139 – Talk Radio

Key art for Talk Radio (1988) directed by Oliver Stone, featuring Eric Bogosian

Jen and Tim welcome back Josh of The Worst of All Possible Worlds podcast to discuss the Oliver Stone version of the Eric Bogosian play, Talk Radio from 1988.

Jen got the date of the crash of Air Florida flight 90 wrong— it happened in January of 1982.

“The comment that brought Howard Stern his most notoriety during his time on Washington, DC radio in the early ‘80s was the infamous Fourteenth Street Bridge Incident. As morning man at ‘DC101’ WWDC, Stern was reacting to the Air Florida flight that crashed into the bridge in February 1982. ‘What’s the price of a one-way ticket from National to the Fourteenth Street Bridge?’ he asked. ‘Is that going to be a regular stop?’”

Via insideradio.com

Also Stern did not call the actual Air Florida ticket counter, because as most of us know, talk radio prank calls are faked. Just ask Bryan of Street Fight Radio! In fact, you can hear a deep dive into shock jocks for a pledge as low as $1 over at the Street Fight Patreon!

Poster for Street Fight Radio special, Shocktober
hey who did this cool artwork? someone named Jennifer Albright!

Shortly after his murder by white supremacists, a memorial piece about shock jock Alan Berg appeared in Rolling Stone. The author of the piece, Stephen Singular, later expanded this piece into the book Talked to Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg. You can read the original Rolling Stone article here.

And don’t miss our freewheeling episode with the TWOAPW guys about a sad little fake Hammer film, IT! starring Roddy McDowall!

138 – Short Eyes

Shawn Elliot, Ken Steward, and Jose Perez in Robert M. Young's Short Eyes (1977)

Tim and Jen get locked in with a raw adaptation of Miguel Piñero’s sensational play, Short Eyes!

Hear the whole thing on Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Go here for a bio of Piñero, the trailblazing Nuyorican playwright, as well as a list of his works. 

BTW, there’s a documentary called The Survivor’s Guide to Prison that is slick, well made, and narrated by Danny Trejo as well as many other cultural icons. You can watch it for free with ads on Tubi, or on Kanopy with a library card. In other words, it’s perfect for sending to your normie friends who haven’t been hipped to the cause of prison abolition yet! 

NYC Urbanism has historical information on the setting of Short Eyes, the Manhattan Detention Complex, aka The Tombs.

If you missed our episode on The Jericho Mile, why not give it a listen? It’s free!

137 – Heart of Midnight

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Peter Coyote in Matthew Chapman's Heart of Midnight (1988)

Jen and Tim take a look at an exploration of trauma anchored by an incredible Jennifer Jason Leigh performance, Heart of Midnight!

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50+ bonus episodes!

The writer/director, Matthew Chapman, wrote the screenplay for Color of Night, but don’t hold that against him! See some of his unproduced material at The Blacklist. 

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is an excellent treatise on what we know about trauma, the human brain, and addressing the treatment needs of people suffering from people with PTSD. Visit van der Kolk’s website to read an interview about the book. 

For some insight into Jennifer Jason Leigh’s process as an actor, read her conversation with John Turturro for Interview magazine in 1996. 

OH SHIT we totally forgot to mention in the episode that the film’s score is by Yanni. Do people remember Yanni? It’s a pretty good score, too! 

We will be phasing out our $2 tier in June! If you’d like to stick around for more demented media and special guests, Patreon has instructions on how to edit your pledge.