Podcast appearances and mentions of Anthony Hopkins

Emmy-winning actor Matthew Rhys joins Obsessed to talk about his addictive new Apple TV+ horror-comedy Widow's Bay, why the genre-bending series pushed him out of his comfort zone, and how he balanced scares with comedy. He also reflects on The Americans, working with his wife Keri Russell, auditioning for James Bond, playing George Carlin in Saturday Night, and the unforgettable acting lessons he learned from icons like Sally Field, Anthony Hopkins, and Peter Falk. Plus, Rhys shares hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from his career — including the disastrous Shakespeare performance that still haunts him to this day. Follow Kevin Fallon on Instagram ⁠@kpfallon⁠ Follow Matt Wilstein on Instagram ⁠@mattjwilstein⁠ New episodes every Thursday, and Saturday; ⁠early drops on YouTube⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Drew and Travis don The Mask of Zorro! It's the 1998 historical swashbucker starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, and Catherine Zeta Jones. The Mask of Zorro is our fourth entry in a theme month we're calling Swashbuckle Up: a month of jaunty sword-swinging fun! TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:30 - The Mask of Zorro 00:59:02 - The Shelf 01:07:44 - Calls to Action 01:08:12 - Currently Consuming 01:31:34 - End SHOW LINKS Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Batman Beyond Obsession Lee Cronin's The Mummy GenreVision on Letterboxd Drew Dietsch on Letterboxd Travis Newton on Letterboxd GenreVision on Bluesky Drew Dietsch on Bluesky

On this fresh from the grave episode of Death By DVD filmmaker Jeremy Berkowitz returns to Death By DVD to discuss their life one year after releasing their debut feature film, Sydney. Filmmaking, mental health, physical health, growth, change, autism and more is discussed on this episode that dives deep into what its like to make movies, and what art means. Quit reading and hit play, now! Dive into this episode celebrating and exploring independent film and life itself. Watch Sydney by Jeremy Berkowitz now on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/Sydney-Jeremy-Berkowitz/dp/B0GPD3NXTRVisit the official website of Jeremy Berkowitz : https://www.jeremyberkowitz.com/Official website for Sydney : https://www.sydneythefilm.com/CHECK OUT DEATH BY DVD ON YOUTUBE : https://www.youtube.com/@DeathByDVDDon't forget, Death By DVD has its very own all original audio drama voiced almost entirely by Death By DVD!DEATH BY DVD PRESENTS : WHO SHOT HANK?The first of its kind, (On this show, at least) an all original narrative audio drama exploring the murder of this shows very host, HANK THE WORLDS GREATEST! Explore WHO SHOT HANK, starting with the MURDER! A Death By DVD New Year Mystery WHO SHOT HANK : PART ONE WHO SHOT HANK : PART TWO WHO SHOT HANK : PART THREE WHO SHOT HANK : PART FOUR WHO SHOT HANK PART 5 : THE BEGINNING OF THE ENDWHO SHOT HANK PART 6 THE FINALE : EXEUNT OMNES  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Matthew Rhys joins Backstage's In the Envelope: The Actor's Podcast to discuss his new horror-comedy "Widow's Bay" and Netflix thriller "The Beast in Me." Rhys also goes long on his approach to performing, his American accent, and candid anecdotes with co-stars like Anthony Hopkins, Peter Falk, and Tom Hanks. ... Backstage has been the #1 resource for actors and talent-seekers for 60 years. In the Envelope, Backstage's podcast, features intimate, in-depth conversations with today's most noteworthy film, television, and theater actors and creators. Full of both know-how and inspiration, In the Envelope airs bi-weekly to cover everything from practical advice on navigating the industry, to how your favorite projects are made and personal stories of success and failure alike. Join host Vinnie Mancuso, senior editor at Backstage, for this guide on how to live the creative life from those who are doing it every day: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ ... Follow Backstage and In the Envelope on social media: - https://www.facebook.com/backstage - https://www.twitter.com/backstage - https://www.twitter.com/intheenvelope - https://www.instagram.com/backstagecast Looking to get cast? Subscribe here: www.backstage.com/subscribe Browse Backstage casting listings: https://bit.ly/3mth68e Special thanks to... - Host: Vinnie Mancuso - Producer: Jamie Muffett - Social media: Karen Jenkins, Sky Silverman - Design: Jen Foreman - Additional support: Kasey Howe, Suzy Woltmann, Jenn Zilioli

L'actrice, réalisatrice et productrice était l'invitée du «Buzz TV» pour la promotion de Melpomène, présenté à Cannes dans le marché du film.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Soy un ser humano, no soy un monstruo. Merrick grita, suplica, perseguido por el gentío en la estación de tren de Liverpool Street, en Londres. Le acaban de arrancar el rústico saco que cubre su fealdad. Y como observadores de la ignominia nos preguntamos, no serán más horribles, más feos, los que acorralan a una persona para saciar su curiosidad malsana. La monstruosidad del que se mofa del débil, del deforme, la gentuza que lleva el celador a reírse del paciente, los niños que le arrancan el saco de lona que cubre su cabeza. David Lych se sintió atraído ipso facto por el libreto escrito por De Vore y Bergren, inspirado en las memorias del doctor Treves, cirujano y protector de Merrick hasta su muerte. La deformidad, el sufrimiento inimaginable de un hombre aquejado de una extraña dolencia, con su cabeza, rostro y cuerpo lleno de excrecencias y protuberancias. Una película conmovedora, nos desarma con ese ser vulnerable, un hombre inteligente estigmatizado por su aspecto. Solo le tratan como a un ser humano durante dos momentos en la película, en el encuentro en la habitación del hospital con la actriz teatral – Anne Bancroft- que le llama Romeo, y le coge la mano, y en su postrera liberación de su explotador – Freddie Jones- Los enanos trabajadores del circo le confortan, “Debemos ayudarnos entre nosotros”. El cirujano Treves es un hombre bueno, una lágrima surca su mejilla al ver por primera vez las condiciones y el aspecto de Merrick en la caseta donde es expuesto como una atracción de feria. Para interpretar los personajes de esta historia basada en un caso real se contó con la actores de la talla de John Hurt , que sufrió los rigores horas y horas de maquillaje y tremendas prótesis, y Anthony Hopkins, el altruista médico, que llega a invitar a su casa al paciente, y lo presenta en la sociedad victoriana de la época. Esta noche terminamos la maqueta de una catedral que solo podemos ver en nuestra imaginación… Zacarías Cotán, Salvador limón y Raúl Gallego

In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday.Shauna finally watched the 1991 classic Oscar-winning psychological horror film Silence of the Lambs with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster from start to end, and wants you to watch it again or for the very first time, whatever the case may be, You can catch it on Tubi among other platforms. You can watch the Pop Culture Junkie Podcast on YouTube! Click here: https://www.youtube.com/@popculturejunkiepod/videos We have affordable and rewarding Patreon tiers! Be the first to hear new and uncensored content, if you dare! Click here: https://www.patreon.com/popculturejunkiepodcast/posts Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-junkie/id1536737728 Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/7k2pUxzNDBXNCHzFM7EL8W Website: www.popculturejunkie.comFacebook: PopCultureJunkiePodcastInstagram: @pop.culturejunkieThreads:@pop.culturejunkieBluesky: @pop-culture-junkie.bsky.socialEmail: junkies@popculturejunkie.com Shauna on Instagram: @shaunatrinidad Shauna on Threads: @shaunatrinidadOlivia on Instagram: @livimariez

Zo, still roaming around the 1800's, and Zorro is very much active. He appears when the people, his people cry out for his intervention. His people, the people of California, are on the precipice of great change as they vote on whether or not to become a state of the United States. Those in favor of this monumental move believe that becoming a state would offer some relief from oppression an grant a greater opportunity for freedom, but Zo has heard rumors that there are powerful forces that are working behind the scenes to make sure that California never achieves statehood. Zo has also heard the gossip that Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife Elena are getting a divorce. This would be kind of sad because they seemed like such a lovely couple, but it be like that sometimes.   Episode Chapters 00:02:22 Opening Credits for The Legend of Zorro starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones 00:12:17 Favorite Parts of the 1998 film The Legend of Zorro 01:00:49 Trivia from the swashbuckling action thriller - The Legend of Zorro 01:13:19 Critics' Thoughts on Martin Campbell's The Legend of Zorro   Links: BoxOfficePropherts.com What Went Wrong: The Legend of Zorro Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

"We're gonna be a staaaaaaar!"The Horror Bulls pull back the curtain on Magic (1978), the eerie psychological horror where Anthony Hopkins battles stage fright, fractured identity, and one deeply unsettling ventriloquist dummy. We dig into the slow-burn paranoia, Burgess Meredith's sleaze, and why this film still crawls under your skin decades later.

