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How Washington Learned to Love Video Games

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:00:00 EDT

The Smithsonian American Art Museum's exhibit, The Art of Video Games, is the latest sign that official Washington has finally learned to love Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, and their digital spawn. A mere two decades ago, members of the nascent gaming industry were hauled before Congress and publicly scolded for promoting violence, sexism, racism, and even crimes against humanity. As Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) stated in his opening remarks at a 1993 hearing, "Instead of enriching a child's mind, these games teach a child to enjoy inflicting torture."

But then a funny thing happened: As video games became ever more popular, brutal, and artistic, violent crime in America was declining precipitously. As parental and legislative panic over violence—both real and imagined—subsided, the gaming industry blossomed into the multibillion dollar business it is today.  

The video game hysteria of the 1990s followed a predictable cycle, explains University of Southern California sociologist Karen Sternheimer: "Ever since the first nickelodeon [movie theater] opened there are people who were afraid of the impact of popular culture and tried to regulate them right away."

 And just like film, rock music, and comic books before them, video games are no longer merely tolerated, but embraced by Washington, from the formation of a new congressional caucus to the placement of campaign ads on XBox games to the entombing of a Commodore 64 behind plexiglass at the Smithsonian.  

"This exhibition could not have happened at any other point in history than right now," declares Smithsonian curator Chris Melissinos. "For the first time we have gamers raising gamers. I believe, from this point forward, you are going to see a greater more rapid appropriation and acceptance of video games as anything from art to a worthwhile pursuit."

Roughly 5:30 minutes.

Produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie, who narrates. Camera by Paul Detrick, Tracy Oppenheimer, and Bragg.

The Art of Video Games exhibition is on display from March 16, 2012 through September 30, 2012.

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How TV's 'Dallas' Won the Cold War

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT

The oil-and-sex soaked TV show Dallas is back on the small screen. The unapologetically odious J.R., the unappealingly ethical Bobby and the uncontrollaby alcoholic Sue Ellen are all back, along with a new crew of young, hardbodied hotties to pull in viewers who have yet to start pulling in Social Security checks.

During its original run from 1978 to 1991, Dallas was an international cultural phenomenon with ratings higher than late-’70s interest rates. It was the most or second-most watched show in the United States for half a decade, showing up in ABBA songs and Ozzy Osbourne videos, and spinning off the megahit Knots Landing.

But Dallas’ greatest impact ultimately wasn’t in these United States but in communist Romania, where it helped topple the brutal Ceausescu regime.

Dallas was the last Western show allowed during the nightmarish 1980s because President Nicolae Ceausescu thought it showcased all that was wrong with capitalism. In fact, the show provided a luxuriant alternative to a communism that was forcing people to wait more than a decade to buy the most rattletrap communist-produced cars.

“I think we were directly or indirectly responsible for the fall of the [communism],” Larry Hagman told the Associated Press a decade ago. “They would see the wealthy Ewings and say, ‘Hey, we don’t have all this stuff.’"

After the dictator and his wife were shot on Christmas Eve 1989, the pilot episode of Dallas—with a previously censored sex scene spliced back in—was one of the first foreign shows broadcast on liberated Romanian TV.

The impact of Dallas on global worldviews reminds us that “vulgar” popular culture is every bit as important as chin-stroking political discourse in fomenting real social change.

Throwaway cultural products influence far-flung societies in ways that are impossible for anyone, even dictators, to predict or control.

That lesson is more relevant than ever in a world where movies, TV shows, and music cross borders with impunity and the free West engages the semi-free East, whether in China or Iran. If the United States is interested in spreading American values and institutions, TV shows may go a lot further than armored personnel carriers.

Like Mikhail Gorbachev, poodle haircuts, and Members Only jackets, Dallas didn’t long survive the post–Cold War world it helped create. But like an uncontainable gusher in a Texas oil field, the original series left us far richer than we ever dreamed possible.

About 2.30 minutes. Produced by Meredith Bragg. Written by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. For a fuller treatment of this topic, go here.

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Ben Huh on the Culture, Morals, and Politics of the Internet

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT

"Internet culture is an absolute threat to existing power structures," says Ben Huh, CEO and founder of Cheezburger, the popular web humor brand responsible for I Can Haz Cheezburger, FailBlog, and much more. "Because people are finally realizing that they have power in their voice."

Reason.tv sat down with Huh to talk about internet culture, why the ability of individuals to create their own content is a good thing, the common ideology that should unite all internet users, and why we have to learn to live with internet trolls.

Approximately 4:30 minutes.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller.

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Nick Gillespie Discusses Cultural Decline in America with Stossel

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Reason's Nick Gillespie appeared on Stossel to bust the myth that today's youth culture is a sign of America's moral decline. Air Date: June 7, 2012.

About 4.34 minutes.

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Bath Salts, Naked Zombie Cannibals & Stupid Senators

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Bath salts. They're turning people from Miami to Maryland into flesh-eating hulks and the synthetic concoctions that are sold as insect repellent and plant food have supposedly singlehandedly set off the zombie apocalypse.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, fresh off his victory in banning caffeinated alcoholic beverages like Four Loko, is hell-bent on banning so-called bath salts. The senator, who in the past has tried to regulate the price of Coca Krispies, Count Chocula, and other breakfast cereals, also wants to outlaw fake pot, too - because the war on real pot is going so swell.

It all started on a Florida offramp in broad daylight when a car-washing Bible-thumper snapped, allegedly under the influence of zombie dust. The story soon eclipsed the presidential election and Miley Cyrus' lack of underwear as the most important issue in the country.

There was an immediate obsession with the substance that “caused” this unnatural act.To date, there’s no evidence that Sunshine State face-chewer Rudy Eugene was in fact whacked out on bath salts. The Miami Mauler had been arrested at least eight times since he was 16 and had threatened to kill his Mom on at least once violent occasion.

Here’s the problem with banning “synthetic methamphtemine” - or the real thing, for that matter: There are an infinite number of ways that natural and artifical drugs can be combined, married and sewn together to get a user higher Matthew McConaughey on any given Monday. Science will always be one step ahead of the legislative process, so as quickly as a chemical compound is banned, four more will spring forth from crafty laboratories eager to pacify those seeking a quick fix.

But...but...but...bath salts make you a zombie cannibal, don’t they? You can hear the Sen. Schumers of the world ask that question. But hardly The other two cannibalism stories in the news don’t involve bath salts or naked zombies. The Canadian porn star who hacked up his friend, ate his bits, then sent appendages on a tour of the Canadian Postal Service is more gruesome than Celine Dion’s entire discography, but the guy was clothed and sober. The kid in Maryland who ate the heart and brain of his Ghanian roommate was also not on the salts, and he too was clothed.

