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Mike Riggs Discusses Drum Circles, Guy Fawkes Posters, Halal Turkey, & Anonymous on Alyona's Happy Hour

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 EST

Reason Associate Editor Mike Riggs appeared on the Alyona Show's Happy Hour to discuss whether drum circles constitute torture, a new Guy Fawkes poster, stealthy halal turkey and a war between Anonymous and government helping hackers. Airdate: November 21, 2011.

9.15 minutes.

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Ken Burns on PBS Funding, Being a "Yellow-Dog Democrat," and Missing Walter Cronkite

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT

"In a perfect world," says legendary filmmaker Ken Burns, "we'd want government support [for the arts] and a lot more of it."

Burns' new PBS documentary, Prohibition, was made with his longtime collaborator Lynn Novick and explores the causes, failures, and legacy of the nation's "Noble Experiment" in banning alcohol in the early 20th century. His previous works on topics such as the Civil War, baseball, and jazz were critical and commercial successes, helping to revitalize the documentary form and start rich conversations about race, history, and politics.

The Prohibition documentary will likely do the same. "There were all these factions, left and right, black and white, that were for [banning alcohol].... It [is] too easy to dismiss it as purely a retrograde, conservative attempt back to some good old days that never existed. It was a much more complicated dynamic." Indeed, the documentary stresses the role of Progressive legislators in pushing the 18th Amendment.

"The telling of history need not be Castor Oil, the dry recitation of dates, facts, and events" says Burns, who rejects doctrinaire activism in his art despite calling himself a "Democrat for life."

Burns says the proliferation of cheap production and distribution technologies for creative expression is a cause for optimisim but worries about audience fragmentation. "When I grew up, there were four or five channels and people basically shared a common canon of knowledge....Now people can seek their own self-satisfying sources of knowledge [which] is hugely dangerous."

Despite the immense popular appeal of his work, Burns is no fan of "the market" when it comes to making films. While Bank of America is one of the major funders of his current documentary, he says that in a non-public-television setting the company would have likely exerted editorial pressure on his product. Corporate money and commerical outlets even on niche cable channels come with too many strings and compromises attached, says Burns. He notes that highly praised documentarians such as Errol Morris "work a great deal of time doing commerical work on the side, which I don't have the time or the luxury or the talent to do."

This wide-ranging and sometimes-heated conversation is about 22 minutes long and was filmed by Jim Epstein, Anthony Fisher, and Meredith Bragg, who also edited the piece. Watch a discussion with Gillespie and Burns specifically about Prohibition here

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Author Nancy Rommelmann on Her New Novel 'The Bad Mother' and the Myth of Hollywood

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Author and journalist Nancy Rommelmann says that Hollywood sends this message to people: "If you show up, I'm going to deliver your destiny. But you've got to stay, you've got to believe in me."

The death of the Hollywood dream runs through Rommelmann's new novel, The Bad Mother . The work follows teenagers living on the streets on and around Hollywood, Blvd, a place that combines a seedy reality with the enduring Tinseltown dream.

Rommelmann sat down with Senior Editor at Reason Tim Cavanaugh to discuss the book.

Topics include: Why city money can't save Hollywood; Why readers mistake The Bad Mother for a work of non-fiction; and why Spiderman is really just a 60 year old out-of-work actor.

Book Trailer courtesy of Softbox, LLC. Watch the full version of the trailer here.

Shot by Alex Manning, Zach Weissmueller and Hawk Jensen. Edited by Paul Detrick.

About 8:30 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Stephen Cox on Libertarian Literature and Prisons as Failed Planned Societies

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Stephen Cox sat down with Reason.tv to talk about libertarian literature and why prisons are the best example of a failure in planning societies.

Cox is a professor of literature at the University of California, San Diego, as well as the editor-in-chief of Liberty magazine, which can be read at libertyunbound.com . He is also the author of The Woman and the Dynamo: Isabel Paterson and the Idea of America and The Big House: Image and Reality of the American Prison.

Topics include: Isabel Paterson; American Prisons; Liberty magazine in detail; and promoting individual freedom.

Shot by Zach Weissmuller and Paul Feine; Edited by Paul Detrick.

Approximately 9:30 minutes.

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Three Reasons Not to Fund Art With Taxes

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT

A few weeks back, Hollywood movie stars and groups such as the Creative Coalition stormed Washington, D.C. to lobby for increased taxpayer funding of the arts. Most memorably, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey told Hardball's Chris Matthew that Abraham Lincoln was a huge theater fan who "understood that he needed the arts to replenish his soul." (Not surprisingly, Spacey didn't mention where Lincoln was assassinated or the profession of his killer).

But funding the arts with taxapayer dollars is a bad idea for at least three reasons.