Zo is transported into a time of change for Spanish California. It's a time of mystery, corruption, intrigue, romance and high adventure. It is a time when the common folk are oppressed by their wealthy overlords and they cry out for justice. The legend who had once defended the people against the chaos has been gone for many years, but Zo hears whispers of his reappearance. There is hope in the air that the people will once again shout out with joy at the sight of their champion and they will once again see their hero in a mask. They will once again cheer for a man as quick as a rattlesnake, as skilled as a scorpion, and as cunning as a fox. Once again a man will wear The Mask of Zorro.   Episode Chapters: 00:05:34 Opening Credits for The Mask of Zorro starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones 00:16:11 Favorite Parts of the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro 01:17:52 Trivia from the swashbuckling action thriller - The Mask of Zorro 01:27:57 Critics' Thoughts on Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro Please leave a comment, suggestion or question on our social media: Back Look Cinema: The Podcast Links:Website: www.backlookcinema.comEmail: friends@backlookcinema.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@backlookcinemaTwitter: https://twitter.com/backlookcinemaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BackLookCinemaInstagram: https://instagram.com/backlookcinemaThreads: https://www.threads.net/@backlookcinemaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@backlookcinemaTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/backlookcinemaBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/backlookcinema.bsky.socialMastodon: https://mstdn.party/@backlookcinemaBack Look Cinema Merch at Teespring.comBack Look Cinema Merch at Teepublic.com Again, thanks for listening.

EPISODE 138 -  “NORMAN LLOYD: CLASSIC CINEMA STAR OF THE MONTH” - 5/4/2026  Few figures in Hollywood history have had careers as long—or as varied—as NORMAN LLOYD.  Spanning nearly a century, his work bridges the worlds of theater, radio, and film, with collaborations that include legends like CHARLIE CHAPLIN, ALFRED HITCHCOCK and ORSON WELLES. Whether appearing on stage, on screen or shaping stories behind the scenes, Lloyd's presence has always carried a quiet intensity and sharp intelligence. Join us as we take a closer look at the life and legacy of Norman Lloyd, our Star of the Month — a man who didn't just witness Hollywood history—he helped create it.   SHOW NOTES:  Stages: Norman Lloyd by Norman Lloyd and Francine Parker, The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1990; Stages: Of Life in Theatre, Film and Television by Norman Lloyd, Limelight, August 1, 2004; Norman Lloyd Career Retrospective, Legacy Collection, Conversations at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, May 4, 2004;  Noir City, Post-Screening Q&A with Norman Lloyd, Palm Springs, May 15, 2011; Shattered Applause: The Lives of Eva Le Gallienne by Robert A Schanke, Dec 9, 1992, Southern Illinois University Press; Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre, PBS, June 26, 1989; Norman Lloyd, Associate of Welles, Hitchcock and Others, Dies at 106 by Eric Nagourney, May 11, 2011; The End of an Era: Norman Lloyd, 1914-2021 by Peter Sobczynski, May 12, 2021; Norman Lloyd, Star of ‘Saboteur' and ‘St. Elsewhere,' Dies at 106, by Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, MAY 11, 2021; TCM Remembers Norman Lloyd, TCM.com, May 13, 2021; Wikipedia.com; IBDB.com TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Movies Mentioned: Saboteur (1942) Starring Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane; Spellbound (1945) Starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck; The Southerner (1945) Starring Zachary Scott and Betty Field; A Walk in the Sun (1945) Starring Dana Andrews and Richard Conte; The Green Years (1946) Starring Charles Coburn and Tom Drake; A Letter for Evie (1946) Starring Marsha Hunt and John Carroll; The Beginning or the End (1947) Starring Brian Donlevy and Robert Walker; The Red Pony (1949) Starring Myrna Loy and Robert Mitchum; Scene of the Crime (1949) Starring Van Johnson and Arlene Dahl; The Flame and the Arrow (1950) Starring Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo; Buccaneer's Girl (1950) Starring Yvonne De Carlo and Philip Friend; The Light Touch (1951) Starring Stewart Granger and Pier Angeli; He Ran All the Way (1951) Starring John Garfield and Shelley Winters; Limelight (1952) Starring Charlie Chaplin and Claire Bloom; Audrey Rose (1977) Starring Marsha Mason and Anthony Hopkins; Dead Poets Society (1989) Starring Robin Williams and Robert Sean Leonard; The Age of Innocence (1993) Starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer; In Her Shoes (2005) Starring Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette; Trainwreck (2015) Starring Amy Schumer and Bill Hader --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact sales@advertisecast.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fifteen years ago, Marvel Studios – with Chris Hemsworth as the title character – brought The God of Thunder to the big screen for the first time. Join The Watchers as we discuss the origin film for The Mighty Thor. #Thor #MCU #PhaseOne #MarvelStudios Thor (2011) is a superhero movie directed by Kenneth Branagh that stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Clark Gregg, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins. Subscribe, rate and review! Follow The Watchers in the Basement on social media! Use #WatchersBasement to comment about the show!facebook.com/watchersbasementtwitter.com/WatchBasement instagram.com/watchersbasementthreads.net/@watchersbasementanchor.fm/watchersbasement#thor #mcu #marvelstudios #marvelcinematicuniverse #chrishemsworth #godofthunder #mightythor #asgard #loki #tomhiddleston #marvel #odin #hammer #mjolnir #mjölnir #natalieportman #janefoster #clintbarton #hawkeye #phaseone #katdennings #darcy #frigga #frostgiant #jotunheim #worthy #ninerealms #midgard #idriselba #norse #norsemythology #norsegods #asgardians #bifrost #rainbowbridge #shield #agentcoulson #heimdall #ladysif #destroyer #godofmischief

On Short-Cuts Dan Slevin reviews: Exit 8 Japanese film where a man is stuck in a looping subway puzzle, Greyhound & Finch – Tom Hanks in WWII naval thriller + post-apocalyptic road trip with a robot and One Life staring Anthony Hopkins as Nicholas Winton who saved hundreds of Jewish children.On this week's edition of Short-Cuts Nights resident screen critic Dan Slevin reviews:IN CINEMASExit 8 - A Japanese man on his way to work is trapped in a mysterious loop while trying to escape the subway. Solving the puzzles will lead him to Exit 8 but any failure takes him all the way back to Exit 0.PAID STREAMINGGreyhound (2020) & Finch (2021) - Two Tom Hanks-led films: Greyhound is a tense World War II naval drama following a rookie commander navigating U-boat attacks in the Atlantic, while Finch is a post-apocalyptic road story about a dying inventor building a robot to care for his dog as they journey across a ravaged America.FREE STREAMING – Māori+One Life - the superb drama starring Anthony Hopkins as Nicholas Winton, who - as a younger man played by Johnny Flynn - saved hundreds of Jews from Nazi-occupied Prague.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Our exit today has us trying to diffuse a bomb using seating at Madison Square Garden. This week, we are talking about Bad Company, written by Gary M. Goodman, David Himmelstein, Jason Richman, and Michael Browning and directed by Joel Schumacher.Along the way, we talk a lot about Anthony Hopkins and Joel Schumacher, along with Die Hard, the Coen Brothers, Hamlet, the World Trade Center, action comedies, and a fun game about 2002 trailers!Theme music by Jonworthymusic.Powered by RiversideFM.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CFF Films⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Ross and friends.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Movies We've Covered on the Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Letterboxd.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Movies Recommended on the Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Letterboxd.

APEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight, host Isabel Li speaks with actresses Amielynn Abellera and Kristin Villanueva, who respectively play Nurse Perlah and Nurse Princess on the HBO Max medical drama, The Pitt. Abellera and Villanueva talk about their Filipino heritage and backgrounds and how they represent Filipina healthcare professionals on the show. See also: Filipinos on the Frontline Amielynn Abellera: Instagram Kristin Villanueva: Instagram Transcript [00:00:00] Opening: Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express.  00:00:52 Isabel Li  Thank you for tuning in to Apex Express. Last Thursday, season 2 of the HBO Max medical drama The Pitt released its season 2 finale, including a hectic season following medical professionals in the emergency room and giving a realistic depiction of real-world issues in hospitals. I'm Isabel Li, one of the hosts here on APEX Express, and I'm so honored to be joined by two members of that cast tonight who play the two Filipina nurses on The Pitt. They were recently awarded the Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.  00:01:28 Isabel Li  First, let's hear from actress Amielynn Abellera, who plays Nurse Perla, a Muslim Filipina nurse on the show.  00:01:36 Isabel Li  Hi Amielynn, what an honor it is to be speaking to you today. Welcome to Apex Express.  00:01:41 Amielynn Abellera  Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be speaking with you, too.  00:01:45 Isabel Li  So many of our listeners might know you from the HBO Max show, The Pitt, which I have so very much enjoyed. This is actually the first medical show that I have watched, and I really, really admire, like, all of the ensemble casts and, you know, everything coming to life. And you play the Muslim Filipina nurse, Perlah Alawi. We'll talk more about your performance and your character in a little bit, but first, this is a question that I ask all my guests: Can you tell us, how do you identify? And is there a story that you think really encapsulates your identity?  00:02:17 Amielynn Abellera  Gosh, I identify as Amielynn Dumac Abellera. She, her, hers. I'm a Filipino American, daughter of two immigrants. And I'm so thrilled and happy to be talking to you and to sharing my experience of my life.  00:02:42 Isabel Li  Absolutely. Of course, The Pitt is a medical show. And is it true that you come from a medical background yourself? Like I heard that you were a psychobiology major in undergrad.  00:02:51 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, I was pursuing medicine for a long time. I studied pre-med in undergrad at Santa Clara University, majoring in psychobiology, which is psychology with basically a minor in biology. I really wanted to get into neuroscience and or be an oncologist. And I was pursuing that all the way till I graduated and applying to medical school and getting interviews. But ever since I was a kid, for as long as I can remember, I was really also passionate about acting and theater and film and television and being on stage. But it was really just seen as a hobby in my mind and in sort of my environment's mind. I never really prioritized it as a career, and it was never seen as a possible career. Um, so I just had it on the back burner. And, you know, I was getting, getting closer and closer to medical school and getting more and more anxious that I would regret not pursuing acting. And so sort of after waffling for many years, I decided to audition for a master's in fine arts and acting. And that was because I didn't really have any formal training in acting. I didn't study it in undergrad or, you know, in my younger years. It was just all through life experience and being in plays and art and everything like that. And so I thought if I get into one of these programs, maybe that means I have something to offer. And I was going to take that as the sign that I needed to give myself a chance. And so I got into two programs, and I was thrilled. And I moved to LA to attend the University of Southern California's MFA program. And the rest is history. Here I am.  00:04:47 Isabel Li  Wow. How does being a former pre-med influence your current role as a nurse on the show? Do you remember any like terms from science classes that you're like, oh, wow, I remember that in those lines.  00:05:00 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, yeah, totally. And you know, I spent a lot of time in hospitals and clinics and my dad is a former family practitioner. He had his own medical practice and my mom is a nurse practitioner and she worked in the CCU in the hospital for many years. So I was really familiar with how nurses interacted with patients and hearing the terminology and the medical language a lot.  So it is a cool throwback and always a really, I love how it's so familiar to me 'cause it's, I still have to work at it quite a bit when, you know, when it's all coming at me and I have to have it down for when we're filming, but I'm not as, as intimidated by it as I probably would be if I didn't have a background.  00:05:50 Isabel Li  And out of curiosity, when you got the audition for the pit, did you have to sort of immerse yourself back into that realm of science and that medical background in order to bring out that character when you were  first being introduced to Nurse Perlah?  00:06:04 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, a little bit. And I feel that with any role, you kind of, before you go in for the audition or even when you're now filming or you have a part, you just have to kind of get into that world, obviously and really put yourself in the actual experience of what this person's going through. And it did help me to be able to use my imagination so vividly from my previous experience of being in an OR and being in a hospital.  I remember when I was doing an internship when I was sort of in the break between graduating undergrad and pursuing medical school, I remember watching a C-section. And I remember — I remember the doctors talking, the surgeons talking, the anesthetic going in, the blood everywhere, the scalpels, the blood pressures, the oxymeter dropping. So, it really — I think back to the real-life fear that I had in all of those those procedures and I just, you know, bring it to Nurse Perlah.  00:07:16 Isabel Li  It's incredible. I want to start off by talking about, for Nurse Perlah specifically, that Perlah's identity is a Filipina and a Muslim nurse.  What did you do to prepare for a role that is so specific in terms of these cultural representations?  00:07:33 Amielynn Abellera  Sure. Thank you for asking that. I am thrilled that Perlah is on television. She is a Filipino American Muslim woman nurse. And I have never seen that. And it's just rarely ever seen on mainstream media. So, in preparing for it, I mean, truly, I had two weeks before we started filming by the time I got the role. And it was go time already. So I didn't have a ton of time, but I did my best to sort of deep dive into learning about the Muslim faith, trying to reach out to different Filipino American Muslims in my community to kind of just hear their experience. And, you know, I quickly learned that it would be impossible for me to sort of understand the full experience completely. And so I just kind of, I realized that the only question that I needed to answer for myself going into filming as Perlah was, is there anything about the Muslim way of life that would influence or adjust or be a part of their nursing or would it shift it at all? And or how would it affect their job?  And, you know, after talking to several Filipino American Muslim nurses, there, there wasn't anything that it would do to either to shift or do anything to get in the way of their patient care. They are, it's still their priority just to care relentlessly for this patient and have as much empathy as possible. And to be honest, I'm still learning as I go along with playing Perlah and as scripts come in and I still ask a lot of questions of how would Perlah specifically understand this procedure or understand this text or understand what she's doing and just keep asking questions.  00:09:30 Isabel Li  And the majority of The Pitt itself takes place on a hospital set. I'm wondering if you had a vision of what Perlah does outside of the hospital?  00:09:39 Amielynn Abellera  Well, I think Perlah is, she's been at this hospital, PTMC, pretty much, this was her first job, she really wanted to work there in this urban setting.  And she's been there probably for over eight years or something, like through COVID. I think she is a single mom and she has two children who are both under the age of 10. So I think she's exhausted, but she loves nursing. She loves her kids. And she is just, she knows how to compartmentalize and work hard and like protect herself. She knows how to leave, at least she thinks she knows how to leave the job at the door in order to go home and be with her children.  00:10:24 Isabel Li  Uh-huh. And is this something, also, I'm just curious, like, is this something that you had to imagine yourself or did some of the writers sort of drop some hints during production?  00:10:35 Amielynn Abellera  I mean, a little bit of both, I think. There are only some hints in the script in the pilot and the first season where it's dropping like, oh, she has some kids and she's exhausted and kind of eye-rolling — Yeah, and pets — And sort of eye-rolling exhausted by what's happening at home. And it's, I am a mother of a five and a half year old. She's almost six right now. So I sort of understand that exhaustion, but like deep love for my child. But it's like, I'm happy to go to work and have them at school, but I'm also missing them. It's just this like journey of a mother. So it was a bit of me sort of creating that backstory, but also just from the hints of the writers.  00:11:23 Isabel Li  Definitely. I think something that's so special about The Pitt as a medical show is its accuracy in depicting the very hectic lives of healthcare professionals, especially in an emergency room setting. So Nurse Perlah is often mediating like some sort of communication and really emphasizing medical jargon or reading off data. What was it like memorizing all of these different lines and delivering it in a way that felt authentic to the way that healthcare professionals might?  00:11:50 Amielynn Abellera  Sure. Oh my gosh. It's really challenging. I think as soon as I get the scripts, and again, thank goodness I have a sort of familiarity with having a little bit of a medical background, but you know, that was years ago. So anytime I get a script, I immediately go to the hard stuff and get that in my brain as soon as possible. And a trick that I do is, as soon as I have it memorized, I'm just saying it all day and doing things with my hands. Like I do it when I'm folding laundry. I do it when I'm washing dishes. I do it when I'm cooking. I'm doing it when I'm driving, just because as soon as it's second nature, and that's the thing about healthcare professionals, they're constantly, like they're not thinking about what they're saying. They're, it's so awesomely competent in their brain, that is not difficult. That's actually like them just having a conversation.  So I love trying to get to that point and showing how Perlah is just so competent in all of that stuff and doesn't even have to think about it while putting in an IV.  00:13:00 Isabel Li  Absolutely. Oh my gosh. And I think like a lot of our listeners, maybe if they watch The Pitt and a lot of audience members really enjoy the lighthearted moments that you share with Princess, also another Filipina nurse played by Kristin Villanueva, especially that Nurse Perlah code-switches with her using Tagalog as a language.  Can you tell our listeners what that code-switching feels like to you and how you relate to Tagalog as a language?  00:13:25 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, totally. Thank you for asking. I, as Amielynn Abellera, the actor, I grew up, I was born and raised in Stockton, California, and my parents spoke Tagalog and Ilocano at home all the time. And unfortunately, they didn't teach me. So I'm actually not fluent in Tagalog at home.  I'm that Filipino American who later in life got voracious about wanting to embrace her heritage and learn it like in her adult life. And I think that translates with Perlah. I do, I think that Perlah is also, was also born and raised in the United States to two Filipinos who came from Mindanao. And even though she had the ear for it, I think that she's learning it later in life. And I think she absolutely is so happy to have, Princess as her buddy because she can practice.  Um, because I think like the only way to learn is to constantly be talking every day. And I think Perlah does that. I think she finds any opportunity to celebrate joyfully her heritage by speaking the language with Princess. I think they both do. So it's really close to, to my own personal experience with Tagalog because right now I am learning Tagalog on my own, taking lessons and things like that in order to teach my daughter as well, just to have it in our life more. But I think that is also what Perlah is doing.  00:14:58 Isabel Li  Yeah. And for you specifically, how and when did you start learning Tagalog?  00:15:03 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, I think it really is. Like I said, my parents came in the '70s to Stockton, California, as a doctor and a nurse. And, you know, that generation, at that time, their priority was assimilation, so they didn't really teach me. And our Filipino-ness was a little bit second place, in terms of, not in a negative way, but it just was, it took a little bit of second priority as opposed to assimilating to our environment in Stockton, California. And so, however, whatever seeds were planted in there to not really pursue Tagalog or pursue, to learn and be curious about my Filipino heritage, that was sort of the majority of my childhood and into my college years. And it wasn't until, I think, college and beyond when I started to Honestly, I think it was when I was exposed to Filipino cultural night in university, at Santa Clara University, where, all of a sudden, I was with all these other Filipino-Americans who had such a voracious sort of celebration and wanting to learn like the dances, the language, the style, the textiles, the clothing, the music, and they would study it and we would, they would just be so passionate about it.  And that really was an experience for me of, oh my gosh, I didn't, it wasn't like I was neglecting it on purpose. It's just, that wasn't in my life. So when that was happening for me, I slowly, slowly really wanted to start learning the language and started taking lessons probably in my twenties. And then, you know, but again, it's a lifelong process to learn another language. It's challenging. Um, and I wish, I wish I was, I wish I was at the level of Perlah where she has a buddy all the time to practice, practice, practice. But I don't have that in my home or in my workplace right now, except with Princess at the hospital.  00:17:28 Isabel Li  Gotcha, gotcha. And currently, at the time of this interview, season two of The Pitt is in progress, and you had some really emotionally nuanced moments in the 12 o'clock episode. I'm not going to spoil it too much, but when Perlah reacts to losing a long-term patient, I'm wondering for you, as an actress, can you tell us about how you're able to switch from some, you know, more lighthearted scenes to moments that really emphasize the darker, heavier aspects of being in medicine, like death and disease.  How do you portray and balance that?  00:18:02 Amielynn Abellera  Sure. Yeah. Thank you for asking. I think nurses are amazing in that way where I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse to be able to compartmentalize such extremes of feeling and experiences of loss of patients on the hour, every hour, and being able to move on to sort of uplift and help other patients on the hour, every hour. But I think Perlah, as such an experienced, competent nurse, has learned how to switch it on, switch it off, but I do feel that something that episode 206 was trying to shine a light on is what of that armor has cracks or what of that armor isn't as strong for certain patients or she or what of that armor is, uh, what if that punch… I'm not able to recover as easily as I usually am? So, um, and I think that must happen all the time with healthcare professionals of what they have to do. I think they have to experience losing loved ones and patients and friends who are patients all the time. And how is it that they get back up to be there for the next one?  So I was– it was ultimately challenging, but I'm so glad that that episode showed that dynamic.  00:19:34 Isabel Li  Speaking of a hospital setting, I imagine it's quite a unique set to be one, and The Pitt definitely emphasizes the realism of being in a hospital. Like, we see lots of different types of medical equipment, hand sanitizer, very relevant, pressing things that make us feel like we're almost, like, engaging with the show in a sense. How do you describe that set?  00:19:56 Amielynn Abellera  To me, I really feel like it's a real hospital. Everything pretty much works almost like the real thing, but it doesn't, right? So like the water fountain looks, smells, feels like a real water fountain and it is until it just doesn't shoot out water, right? Like everything is so amazing.  And I think that's what Nina Ruscio, our set designer wanted to build and working with all the executives was they wanted to build this entire whole hospital to really immerse us in the reality of it. And there, a lot of times there are real needles that we have to close up on, but then when we do something actually, we switch it out for a dull needle. So it is, it's really very, this balance and like a real scalpel that needs to look so sharp, but then as soon as it's, actually near the skin, it is a dull scalpel, and then that's also a prosthetic. So sometimes I can't tell what's real and not real. I just kind of…I just have to jump in and kind of engage with it. And then if it's the real thing, not be freaked out. So yeah, but it's, it's, it's a part of the…It's so, it's so incredibly fun.   I'm so fascinated by this hospital that I basically go to work to like a real nurse at 5:00 in the morning every day for a 12-hour shift. And I put on the scrubs, and then I take off the scrubs. So I kind of feel like so much like a real nurse, but also not.  00:21:42 Isabel Li  How do you think The Pitt has influenced you as an actress? After being on this show, have your goals as an actress changed? What do you see yourself doing in the future?  00:21:52 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, So, I mean, I am really in a dream right now. It feels…like I probably had this dream of, you know, really being invited on a show from its initial season, initial episode, and being a part of a team from the very beginning, originating a role that is representing so many different cultural dimensions, like across the board. And also the show being so successful and having an impact globally, not only for healthcare workers, but, you know, the diversity that is the reality of the world.  So it's hard to think ahead. I kind of just want this to last as long as possible for Nurse Perlah and for Amielynn. And, you know, I've learned to be in my acting career just putting one foot in front of the other and trusting that where it's going will lead to the next piece in my universe. And I– the moment I try to plan something or want something to happen, it will not happen. I think I just have to trust the journey and how the universe will put what's meant to be in front of me.  00:23:17 Isabel Li  And as an actress, what are you the most passionate about doing in any role that you play?  00:23:23 Amielynn Abellera  Well, I love the human experience. I love what that did to me as a young artist and as a young kid and what that ignited in me watching like an actor go through it and it'd be so real and me be so moved. And I love being that vehicle for other audience members. And as the actor, I can feel if I'm hitting a stride with it. And it's a really exhilarating process. And it just reignites why I love being an actor.  00:24:06 Isabel Li  For all the listeners who have watched The Pitt, or for those of our listeners who have yet to watch The Pitt, and they definitely will after hearing this episode — what do you want the listeners or the audience members to take away from watching The Pitt, from seeing you as Nurse Perlah in it?  00:24:23 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, well, first off, I hope you go home and turn on your HBO Max and watch The Pitt to all of you who haven't seen it yet. And I hope you enjoy it. And I just hope that you watch it and are entertained, but also you walk away with learning something about humanity and our healthcare workers and also laughing and crying and being fascinated as much as we are behind the scenes. We're really having such an excellent time creating this show. And we're so thrilled that audience members love it as much as we love making it.  So I hope you have that same exhilaration and elation as we all do here.  00:25:10 Isabel Li  I'll put a link to your social media on kpfa.org so our listeners can follow you there. And thank you so much, Amielynn, for joining me on Apex Express today.  00:25:20 Amielynn Abellera  Well, thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk to you and to share my story. And thank you for listening.  