So instead of banning bath salts, how about enforcing the existing ban on zombie cannibalism? And if we can’t do that, can we at least ban opportunistic, incompetent legislators?

Oh, Calgon, take me away!

Produced by Meredith Bragg. Written by Nick Gillespie and Kennedy, who narrates.

Follow Reason (@reason), Gillespie (@nickgillespie), and Kennedy (@kennedynation) on Twitter.

About 2.30 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.

Charles Murray: Why America is Coming Apart Along Class Lines

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:00:00 EDT

Charles Murray, one of America's most influential social policy thinkers, has come out with a widely discussed new book called Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010, which argues that Americans are splitting into two divergent classes, and that this growing divide could end American life as we have known it.

A self-described libertarian, Murray started his career as a liberal Democrat who spent six years in the Peace Corps and voted for Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential election. His political transformation came while he was researching his landmark 1984 book, Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980, which marshaled exhaustive evidence that American welfare programs were harming the very people they were supposed to be lifting out of poverty.

Losing Ground was fiercely denounced by the political left, but soon won mainstream acceptance that the War on Poverty was failing. The simple fact is there wouldn't have been welfare reform in the 1990s without Losing Ground.

The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, Murray's 1994 collaboration with Harvard psychologist Richard Herrnstein, was more controversial. The book maintained that differences in genes contribute to differences in IQ, which in turn play a significant role in the life outcomes of individuals. Most controversially, Herrnstein and Murray argued that various ethnic groups have distinct in inherited intelligence. (Economist James J. Heckman reviewed The Bell Curve for Reason back in 1995.)

Murray has written more than 20 books, including What It Means to Be a Libertarian: A Personal Interpretation, and he's currently the W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute .

Reason's Ronald Bailey sat down with Murray in March for a wide-ranging discussion of how his earlier work informs Coming Apart, why he remains libertarian in his outlook, and whether younger Americans face an relentlessly negative future.

Approximately 35 minutes.

Written and produced by Jim Epstein.

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Is Bullying an Epidemic?! Nick Gillespie on Fox & Friends

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EDT

Reason's Nick Gillespie appeared on Fox & Friends to talk about whether youth bullying a rational epidemic or an exaggerated panic. Gillespie's recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, "Stop Panicking About Bullies," argued efforts to intervene in school bullying creates more problems than it solves.

Approximately 3.30 minutes.

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Mark Frauenfelder on DIY Super-Humanism, Unschooling and the Future of Print Journalism

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EDT

"You know, I studied mechanical engineering in school and I ended up becoming a journalist. I can name a dozen people right now that I think are amazing people who didn't go to college," says editor of Boing Boing Mark Frauenfelder.

He sat down with managing editor of Reason.com Tim Cavanaugh to talk about alternatives to public school and education in the real world.

Frauenfelder is also the editor of Make magazine, whose newest issue takes a look at do-it-yourself superhumanism, a way of modifying human capabilities through gadgets. Some of the gadgets include a device to play Guitar Hero only using the muscles in your arm and an ankle strap that directs you to where you want to go using cell phone vibraters and GPS.

Cavanaugh and Frauenfelder finally discuss the future of print journalism and why putting a magazine out in 2012 is still a good idea.

About 9:48 minutes.

Camera by Tracy Oppenheimer, Paul Detrick, and Zach Weismueller. Edited by Detrick.

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What We Saw at National School Choice Week Kickoff in New Orleans

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST

"I think we ought to give our children the best we possibly can and I think we're moving in that direction," says renowned political operative James Carville. "Yes, I'm very excited about it."

Reason caught up with the Louisiana native at the New Orleans kickoff event for National School Choice Week (NSCW), which runs from January 22-28 and features hundreds of events around the country designed to increase support for allowing parents to pick what schools their children attend. The Big Easy was the ideal location for the event as all children attend schools of choice in New Orleans, a radical - and so far incredibly sucessful - response to decades of failed approaches and the devasation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

Carville emceed an event that also featured performers such as The Temptations, Trombone Shorty, and Ellis Marsalis along with speakers such as MSNBC's Michelle Bernard, former Arizona education head Lisa Graham Keegan, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"National School Choice Week gives us an unprecedented opportunity to shine an effective spotlight on the need for enhanced educational options for parents," said Andrew Campanella, Vice President of Public Affairs for National School Choice Week.

Reason on education.

About 5 minutes. Produced by Sharif Matar and Tracy Oppenheimer.

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Nick Gillespie Discusses Libertarianism, Ron Paul, & Changing Politics on C-SPAN

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

Reason's Nick Gillespie appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the 2012 GOP campaign, libertarianism in mainstream politics, and Ron Paul's rise. Gillespie also responded to Q&A from callers. Air Date: 12/27/2011.

45 minutes.

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Mike Riggs on Alyona's Happy Hour Discusses a Controversial Gun Ad, Anti-Semitism, and a Twin-Earth

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

Reason Associate Editor Mike Riggs appeared on the Alyona Show's Happy Hour to discuss a gun ad that compares Obama to Hitler and Stalin, whether a US Ambassador's comments on Isreali foreign policy is anti-Semitic, and a recently discovered exo-planet that resembles Earth. Airdate: December 5, 2011.

7 minutes.

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Occupy Thanksgiving: A Message of Hope, Redemption, and Dada

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST

In a time of 9 percent unemployment, a faltering global economy, toxic levels of political rancor, and the release of Twilight: Breaking Dawn, is there anything left to be thankful for?

Reason offers a message of hope, redemption, and dada.

About 30 seconds. Produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie.

Key moments in Thanksgiving history:

1621: Pilgrims in Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts and Wampanoag Indians celebrate a harvest feast that is generally acknowledged as the precursor to Thanksgiving.

1675-1676: About 40 percent of Wampanoag tribe killed by colonists and other Indians during King Phillip's War.

1777: During Revolutionary War, Continental Congress makes first Thanksgiving proclamation, declaring December 18 a day that no work should be done or fun should be had, thus paving the way for the contemporary tradition of spending time with family and watching dull NFL games featuring the Detroit Lions. The original declaration instructs "That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion."

1863: Abraham Lincoln sets the last Thursday in November as the date for a national holiday dedicated to the idea that even with the Civil War raging, things had been going pretty well when you got right down to it: "Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom."

1915: Preacher William Simmons and 15 others revived the Ku Klux Klan by burning a cross on Georgia's Stone Mountain on Thanksgiving, tying the event to the Atlanta opening the following week of D.W. Griffith's pro-Klan movie, The Birth of a Nation.

1924: First Macy's Day Parade held in New York City featuring live animals on floats. After multiple episodes of tigers and bears eating beauty queens and local politicians, the animals are replaced in 1927 with balloons of Felix the Cat and other characters.