1. Publicly financed art is easily censored art. Last December, the National Portrait Gallery almost immediately pulled a four-minute video called "A Fire in My Belly" after complaints from the Catholic League and politicians such as Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who objected to images of ants crawling over a crucifix. It's hard to imagine a private museum so quickly and cravenly pulling an offending piece. But when the taxpayer is footing the bill, the most easily aggrieved among us yields a thug's veto. Indeed, in February, scandalized Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) even called for getting rid of a 1922 statue in New York City due to what he says is its sexist portrayal of women.

2. We're broke. Advocates of public funding for the arts routinely argue that the budget of groups such as the National Endowment for the Arts comes to just pennies per citizen and the cost of just one Pentagon bomber is comparatively huge. But government at every level is flat broke, so it's all money we don't have. Defense spending, which has jacked up by over 70 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars since 2001, should be cut drastically. But that doesn't mean smaller items should get a pass or that taxpayers should pony up for another season of Dr. Who reruns on PBS.

3. It's unnecessary. NEA head Rocco Landesman has defended grants to groups such as the San Francisco Mime Troupe on the grounds that it is a world-famous outfit that has contributed mightily to the stage. Which is another way of saying it should have little to no trouble finding private patrons to help it out. Americans give around $13 billion a year in private donations to the arts. That's a lot of money and if it's not enough to fund every request, groups such as the San Francisco Mime Troupe will just have to figure out how to better work the crowd.

About 2.45 minutes.

Produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie, who also hosts.

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Artists vs. the Drug War: On the Scene at the Drug Policy Alliance's re:FORM Art Auction

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST

Think the drug war does more harm than good?

The Drug Policy Alliance sure does, and recently the DPA hosted the re:FORM Art Auction where artists donated their work to raise money for a most worthy cause—ending the war on drugs. Reason.tv was on the scene at the Honor Fraser Gallery in Culver City, California to talk to art lovers and drug policy reformers about everything from fixing our nation's prison policy to legalizing marijuana.

"I think the number one thing is basically to break the taboo on really open and honest dialog on all drug policy options including legalization," says Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the DPA.

Contributing artists include: Josh Levine, Ed Moses, Jeffrey Palladini, Gina Stepaniuk, and Jill Sykes.

Approximately 2.5 minutes.

"Artists Versus the Drug War" was Produced by Ted Balaker, Hawk Jensen and Alex Manning.

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Life, Liberty & Happiness - Q&A with American Visionary Art Museum's Rebecca Hoffberger

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EDT

The word liberty is used a lot but it's not often that individuals think deeply about what the word means, says Rebecca Hoffberger, the founder of Baltimore's American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM.)

Hoffberger's goal with AVAM was to create "a grassroots salon that would tackle all the great themes that have ever bedeviled and inspired human kind." The most recent exhibition, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness featured a wide range of self-taught artists including Saddam Hussein's personal doctor, Ala Bashir, and a schizophrenic hoarder named Dick Lubinsky. The exhibition provides an unforgettable commentary on an American truism. Hoffberger explains that art is strongest when it portray's life experiences that are "too big for words" and that art is powerful tool for those trying to express "the need for liberty."

Produced by Dan Hayes. Camera by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain. Edited by Hayes. Music by Dan Thieman.

Approximately 7.30 minutes.

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On the Set of Atlas Shrugged: 53 Years in the Making

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EDT

Many actors and producers have talked about adapting Ayn Rand's classic Atlas Shrugged for the big screen, but 53 years after its publication no one has dared tackle the ambitious project—until now.

Reason.tv heads to the set of Atlas Shrugged Part One to offer viewers a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of this most anticipated film.

Director Paul Johansson (One Tree Hill) and Grant Bowler (Lost, True Blood, Ugly Betty), who plays Henry Rearden, discuss the perils, pressures, and pleasure involved in telling the epic tale of a society where the "men of the mind" go on strike and refuse to contribute to a collectivist world.

Produced by Ted Balaker and Hawk Jensen. Camera by Austin Bragg and Hawk Jensen. Production support by Sam Corcos.

Music: "Eu Nao Sabia" by Anamar available from Magnatune Records.

Approximately 5.3 minutes.

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Virginia Postrel: Glamour, Politics, & Voter Expectations

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:30:00 EST

Glamour is "not just about movie stars," says Virginia Postrel.

The Editor in Chief of Deepglamour.net and former Editor in Chief of Reason magazine points out that glamour, which originally meant a literal magic spell "that promises to to transcend ordinary life and make the ideal real," is especially powerful when applied to the world of politics.

Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with Virginia Postrel to find out how glamour fuels voters' expectations, which modern political figures are glamourous (Barack is, Sarah isn't), and why glamour is both an advantage and a burden.

Interview by Ted Balaker. Shot by Hawk Jensen and Paul Detrick. Edited by Paul Detrick.

Music: "You Got Something" by Grayson Wray (Magnatune Records).
About eight minutes. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

Postrel, an organ donor and cancer survivor, talks to Reason.tv about health care reform here.