00:25:27 Isabel Li  That was actress Amielynn Abellera, who plays Nurse Perlah, one of the Filipina nurses on The Pitt. And we're about to hear from one more actress from the show. But before that, here's a music break with 7000 Miles by Ruby Ibarra.  00:25:59 [MUSIC: 7000 Miles by Ruby Ibarra]  00:30:07 Isabel Li  And that was the song 7,000 Miles by Ruby Avara here on KPFA.  00:30:11 Isabel Li  Thanks for tuning in to Apex Express tonight, where our next guest is the actress Kristin Villanueva, who plays Nurse Princess De La Cruz, another Filipina nurse on the HBO Max medical show, The Pitt. Hi Kristin, welcome to APEX Express.  00:30:29 Kristin Villanueva  Hi Isabel, thanks for having me.  00:30:32 Isabel Li  Absolutely. My first question for you is, how do you identify and what's your story?  00:30:37 Kristin Villanueva  I am Filipino American. I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines, and I moved to the Washington DC area when I was 15.  00:30:47 Isabel Li  How did you get into becoming an actress?  00:30:50 Kristin Villanueva  Kind of by accident. When I moved to the States and I was at my new high school. I joined the drama program just because we didn't have that in my school in the Philippines and that was something I've always been interested in. So yeah, I auditioned and I didn't know that the drama teacher was a very serious one. Like, you either join the drama club or you play softball, you can't have both. So yeah, that's how I got introduced.  00:31:27 Isabel Li  And at a young age, what kinds of films or movies really inspired you to pursue drama?  00:31:33 Kristin Villanueva  I don't think it inspired me to pursue drama, but my choice of movies, my favorite movies when I was younger is, I would say, is a little bit peculiar for an eight-year-old, for a 10-year-old. But I remember watching Kramer vs. Kramer with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep and it having such an effect in my little eight-year-old self. I was so moved by it. And also Legends of the Fall with Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn and Brad Pitt.  And like, what does a 10-year-old Filipino girl have anything in common with these turn of the century, 19th century, you know, Montana cowboys? You know, it's just so random, but for some reason I just fell in love with it. Maybe I just fell in love with Brad Pitt, but, yeah, those heavy dramas had an impact in me, even though I didn't know exactly what it was.  00:32:35 Isabel Li  So you play Nurse Princess on the HBO Max medical show The Pitt, and which, at the time of this interview, we're, you know, getting towards the finale of season two very, very quickly. I've really been enjoying season two. And first of all, congratulations on winning Outstanding Performance by an ensemble in a drama series. That's so incredible.  00:32:54 Kristin Villanueva  Thank you so much. Yeah, it's been a wild ride.  00:32:57 Isabel Li  Yeah. Can I just say, Princess is such an energetic and confident character, and it's really fun watching you play a healthcare professional in such a hectic setting of an emergency room. What do you do to get in character of Princess?  00:33:11 Kristin Villanueva  Ooh, that's a great question. She has such a vibrant energy when she's at the ED, and I don't need a lot to prep myself to get to that level because I'm just excited to be at the Warner Brothers lot, and being on set and being with very kind people. So it doesn't take a lot to get in that mindset. Maybe if it's a 5.30am call, maybe I need a little bit more coffee to get there. But in terms of my emotion and excitement and energy, I don't need to do that much because, yeah, it kind of, it's parallel in my real life and in Princess's life of just doing what they both want to do. But in terms of, I would say, the difference is, I wish I had Princess's confidence in my life more. You know, she's very confident in everything that she does. You know, she knows she's good, and she isn't shy to show it. Because I think when she shows it, it's not to show. It's just to do, you know? Um, so I wish I have more and more of that in my life.  00:34:35 Isabel Li  For you, what's the most challenging part of playing Princess?  00:34:39 Kristin Villanueva  I would say, well, first, the lines, the medical jargon and the technicality of things. So, thankfully, we have amazing med techs that are always right next to us, correcting us, you know, making us feel more confident, guiding us, answering all our questions. So, yeah, making sure that I look like I know what I'm doing. So that would be, I would say, the hardest part.  00:35:08 Isabel Li  Yeah, and on that note, like in many of her moments, Princess is so often mediating communication for medical information in so many different ways. How do you prepare for a role like that where you have to, I mean, you mentioned some things about needing to like look and act the part and you have some people helping you, but what are some other things that you do to really have you, you know, help practice sounding like a healthcare professional?  00:35:35 Kristin Villanueva  First, I Google everything. And then I make sure I'm able to explain it in my own words, so whatever the procedure is. Don't ask me anything now, because once I'm done filming, it leaves my brain. So yes, I research everything. And then when it comes to memorization, if it's, the nurses have a lot of numbers. We may not have a lot of the long words, Latin words, medicine words that the doctors do, but we have to say a lot of different numbers, you know, BP 160 over 20 and all of that. So what I do is I would record the other people's lines, make leave a space for my lines and just play it all day, every day. When I'm walking the dog, when I'm doing dishes, when I'm folding laundry. So I can get it in my body while I'm doing different things. Because I notice that if I'm just sitting down and memorizing my lines, and then I get to set the next day, and all of a sudden, you know, I'm given all these choreography and I'm moving, or they change the choreography in the middle, that gets really tricky. So doing my lines while moving helps a lot. And then of course, the things that I can Google as much as I can, but then I take advantage of having, like I said, the med techs on set. Then I ask them about their emotional experiences behind procedures. So things I start with, okay, is this procedure an everyday thing? How often do you see it? How often do you deal with it? And then from there, I ask if it's something interesting that it's like they've only heard of but never actually seen in practice. What would you do? They say, if you're not busy, you run to that room and watch it, that kind of thing. And if it's an emotional scene, then I ask them, how do you deal with these things? Then I get to hear their experiences and how they cope with it after the shift.  00:37:53 Isabel Li  Did you know anything about medicine or the emergency room before this role?  00:37:59 Kristin Villanueva  No, I think I'm one of those very rare Filipinos that don't really have a lot of healthcare professionals in their families. I do have a cousin who's a radiologist and my husband's side of family. There are a lot of nurses and that's my mother-in-law included, but no, I have zero.  00:38:20 Isabel Li  Oh, wow. So I watched some of your other interviews and I found it really interesting that you had talked about like telling your agent not to submit you to roles on nurses, on projects, unless it was specifically featured.  Can you tell us more about that and how you navigate like the Filipino representation in medical shows, especially in The Pitt as an actress yourself?  00:38:41 Kristin Villanueva  Sure. I was getting a lot of, I wouldn't say a lot, but I would often get auditions for nurses in medical shows or non-medical shows. And I've played them before and I've been very grateful for those experiences. One of them was a movie opposite Susan Sarandon.  So Susan Sarandon was also playing a nurse. So all of my scenes was with her. So those are very cool experiences. But because I've played them a number of times, then I told my agents at one point, hey, unless, like you said, the nurse part is more featured or has more lines other than yes, doctor, then sure, I would audition because I've done it.  And I also didn't want to perpetuate that sad practice of, you know, okay, let's have one Filipino or one Asian nurse and check that box off.  Because it does feel that way. And it's just not the real world. So when The Pitt came and I saw the breakdown, it's a heftier breakdown for the part of Nurse Princess. I mean, and just looking at her name, Princess de la Cruz, I was like, somebody did the research. I'm like, all right, okay, I'll put myself on tape for this.  00:39:59 Isabel Li  Yeah, and I love how Princess as a character is written to be such a crucial part of the team. Very competent, very quick on her feet. Are there any ways where you, yourself, got to influence how Princess was portrayed, maybe beyond the scripts or, you know, in any ways that you could add to that character?  00:40:19 Kristin Villanueva  I think so? I'm not sure, but I have noticed that in season two, on the scripts, Princess's, looks, eye rolls, stares were now written. Whereas before, I was just doing it. So yes, I think so. Because I didn't have a lot of lines. I still don't have a lot of lines, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have an opinion. And yeah, I was just being truthful in all those moments. So if I feel like something's off or, you know, I don't think Princess has a good poker face. So that made its way into the script recently.  00:41:05 Isabel Li  Oh, I see. Well, the show primarily takes place in a hospital setting. But for you, when you're playing Princess, do you imagine what she does, like, outside of the hospital? Like, who is she outside of work?  00:41:16 Kristin Villanueva  I think when there is an after party or somebody's birthday, someone's baptism, or, I think she's the same. I think she's a work hard, party harder kind of girl. But I can also see her turning everything off and having a lot of deep, quiet solo time that she doesn't talk about much often.  00:41:44 Isabel Li  Yeah, something so cool about Princess is the fact that she can apparently speak six languages. But I wanted to talk about the fact that you, as Princess, code-switched to Tagalog in many scenes, especially with Amielynn Abellera, who plays Nurse Perlah. For you, can you tell our listeners how it feels for you switching from English to Tagalog?  00:42:05 Kristin Villanueva  Well, first off, the first word that comes to mind is it's fun. You know, you get to use that skill or use that — used to be a very familiar part of myself again. But I also feel extremely vulnerable because I don't get to do that often. I don't think I've, maybe I've acted once in Tagalog, but I can't remember any other significant roles where I was able to do that. So to do that on The Pitt is, yeah, it's pretty vulnerable just in terms of sharing that part of myself that I haven't shared really acting-wise.  But it's also fun. Because it comes naturally. And I get to there's so many nuances that I would think only Filipinos would get, but it's also so gratifying to hear from from other folks who are not Filipinos that get it. You know, even though they don't understand, um, the Filipino jokes, but they have their own — they have their own version in their own culture. So it's — it's really fun to hear that.  00:43:18 Isabel Li  Just out of curiosity for you, how do you relate to Tagalog as a language? Do you speak it often?  00:43:24 Kristin Villanueva  I don't speak it often, unfortunately. I do still speak it with my family, and we Zoom once, twice a week. But other than that, no, I don't speak it often.  And it's kind of sad, because I feel like some words are leaving my memory. But yeah.  00:43:45 Isabel Li  Yeah, wow. So when they're written in the script, do you translate, or are they already words in Tagalog that you already know?  00:43:54 Kristin Villanueva  When they're written in the script, they're written in English. And season one, I used to translate it for myself. And then season two, we have a coach who gave us a lot more options. But what's wonderful about working with the writers is they're not precious with their own phrases.  They defer to us to translate it as close to the gist of, let's say it's a joke, but if I were to translate it in Tagalog, word per word, it's not going to land the same way as it would in American, in English. Do you know what I mean? So they much rather have us say it in whatever's parallel in Tagalog. So yeah. And I applaud the writers for doing that, 'cause that's one of my pet peeves sometimes when I'm, you know, watching other shows, translation of, it's not quite that, you know, or it's too literal. If it's too literal, then it's, that's not how we talk.  00:44:59 Isabel Li  Right. And putting that in the context of Princess as a character, who is a polyglot, there are some moments where she speaks French and does sign language.  00:45:08 Isabel Li  How did you navigate these multilingual exchanges communicating in different languages, essentially. Oh, I look forward to it. I look forward to them so badly. It's one of the things I got really excited about auditioning for the part, 'cause it was written in her breakdown that she speaks six languages. Um, I personally don't, but I am so enamored by polyglots. Like if I were to meet someone who can speak three languages plus, I'm just, I follow them like a puppy. I don't know, I just find it so sexy and intriguing. And it's like something that I aspire to be, but just haven't had the time to do it. So yes, I look forward to them.  00:45:52 Isabel Li  Yeah, and how do you practice? Like, did you have to practice some French and some ASL?  00:45:57 Kristin Villanueva  Oh, um, for the French, since there's only one line, we didn't hire a coach, but we did hire, um, coaches for ASL. Oh, yeah, I just practiced the hell out of them. Um, but there's also that nuance of, um, how fluent or how good is your pronunciation for someone who doesn't speak it all the time, you know? You got to, like, factor that in as well. But, yes, I just practice it all the time.  00:46:24 Isabel Li  Gotcha. And speaking of that, I love how Princess and Perlah add some lighthearted humor and back and forths and gossip throughout the series. How do you switch from humorous moments to more serious ones?  00:46:36 Kristin Villanueva  I mean, you don't really think about it in life, right? Like one minute you're crying and then something happens and then you find it hilarious. You just go with the flow on set. You don't really ever plan, okay, this beat is a funny beat, and this one is a dramatic beat. You don't. As long as you keep it honest, those colors would come out naturally.  00:47:02 Isabel Li  The Pitt is very current. Like there are so many current events and everyday sort of issues mirrored in the series. What is your experience working with a set and a story that feels like it is very much set in the everyday?  00:47:21 Kristin Villanueva  It hasn't been an issue. It's never– if anything, sometimes it's tougher because you can't escape the real world, right? It's not like when I get to do a Shakespeare comedy, there's a reprieve from, you know, the sad current events that are happening. So yeah, that's– I would say that's the only downside, but there's a lot more upside to that, which is you get to present and work through real life situations. You know, that I'm happy that a TV show like The Pitt, you know, something that's made for entertainment can actually dive into these really serious topics. And what I love about The Pitt is that I don't think it's preachy. I don't think it tackles headlines of the day in a way that it makes you want to turn the TV off. If anything, it shows how, it shows the repercussions on the everyday people. And hopefully audiences that don't have anything to do, like I'll give you an example, like for nurses strikes, right? If you see that on the headline and you don't work, you're not a healthcare worker, you'll probably just, you know, skip that video or not read that article because you think it doesn't affect you.  But hopefully by watching The Pitt, you'll see, oh no, it will affect me if God forbid I have to go to the hospital, if my loved one has to go to the hospital and you don't get seen for 10 hours, or there were mistakes in, the medicine, or it's just not top care that you think you deserve. It's not because the nurses or the doctors or the staff are bad. They're understaffed, period. Right? They haven't had a day off in 12 days. So no, it's a privilege to be able to do a show, have a job that actually reflects what's happening in real life.  00:49:40 Isabel Li  Yeah, thank you for sharing about that. And finally, I want to touch upon your work in general. As an actress, would you say there's something that you're most passionate about doing?  00:49:50 Kristin Villanueva  Ooh. Are we talking about material or medium? Because I would say everything. I do miss doing plays. I haven't done a play since, my gosh, I think pre-COVID. So it's been a while. So I really love doing plays. I have more experience in theater than TV and film combined. A really good material is so inspiring to do, whether it be a classic like Chekhov or any new contemporary plays. You know, there's so many playwrights, those plays I want to do so badly. There's something electric about working on a brand new play when the playwright is in the room. But also, it's also really amazing to work on juicy Shakespearean tragedies. You know, when I get to play Shakespeare ingenues, in those three hours, you've lived a lifetime. You know, usually in a Shakespearean comedy, you meet the ingenue before they fall in love. And then they fall in love, and then they get their hearts broken. And then by the end, they're kind of this new person who's a little bit more learned, but not the same 16-year-old that you met three hours ago. So getting to do those parts are a complete joy.  00:51:29 Isabel Li  I'm wondering, do you have a dream role that you'd like to play in the future? Like either in theater or in film? Who would it be and who would you like to work with?  00:51:37 Kristin Villanueva  I love this question. My imagination just starts going everywhere. Yes. My dream role for the theater would be Martha from Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I got to do that play a few years ago, but as Honey, as one of the other characters. But I would love to play Martha someday. Another theater role would be Arkadina from The Seagull or Nina, but I think I've aged out of Nina. And in terms for like TV, gosh, I'm obsessed with Narcos, obsessed. And I've always, I've written a part from, if Narcos was ever to do a season about the Philippines, I have a role that I wrote for myself. Cause I don't, you know, you look at my face, like, my face is too round and I'm too short and I smile too much for a show like Narcos or The Wire, which are, like, one of my top, top favorite TV shows.  And I don't have a part for them 'cause I don't look the part, but I found a way to write myself in Narcos season, I don't know, season five Philippines.  00:53:09 Isabel Li  One last question for you. These are such incredible answers. Thank you so much for sharing. One last question for you. Out of your entire acting career right now, what has been the most rewarding moment for you?  00:53:22 Kristin Villanueva  I mean, besides The Pitt, mainly because of the reach and mainly because a lot of Filipino nurses have become so happy just to be seen and represented. And that means so, so much, another role that I am most proud of is this play — I wouldn't even say play — it's more of a performance art piece called The Courtroom. The theater company called Waterwell produced it in New York. And The Courtroom is about a Filipino immigrant to the US who accidentally voted when she was still only on a green card. So she wasn't supposed to vote, but she did not do it maliciously. So the play is about her filing appeal after appeal to stay in the U.S. and not be deported. So I was pretty proud of that. We used, the lines were straight out of the court transcripts. And yeah, I wish we could do it again, especially with, you know, the current climate.  00:54:38 Isabel Li  Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you so much, Kristin, for sharing her story and all of your various experiences. Do you have anything else you'd like to share with our listeners?  00:54:47 Kristin Villanueva  Oh, just thank you so much for watching The Pitt and, you know, for all the nice words about the show. And I hope you keep watching.  00:55:00 Isabel Li  And that was Kristin Villanueva, who plays Nurse Princess De La Cruz on The Pitt, which just released its season 2 finale last week at this time.  Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program/apexexpress to find out more about our show and our two guests tonight, Kristin and Amielynn. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important.  00:55:31 Isabel Li  Apex Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preeti Mangala-Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show is produced and edited by me, Isabel Li. Have a great evening and thanks so much for listening.  The post APEX Express – 4.23.26 – Nurses of The Pitt appeared first on KPFA.

