D Magazine's EarBurner

Our own Mike Piellucci talks about one of the world's best bull riders, John Crimber, who lives with a bunch of other badass Brazilian bull riders in or near Decatur, Texas. Kathy Wise reveals her secret nicknames and the difference between her marriage and that of Tim Rogers. Also: Cooper Flagg! Kathy gets a bit quiet during this portion of the podcast, as Tim and The Looch go deep on the Mavs' No. 1 overall pick. Stay tuned for maybe the dumbest question Tim has ever posed: "Do you believe in spaceships?" Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

We discuss meat and the proper smoking thereof. Plus what is "motorcycle paint" and who in the D Magazine office is most likely to assassinate whom? Oh! Also, we reveal a secret Thai menu at a restaurant in Allen. But that's all.  Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

D Magazine's dining critic, Brian Reinhart, joins Tim and Kathy to talk about the Dallas dining scene, the origin of Texas toast, how the Rice University mascot got its name, the best pancakes in town, and whether Kathy is insane for suggesting that diners should eat salad with their hands. Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. 

If you listened to the previous episode of EarBurner (and you should), you know that Bobby Abtahi was sitting at the table at the Old Monk as Matt and Tim interviewed Mike Rawlings. When they finished the episode with the former mayor, Abtahi, a former president of the Dallas Park Board, having consumed a statistically significant number of beers, started talking about how the city got into the current mess over the management of Fair Park—at which point Tim and Matt plugged the mics back in and recorded this episode. Abtahi was on the Park Board back in 2018, when it was decided that a nonprofit (Fair Park First) would oversee a new for-profit operator of Fair Park (Spectra, which eventually became the Oak View Group), which operator is now nearly $6 million in the red and asking for a handout.  You know what? It's all very byzantine and boring, and we did a poor job of setting up on the podcast what's at stake and what happened. You should probably just skip this episode.  Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. 

On your November ballot, there will appear 18 proposed amendments to the Dallas city charter, which is quite something. Three of those props—S, T, and U—if they were to pass, would throw the city into chaos. The 59th mayor of Dallas joined Matt and Tim at the Old Monk to talk about why that's the case. While Rawlings (aka His Worship) refused to speculate on the motives of the people behind these props, Tim was not so reserved. (Also, with the passing of Zac, this episode served as a cohosting tryout for Matt. Give us a review, and let us know how he performed.) Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. 

The Oak Cliff Film Fest runs this year from June 20–23. Barak is one of the smartest, funniest dudes in Dallas, so it's always a pleasure to have him on the pod to talk about the film festival he co-founded. Tim struggles with the buttons and levers to play sound from the movies' trailers. Zac and Barak demonstrate their pop-culture literacy. Oh, and we talk about why we haven't seen more assassinations in America. So there's that.  You know why this podcast is free? Because D Magazine still makes money in print. Consider subscribing. It's a deal. 

In another lifetime, Julia was Tim's boss at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Now she's a best-selling author with six novels to her credit. Her latest is Night Will Find You. Zac gives it five stars. Tim confesses he hasn't yet read it, but that doesn't stop him from reading to Julia the worst review of the book he could find on Amazon. Other stuff you'll hear: how Julia approaches the writing process, why editing is better on paper than screens, and if a building can be shaped like a barn without actually being a barn. Also, the city of Decatur catches some shade. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible.

In the May issue of D Magazine, Matt Goodman wrote a story titled "The Lawyer Who Landlords Don't Want to See in Court." That would be Mark. Sort of by accident, he started the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, which now employs 18 people. On a per capita basis, A LOT of people get evicted in Dallas. That's because the justice of the peace courts where eviction hearings happen are a little wildass. So we talked about all that and about why you should care about people getting evicted. And we explored Mark's personal story, how he lost a job in Oklahoma and, without a college education or any real prospects, loaded up his family in a car and drove to Dallas. Why Dallas? It had a lot of highways so he figured it must have jobs. (He wound up as a bouncer at Cowboys in Arlington before eventually making partner at Holland & Knight.) Please consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. Come on! It's like the price of three coffees! Or one coffee and one beer! Or a sandwich at Eatzi's!

James is the artistic director of the Dallas International Film Festival, which runs from April 25 through May 2. We talked about how many movies he had to watch to pick the 145 (so far) that will screen this year. We talked about how much he cries and why his back is giving him so much trouble and whether Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn get back together at the end of The Break-Up. But James also made us talk about this year's DIFF lineup, which features a bunch of world premieres, including a "30 for 30" documentary about—ugh—Dude Perfect. (Not to be confused with Dude, Sweet.) Get in here and get your ears all over it.  Right now: rate and review the podcast. Then subscribe to D Magazine. Seriously.

