as the new Attorney General, “Waterboarding” has become a household term. This has set off a hot debate in all corners of the media and throughout Washington concerning the use of what the White House terms “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.” Indeed, the question does not seem to be whether or not to torture, but how. As Hendrick Hertzbert wrote in the New Yorker:

At the present dismal and disorienting moment, everything, as they say in Washington, is on the table. Before September 11, 2001, no one imagined that a time would come when the permissibility of torture would be an urgent topic of public discussion, let alone something like the official, though of course unacknowledged, policy of the United States.

Unafraid of muddying the waters even further, Hawke and Dove explore the historical use of torture as an interrogation method, the relevancy of information obtained through techniques commonly understood to be torturous, and throughout it all Mr. Hawke tries to prove the usefulness of such techniques by subjecting himself to each one, in turn. In protest of Mr. Hawke torturing himself throughout the episode, Mr. Dove has promised to devote a future episode entirely to pleasuring himself.

UPDATE: Turns out the Mississippi Supreme Court defined the “water-cure” (which was then slang for waterboarding” as torture in 1926, no ifs, ands or buts. How will this breaking news affect the debate?

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 HD030 - In Honor of Veteran's Day, A Real Live Veteran from WWI [10:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Brick Hawke and Attacus Dove take time out of their busy punditry schedule playing Pundits and Dragons to celebrate the sacrifice of our troops, those brave souls who volunteer to fight for freedom and liberty. In celebration of the upcoming Veterans Day, Hawke and Dove interview Mr. Charlie Bodgit, an original World War One (WWI) veteran.

Mr. Bodgit opines on such horrors as trench warfare and mustard gas, discusses air superiority with the likes of the Red Baron, and talks about how he first learned the United States had entered the great war.

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