Send us Fan MailOn this episode Tom and Bert cover the famous or infamous Movie Villains of the 1970s!Everyone has their opinions on who they love and who they hate. We have the list of the "bad guys and ladies" from the '70s!FEATURED CHAPTERS(0:30) Intro & "Marathon Man" -Dr. Szell(5:52) "Play Misty For Me" & Fats the F'n Dummy from "Magic" with Anthony Hopkins(10:57) "Jaws", not THAT Jaws, The James Bond Villain & Lex Luthor--The Mastermind real estate developer in "Superman"(15:21) "Deliverence" & 2 Robert Shaw Classics(21:25) Mr. Han vs Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon" & "Westworld" Gun Slinger...Yul Brynner(24:56) "Scorpio" The Serial Killer from "Dirty Harry" w/ Clint Eastwood, "Phantasm" and "Duel" with the wicked Truck Driver(28:47) Momma White from "Carrie" & Crazy Killer Billy from "Black Christmas" set the bar in 2 Horror Classics!(33:44) "Apocolypse Now" and nutty Colonel Kurtz & Sheriff Buford Justice of "Smokey and The Bandit"(36:41) Molly from "Charlie Varrick" , Warden Hazen from "The Longest Yard" & It's a wrap for these bad guys of the 1970'sEnjoy the Show!You can email us at reeldealzmoviesandmusic@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page, Reel Dealz Podcast: Movies & Music Thru The Decades to leave comments and/or TEXT us at 843-855-1704 as well.