Megan spent four years researching and writing her new book, City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways. Here's what Richard Florida said about it: "City Limits is a triumph. Megan Kimble echoes Robert Caro exposing how powerful groups like TxDOT are able to take away people's homes, destroy their neighborhoods, and run roughshod over communities with virtually no accountability.” So yeah. We talked about highways and I-345. And about how Megan went on a fishing trip to the Eisenhower Library and discovered something amazing. Oh, also, we talked about her high school basketball career.  Consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. 

Mike used to work at D Magazine. Now he doesn't. But he's got a new podcast that dropped April 11 on Audible. It is titled Hold Fast. Over nine episodes, Mike and two other journalists (Sam Eifling and Trevor Aaronson) chronicle the rise and fall of Backpage.com, the Dallas-born classified ad site that a federal prosecutor called "the world's largest sex trafficking operation." Mike spent three days interviewing Mike Lacey, the founder of the New Times chain of alt weeklies and the man the feds say ran a criminal operation with Backpage.com. In addition to all that, we talked about why Mike escaped Oak Cliff for the suburbs.  Consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast work.

Greg is an SMU professor who hails from Pumpkin Bend, Arkansas. He's also the lead singer for Beekeeper Spaceman and the editor of the Southwest Review. It is under the auspices of the latter that he is launching a new literary festival. Frontera runs April 12 and 13 in three Oak Cliff venues (Wild Detectives, the Texas Theatre, and the Kessler Theater). So we talked with Greg about how you stage a lit fest that feels less like homework and more like a party. And we talked about one of the most amazing physical feats ever performed in the city of Arkadelphia (by him).  If you have a minute, throw us some stars and write a review of the podcast. Then subscribe to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. 

You probably know Joel from his appearances on the Ticket and his Fox Sports work on college football. Along with Curt Menefee, he'll be calling the first-ever United Football League game, at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, March 30, at noon. We got the breakdown on the game, but we also talked with him about why specialization in youth sports is lousy and the fact that he's so cheap that he listens to Spotify with commercials.  You should subscribe to D Magazine. At the very least, rate and review this podcast. Do it.

Over the years, starting in 1992, D Magazine has unintentionally caused the man grief. In this episode, Tim and Zac run through the slights—but only to properly apologize. Also to give Zac a moment to humble-brag. For reference, here is what Eric Celeste's 1992 profile of Aikman looked like with the dumb "Troy Aikman Won't Dance" headline. Here's Aikman on our cover in 2011, when Wick made up a cover blurb that suggested Troy had talked to us about his divorce. And, finally, here's the blog post that made it look as if Tim and Troy were lovers. Again, we're sorry. Subscribe to the magazine so we can keep telling you these silly stories.

Right here you've got another chat recorded on the shady side of White Rock Lake, at Goodfriend. The boys tackle the goofiness of what one local official said about transportation to World Cup matches in Arlington. E.g.: "[W]e wish to have an aggressive travel demand management program to encourage our residents to participate in FIFA." Also they talked about tattoos. 

We're doing a thing. Sometimes we'll have a guest on the pod, sure. But sometimes (if we stick with it), Tim and Zac will simply go to a bar near their houses (Goodfriend) and chop it up as a duo, like Simon and Garfunkel. The hatred for each other will still be there, but they'll make beautiful music together. In this episode, the boys talk about a recent giraffe death at the Dallas Zoo (and whether there are animals smart enough to kill themselves), the proposed ban on horse-drawn carriages (Zac hates them, Tim is right), and Mayor Eric Johnson's footwear at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Allbirds ain't all that). The podcast is made possible by our print pub. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. And give this dang podcast a rating. And write a review. One sentence. You can do it!

Casey is one of the most committed magazine writers working today. When he profiled Leon Bridges for Texas Monthly, he rented a house and bought a crazy-expensive shirt to establish a connection with the recording artist. For his profile of Erykah Badu that ran in the January issue of D Magazine, he hired a team of researchers to help him understand the icon. More than a podcast about magazine journalism, though, this one is about striving to become the best possible version of yourself. And South Oak Cliff football.  Make this podcast (and all of Casey's dreams) possible by subscribing to D Magazine. 