1939: In a bid to lengthen the Christmas retail season, Franklin Roosevelt unilaterally declared Thanksgiving would take place on the third Thursday in November rather than the last, thus giving rise to what was derided as "Franksgiving" and what lives on as Black Friday. In 1941, federal legislation declared Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, marking the last time that Congress passed a law that didn't cost future generations a lot of money.

1987: Ronald Reagan initiates the custom of publicly pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving; lives to regret it when George H.W. Bush succeeds him as president. Subsequent presidents pardon two turkeys each holiday, because two is twice as good as one.

2009: President Barack Obama fattens turkeys with stimulus dollars, predicts swift end to surprisingly persistent economic downturn that he inherited from previous occupant.

2011: In a bid to appeal to GOP voters, free-falling Republican presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry of Texas refuses to review clemency requests and approves the execution of innocent turkeys. For the purposes of school-lunch programs, federal government declares pizza a vegetable and pepper spray a condiment for educational institutions.

Sources: Wikipedia, 10ZenMonkeys.com, Fevered Imagination.

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Kurt Loder on Film: The Good, the Bad, & the Godawful

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:01:00 EST

"As Keith Richards says, 90 percent of everything is crap."

Kurt Loder, who reviews movies for Reason.com and Creators Syndicate, quotes the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist to explain why most of the reviews in his new book, The Good, The Bad and The God-Awful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews are negative. Loder says he loves movies, but because of the constant demand for new product, the bad movies will inevitably outnumber the good ones.

In this interview with Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie, Loder offers up a few examples of some recent underrated cinematic gems, some god-awful big-budget fiascos, and tells why he devoted an entire chapter to the enigma that is Nicolas Cage's movie career.

Runs about 4.19 minutes.

Shot by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein and Anthony L. Fisher. Edited by Anthony L. Fisher.

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Zombie Obama, a School Attending Robot, & a UFO Sighting - Mike Riggs Joins Alyona's Happy Hour

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Associate Editor Mike Riggs joined the Alyona Show's Happy Hour to discuss an eclectic mix of news from a GOP flyer depicting a zombified Obama, a woman posing naked inside a horse carcass, an allergy-stricken student using a robot to attend class, and a potential UFO sighting. Airdate: November 1, 2011.

9.10 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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Interview with Reason Cartoonist Peter Bagge

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Peter Bagge is the pre-eminent libertarian cartoonist. An intelligent, anti-authoritarian streak runs throughout his canon, especially in his hit comic book from the 1990s, HATE , a hilarious and politically incorrect series focusing on the semi-autobiographical slacker-misanthrope Buddy Bradley. Bagge frequently contributes his own brand of "cartoon journalism" to the pages of Reason magazine where he also serves as a Contributing Editor.

Bagge discusses how he came to define his libertarian political worldview at a young age, and laments his frustration at being an artist who's political views are frequently mischaracterized as "right wing" by other artists, simply for failing to be in lock-step with the rest of the predominatly progressive-left art world.

He also discusses a recent Reason assignment which took him within the walls of a women's prison, and how the experience led him to question his own preconceived notions about the drug war and involuntary incarceration for drug users.

His funny, outrageous and often introspective anthology of Reason cartoon journalism, "Everyone is Stupid Except Me (And Other Astute Observations)" is available from Fantagraphics.

Shot by Alexander Manning. Interview by Nick Gillespie. Edited by Anthony L. Fisher

About 5 minutes.

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Prohibition Vogue: Why We're Still Talking About "The Noble Experiment"

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Alcohol prohibition may have been repealed in 1933, but Americans have rarely been more intoxicated with the "noble experiment" than they are today.

Between "Last Call ," Daniel Okrent's best-selling 2010 book, leading clothing designers taking inspiration from jazz age fashion, a new prime-time documentary by Ken Burns, and the new, second season of HBOs critically acclaimed Boardwalk Empire, it's impossible to ignore the new interest in Prohibition. With a fixation on "classic cocktails" and faux-speakeasies, even drinking culture itself seems to be bellying up to the bar.

What's fueling this fascination and where will it end? Reason.tv talks with filmmaker Burns, author Okrent, and drug policy activist Aaron Houston of Students for Sensible Policy , who argues that "Culture and art right now are reflective of a general sentiment in this society that the war on drugs has not worked."

And that change is in air. Marijuana legalization initiatives will be on the ballot in at least two states in 2012, Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) have introduced legislation to let states decide pot's legal status, and record high levels of Americans are in favor of legalization. As Okrent tells Reason.tv, the need for excise tax revenue during the Great Depression helped make repeal of alcohol prohibition not just possible but desirable. Coupled with a sense of exhaustion at a drug war that has done little to prevent drug use, the dire financial straits of government at all levels may just spell the demise of contemporary prohibition.

Approx. 5 minutes. Written and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie, who also narrates. Additional camera work by Jim Epstein and Anthony Fisher.

For more Reason.tv on drugs and alcohol, go here .

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9/11, The World Trade Center, & New York's Next Skyline

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:00:00 EDT

On September 11, I’ll be thinking less about the World Trade Center and more about my father and the relentless – probably unique – ability of New York City to bury its dead and move on without a backward glance.

My father was born in Manhattan in 1923, in a tenement building off Columbus Circle. A few years later, he moved to Brooklyn, a borough that was considered the country back then, a place that had more horses than cars. By the time he left there for good in 1966, it wasn’t the country anymore, that’s for sure.

He worked for Sea-Land, a shipping company that was one of the World Trade Center’s original tenants, and one of my very earliest memories is of my older brother and me playing in the company’s unfinished offices in one of the towers before the complex opened to the public in 1973.

Like many, probably most, New Yorkers, my father hated the Twin Towers at first, preferring the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, which had gone up during his childhood.

He’d seen King Kong when it came out in 1933, he explained, and he just couldn’t see the big ape climbing the towers. By the late ‘70s - after Philippe Petit tightrope walked across them, George Willig scaled them, Owen Quinn parachuted from them, and King Kong himself had been shot off them in a 1976 remake - he’d come around.

On a trip to Manhattan around then, he asked me if I wanted to see where he’d been born. He hadn’t been to the old neighborhood since before the war and was feeling nostalgic. We walked toward the Circle only to realize that not only the building he’d been born in was gone, but the entire street - paved over sometime in the ‘50s or ‘60s in the rush to build Lincoln Center, a place he’d never think of entering.

As the realization sunk in, he shrugged, turned to me, and said, “Well, do you wanna go see a movie instead?”

There’s nothing that will lessen the horror of 9/11 or do justice to the murdered souls interred forever at Ground Zero. But in a strange and beautiful and terrible way, New York – and America – will honor them most by pausing only briefly to pay our respects.

Written by Nick Gillespie and produced by Meredith Bragg.

