Roundball...talk?!?!?! That's right, it's the HIGH FLYING BIRD episode where we cover Soderbergh's second shot-on-iPhone feature, a 2019 direct-to-Netflix basketball lockout drama starring his old THE KNICK pal André Holland (and a totally different guy named Dr. Edwards). Join us for a great in-person (!) discussion of the intersections of sports, labor, race, and technology, and what exactly Soderbergh is trying to suggest he's really doing with this experimental distribution business. Plus we come up with some genuinely great names for basketball teams. Listen or we'll smoke you like the clown that you are!

Further Reading:

The Revolt of the Black Athlete by Harry Edwards

Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA by Theresa Runstedtler

"Harry Edwards, a giant of sports activism, still has people shook" by Lonnae O'Neal: https://andscape.com/features/harry-edwards-mexico-city-olympics-sports-activism-john-carlos-tommie-smith-1968/

"Michele Roberts vs. the NBA: Why the New Head of the Players Union Is a Hero for Progressive Sports Fans" by Will Leitch: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2014/11/michele-roberts-the-hero-of-progressive-sports.html

"Steven Soderbergh on the High-Speed Production of High Flying Bird" by Brian Raftery: https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/steven-soderbergh-high-flying-production.html

Further Viewing:

JERRY MAGUIRE (Crowe, 1996)

MONEYBALL (Miller, 2011)

LOGAN LUCKY (Soderbergh, 2017)

UNSANE (Soderbergh, 2018)

THE LAST DANCE (Hehir, 2020)

Follow Pod Casty For Me:

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Support us on Patreon:

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Artwork by Jeremy Allison:

https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart

Produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month.

Originally written for Clint Eastwood by friend of the show Elmore Leonard, Richard Fleischer's 1974 Charles Bronson vehicle MR. MAJESTYK is that classic action film setup: a melon farmer accidentally ends up in the middle of a mob hitman's prison transport escape and teams up with a beautiful migrant labor organizer to save his crop. It's a hell of a lot of fun, and probably should have been Patreon episode 3, but here we are. We talk Bronson, small grower economics, and a whole lot about the United Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta, Larry Itliong, and Cesar Chavez. Good ep!

Roger Ebert's profile of Bronson: https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/charles-bronson-its-just-that-i-dont-like-to-talk-very-much

Paul Koslo interview: https://iamlegendarchive.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_10.html

Review of Christian Paiz's Strikers of Coachella: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/coachella-united-farm-workers/

Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers by Frank Bardacke: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2213-trampling-out-the-vintage

As always, thanks to Jetski for our theme music and Jeremy Allison for our artwork. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.

It'll be a lot easier for everyone if you just listen to our episode on UNSANE, Soderbergh's 2018 shot-on-iPhone experiment that's otherwise a pretty solid thriller! Writer Esmé Holden returns to the show after far too long to talk smartphone aesthetics, involuntary holds, whether all doctors are cops or just most of them, the intersections of mental illness and misogyny and transphobia, and a very special man by the name of Gavin de Becker. Wonderful guest, wonderful conversation, check it out!

Heads up: there's a very brief bit of rough audio right when our guest starts speaking, but it clears up quickly.

Further Reading:

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

"Still The Smartest Guy On The Hill 30 Years After Sex, Lies & Videotape: Steven Soderbergh Unravels Hollywood Chaos" by Mike Fleming, Jr. https://deadline.com/2019/01/steven-soderbergh-sundance-slamdance-icon-interview-1202544513/

Further Viewing:

GASLIGHT (Cukor, 1944)

SHOCK CORRIDOR (Fuller, 1963)

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Demme, 1991)

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (Myrick & Sánchez, 1999)

SIDE EFFECTS (Soderbergh, 2013)

TANGERINE (Baker, 2015)

Follow Esmé Holden:

https://letterboxd.com/esmepartii/

https://substack.com/@esmeholden

Follow Pod Casty For Me:

https://www.podcastyforme.com/

https://twitter.com/podcastyforme

https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/

https://bsky.app/profile/podcastyforme.bsky.social

https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme

Support us on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe

Artwork by Jeremy Allison:

https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart

Hosted and produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.