From growing up on the fringes of Hollywood's inner circle to navigating the highs and lows of an unpredictable acting career, William McNamara brings a lifetime of stories, and hard-earned perspective, to this episode of Media Path.The seasoned actor has produced a series called The Trouble with Billy, based on his own life (now available for purchase in pre-release) and Billy joins us to reflect on an unconventional childhood shaped by early exposure to the industry. His mom palled around with Valerie Perrine and a very young Billy found himself on sets and at parties with  Bob Fosse, Ryan O'Neal, and Elliot Gould, experiences that fueled his desire to earn a spot for himself within the entertainment community.His determination was challenged when his folks, in an effort to shield him from Manhattan's temptations, sent him away to boarding school at the age of 11. Billy found his way back to NYC by getting into Columbia, auditing film classes at NYU and immersing himself in archival footage at the Museum of Broadcasting.Billy was quickly booking commercials and modeling jobs and when he landed a film role and wanted to drop out of college, his parents threatened to cut him off. He said, “Not a problem. I've got $100,000 in the bank.”Billy talks reverently about the impact of the groundbreaking 1992 TV movie Doing Time on Maple Drive, in which he portrays a gay young man named Matt, in the midst of his agonizing journey towards coming out to his parents. This film continues to change and save lives.Behind the scenes on Maple Drive, Billy met the lost and disheveled actor who would play his brother. Unimpressed but willing to lend advice, Billy watched as his co-star, Jim Carrey attacked and mastered the art of dramatic acting.Set to play Montgomery Clift in a TV movie about Elizabeth Taylor, Billy's mentor Roddy McDowall  arranged a rare interlude with Ms. Taylor during which she imparted a cherished memory and acting lesson from her dear friend Monty.Billy's experience on Dream a Little Dream with the “two Coreys,” was more of a nightmare, trapped inside the undisciplined Coreys bubble which featured them either coming to work or not, depending upon the hangover. Hoping to broaden his range, Billy took on the role of a serial killer which threatened to murder his confidence. Test screenings of Copycat led to weeks of reshoots. Billy was panicking until Roddy brought in his friend Tony for some serial killer coaching. It was Anthony Hopkins!This is a candid, emotional, and deeply reflective conversation about resilience, reinvention, and a turbulent show biz path that has served to inspire William McNamara's deeply personal new project, The Trouble with Billy.In current recommendations--Lisa: Twisted Yoga on Apple TV+Weezy: David Archuleta's Memoir, Devout: Losing My Faith To Find MyselfPath Points of Interest:The Trouble with BillyThe Trouble With Billy on YoutubeWilliam McNamara on WikipediaWilliam McNamara on IMDBWilliam McNamara on InstagramWilliam McNamara on FacebookTwisted YogaDevout: Losing My Faith To Find Myself by David ArchuletaDavid Archuleta