Gillespie is the editor in chief of Reason.tv and Reason.com, and the co-author with Matt Welch of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America. Bragg is a producer for Reason.tv and a 2010 finalist for a digital National Magazine Award for best video.

About 2 minutes. For downloadable versions of this video, links, and other supporting materials, go to Reason.tv.

For more Reason articles and commentary on the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, go here.

What We Saw at the 2011 Seattle Hempfest

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:30:00 EDT

In 1991, 500 people gathered in Seattle to listen to music and "learn the truth about the most misunderstood plant on the planet." 20 years later, hundreds of thousands of people attend the Seattle Hempfest each summer.

Reason.tv made the trip to Hempfest, a 3-day political rally, concert and arts fair, in August, 2011. This is what we saw.

Approximately 3 minutes.

Shot by Paul Feine & Alex Manning; edited by Paul Feine.

Music by Troubaduo. http://troubaduo.com/

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Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch Join Stossel on the Declaration of Independents

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie and editor in chief of Reason Matt Welch joins Stossel in a special episode dedicated to the upcoming book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America. Featuring interviews with the authors, plus Kurt Loder, Grant McCracken, Kennedy, and Andrew Breitbart, this hour-long program covered politics–and anti-politics–in a way rarely seen on cable television. Air Date: June 23, 2011.

About 45 minutes.

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Nick Gillespie Discusses the Latest Marijuana Bill, Anthony Wiener and a Union Puppet Show w/ Adam Carolla on Red Eye

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv editor in chief Nick Gillespie appeared Fox News' Red Eye to discuss various topics, including Barney Frank and Ron Paul's marijuana bill, a strange Brazilian cartoon ad that references pedophilia, the science behind Anthony Wiener's actions, and a pro-union puppet show for kindergarteners. Airdate: June 25, 2011.

Approximately 41 minutes.

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Nick Gillespie Discusses The Declaration of Independents on Fox News' Red Eye

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Editor in Chief of Reason.com & Reason.tv Nick Gillespie discusses his recent co-authored book with Matt Welch The Declaration of Independents, and how increasing choices in American lives are challenging government's expanding powers.

The Declaration of Independents hit shelves on June 28. Order your copy in hardcover or as an e-book from your favorite bookstore by clicking here.

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How Cultural Innovation Happens

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:50:00 EDT

About 15 years ago, Grant McCracken went to a shopping mall to interview teenagers about their identities. He found that the old rigid categories of "preppie," "jock," and "nerd," had given way to a much longer list: There were surfer/skater guys, b-girls, goths, punks, heavy-metal rockers, and many other types of kids wandering around.

In books such as Plenitude, McCracken catalogued the explosion of new lifestyles and identities in North America and the developed world more generally. In his most recent volume, last year's Chief Culture Office, McCracken argues that an understanding of how consumers play with their identities is key to making products that people want. His next book, Culturematic, will be published next year and examines how people create self-replicating cultural experiments that producers and audiences either dig or reject. One example: MTV's invention of reality television in 1992, just as the station's old programming model was beginning to flag. Out of a moment of desperation grew today's dominant form of serial TV.

Trained in anthropology, the Canadian-born McCracken is a research affiliate at Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT and a brand consultant; his blog covers everything from arcane academic research to Gossip Girl plot threads.

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with McCracken to talk about the throughline that exists in all of his work.

Edited by Jim Epstein; camera by Epstein and Anthony Fisher.

Approximately 8 minutes.

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Nick Gillespie Talks Ed Schultz, TSA v. Texas on Fox News Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld

Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason's Nick Gillespie appeared Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld to discuss Texas caving in to federal TSA regulations, Obama and the "Arab Spring", the side effects of prescription drugs, suspended MSNBC host Ed Schultz's sexist comments about Laura Ingarham, Candyland the movie, and more.

The show's other guests were Leeann Tweeden and Tom Shillue.

Airdate: May 26, 2011.

Approximately 42.48 minutes.

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Katherine Mangu-Ward Discusses Anti-Sharia to Anti-Junk Food Bills on The Alyona Show

Thu, 12 May 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward appeared on Russia Today's The Alyona Show to discuss the various topics of the proposed anti-Sharia bill in Tennessee, new federal guidelines for marketing food to children, and the arresting of a facebook-ing teenager for 'disorderly conduct.'

Approximately 6.28 minutes.

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Crazy U's Andrew Ferguson on How to Get Your Kid into College w/o Going Insane

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

Andrew Ferguson is a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and the author of, most recently, Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College.

Drawing rave reviews from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Crazy U is a very funny yet very serious look at the higher-education industry, especially the status anxiety college invokes in parents. Ferguson roams the countryside with his diffident son, touring various campuses and meeting characters such as a sharp-tongued counselor who charges $40,000 to shepherd high schoolers through an increasingly competitive and byzantine admissions process.

Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Ferguson and his son Gillam, who is now a sophomore at the University of Virginia (discussed as "Big State University" in the book). Shot by Jim Epstein and edited by Josh Swain.

Approximately 5 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to our YouTube channel for automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Ferguson is also the author of Land of Lincoln and Fools' Names, Fools' Faces. For more on those books and the author, go here now.

In 2008, Gillespie interviewed Ferguson as part of an experimental interactive media studies class taught via videocam for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Watch the discussion with Ferguson, Gillespie, and the students of IMS 390B by going here. Among the topics covered: Land of Lincoln, Ferguson's dislike of Twitter, and his years as a speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush. About 50 minutes.

3/11/2011 Update: Ferguson's book is temporarily sold out at Amazon. To purchase at Barnes & Noble, go here.

What We Saw at the Students For Liberty Conference 2011

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

Reason.tv attended the Students For Liberty International Conference 2011 at the George Washington University in Washington, February 18th to the 20th.

Students For Liberty is a nonprofit organization geared toward aiding libertarian student groups on campus and abroad. Formed in 2008, SFL has grown from thirty students to over 500 and begun to gain the media attention of Fox Business Network and Stossel. Reason.tv sat down with Co-founders Alexander McCobin and Sloane Frost, Executive Board Member Ankur Chawla, Communication Manager Blayne Bennett and SFL Student of the Year 2011 Michelle Fields to talk about the organization’s exceptional growth and if it is connected to a increased interest in libertarianism in the general public. Reason.tv also interviewed the students attending about why they are libertarian and what they hoped to take away from the conference.

Approximately 3 minutes long. Shot and edited by Josh Swain. Interviews by Swain with assistance from Reason Foundation research assistant Harris Kenny and Communication Specialist Katie Hooks.

