Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
It's a reunion and a remembrance. Jonah Goldberg (author of the forthcoming The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas) sits in for Peter Robinson and, of course, we talk about the life and times of Andrew Breitbart, courtesy of three guys who knew him well. Then we take questions from members on a variety of topics, political and cultural. Warning: Heavy Star Trek references ahead.
Music from this week's episode:
- There Goes My Hero by The Foo Fighters
Here's the direct link to this week's episode (but use our new audio player below), however the best way to hear the podcast is to subscribe! Visit our Feedburner page for a number of other subscription options. Or better yet, use Stitcher.
The Ricochet Podcast is proudly sponsored by Encounter Books. This week's featured title is Why the West is Best: A Muslim Apostate's Defense of Liberal Democracy by Ibn Warraq. Available at EncounterBooks.com and Amazon.com.
- Comment (45)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments:
Jan '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
cpm74, agree - classy to start without the usual musical intro (was wondering how it would be handled) - and a great way to end it
Mar '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
Great podcast; a bit shocking that Jonah didn't recognize the “Doomsday Machine” dialogue right off and James didn't have Commodore Decker’s name at his fingertips; but it’s been a rough week so I guess everyone gets a break. I didn't hear Harlan Ellison’s “City on the Edge of Forever” mentioned; it’s usually ranked the all-time best dramatic episode of Trek Classic (my friend's preferred designation to TOS), but to really work it depends on the viewer already being invested in the characters. “Doomsday” is just a great piece of TV adventure—tight script, great performances (contrary to his rep, Shatner underacts rather than overacting, and Windom is pretty believable as a guy who’s just cost his crew their lives and seen his ship shattered), and a score that prefigures John Williams’s “Jaws” theme. It's the ep I show friends innocent of the series, and if Rob’s never sat through it, he should. :-)
Jul '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
"...unmade bed of a human being..."
Just such brilliant words....
"...behave Yerselves..."
Aug '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
I turned into a giddy schoolboy at the mention of my name. The Empath is my favorite episode, followed by Amok Time.
Sep '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
I'm reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything - great book. In it, he describes the likely impact of a comet on the planet, and the theory some have that such an impact in our distant past was responsible for germinating life on earth.
Anyone who happened to be looking for it (of course, previous to life on the planet, no "one" would be be there to do so) would only see it for a blindingly short time as it burst into our atmosphere before the impact. But the impact would be enormous. And the particles that shot in every direction would slowly grow to life in infinite varieties.
That, to me, is the image of Brietbart. RIP
May '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
Wait, that wasn't Liberace? That was a great reference!
Apr '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
I have not yet listened to the podcast.
Since someone suggested the Star Trek topic a few days ago, and the suggestion seems to have been accepted, I want to predict (before I listen) that Mr. Lileks' favorite is "The Doomsday Machine." Why? Because it's a good one, and because about ten years ago, James Bleated about the score being uniquely written for that episode, then that score was used many more times. Also because the score was by someone who did eighteen other scores for this or that. Oh and because for years he used a screencap of Commodore Decker (in a most harried moment) with a caption, "The page was here! But not anymore!" as his 404-not-found error.
I could be wrong since he used the phrase "holy Fizbin" above, that there was discussion of Miri, and that I know Mr. Lileks doesn't like to be called "Jimmy." You should know what happens to people who do that.
May '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
Lifted my spirits today greatly, thanks guys!
Oct '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
I had a very close friend and business partner for many years who died suddenly and inexplicably at the end of a trip to Ghana. Steve was the closest thing to Andrew Breitbart that I have ever known. Steve had an unending sense of justice, and was highly confrontational.
Once we were stopped by a Federale in Mexico City, seeking to extract a "payment" from the gringos. In the middle of one of the busiest intersections in Mexico, Steve jumped out of the van and demanded to be arrested. For 15 minutes he had traffic stopped in all directions, demanding "encarcereme" while the federale virtually begged him to leave.