Tim is a Lakewood dad with four kids and a wife who runs a restaurant (Lounge Here) to which he is sometimes summoned to do handyman work. He's also a rockstar, making his name first with Tripping Daisy and now serving as frontman for The Polyphonic Spree. The latter is dropping a new album, Salvage Enterprise, on November 17. We talked with Tim about how recording that album broke him out of a years-long depression and why kids today can't seem to listen to a song that lasts longer than a minute thirty. Also, we talked about whether Jesus ever rode a triceratops and the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research.  If you dig this podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine. 

Start here if you don't know who Joshua Ray Walker is. Short version: Rolling Stone said of Josh: "country's most fascinating young songwriter is a baby-faced, 6XL guitar hero with a Dwight Yoakam voice and songs about suicide and boat-show models." We began our conversation at the Old Monk with Josh telling the story about how he wound up in the hospital, for the first time in his life, with a roommate named Dick who was a mob enforcer. We also talk about F1 and helicopters. And the best Tex-Mex in Dallas. And East Dallas dive bars! If you do dig this episode, consider subscribing to D Magazine. Cheers.

David McCloskey used to work in the CIA. Now he's a novelist and does most of his writing in coffee shops on Greenville Avenue. Which ones? He wouldn't say. Even after Zac and Tim subjected him to extraordinary rendition, he wouldn't break. He also declined to read a sex scene from his new novel, Moscow X, so Tim did the honors, which was gross. For more about David and his wife, Abby, check out Holland Murphy's profile of the couple in which we wondered if they might be the most interesting couple in Lakewood. (They are.) If you enjoy the podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine. Cheers.

This one is a bit of an experiment. When we learned that Catbird, a fancy "Best of Big D" award-winning joint in downtown Dallas' Thompson hotel, was launching a 10-course tasting menu where each course was accompanied by a cocktail and that Catbird would let us preview the experience before the unwashed masses could get their unwashed mouths on it, we were like: "Yes." The idea was that four D Magazine staffers would journalistically investigate this important situation. Our Serious Food People (Brian Reinhart and Nataly Keomoungkhoun) would eat and take notes, while our Seriously Drunk People (Tim Rogers and Zac Crain) would record a podcast as the meal unfolded. A couple of points to bear in mind: Tim served as the (mostly) sober inquisitor and podcast recorder, and the meal wound up falling a bit short of 10 courses. Nonetheless, some strange stuff went down, not least of which was Tim's admission that his parents let him do a birthday shot starting at about age 8.  If you enjoy the podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine. Cheers.

OK, first Zac and Tim talked a bit about how to pronounce Lionel Messi's name and whether his recent performance in Frisco (which Zac witnessed in person) is one of the top five sports moments in the history of North Texas. THEN the lads turned their attention to the wonderful Elizabeth Wattley, president and CEO of Forest Forward, the group working to save the historic Forest Theater in South Dallas and rejuvenate the ZIP code with the lowest life expectancy in all of Dallas County. Elizabeth's deep, intimate knowledge of the history of the neighborhood made for a fascinating conversation. As did Zac's deep, intimate knowledge of early '90s Black fashion.  Two notes: first, we were wrong about the etymology of the phrase "rule of thumb." Wikipedia has it right, if you're curious. Second, if you like the podcast, you should subscribe to D Magazine. 

Michael Sorrell is the president of Paul Quinn, the oldest historically Black college west of the Mississippi. He died in 2008. True story. The man's heart stopped, and his girlfriend Natalie (now wife) performed CPR until medics could arrive and shock him back to life. So we talked about the fact that he's our first undead guest on EarBurner. And we talked about how the pandemic changed people and why those changes have made it harder to run an instution of higher learning. But the main reason we invited Michael onto the podcast was to talk about basketball. He played in college. And after law school at Duke, he played on the courts at the downtown Dallas T. Boone Pickens YMCA—which is about to be sold and torn down. If it weren't for those pickup games, Michael says, he wouldn't today be the president of Paul Quinn. How can Dallas be a great city without a downtown Y?  Some links for you: The Morning News reports that the Y, after being downtown since 1885, plans to abandon the city's core.  Zac profiled Michael in 2021 for our sister publication D CEO. In 2017, Tim ran Kelly Oubre Jr. off the Y's courts when he interfered with the lunchtime pickup game. The Washington Post covered it.  And here's how you can subscribe to D Magazine and help keep the podcast going. 