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Check out Reason.tv's interview with Michelle Fields produced Novermeber 29, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcDFHM76zKs

Virginia Postrel on Oscar Glamour, Chris Christie, and Whether J.Lo Could be Obama's Mentor

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST

"We know way too much about Bill Clinton," and that's why—as charismatic as he may be—the former president just isn't glamorous. So says Virginia Postrel, Editor-in-chief of DeepGlamour.net and columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

Postrel, formerly the editor of Reason, sat down with Reason.tv's Ted Balaker to discuss Oscar glamour, the ascent of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and whether J. Lo could be President Obama's glamour mentor. (This Saturday check out Postrel's column for more on Oscar-style glamour.)

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

Run time approximately 10 minutes.

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Nick Gillespie Appears on Fox News Red Eye

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

Reason.tv editor in chief Nick Gillespie appeared Fox News' Red Eye to discuss various topics, including Wisconson's union protest, Middle East uprisings, Jeopardy's latest robotic-winner and a new beer marketed to the gay community. Airdate: February 18, 2011.

Approximately 40 minutes.

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The Spirit of Mount Vernon: The Return of George Washington's Whiskey

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

Many know George Washington as a general and statesman, but few think of America's first president as a preeminent entrepreneur, operating the most successful whiskey distillery in the late 18th century. At its height, Washington's distillery produced over 11,000 gallons of liquor a year, supplying the surrounding area and becoming one of his most lucrative business ventures.

At Washington's former plantation, Mount Vernon , a group of historic interpreters are looking to bring this story to a wider audience. Thanks to a fully functioning replica of Washington's distillery (and special dispensation from the Virginia General Assembly), George Washington's rye whiskey is once again being made and sold to the public.

In November, Reason.tv followed the entire process as Dave Pickerell, Master Distiller and former Vice President of Operations for Maker's Mark, and Steve Bashore, Mount Vernon Distillery Manager, oversaw a two week production run while adhering as strictly as possible to 18th century means and methods. The result is an 80-proof reminder of the nation's first president and the entrepreneurial ideals of colonial America.

Shot, edited and produced by Meredith Bragg. Music by www.audionautix.com. Approx. 6 minutes.

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Another Mexico: A Conversation with Storyteller Sam Quinones

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:00:00 EST

Sam Quinones covers immigration, drug trafficking and gangs as a reporter for the Los Angeles TImes.

Quinones is also the award winning author of two books: True Tales from another Mexico and Antonio's Gun & Delfino's Dream. The books are collections of nonfiction stories Quinones wrote while living and working as a free lance writer in Mexico.

Instead of writing stories about the official and bureaucratic Mexico we see on TV, Quinones focuses on "another Mexico," the regular people without influence on the fringes of Mexico's paternalistic political system. These are the independently minded people who dare to live their own lives, start businesses and risk everything to pursue their dreams in the US.

Reason.tv's Paul Feine sat down with Quinones to talk about popsicle kings, drag queens, cults, corruption, migration and the future of Mexico.

Approximately 13 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning. Still photography by Sam Quinones.

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Michael Moynihan Discusses Time's Person of the Year Mark Zuckerberg on CBC

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Reason Senior Editor Michael Moynihan discusses Time Magazine's Person of the Year Award 2010 winner Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and alternative choices such as Twitter or Julian Assange on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Airdate: December 15, 2010.

Approximately 3.50 minutes.

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Hollywood Hates Capitalism - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Edition

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EDT

Oliver Stone's uber-villain Gordon Gekko is back in the new film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which (surprise!) features greedy capitalists behaving badly. It might remind you of Avatar, Mission Impossible 2 or roughly a zillion other films in which capitalists destroy the environment, concoct killer viruses, harvest organs, and cover up murder in order to feed their lust of profit. Even when capitalism isn't the primary target, the representatives of commerce are often flat-out repulsive (think Jabba the Hutt).

Perhaps it's ironic that Hollywood filmmakers practice what they preach against. Sure he palls around with socialist dictators Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, but there's no doubt Oliver Stone hopes to rake in obscene profits with his new flick.

Approximately 1.35 minutes.

Written and produced by Ted Balaker; Associate Producer: Paul Detrick; Post Production Supervisor: Hawk Jensen

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Related: Killer Chic: Hollywood's Sick Love Affair with Che Guevara

The Relentless Revolution: Joyce Appleby on the History of Capitalism

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 06:00:00 EDT

"Exploitation is not exclusively capitalist, but wealth creation is." So says Joyce Appleby, professor emerita at UCLA and author of the new book, The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism.

Although she criticizes certain aspects of capitalism, Appleby credits it for producing countless marvels of the modern world. "If you want this level of enjoyment," says Appleby, "Science, the arts, food, transportation, information—then you have to realize what's generating the wealth to create it."

Reason.tv's Ted Balaker sat down with one of our nation's most accomplished historians to discuss the history of capitalism, how capitalism stacks up against competing systems, and why Americans should root for a wealthy China.

Approximately 8.00 minutes.

Interview by Ted Balaker; shot by Paul Detrick, Hawk Jensen and Alex Manning; edited by Detrick.

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Three Things Politicians Could Learn from the UFC: Lex McMahon on the rise of mixed martial arts

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 09:30:00 EDT

In the mid-90s pundits and politicians had nearly forced mixed martial arts to tap out. Ardent boxing fan Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) led the charge against the new sport, slamming it as "human cockfighting." Cable companies shunned the sport and nearly 40 states banned it. And yet today, MMA has not only survived, it's become a global juggernaut, dominating pay-per-view events, and perhaps even proving safer than McCain's beloved sport of boxing.

Lex McMahon has witnessed the rise of mixed martial arts firsthand. McMahon runs Alchemist Management with CEO and three-time Grammy Award winner MC Hammer, and the two manage some of the best fighters in the world, including Nate Marquardt, who headlines Wednesday night's UFC Fight Night 22 and Brendan Schaub, who takes on Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 121 on October 23.

McMahon sat down with Reason.tv's Ted Balaker to weigh in on the improbable mainstreaming of MMA, how promoters learned that improving safety would attract more fans, and what this most cosmopolitan of sports does to foster an environment of innovation.

Approximately nine minutes.

Interview by Ted Balaker. Shot by Hawk Jensen, Alex Manning, and Paul Detrick. Edited by Balaker. Music by doublethink; available at Magnatune.

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Anchor Brewing Company: A conversation with craft beer pioneer Fritz Maytag

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:30:00 EDT

Fritz Maytag, longtime owner and brew master of the Anchor Brewing Company, is a central figure in the story of the American craft beer revolution. When Maytag bought Anchor Brewing Company in 1965, he blazed a new trail in the beer industry. At a time when the market was increasingly dominated by big breweries selling inexpensive, watery lagers, Maytag decided to devote his life to creating more flavorful and traditional beers.