In Ghana, a local politician seized control of our humanitarian cargo and demanded that we conduct our efforts in his name, providing election cred's for him, or he would keep the cargo and distribute it later himself. Steve's sense of justice brought on an explosive confrontation that nearly erupted in violence. Steve won. Later, just before departure, he had a dinner with that politician and said politico's brother. Once on the plane, Steve became seriously ill.
He made it back home to Mexico, and died within 24 hours.
Feb '12
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
I can verify that Andrew posted the entire Shirley Sherrod speech video. I watched it the morning he posted it; I probably followed a link from Instapundit, since I rarely visited Andrew's sites. I watched the video and read Andrew's story. It was about the racism apparent in the reaction of the NAACP audience. Shirley's redemption moment was in the video, and Andrew mentioned it in the story. When I heard later that day that some other news outlet was reporting something to the effect of "Black USDA Official Admits to Cheating White Farmers," I remember thinking "wait a minute, that's not the story at all." Thanks, Glenn. Because it has become the lie that gets told so often it can no longer be refuted. Just a couple of weeks ago, the talentless Cenk Uygur told Andrew to his face on his show that he was lying when he said he posted the entire video. But I guess I'm preaching to the choir here.
Feb '12
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
I just read CJRun's post that the entire video was not posted initially. Either it was, or I didn't see it until later in the day. But I was aware of the "redemption" angle the first day I heard of it; that had to come from somewhere.
May '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
PS: Liberace was, actually in episodes of Batman (TOS Batman ;-), which kind of made it easier to assume Trelane was Liberace.
The actor, William Campbell, passed away last year.
Edited on March 3, 2012 at 7:10pmJun '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
tabula rasa: I never understood a single word of the Star Trek discussion (and I watched it some decades ago); yet it was still hilarious. Lileks and Goldberg are ultimate Star Trek geeks.
Great podcast. · Mar 2 at 12:56pm
I know! I didn't understand it at all either - and I laughed out loud at Rob's "oh my God" after James said Jonah had to identify shows by the quote. James and Jonah made me (almost) want to watch Star Trek. Almost. :)
Thanks for sharing happy memories of Breitbart. That humor and brotherly love softens the blow for all of us. Fantastic, fantastic show.
Jun '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
BTW, I only hadn't pre-ordered Jonah's book yet because I thought I'd forget I had pre-ordered and would buy it again (hey, money is tight around here). But I want his enemies to be sad, so how could I possibly wait?
Jun '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
Here's Breitbart talking last May about how Beck "screwed the pooch" with the Sherrod story. http://youtu.be/8_HX3KR4fXg BECK cut the video.
Jan '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
A singular honor ... my one question served up bookends for a Lileks segue. Life is complete.
Aug '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
Hear Hear!
Oct '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
The DS9 follow-up episode with the 3 Captains was http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Blood_Oath_(episode).
I loved when Rob complained about the TOS abbreviation... that people have been using ever since TNG was launched a quarter century ago.
I think everyone is missing the point on whether the video was edited or not. It was the crowd reaction to what she said that was the key issue, because they didn't know she what she was going to say later. Cheryl Cook and the Obama Administration were responsible for Sherrod's resignation, not Andrew. http://www.nowpublic.com/world/usdas-cheryl-cook-asked-shirley-sherrod-pull-over-and-resign-2642433.html
Oct '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
"What really was going on was that the crowd reaction to Sherrod’s comments caught on the tape was very damaging to the NAACP and those who attacked the Tea Party movement as racist. The crowd cheered when Sherrod recounted her long-ago hostility to the white farmer, and that crowd reaction was the real story. Focusing the debate on the editing of the tape was a convenient distraction." - http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/03/saturday-night-card-game-repeat-after-me-the-shirley-sherrod-tape-was-not-misleading/ via http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/138292/
Mar '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #108: Andrew
Thanks, Michael. I saw the posted video, not the one on TV. I distinctly remember the part where Sherrod says she got the farmer some help, but people have insisted that it was "heavily edited" and that that part had been left out. No, it wasn't. The talk went on for some time after that, and that part was dropped, but I watched the rest of the video when the "full" version was available, and it added nothing to the point Breitbart had been trying to make.