Nick is in the pantheon of Dallas chefs. His new(ish) joint, the Brass Ram, in the East Quarter of downtown Dallas, occupies a space that once housed the broadcast studio for KLIF, one of the most important stations in the history of American radio. The space, called the Triangle Point Building, also once housed the Dallas Observer. So we bellied up to the Brass Ram bar with Nick and two former Observer staffers, Eric Celeste and our own Zac Crain, to talk about Gordon McLendon, the parrot he trained to say the station's call letters, Zac's previous life as an alt-weekly music editor, the supposed coup Eric orchestrated, and the time a certain editor thought the Observer had been the target of an anthrax attack. Oh! And we talk about restaurants and how Nick names them. We covered a lot of ground. You'll want to listen twice. 

Barak Epstein from the historic Texas Theatre joins us to preview the 2023 edition of the Oak Cliff Film Festival, which runs June 22–25. Movies discussed (some with confusing sound from their trailers!): Going Varsity in Mariachi, The Lost World, Quantum Cowboys, Walker, Stand By for Failure, Don't Fall in Love With Yourself, The Adults, and Earth Mama. Also, we talk about Barak's resurgent baseball career. REMEMBER: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

Once upon a time, Tim was a schoolmate at K.B. Polk Elementary with a guy named David Hale Smith. That fellow wound up becoming kind of a big-deal literary agent, even though DHS wouldn't tell us how much he earned last year. Be that as it may, DHS is part of a cabal responsible for the Dallas Noir Film Festival, which runs May 17–20 ("cabal" is a joke you'll get after listening to the podcast). We talked about books and movies and hamburgers and why Dallas City Council three-time losing candidate Candy Evans blocked Tim on Twitter. Subscribe to D Magazine. Do it now!

Abraham Alexander is buds with Leon Bridges, a connection that helped him get into the studio to record his debut album, SEA/SONS, which dropped April 14. Zac profiled Abraham for the June issue of D Magazine. In this episode, Zac and Tim talk about the profile-writing process, why more than a few musicians have wanted to punch Zac, and how much (or little) recording artists make from Spotify. Oh, also, we play a few songs from Abraham's new album and talk about them. Help us keep this podcast going by subscribing to the magazine. Cheers.

Would you spend $500,000 on a bed? The Swedish company Hästens thinks some of you in town will. They just opened a new store in Dallas. Tim and Zac talk about that and about why Tim sleeps on his couch. BUT WAIT. You're more interested in the Stars' chances in the playoffs? StrongSide editor Mike "The Looch" Piellucci joins us at 17:00 to talk hockey and get you ready for what might (maybe) be a special run. (If you dig this free podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine. That's how we stay in business.)

Y'all, get ready. Tim and Zac are about to become proper influencers. For the first time, they are reviewing a product, a Western pearl-snap shirt made by a Dallas outfit called Snaps Clothing. They talk about the 1978 movie that allegedly launched the Western snap shirt, why Zac's parents made fun of him for wearing snap shirts as a kid, and what the hell the deal is with the magazine Huntin' Fool. Get out a can of dip, and dig in.

EarBurner is still trying to find its sea legs, even after 157 episodes. In this one, Tim and Zac make a long-distance call to Kirby Warnock, out in Big Bend, to talk about his new documentary on Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It screens March 23 at the Texas Theatre. Jimmie will be there. Get your tickets now. THEN the lads talk amongst themselves about the Dallas Morning News reporter who was fired for calling the mayor "bruh" on Twitter. Tim broke that story, and now it's all over the internet, even on Fox News and the New York Post. Ack. A note: here is the 2021 piece that Columbia linguist John McWhorter wrote about White people using the word "bruh." Tim refers to it, and it's worth your time.

This episode is an experiment we're calling an EarBurner Quickie. No guest. It's just Tim and Zac in the podcast kitchen, cooking up a special dish together. For an amuse-bouche, they discuss monster pickup trucks that don't belong in the Whole Foods parking lot. Then the main course: why the mayor of Dallas approaches Twitter like a fifth-round draft pick with a chip on his shoulder. He picks fights. He roasts his "haters." And he makes a fair number of sophomoric references to "Big Dallas Energy." (P.S.: Tim mentions a Cowboys player who tattooed a potato chip on his shoulder, but he couldn't recall his name. It was cornerback Anthony Brown.)