While Maytag worked to improve the quality of Anchor's beer, the number of breweries in the US continued to dwindle, and by 1980 there were fewer than 50 breweries in the United States. But then everything began to change. To the home brewers in the Bay Area who began opening their own small breweries in the 80s and 90s, Maytag was both an inspiration and a mentor. Today, astonishingly, there are more than 1500 breweries in the US.

The craft beer revolution is part of what Maytag calls the "food renaissance." Over the past few decades, economic, political, and cultural freedom—coupled with a uniquely American sense of entrepreneurship—has produced more and better choices for American consumers. Remember how difficult it was to find a decent cup of coffee, let alone an espresso, in the 1970s? Well, today we routinely enjoy outstanding coffee, artisan breads and cheeses, superb California wine and, of course, great American beer.

On behalf of craft brew lovers everywhere—thanks, Fritz!

(Maytag recently sold Anchor Brewing Company to the Griffin Group in an arrangement that will maintain the time-honored traditions of the brewery.)

Approximately 10 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine 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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Richard Florida Discusses The Great Reset of Urban Development in Economic Downturns

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:00:00 EDT

How is the current economic crisis remaking American cities?

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Richard Florida, author of The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity. Florida discussed the housing bubble, high speed rail, and how economic shifts give rise to new urban landscapes called "megaregions."

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and Josh Swain. Edited by Josh Swain.

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Experimental Economist Bart Wilson on the Meaning of "Fair"

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:20:00 EDT

Politicians and pundits often use the word "fair" to describe policies they favor. But what does "fair" really mean?

Chapman University experimental economist Bart Wilson argues that fairness should not be construed as equality of outcome, but as a process in which everyone plays by the rules and honors agreements. When lawmakers obscure the definition of this word, it may result in policy that is ineffective, arbitrary, and fundamentally unfair.

Approximately 8:50. Interview by Zach Weissmueller and shot by Austin Bragg. Edited by Weissmueller.

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Paul Revere and His Relevance to Contemporary America with Author Joel Miller

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Is Paul Revere still relevant in contemporary America?

Joel Miller, author of The Revolutionary Paul Revere, says he is. Miller sat down with Reason.tv Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie to discuss the man, his famous ride, and his relationship to the contemporary political landscape.

"There are an awful lot of corollaries to people today who are frusrated with government," says Miller. And that's nothing new: "You go back throughout English history you'll find uprising after uprising about taxes..."

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg, Josh Swain and Dan Hayes. Edited by Swain.

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Robert K. Elder on The Last Words of The Executed

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:05:00 EDT

What's the cultural and political significance of the dying utterances of people condemned to death?

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie sat down with Robert K. Elder, author of The Last Words of the Executed, to discuss the final words people executed by the state, ranging from Sarah Goode, a victim of the Salem Witch Trials, to Gary Gilmore, the Utah murderer who became a pop phenomenon in the 1970s, to Karla Faye Tucker, a killer who famously said she had an orgasm every time she swung a pick axe into flesh during a brutal double murder.

Approximately 8.30 minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes, Meredith Bragg and Josh Swain. Edited by Josh Swain.

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L.A. May Day

Fri, 07 May 2010 06:00:00 EDT

Concern, fear, and outrage over Arizona's controversial new immigration law set passions high for the estimated 60,000 marchers at what is reportedly the nation's largest May Day event. Reason.tv took to the streets to get a firsthand view of the demonstrators and their concerns.

Filmed and edited by Hawk Jensen. Approximately 5 mins.

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Bring Back The People: Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey, Episode 6

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:00:00 EDT

No city can exist without people, and Cleveland has lost more than half its population since the 1950s. Yet the city still boasts amazingly affordable neighborhoods, down-to-earth charm, a rich history, a stunning and varied landscape, and diverse ethnic and cultural scenes. How can Cleveland become a destination where people flock to pursue their personal versions of the American Dream?

Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey is written and produced by Paul Feine; camera and editing by Roger Richards and Alex Manning; narrated by Nick Gillespie; music by the Cleveland band Cats on Holiday. This is the sixth of six episodes which will air March 15-19, 2010.

Approximately 10 minutes long. Scroll down for iPod, HD, and audio versions of this video.

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Red, White, and Sacrebleu

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:00:00 EST

From wine elves to classy pitchmen, American winemakers have tried just about everything to challenge the dominance of French vintners. And yet, with infamous labels like Ripple and Thunderbird, Yankee wines had long endured the reputation of being good for just one one thing—getting blitzed.

So it must have seemed like a cruel joke in 1976 when a British wine merchant arranged The Paris Tasting, a one-of-its-kind competition that pitted mighty France versus lowly America in a blind taste test judged entirely by Gallic wine experts.

But as viewers of the movie Bottle Shock and the documentary Mondovino can tell you, the unthinkable happened: America took home top honors for both red and white wine.

The Paris Tasting made Mike Grgich an instant legend, but back then, even the maker of the winning white couldn't believe he had won. "I said are you sure it's me?" recalls Grgich. How could this American, an immigrant who fled communist Yugoslavia, shock the world?

The French wanted to find out, so Jean-Noël Fourmeaux, an official government wine taster became a wine spy. He headed to California to discover how, in the span of a couple of decades, American winemakers progressed from Thunderbird to Grgich's award-winning white.

Fourmeaux encountered a freewheeling atmosphere of technological and cultural innovation—one that attracted the likes of Squire Fridell of Glen Lyon Vineyards, a winemaker who has his own reason for smiling at America's emergence as a leader in wine. Fourmeaux pondered what he could create by mixing French tradition with Yankee innovation, and it led him to a most unexpected decision.

"Red, White, and Sacrebleu" is written and produced by Ted Balaker, who also hosts. Director of Photography: Alex Manning; Field Producers: Paul Detrick and Hawk Jensen; Production Associates: Zach Weissmueller and Tannen Wels.

Special thanks to D'Argenzio Winery and the Wine Institute.

Approximately 7.30 minutes. Scroll down for embed code and downloadable versions.

To sign up for Reason.tv's YouTube page, go here.

Buy American Pot: A Special Message From The AMGA

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:17:00 EST

We all know that a lot of people are harmed by prohibition, but who benefits? Strangely enough, some of the biggest beneficiaries are the bootleggers. Sure, they take a big risk, but black marketeers don't have to pay taxes, they're protected from foreign competition, and they benefit from artificially inflated prices. Talk about protectionism.

What kind of message would an honest American Marijuana Growers Association have for us? "Thank you for your support of marijuana prohibition and buy American pot!"

"Buy American Pot" PSA was produced by Paul Feine, Alex Manning, and Hawk Jensen.

The farmer is played by Alexandra Fulton, who also has a pages on Facebook and IMDB.

For downloadable versions and embed codes, scroll down.

