Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
Blue Yeti ·
March 25, 2011 at 5:05am
We've got a a star-studded show today with the WSJ's Bill McGurn talking paywalls and Michigan, Victor Davis Hanson on Libya, and Liz Taylor, and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels on the MIA Democratic state legislators, budget battles, and Indiana's foreign policy.
It wouldn't be a R> Podcast with out links, right?
- Since it was announced, the NYT paywall plan has been an object of scorn not only for being expensive, but for just being plain confusing. Even for über-geeky Mac bloggers like Daring Fireball's John Gruber (who we read daily, by the way).
- James is correct: even though the NYT paywall cost a reported $40 to $50 million dollars to build, it was cracked by a Canadian programmer on his lunch break. And those guys take short lunches.
- Even if you don't have an iPad, you can sample The Daily here. Zite can be zeen here.
- The hometown paper James so vociferously defends is his own Minneapolis Star-Tribune. It is indeed one of the great smaller market papers left in the country.
- Don't miss Bill McGurn's post on Ricochet As Detroit Fades Away. His op-ed about the sorry state of the state of Michigan is a must read, but perhaps fittingly it is behind the WSJ paywall, which has so far withstood lunch-breaking Canadian programmers.
- Jackass star Johnny Knoxville did indeed produce a series of videos about hipsters trying to save Detroit's economy. Fittingly, they are available for free on YouTube.
- Statewide, the population of Michigan has only dropped 0.6 percent with about 9.88 million people, from 9.93 million in 2000. However, Detroit led the state in population loss, dropping 25 percent. Its population of 713,777 people drops the Motor City from the 10th to the 18th-largest city nationally.
- To Be or Not To Be In Libya, is Victor's must read post on Ricochet. And yes, you should probably read his post he wrote on Libya for The Corner too, if you must.
- Kudos to Ricochet member Kenneth for getting the coveted Podcast Post of The Week for his post Article 1 Section 8.
- Both James and Rob are very active on Twitter. But James does not follow us (@Ricochet) and Rob never retweets us. Something we said?
- According to Wikipedia the phrase moral high ground, in ethical or political parlance, refers to the status of being respected for remaining moral, and adhering to and upholding an universally recognized standard of justice or goodness.
- Pssst, Victor. They're called podcasts, not iPodcasts. Information for life...
- Here's the famous picture of JFK James refers to. He does look like he's got a lot on his mind.
- Victor is correct:the Real Clear Politics poll averages do show President Obama's approval ratings holding steady in low 50's to the high 40's. Go figure.
- Elizabeth Taylor starred in the 1963 version of Cleopatra. It did indeed almost bankrupt 20th Century Fox, which spent the then unheard of sum of $44 million dollars to produce the movie. It made about half of that back at the box office. As a piece of history, it left much to be desired. There are plans to do another version next year with starring Angelina Jolie with David Fincher directing.
- The Ricochet Code of Conduct forbids us from accurately quoting what Richard Burton told Paul Johnson about Elizabeth Taylor's greatest asset. You'll just have to read it yourself.
- Carrie Fisher's line about Elizabeth Taylor was actually from a tweet.
- According to IndyStar.com, the rogue Indiana Democrats are still in Illinois, but rest assured, they are "hard at work". That's a relief.
- We didn't ask him, but also according to IndyStar.com, Mitch Daniels has not decided about running for President.
- There just have to be better choices out there than Jamie Gorelick. Don't there?
- Attention R> Podcast Fans. Just as it's worth it to read to very end of the links, it's equally worth it to listen to the very end of this week's show. That's all we'll say.
Music from this week's episode:
- This Is Why We Fight by The Decemberists
- I Shall Be Free by Bob Dylan
The direct link to this week's episode. But be a movie star and subscribe. Don't use iTunes? Visit our Feedburner page for a number of other subscription options.
The Ricochet Podcast is sponsored by Encounter Books. Our featured title this week is The Wages of Appeasement Ancient Athens, Munich, and Obama’s America by Bruce S. Thornton. Available at EncounterBooks.com and for Kindle at Amazon.com.
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Comments:
Oct '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
[Podcast fixed] but the links from Angelina Jolie to Jamie Gorelick (I think) are off by one.
Edited on March 25, 2011 at 9:58amMay '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
The link craziness starts with the Richard Burton quote.
Nov '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
Bill McGurn, VDH, and Mitch Daniels? Serious firepower on this podcast!
Feb '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
Thanks for the heads up on the link confusion, genferei and Adam. All fixed!
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
Thanks for the help, Lauren.
Mar '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
Regarding the direction of the news business:
For some time now I've been longing for a print-free, internet-only, news-only source; i.e., no Entertainment Tonight "news", no lifestyle "news", no product-placement "news", and no opinions. Oh, as free of ideological bias as, say, C-SPAN, and as professional as the New York Times, the late Herald-Tribune, and the BBC were in their heyday. Links within stories to maps, country reports, etc., would be most welcome. So would multimedia formats, especially where audio, video or graphics are especially relevant, or are better suited to some consumers.
But this is the icing. The cake is high-quality news with neither a right, left nor centrist slant. For this I would gladly pay, oh I guess, $15 a month.
Some say open partisanship is the model for this era. Well, that's exactly not what I'm looking for. I strongly suspect that there are plenty of others similarly dissatisfied and willing to enrich whoever will give us what we want. Does the price point work? Is there a Saudi-princeless entrepreneur available, whose greed we could slake? (sigh)
Jul '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
Well, I learned "gentrification" from 'The Economist' years ago.
It defined the cycle of Life of neighborhoods/cities years ago.
I can't find the original article that introduced Me to the concept, but I think Y'all can conceive the end result.
Another excellent podcast, fellas.
Mar '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
The best thing to come out of Taylor's "Cleopatra" was the movie "Carry On Cleo," which reused many of the sets and costumes and was a brilliantly funny (and rather dirty) spoof of the story.
The greatest line is when assassins attack Caesar.
"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"
Mar '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #62: A Thing of Beauty
I am somewhere between irritated and offended by the comment during the show about sending female journalists to go work in dangerous areas. Are women back to being pale flowers who must be shielded from the harsh light of day lest they get vapors or hysteria? Perhaps they should be put behind black veils that expose only their eyes? Also, I believe women journalists want to go there because that's where they see the stories are, not because of some journalistic draft that requires them to go there, Canada or prison. War zones aren't safe for anyone, and while rape is a risk, so is a bullet in the head, as Daniel Pearl is now unable to tell you.
Otherwise, enjoyed it as usual.