Jay started Cane Rosso with his first restaurant in Deep Ellum 12 years ago. Now the dude employs 520 people in his pizza empire. He's got a salty mouth. He loves dogs. And his two daughters force him to spend a lot of time in airports. Fun connection: the EarBurner guest from the previous episode, Frank Campagna, has done some mural work for Jay. It's almost like we planned it. In terms of show notes, Tim was right about puntata. Please know that. In terms of everything else, this was a banger. Five stars.

If you've lived in Dallas for any length of time, chances are you've encoutered Frank's art. He estimates that he has done more than 1,000 murals in Deep Ellum (many of them to promote performances at the old Gypsy Tea Room). On February 11, he'll have his annual "For the Love of Kettle" show at his Deep Ellum gallery, Kettle Art, with works from dozens of artists, each of which is 9 by 12 inches and priced at $50. Doors open at 7 p.m. for what Frank calls "competitive shopping." We also talked with Frank about the 150th anniversary of Deep Ellum and about the time the South Korean pop group BTS created worldwide headlines when a few of its members dropped in to the gallery. 

GNO is a poet who not long ago put out a collection titled "101 Break Up Poems." In this EarBurner, he explains why he nicknamed himself GNO (pronounced "Gino"), what happened when he told his mom Prince wasn't a girl, and how poetry can save young people's lives. Oh, also, he tells the story about how he wound up doing a McDonald's commercial for the Filet-O-Fish. (If you're reading these words in time for it, you can catch GNO at a poetry-and-cocktails gig on 2/10/23 at the Dallas Institute, where he'll read a selection of his break-up poems.)

Rev. Peter Johnson came to Dallas in 1969 on a mission: to secure distribution for a documentary about Martin Luther King Jr., the proceeds from which would provide for his widow and family. Of the 800 cities around the world where organizers hoped to show the movie, Dallas was the only place that said no—initially. We started our conversation with Peter explaining why he took the assignment so personally and telling the story about the magic moment, with only three days left to spare, when a beneficent stranger walked into his office and brought him to tears. After that, Peter told us about dragging a sack of snakes to Dallas City Hall, cussing out the rapper D.O.C., and getting arrested at a protest just a few years ago. This man is a leader and a legend. WARNING: In describing historical events, the Reverend at a couple points uses the N-word in this podcast. 

Victor's bio sounds like a fabrication: he has summitted the seven tallest mountains on earth, and he built his own submersible to dive solo to the bottom of all five oceans. Oh, and he has traveled to space. We talk about why James Cameron has a beef with him, how bumping into the Titanic got him dragged into federal court, and what we possibly need with a genetically reincarnated wooly mammoth that talks like Ray Romano. 

Mark "Hawkeye" Louis has done the morning show on 96.3 KSCS for more than 30 years. He is radio royalty in North Texas. He's also a runner who has been involved with the BMW Dallas Marathon (this year on December 11) for more than a decade, which is how we got to talking about his nipples and the best way to protect them on long runs. We also talked about jeans, stand-up comedy, why radio stations still broadcast traffic news, and the ship of Theseus paradox. Be forewarned: he swears exactly once in this episode of EarBurner. If you have children, consider abandoning them at a fire station.

Ken is the guitarist for the Old 97's, which is about to celebrate its 30th year together. The man himself is about to turn 60. We talk about his plans for outliving his bandmates, why he owns more than 400 board games, why high school kids don't cruise anymore, and whether Peter Billingsley is actually a gun nut. Oh, and one more thing: we talk about how the band came to star in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which begins streaming on Disney+ on November 25. That last thing seems important. Almost forgot to mention it.

Mark is the architecture critic for the Dallas Morning News and a two-time EarBurner guest. We invited him on to talk about a new plan for Dealey Plaza that he has concocted with some of his smart friends. Mark says the space has become tawdry, and we need to prioritize people over their cars. We also talk about whether Dallas is still a "can do" city, why the Mavericks should rethink their branding design, and our favorite movies ever filmed in Dallas. To prepare yourself for this episode, please first watch this trailer for the 1988 action comedy sexploitation thriller It Takes Two. You won't regret it. 

Julie wrote the young adult novel Dumplin' that became the 2018 Jennifer Aniston movie of the same title. Now she's branching out into some spicy romance with her new book, A Merry Little Meet Cute, about a pornstar who is cast in a wholesome Christmas movie. It's funny. It's raunchy. It's perfect for the season. We talk about whether she is the most famous living person from Arlington, why the water tastes bad in Dalworthington Gardens, if Dolly Parton (who wrote the music for Dumplin') might have sleeve tattoos, and her friend who has hypnagogic hallucinations. Also, she attempts to recall as many euphemisms for genitalia as she can in 30 seconds. 