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Rand-O-Rama: The Long Shelf Life of Ayn Rand's Legacy

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Few authors have ever achieved the popularity that the novelist and essayist Ayn Rand (1905-1982) did. With the publication of The Fountainhead in 1943 and Atlas Shrugged in 1958, Rand became a full-blown cultural phenomenon, selling millions of books and inspiring countless readers—ranging from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner to actress Angelina Jolie—with her moral defense of capitalism. A refugee from Soviet Russia, Rand argued that capitalism was the best way of organizing society not simply because it was more efficient than communism but because it allowed the individual to fill his or her potential. A self-declared "radical for capitalism," Rand emphatically rejected collectivism of all stripes and embraced "man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."

Decades after her death, Rand's work is hotter than ever. In an age of massive government intervention into every aspect of the economy and personal lives, sales of her books are way up and a movie version of Atlas Shrugged is in the works. References to Rand are everywhere from Mad Men to The Colbert Report to The Simpsons and there's even a new critical appreciation, as evidenced by two new biographies, Ayn Rand And The World She Made and Goddess of The Right.

Approximately four minutes long and produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie, "Rand-O-Rama" analyzes the 21st-century Rand renaissance.

It is part of the Reason.tv series Radicals For Capitalism: Celebrating the Ideas of Ayn Rand. Go here for more information, other videos, and related materials.

Stalking Jefferson's Moose and Taking Notes on the State of Cyberspace

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:00:00 EDT

Reason contributor David Post teaches cyberlaw at Temple University and blogs at the Volokh Conspiracy. Long recognized as one of the most original thinkers about the Internet and digital culture, he is the author of the widely acclaimed new book In Search of Jefferson's Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace.

Post recently sat down with Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie to talk about the cutting edge in intellectual property, constitutional history, what the Internet tells us about the economic crisis, and much more.

Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg and edited by Roger Richards. Approximately nine minutes.

For an audio podcast, go here.

Screenwriting for Hollywood

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EDT

At Reason Goes Hollywood, our 40th anniversary bash held November 14-15, 2008 in Los Angeles, Reason.tv's Paul Feine interviewed screenwriters Paul Guay (best known for Liar, Liar) and David H. Steinberg (Slackers, American Pie 2) about what it takes to make it in the entertainment biz, especially when your politics diverge from a very narrow set of acceptable positions.

Approximately 50 minutes.

For an audio podcast version of this conversation, go here.

For more video from Reason Goes Hollywood, go here.

The Business of Hollywood

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EDT

At Reason Goes Hollywood, our 40th anniversary bash held November 14-15, 2008 in Los Angeles, Reason.tv's Ted Balaker led a lively discussion on "The Business of Hollywood," especially as it pertains to creative work that challenges a stultifying left-liberal consenus in movie industry.

Panelists included Moving Picture Institute co-founder (and Reason Foundation supporter) Frayda Levy, Lionsgate Entertainment vice chairman Michael Burns, and Disney Channel co-founder Jim Jimirro. The conversation covered ground ranging from the Atlas Shrugged movie to Mad Men to the effect of popular culture on political attitudes.

Approximately 40 minutes.

For an audio podcast version, go here.

For more video from Reason Goes Hollywood, go here.

The Reason.tv Talk Show, Episode 12

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Michael C. Moynihan and Nick Gillespie sit down with Dayo Olopade, Washington reporter for The Root, and Nick Schultz, is Editor-in-Chief of The American, to discuss Obama-era gentrification, web journalism, and the stimulus as an "investment in America's future."

Approximately 20 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Click here for an archive of previous episodes of the Reason.tv talkshow.

Politics & Culture in Obama's America

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST

At Reason Goes Hollywood, our 40th anniversary bash held November 14-15, 2008 in Los Angeles, Reason magazine Editor in Chief Matt Welch led a discussion with Reason Foundation Vice President of Research Adrian Moore and Big Hollywood's Andrew Breitbart about what's next in politics and culture in Obama's America.

Go here for an audio podcast version.

Killer Chic

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:29:00 EST

Gisele Bundchen wears him on the runway, Johnny Depp wears him around his neck, and Benicio Del Toro becomes him in the new, highly acclaimed, two-part epic film from Steven Soderbergh, Che. Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the revolutionary who helped found communist Cuba, is the celebrity that celebrities adore. And be it Madonna, Rage Against the Machine, or Jay-Z, musicians really dig Che.

It’s something that baffles Cuban jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera. “Che hated artists, so how is it possible that artists still today support the image of Che Guevara?” Turns out the rebellious icon that emblazons countless T-shirts actually enforced aesthetic and political conformity. D’Rivera explains that Che and other Cuban authorities sought to ban rock and roll and jazz.

“Che was an inspiration for me,” D’Rivera tells reason.tv. “I thought I have to get out of this island as soon as I can, because I am in the wrong place at the wrong time!” D’Rivera did escape Cuba, and so far he’s won nine Grammy awards playing the kind of music Che tried to silence. But D’Rivera says Che’s crimes didn’t end with censorship. “He ordered the execution of many people with no trial.” Che served as Castro’s chief executioner, presiding over the infamous La Cabana prison. D’Rivera says Che’s policy of killing innocents earned him the nickname—the Butcher of La Cabana.

“We’re rightly horrified by fascist murderers like Adolph Hitler,” says reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie. “Why aren’t we also horrified by communist killers?” Certainly, Che’s body count isn’t anywhere near Hitler’s. But what about someone Che idolized, someone whom he might have liked to wear on his chest?

“Che, Castro, all the communist regimes idolized only one thing that Mao personifies—violence.” Kai Chen grew up in China under the reign of Mao Zedong. Although he won gold medals for China’s national basketball team, Chen’s was far from the celebrity life of an NBA star. Says Chen, “You have no right to talk, and you have no right to think.”

The punishment for questioning Mao’s authority was often death. The Black Book of Communism estimates that Mao is responsible for the deaths of 65 million people—a figure that dwarfs even Hitler’s body count. “Mao is a murderer,” says Chen. “The biggest mass murderer in human history.”

And yet, like Che, Mao’s image is becoming an increasingly popular way to move merchandise. You can buy Mao t-shirts, mugs, caps—you name it. Near Chen’s Los Angeles home there’s even a restaurant called Mao’s Kitchen. “Can you imagine a restaurant called Hitler’s Kitchen?” asks Gillespie.

Neither D’Rivera nor Chen understands why communist killers are considered Chic, but each finds his own way to have the last laugh on these anti-capitalist icons.

"Killer Chic" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Director of Photography is Alex Manning.

Closing music, "Che Guevara T-Shirt Wearer," courtesy of The Clap. Listen to the whole song here.

Victory at San Tan Flat!

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:00:00 EDT

When Drew Carey and reason.tv last checked in on San Tan Flat, a family-oriented restaurant in Pinal County, Arizona the father-and-son owners Dale and Spencer Bell were fighting against a ridiculous, anachronistic, and anti-business ban on outdoor dancing. Check that video out here.

