Doua Moua's tireless pursuit of his dream to produce his screenplay, "The Harvest," finally paid off. We are joined by Doua and his co-star, Perry Yung, who dedicated himself to understanding Hmong culture to portray the father in this deeply personal story.

“The Harvest” with Doua Moua and Perry Yung – TWP062

Did you know Anson used to be a Dungeon Master? In this episode Branan lures Anson into a surprise reunion with his old campaign players under the pretext of interviewing Nathan Stewart of Wizards of the Coast about his role as advisor on the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Nathan does eventually join the conversation, it's like two episodes in one!

D&D Reunion with Nathan Stewart_TWP061

In this episode: Branan discusses his oceanic adventure turning 50, Anson recommends Dan Simmon's 'Hyperion', and they both catch-up on 'Succession', 'Beau Is Afraid', The Dungeons & Dragons movie, meeting John Cleese, some new music and the unforgivable desecration of Jimi Hendrix's guitar at the hands of he-who-shall-not-be named.

The Drop – Part 17

Eric and his buddies decided they would make a shot-for-shot remake of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".  The only problem?  They were just kids.  But they had a secret weapon at their disposal: they were just kids.

Interested listeners may watch the fan film itself, and see those moments as described, at threaderskids.com

Special thanks to John Hudgens.  Additional music for this episode provided by Audiorezout under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial International license.

Eric Zala – “Raiders of the Lost Youth” – TWP060

We are not finished talking about ATHENA by Romain Gavras. This time we let film critic Bilgi Ebiri do all the talking. We also get into marketing versus promotion and how even a film like ATHENA can get lost in all the noise.

The Drop – Part 16-Athena Part 2 with Bilge Ebiri

In this installment of The Drop Branan and Anson discuss and highly recommend the astonishing film ATHENA by Romain Gavras and film critic Bilgi Ebiri stops by to help us articulate what makes this such an amazing film. Also, Branan and Anson perform an original play written by artificial intelligence.

The Drop – Part 16-Athena Part 1

One of our cultural heroes, Jello Biafra is a legendary figure in the punk rock scene and a spoken word artist and politician. He joins us to discus how he found his unique voice and how to weather the slings and arrows of our chaotic political reality. His solution? Wicked humor.

Jello Biafra – “How to make Jello” – TWP059

Just in time for Halloween Branan sits down with author Marshall Julius and legendary makeup FX maestro Howard Berger to discuss their new book, and Branan gets nostalgic and wistful thinking back upon his own almost makeup career.

Howard Berger & Marshall Julius – “Masters of Makeup” – TWP058

We were so taken with S.S. Rajamouli's landmark film, RRR, we deciated a whole Drop to it! Also, odd news stories and a subtle plea for a new watch.

The Drop – Part 15

Back in April of 2020 author and journalist Jack Hitt sat down with us to discuss the beginings of the pandemic and make a few predictions. Over two years later we emerge from our basements and closets to check the accuracy of those predictions and we are once again visted by the ghost of Ignaz Semmelweis. What did we get right and what did we get wrong? Have any lessons been learned?

WHATRYADOIN’ – Jack Hitt, Part 3 “Crystal Ballz”

When a virtuoso violinist realizes he has yet to develop his own artistic voice, nor any idea of how to accomplish that task, he is face with a choice: continue a lonely descent into angst, or learn to say "yes". Here's the story of how he chose the latter and developed a powerful friendship in the process.

You can find Vijay's album "When the Violin" here.

You can find out more about "Street Symphony" here.

You can find Steve Lopez's book "The Soloist" here.

Vijay Gupta, Part 1 – “Saying Yes” – TWP056

In this episode Branan and Anson discuss: An evil & drugged cat, The STAR TREK: SNW premiere, SEVERANCE, TOP GUN 2, PAM & TOMMY, Robert Egger's THE NORTHMAN, Cixin Liu's The Poetry Cloud (can be read here) And Euphemisms That Get on My You-Know-Whats by Adam Sharp.

Cat illustration by Louis Wain

The Drop – Part 14

When actor Kenneth Mitchell was given a life altering medical diagnosis, it forced him to change his relationship to the concept of time itself.  Join us for our first LIVE episode recording.

Additional music provided by Kevin McLeod under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution license.

Kenneth Mitchell – “Time.” – TWP055

Tom McElroy has found the road less traveled to be full of unexpected turns, from the absurdities of reality TV to the perils of traveling in remote wildernesses. Along this sometimes tangled path one thing remains clear, we were not meant to go it alone. 

And if you haven't checked it out yet, our Island Survival Exit Interview is now on YouTube where Anson Mount interviews Branan Edgens about his time in St. Croix learning primitive survival skills from Tom McElory of wildsurvivalskills.com.

https://youtu.be/mtC1HfCxTtA

Tom McElroy, Part 2 – “How Far is Too Far?” – TWP054

Who amongst us has not dreamed of a simpler life more connected to nature, of escaping the rat race and living a singular existence full of adventure? It’s easier dreamed than done but primitive survival expert Tom McElroy of wildsurvivalskills.com sat down with us to tell us how he did it and share the unexpected twists and turns of his adventure thus far. 

Tom McElroy, Part 1 – “Chasing the Dream” – TWP053

This episode finds Branan tired and new father Anson unexpectedly well-rested. Discussed in this episode: SEVERANCE, GIRLS Vs. GANGSTERS AND MIKE TYSON (!), Joel Coen's THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH as reviewed by Ethan Coen,  Octavia Butler's  WILD SEED, THE SPARROW by Mary Doria Russell, A delinquent dancing cactus, wisdom from Sterling Hayden, Anson's worst moment as an actor, and a giant and expensive rebar chicken, and more!

The Drop – Part 13

In this episode we discuss impending Fatherhood! Plus Bo Burnham's INSIDE, Burt Reynolds' HEAT, Branan's experience Cabin living, camping with the gang, John Fahey , Mr. Rogers discusses silence, Never Ending Story, Fellini's Toby Dammit excerpt from SPIRITS OF THE DEAD, Vivaldi's Stabat Mater in F minor, RV 621: VI Eja Mater, fons amoris and how is it compares to BB King and Shakespeare, MIDNIGHT MASS (Netflix), Mark Twain, I am One of You Forever by Fred chapel, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, SUCCESSION (HBO), THE DEATH OF STALIN, Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark, Fabric or Reality by David Deutsch, Simulation theory, plus readings from Harper’s Magazine “Writing Wrongs” and “Clause and Effect”and we read listener reviews.

Artwork "Fatherhood" by Mahfuzur Rahman

The Drop – Part 12

Another installment of the segment in which we share all the things we've been watching, reading and hearing. AND... The amazing story of how Uncle Philip became a guitar!!!  You won't wanna miss this one. This episode is dedicated in loving memory to Kao Ly Ilene Her.

The Drop – Part 11

Early in the pandemic, the medical community struggled with ways to help people avoid getting sick through physical contact, particularly when it came to our strange habit of constantly touching our faces.  That's when Astrophysicist Daniel Reardon got an idea.  What follows is the strange and funny tale of a highly intelligent man falling down the rabbit hole of stupidity and then using his story to make people smile during a very dark time.

Extra music for this episode provided by Krestovsky under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercia-Share Alike 3.0 license.

WHATRYADOIN – Daniel Reardon

Anson and Branan chat with Tzi about his time on "Hell on Wheels", his incredible career trajectory, his ongoing fight against anti-AAPI hate, and that time he was busted for selling powdered sugar at Andy Warhol's house.

For more information about the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund you can visit their website here.

Additional music provided by Bored With Four under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 3.0 International license.  Their track "Kung Fu" can be found here.

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