Melissa is the new head of the journalism program at SMU, a job she took without telling Tim, despite their 30-year friendship. So that was the first matter that had to be addressed. Then we talked about kids today and how screens are ruining their lives—and ours. And why Zac frequently got lost in the office when he worked for American Airlines. And the downside to driving a Ford Maverick. And Bob Costas' teeth.

For the October issue of D Magazine, Kathy Wise, our executive editor, wrote a story that's getting national attention. It is titled "The Most Lawless County in Texas." That, friends, would be Collin County. Read the story here, and then listen to how it all came together. We also talk about the time Kathy nearly died in Toledo, and Tim tells a story about his wife that will probably get him in trouble.

Creuzot was elected the Dallas County District Attorney in a landslide in 2018, taking 60 percent of the votes from his opponent, Faith Johnson. The two are squaring off again, with Johnson this time peddling what Creuzot calls bogus QAnon numbers about crime in Dallas County. So this episode is about politics. But it's also about Creuzot growing up in Houston, toiling in the kitchen of his family's restaurant, Frenchy's Chicken, and his memories of his first job out of SMU law school, working for the cigar-chewing Henry Wade. Also, we talk about weed.

Bonus episode not available on dmagazine.com! For subscribers only! James mentioned in the normal episode that he has been in three car chases in his life. He tells the story of each one, with gratuitous F-bombs from Tim.

James is the artistic director for the Dallas International Film Festival. That means he watches about 600 movies every year. It also means that he has a great story about a wild night with Harry Dean Stanton (R.I.P.). We also talked about what happened to him when, as a kid, he saw E.T. fives times in row and the odd interaction he had one time in a hotel room with Joan Jett when they were both working on a episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. Oh, and we talked about some of his favorite films that will screen at DIFF 2022.

In 1994, The Ticket launched in Dallas with a lineup largely assembled by Mike Rhyner, thereby creating a radio format—guy sports talk—that would be copied around the country. Mike ended his 40-year radio career with a retirement in January 2020. Except not quite. The Old Grey Wolf is returning to the airwaves on 97.1, which has been rebranded The Freak. We talk about who convinced him to come out of retirement, how to fix the Cowboys, what made him move out of downtown Dallas after living there for a decade, and why you're never too old to wing it. 

Tim and Zac interview a legend, the man who helped write some of N.W.A and Eazy-E's biggest songs, the man whose solo debut album, 1989's platinum-certified No One Can Do It Better, pretty much says it all. If you're not aware, Doc's voice was permanently changed by the aftermath of a car crash the same year that album came out. The lads discuss the wreck, Doc's quest to end gun violence in Dallas, and a new Snoop Dogg-produced documentary about his life.

Will is the hyperkinetic, mustachioed founder of the publishing house Deep Vellum and its allied bookstore in Deep Ellum. He's responsible for the reissue of Jim Schutze's book "The Accommodation," about the bombing of Black-owned homes in South Dallas in the 1950s and how White leaders in this city did what they could to duck the civil rights movement. When it was first published, in 1986, it wasn't exactly a bestseller. Now, as part of Big D Reads, 30,000 copies of the book are being distributed in Dallas for free. The entire month of September is filled with events that enrich what is essentially the city's biggest book club. So we talked about all that. And we talked about why Will thinks Tim is like an aggressively onanistic baboon he once saw at the Dallas Zoo.

After 33 years on FOX 4 in Dallas, 27 of them doing the morning show, Tim is throwing away all his makeup and retiring. He tells us how the job has nearly killed him, why he doesn't have much use for social media, and the secret to surviving 100-mile bicycle rides. Also, he ranks the local Tims.

David "Schoop" Schechter worked at the Dallas ABC affiliate, WFAA Channel 8, for 16 years. This week he quit his gig to go work as a national environmental reporter for CBS. In this episode, we talk about "cheerful nihilism" and David's amazing calf muscles. At least five stars.

Brian has been a freelance dining critic for the Dallas Observer and Dallas Morning News; now he's the fulltime food dude for D Magazine. Did you know there might be only 20 people in the country who have such a job? He tells us what goes into a formal dining review, what goes into his mouth when he's not on the clock, and where you can find a secret sushi place that's perfect for a date.