What a difference a video—and ongoing litigation courtesy of the libertarian public-interest law firm the Institute for Justice—makes! As The Arizona Republic reports:

Pinal County Superior Court Judge William O'Neil overturned a decision from the county Board of Supervisors that said the country-Western-themed restaurant was operating an illegal dance hall by allowing patrons to dance to live music on its back patio.

The judge's ruling brings closure to the conflict between the county and restaurant owner Dale Bell, who have been at odds for more than two years after San Tan Flat neighbors complained about noise coming from the property.
The saga of San Tan Flat drew national attention, prompting commentary from actor Drew Carey and conservative Washington Post columnist George Will. The case also received several comparisons to the 1984 Kevin Bacon film Footloose, in which a small town bans rock music and dancing.

The Age of American Unreason: Nick Gillespie Q&A with Susan Jacoby

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On C-SPAN's Book TV, reason's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with Susan Jacoby, author of the new book The Age of American Unreason, to talk about anti-intellectualism on the right and left, trends in popular culture, and what Jacoby sees as a dangerous decline in the level of academic and political discourse.

From C-SPAN's description of the book:

In "The Age of American Unreason," Susan Jacoby offers a critique on American society and says that the combination of anti-intellectualism and anti-rationalism in American culture is becoming a serious problem. In the book she focuses on issues including society's addiction to mass media, ineffective educational systems, and religious fundamentalism.

It's a spirited and intense conversation between a cultural pessimist and a cultural optimist that lasts for about an hour.

Clandestino

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:01:00 EDT

Manu Chao is a French-born musician and political activist whose parents fled Franco's dictatorship in Spain in the 1950s.

"Clandestino" (1998) is a song about the plight of undocumented people everywhere.

Here are the English lyrics:

Alone I go with my sorrow
Alone goes my sentence
To run is my destiny
To escape the law
Lost in the heart of the great Babylon
They call me
clandestine
For not having any papers

To a city of the north
I went to work
I left my life
Between Ceuta and
Gibraltar
I'm a line in the sea
A ghost in the city
My life is forbidden
So says the authority

Alone I go with my sorrow
Alone goes my sentence
To run is my destiny
For having no papers
Lost
in the heart
Of the great Babylon
They call me clandestine
I'm the lawbreaker
Mano negra clandestine
Peruan clandestine
African clandestine
Marihuana illegal

Alone I go with my sorrow
Alone
goes my sentence
To run is my destiny
To escape the law
Lost in the heart of the great Babylon
They call me
clandestine
For not having any papers

School House Rock! Tyrannosaurus Debt

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:01:00 EDT

To Americans who grew up in the 70s, "School House Rock!" is as familiar as "Sponge Bob Square Pants" is to children today. And now that the series is available on DVD as well as YouTube, a new generation can sing along to "Lolly Lolly Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here," "Three Is a Magic Number" and, of course, "Conjunction Junction."

But even Generation Xers who were steeped in School House Rock! every Saturday morning may not be familiar with "Money Rock," a series created in the 90s when the "School House Rock!" band got back together for a revival tour.

As was evident in the "America Rock" series (see, for example, "No More Kings" and "Sufferin' Till Suffrage"), "Money Rock" emphasizes themes that libertarian-leaning folks everywhere can appreciate.

"Tyrannosourus Debt" is the hands down favorite in my house. Watch the ending closely and you'll see a cameo by "Bill."

(As of March 2008, the US national debt is $9.4 trillion--approximately $31,000 per US citizen. The debt is growing at a rate of $1.65 billion/day.)

Obama Office Decor

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:12:00 EST

One story in this local news piece on the upcoming Texas primary is that an interior design choice (the flag, to the right of the small Obama poster, emblazoned with Che's Guevera's iconic mug) made inside an Obama campaign office wasn't a story. Check that. It wasn't a story for the local news team, but conservative bloggers are pouncing.

What a shame if this becomes a left-right thing. No doubt there are plenty of righties who will overreact. Some perspective: The web site of the Fox affiliate that ran the piece notes that the office is run by volunteers and is not an official Obama campaign office. Plus I doubt Barack has ever sported a Che T.

But perspective cuts both ways. Here's hoping we can one day get to the point where Communist thugs provoke the same revulsion as, say, Nazi thugs.

And come on Obama volunteers, at the very least, Obama's likeness should have been bigger than Che's.

RELATED: The Cult of Che

RELATED: My 1999 review of The Black Book of Communism

The Singing Revolution

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:49:00 EST

THE SINGING REVOLUTION, a new film by Jim Tusty and Maureen Castle, tells the extraordinary story of the Estonian people's struggle for the freedom in the face of Soviet oppression.

The film's website is here .

Kurt Loder on Technology and Freedom

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:04:00 EST

On Friday, October 26, reason Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie interviewed Kurt Loder for the conference Reason in DC.

A legend for his work in Rolling Stone and at MTV, Loder is an outspoken libertarian--and a harsh critic of the nanny state in all its manifestations.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Loder discusses technology, freedom, the coming collapse of traditional news media (and why that's a good thing), the misguided (and ultimately ineffective) attempt to shut down free expression, and much more.

Oral Sex Epidemic

ted.balaker@reason.tv (Ted Balaker) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:53:00 EST

This week Matty Ballgame's Laugh Lounge (upstairs at Red Rock in West Hollywood) achieved a noteworthy first--booting out an audience member (boozy Susan from Texas). The final straw: Susan staggers on stage and simulates a sex act on my brother, who hosts and runs the show. ("Godfather" Mulvihill has more post-game here; RELATED: I've heard good things about Jamie Kennedy's new documentary, Heckler.)

Post-Susan, Laugh Lounge comics went back to dispensing top-shelf comedy. In the above clip, Chris Franjola mulls the writers' strike, To Catch a Predator, and the oral sex epidemic that Oprah says is sweeping our nation's high schools.

RELATED: Periodically, Reasoners point out that kids these days might not be as slutty and rambunctious as pundits say they are (see Kerry Howley here; Nick Gillespie here).

(Laughing at the Lounge)

Matt and Trey in Amsterdam!

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:33:00 EDT

During the summer of 2006, Reason held a 3-day extravaganza in Amsterdam that featured "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Andrew Sullivan, Mart Laar, Johan Norberg and, of course, reason magazine editor Nick Gillespie and his crew.

During their press conference, Matt and Trey talked about "South Park," space cakes, Michael Moore and the secret to succeeding in Hollywood.

NY Times columnist John Tierney interviewed Matt and Trey at the event. You can read his article, "South Park Refugees," here.

And you can read "South Park Libertarians," a transcript of reason's on-stage discussion with Matt and Trey, here.