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And come back to Reason.tv March 15 through March 19 for the debut of Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey: How to fix the "Mistake on The Lake" and other once-great American cities, an original six-part documentary series.

Writer-director Marcus Dunstan on "torture porn," censorship, and his new film Saw VI

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with filmmaker Marcus Dunstan who, along with his writing partner Patrick Melton, wrote the last three Saw films, including Saw VI, which hits theaters October 23. This summer Dunstan made his directorial debut with The Collector, which he and Melton also wrote. (Disclosure: Balaker's wife was a producer on The Collector.)

In this eight-minute interview, Dunstan and Balaker discuss Saw VI, censorship, red band trailers (which cannot be shown on television), how new media outlets like Ain't It Cool News are challenging traditional tastemakers, and whether calling a film "torture-porn" is actually a compliment.

Reason.tv's Marcus Dunstan interview was produced by Ted Balaker. Director of Photography: Alex Manning; Set Designer: Hawk Jensen; Editor: Zach Weissmueller; Associate Producer: Paul Detrick.

Cuban Punk Gorki Aguila on Music, Life, and Getting Led Zeppelin Records in Cuba

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:31:00 EDT

Gorki Águila is blunt in his assessment of Fidel Castro's half century of revolution: "Communism is a failure. A total failure. Please, leftists of the world-improve your capitalism! Don't choose communism!" Águila, a Havana resident, wears homemade anti-government t-shirts, frequently denounces the Castro brothers as geriatric tyrants, and heads up perhaps Cuba's only explicitly political punk band, Porno Para Ricardo. And because of his stubborn belief in free speech, he is routinely arrested on charges of "social dangerousness." Tired of his anti-regime music, Cuban authorities made the rare decision to grant Águila a visa to travel abroad, perhaps hoping that he wouldn't return.

In September, Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan caught up with Águila on the Washington, D.C. leg of his American promotional tour to talk about his music, the origins of Porno Para Ricardo, and how long it takes to get Led Zeppelin records in a totalitarian society.

Approximately 7 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg. Edited by Dan Hayes.

All the President's Newsmen

Wed, 20 May 2009 06:00:00 EDT

With the proliferation of news on the Internet, Americans aren't supporting their local newspapers. Circulation and ad revenues are way down, while web readership—where the news is likely to be free and up-to-the-minute—is way up. Technology has changed the game. But for those who see a connection between American democracy and the demise of the newspaper industry, it's time to get the government involved to save the news business.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced the Newspaper Revitalization Act, a bill that would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) warns of the "serious consequences for our democracy" if his hometown paper, The Boston Globe, goes belly up. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has publicly argued for an antitrust exemption to save the San Francisco Chronicle, a paper that has long supported her political career. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) recently argued that "If Congress does not act...a major city in the United States will be without a newspaper in the fairly near future."

Washington can give newspapers tax breaks or generous subsides to keep them afloat. There are many ways of extending the life of a terminally-ill by forcing onto life support. But why should the government support an industry that consumers are rejecting?

"Most of those supporting a newspaper bailout were also critical of the media’s behavior in the run-up to the Iraq War," says Reason senior editor Michael Moynihan. "Now imagine the reaction if the very same journalists wrote the very same stories about Iraq in 2002 but were reliant upon the Bush administration for their survival."

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Correction: The amount of French tax subsidies to newspapers is misstated. The correct figure is $800 million.

Nick Gillespie: Why You're Living in the Libertarian Moment

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT

On Saturday, February 21, Reason.tv and Reason.com Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie addressed a crowd of 200-plus attending the second annual International Students for Liberty conference, held in Washington, D.C.

Titled "Why You're Living in the Libertarian Moment And What You Can Do to Keep and Expand Your Freedom" and featuring a slideshow set to Sid Vicious's version of "My Way," Gillespie's talk argued that we are more free than ever despite massive increases in government spending, regulation, and controls over the past several decades. Due to huge growth in wealth, technology, and social liberalization, more individuals are more free to pursue their lives on their own terms than ever before.

However, warned Gillespie, for these positive trends to continue it is imperative that the zero-sum game of politics be kept in as small and limited sphere as possible. In an age of bailouts and big spending, it is vitally important to stop thinking of politics in terms of right vs. left or conservative vs. liberal. The best way to analyze public policy and social organization is in terms of choice vs. control. Does a given idea expand the ability of people to pick and choose among various ways of living?

The future of freedom, argued Gillespie, rests upon the shoulders of today's libertarian-minded youth, who must convince their peers to reject the played-out politics of the past and embrace a vision of an open-ended future empowered by "free minds and free markets." And it is up to students to invent the next great, decentralizing, DIY technology like rock 'n' roll and the Internet.

It is important to engage politics, said Gillespie, but it is even more important to remember that real life exists far beyond the petty strictures of the next election or zoning board meeting. "Live your life as a work of art and an act of discovery. Create your own identity, your own community, and your own meaning."

Approximately 40 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

For an audio podcast, go here.