Our exit today has us making a blood oath with our childhood friends. This week, we are talking about Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, written by Mark Andrus and Callie Khouri and directed by Callie Khouri.Along the way, we talk Ellen Burstyn, Sandra Bullock, whether Tripp has ever seen Hope Floats, intergenerational trauma, Gone with the Wind, The Help, Ashley Judd, roofies, flashbacks, Maggie Smith, Anthony Hopkins, and a whole segment on Stephen King!Theme music by Jonworthymusic.Powered by RiversideFM.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CFF Films⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Ross and friends.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Movies We've Covered on the Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Letterboxd.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Movies Recommended on the Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Letterboxd.

Episode two of our Stephen King mini-season! This is one that only the King fans remember. Hearts in Atlantis is based on a short story with another name from the beloved author. Even the star power of Anthony Hopkins and then-newcomer Anton Yelchin couldn't prevent this from box office doom. A quarter-century later it's been completely forgotten. Does it deserve more attention?___Please consider joining our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wwibofficialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whywasntitbetterLetterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/wwibpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wwib_officialX: https://x.com/WWIBpodcastSubscribe! Rate! Review! Tell a friend!

Join the Conversation at 303-477-5600 or text to 307-200-8222 Monday - Friday from 3 pm - 6 pm MT. https://RushToReason.com HOUR 1 Three movies. Three completely different experiences. One that falls flat, one that fights its way to the top, and one that might leave you questioning reality itself. Which film is worth your time—and which one should you avoid at all costs? Andy Peth breaks it all down using his 5-Star system, from the disappointment of You, Me, and Tuscany to the surprising strength of Beast, and the mind-bending mystery of Exit 8. ⏱️ Movie Review Timestamp List * 14:25 — You, Me, and Tuscany * 29:41 — Beast * 40:46 — Exit 8

Join the Conversation at 303-477-5600 or text to 307-200-8222 Monday - Friday from 3 pm - 6 pm MT. https://RushToReason.com HOUR 1 Three movies. Three completely different experiences. One that falls flat, one that fights its way to the top, and one that might leave you questioning reality itself. Which film is worth your time—and which one should you avoid at all costs? Andy Peth breaks it all down using his 5-Star system, from the disappointment of You, Me, and Tuscany to the surprising strength of Beast, and the mind-bending mystery of Exit 8. ⏱️ Movie Review Timestamp List * 14:25 — You, Me, and Tuscany * 29:41 — Beast * 40:46 — Exit 8

From playing Club Rep in The Inbetweeners movie to the star of Divergent, The White Lotus, The Gentlemen, and now action thriller Fuze (out in cinemas now) — Theo James has quietly won us all over.  In this chat with Josh, Theo opens up about the pressure of being a leading man in an industry obsessed with physicality, and why the rise of the manosphere worries him deeply. He reflects on a culture increasingly defined by money and status over relationships and morality — and what that means for young men today. He also gets candid about his short-lived music career, his UN Ambassador work with refugees, and fighting with Anthony Hopkins.  P.S If you are looking for even more Great Chat, Josh Smith's audiobook ‘Great Chat: Talk To Anyone, Make New Connections, Improve Your Relationships'  is available on Spotify, free for premium subscribers. Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1HH55EZsUSYtajczP6yjjJ?si=0b3ec62de57148f9

Degens Andy S and Brandon Bombay have some fava beans and a nice Chianti before talking about the thriller masterpiece, 'The Silence of the Lambs.' Andy is the first to rub the lotion on his skin, as he recalls having to make an illegal deal with a looney guy who bred exotic moths, butterflies, and other creepy crawlies similar to Buffalo Bill. Then the boys dive into Jonathan Demme's classic that spawned countless imitators, and some truly regrettable sequels. The guys try to make sense of Hannibal Lecter's otherworldly abilities such as being able to smell as if he was part X-Men. This leads to comparing Anthony Hopkins' unforgettable turn as the cannibalistic doctor versus Brian Cox's more subdued portrayal in the '80s. Hopkins and Jodie Foster may have been bestowed with the most critical acclaim, but Ted Levine plays the actual villain in this film, and his Buffalo Bill is skin-crawlingly effective. Andy and Bombay wonder why he was never given the prestigious career that others had. Maybe it was the tuck scene that turned people off? They truly do not make them like this anyone — that refers to this box office studio smash, and this podcast. 

Dana and Tom with 5x Club member and CLP contributor Peterson W. Hill (Co-Host of the War Starts at Midnight podcast) revisit The Silence of the Lambs (1991): directed by Jonathan Demme, written by Ted Tally, cinematography by Tak Fujimoto, score by Howard Shore, Editing by Craig McKay, starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, and Ted Levine.Plot Summary: In The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) plays a young FBI trainee assigned to interview a brilliant but dangerous imprisoned killer, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). As Clarice seeks insight to catch another serial murderer, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), she enters a tense psychological game with Lecter, who offers cryptic clues in exchange for personal revelations.As the investigation deepens, Clarice must confront both the external threat and her own past fears. Lechter's chilling intelligence and manipulation blur the line between helper and predator, building toward a suspenseful and unsettling climax.Guest:Peterson W. Hill - Co-Host of the War Starts at Midnight podcast@petersonwhill on IG, Letterboxd, and Twitter14x Previous GuestChapters:00:00 Introduction, Cast, and Background for The Silence of the Lambs05:35 Welcome Back, Peterson W. Hill07:18 Relationship(s) with The Silence of the Lambs15:03 America's Obsession with Serial Killers21:57 Plot Summary for The Silence of the Lambs22:52 What is The Silence of the Lambs About?27:28 Did You Know?29:48 First Break30:36 What's Happening with Peterson W. Hill?31:23 GMOAT HOF - April 202642:47 The Stanley Rubric - Legacy48:36 The Stanley Rubric - Impact/Significance55:01 The Stanley Rubric - Novelty01:00:58 Second Break01:01:34 In Memoriam01:09:53 The Stanley Rubric - Classicness01:22:21 The Stanley Rubric - Rewatchability01:23:18 The Stanley Rubric - Audience Score and Final Total01:27:53 Thank You to Peterson and Final Thoughts01:36:40 CreditsYou can also find this episode in full video on YouTube.You can now follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, Threads, YouTube, or TikTok (@gmoatpodcast).For more on the original episode, go to: https://www.ronnyduncanstudios.com/post/the-silence-of-the-lambs-1991For more on the episode, go to: https://www.ronnyduncanstudios.com/post/the-silence-of-the-lambs-1991-revisit-ft-peterson-w-hillFor the entire rankings list so far, go to: https://www.ronnyduncanstudios.com/post/greatest-movie-of-all-time-listKeywords:Silence of the Lambs, film analysis, horror movies, serial killers, film history, Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, psychological thriller Silence of the Lambs, film analysis, movie legacy, impact, originality, rewatchability, film critique, classic movies, film history, movie scoringRonny Duncan Studios

Oferta EXCLUSIVA de NordVPN ➼ https://nordvpn.com/legendarias  Pruébalo ahora sin riesgos con la garantía de reembolso de 30 días. ¿Qué tienen en común Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla y Michelangelo? Además de cambiar la historia, todos compartían rasgos que hoy identificamos dentro del Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA). En este episodio de Leyendas Legendarias, José Antonio Badía comparte su experiencia personal tras ser diagnosticado con Altas Capacidades y Autismo de Alto Funcionamiento. Analizamos la ciencia detrás del "sistema operativo" neurodivergente, desmitificamos el término Asperger y su oscuro origen nazi, y exploramos cómo el hiperenfoque y la sensibilidad sensorial fueron los verdaderos motores de la evolución humana. Temas del episodio: ¿Qué es el espectro autista? (Analogía Windows vs Linux). La diferencia entre TDAH y Autismo. El compendio de genios: Newton, Tesla, Darwin y más. ¿Por qué el autismo fue una ventaja evolutiva? Famosos contemporáneos en el espectro (Anthony Hopkins, Sia, Greta Thunberg). También puedes escucharnos en Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music o tu app de podcasts favorita. Apóyanos en Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/leyendaspodcast Apóyanos en YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/c/leyendaslegendarias/join Visita nuestra página para ver contenido extra:https://www.leyendaslegendarias.com Síguenos:https://instagram.com/leyendaspodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@leyendaspodcasthttps://twitter.com/leyendaspodcasthttps://facebook.com/leyendaspodcast #Podcast #LeyendasLegendarias

Oferta EXCLUSIVA de NordVPN ➼ https://nordvpn.com/legendarias  Pruébalo ahora sin riesgos con la garantía de reembolso de 30 días. ¿Qué tienen en común Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla y Michelangelo? Además de cambiar la historia, todos compartían rasgos que hoy identificamos dentro del Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA). En este episodio de Leyendas Legendarias, José Antonio Badía comparte su experiencia personal tras ser diagnosticado con Altas Capacidades y Autismo de Alto Funcionamiento. Analizamos la ciencia detrás del "sistema operativo" neurodivergente, desmitificamos el término Asperger y su oscuro origen nazi, y exploramos cómo el hiperenfoque y la sensibilidad sensorial fueron los verdaderos motores de la evolución humana. Temas del episodio: ¿Qué es el espectro autista? (Analogía Windows vs Linux). La diferencia entre TDAH y Autismo. El compendio de genios: Newton, Tesla, Darwin y más. ¿Por qué el autismo fue una ventaja evolutiva? Famosos contemporáneos en el espectro (Anthony Hopkins, Sia, Greta Thunberg). También puedes escucharnos en Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music o tu app de podcasts favorita. Apóyanos en Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/leyendaspodcast Apóyanos en YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/c/leyendaslegendarias/join Visita nuestra página para ver contenido extra:https://www.leyendaslegendarias.com Síguenos:https://instagram.com/leyendaspodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@leyendaspodcasthttps://twitter.com/leyendaspodcasthttps://facebook.com/leyendaspodcast #Podcast #LeyendasLegendarias

I hope this quote from Anthony Hopkins helps you to stop focusing on other people too much.   Join the FREE Facebook group for The Michael Brian Show at https://www.facebook.com/groups/themichaelbrianshow   Follow Mike on Facebook Instagram & X

This week Gary and Iain review and discuss, The Silence of the Lambs (1991) by Director, Jonathan Demme. Starring, Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Scott Glenn. For more Off The Shelf Reviews: Merch: https://off-the-shelf-reviews.creator-spring.com https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWxkAz-n2-5Nae-IDpxBZQ/join Podcasts: https://offtheshelfreviews.podbean.com/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@OTSReviews Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OffTheShelfReviews Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OffTheShelfReviews Support us: http://www.patreon.com/offtheshelfreviews Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/offtheshelfreviews Discord: https://discord.gg/Dyw8ctf

Robert Hays joined me to discuss loving the Lone Ranger; moving from Virginia to Turkey to Nebraska; changing schools & becoming class clown; being a Marine brat; signing up for an acting class in college; selling his horse to buy a VW bus and moving to the Old Globe in San Diego; being taught by Craig Noel; working with Leonard Nimoy; getting a job on Rockford Files from Eddie Foy III; his dad asking Eddie to talk him out of acting; Laverne & Shirley; Angie makes him recognizable; winning the Tug O' War on the Battle of the Network Stars with Kent McCord; Family Feud / Angie crossover; being called the New Cary Grant by Merv Griffin and having other guest Orson Welles call him the New Robert Hays; doing a magic trick with Orson; having to shoot Airplane & Angie consecutively for two weeks of twenty hour days; the "alcohol problem" scenes took a lot of time and shirts to shoot; dailies were packed; 1st screening the third reel was shown before second; having his parents come to the premiere and Peter Graves tell him he has a hankering for young boys; Bette Midler laughs throughout; friends thought trailer had all the jokes; name is different in foreign countries; one town in Australia played it for two years straight; choosing scripts; picking Take This Job and Shove It to work with Art Carney, Royal Dano and Barbara Hershey; Airplane v. Caddyshack; Michael O'Keefe, The Great Santini and Robert Duvall; hosting SNL 1/24/81; dress rehearsal going better; a prop phone is not placed on stage forcing him to ad lib; pitching sketches Ordinary People and Inflatable Prostitute; loving NYC; filming a TV movie Murder by the Book in NYC; Fred Gwynne; doing Mr. Roberts live on NBC in 1984; dress rehearsal ran better and show was too neat; bringing Anthony Hopkins to taping of Angie; Starman - designed as Highway to Heaven meets The Fugitive; not picked up at last minute

Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training Are you winning exciting projects but still feeling exhausted at the end of every quarter? Does your agency look successful from the outside, yet feel fragile or chaotic behind the scenes? For most agency owners, the real struggle isn't creativity. It's sustainability. The real challenge begins after the win, when you have to deliver consistently, protect your margins, manage your team, and somehow still have the energy to lead. Michael Boychuk is the founder and creative director of DNA&Stone, a creative agency that deals in real emotion and embrace the hard truth, understanding that brands that connect emotionally see 50% higher revenue growth. He'll talk about scaling creatively led agencies, navigating mergers, embracing productive conflict, and integrating AI without sacrificing emotional storytelling. In this episode, we'll discuss: Why creative isn't enough The merger process Embracing tension & clear swim lanes in partnerships Set audacious goals or stay average Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio Sponsors and Resources E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service. Toggl: Most agencies are losing 15–30% of their profit every year: lack of time tracking, messy manual timesheets, scope creep, untracked revisions, and all those "quick" client requests that never get billed. Toggl has created a fast, interactive way to uncover exactly where your margins are leaking. Start your investigation now at toggl.com/smartagency and use the code SMARTAGENCY10 at checkout for a 10% off annual plans. Leaving Amazon to Start a Creative Agency Michael's career began in small, strategy-led creative shops before moving to Leo Burnett in Chicago. Eventually, he crossed to the client side as Global Executive Creative Director at Amazon, working closely on major brand initiatives. While many creatives were moving in-house at the time, Michael saw the gap in how external agencies worked with internal creative teams. Even the most respected agencies struggled to collaborate effectively with in-house counterparts. So he made the decision to leave Amazon to start his own agency. He co-founded Little Hands of Stone (later merging to become DNA&Stone), building a nimble, creatively driven agency with operational discipline at its core. The goal wasn't to be another agency in a crowded market. It was to build one that worked differently. The Project Roller Coaster: Why Great Creative Isn't Enough In the early years, Michael and his partner excelled at landing high-impact project work. The agency would scale up quickly, execute powerful campaigns, and then scale back down. The upside: Strong margins. The downside: Revenue volatility. Some months were record-breaking. Others were terrifying. This feast-or-famine model made it difficult to invest in long-term infrastructure, particularly account management and relationship-building functions that sustain retainer revenue. As Michael put it, scaling into projects and rapidly reducing afterward may be profitable, but it's not easily sustainable. That realization set the stage for a major shift. The Merger: Combining Creative Firepower with Account Stability After years of competing against DNA, Michael's firm began merger conversations. His six-year-old, creatively led shop was volatile but high-impact. DNA, a 26-year-old agency, had stable retainer revenue and strong account leadership. They were opposites and that made them perfect. The nine-month merger process was far more complex than expected. Michael describes it as "drawing up a marriage certificate." But strategically, it functioned like a time machine, instantly solving growth limitations both firms faced independently. However, merging on paper is easy. Operationalizing it while "building the plane during barrel rolls" is the real challenge. One year later, they're still refining the model and balancing creative ambition with financial discipline. Account Management vs. Creative Leadership One of the biggest lessons Michael learned post-merger is the value of strong account leadership. Creative leaders tend to chase the next exciting idea. Account leaders think in terms of long-term relationships, financial discipline, and sustainable growth. You need both. Rather than avoid tension, the four partners embrace it. Michael believes healthy conflict is essential. If there's no disagreement, you're probably not addressing the real issues. But the key is respectful conflict rooted in trust. They operate with: Clear swim lanes (each partner has decision authority in their domain) Open debate before decisions 100% alignment after decisions are made No back-channel dissent or lingering resentment. Only unified execution. Embrace the AI Wave But Protect the Emotion Michael doesn't sugarcoat his views on AI. If agencies aren't actively integrating AI into workflows and developing proprietary approaches, they risk irrelevance. But he also warns against overcorrection. Yes, AI improves efficiency and enhances pre-visualization and brainstorming. Yes, it can increase margins. But creative agencies aren't data-processing factories. They're emotional engines. In his view, the industry is currently drowning in data while starving for emotional resonance. AI can create competent output but it often carries a detectable "stink," a subtle lack of human nuance. He chooses to use AI to: enable better creative. improve efficiency. remove bottlenecks. However, it should not be used to replace emotional storytelling. Because humans still crave human connection and no algorithm can replicate lived experience. Set Audacious Goals or Stay Average The biggest lesson Michael took from his time at Amazon working directly with Jeff Bezos was to set ambitious goals. After campaigning to have an Amazon ad during the Super Bowl, he got Jeff's attention and set out to create a top-five Super Bowl ad. But during development, director Wayne McClammy challenged him: "Why aim for top five? Why not number one?" That shift in ambition changed everything. Every decision became filtered through one question: Is this the move that gets us to #1? The resulting product was the "Alexa Loses Her Voice" Super Bowl spot featuring Cardi B and Anthony Hopkins. And, yes, it was ranked the number one Super Bowl ad that year. The lesson for him was about standards. If your goals don't make you nervous, they're not big enough. Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset? Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.

Welcome back to Morgan Hasn't Seen with Jeannine Brice & Morgan Robinson!!A discovery of one of movie history's most idiosyncratic minds and styles all March long on this show as Jeannine introduces Morgan to the world of David Lynch!Perhaps Lynch's most accessible movie, and certainly the most critically acclaimed of his career this week as Jeannine and Morgan dive deep into one of the most tragically beautiful movies in history, gushing over the visual mastery, stunning world creation, and career defining performances from John Hurt & Anthony Hopkins in THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980)!Our YouTube Channel for all our regular videos: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvACMX8jX1qQ5ClrGW53vow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ItsAWonderful1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ItsAWonderful1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IT'S A WONDERFUL PODCAST STORE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.teepublic.com/user/g9design⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sub to the feed and download now on all major podcast platforms and be sure to rate, review and SHARE AROUND!!Keep up with us on (X) Twitter:Podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ItsAWonderful1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Morgan: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Th3PurpleDon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeannine: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/JeannineDaBean_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Keep being wonderful!!

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.  Today we celebrate one of our great Welshmen: Anthony Hopkins! Our B-Sides include When Eight Bells Toll, Juggernaut, Spotswood, and Instinct. Our guest is the great Brian Raftery, whose new book Hannibal Lecter: A Life “traces the many lives and crimes of Hannibal Lecter: his disturbing debut in Thomas Harris's 1981 novel Red Dragon; his rise to infamy in beloved films like Michael Mann's Manhunter and Jonathan Demme's Academy Award–winning The Silence of the Lambs; and his unexpected comeback in the cult-hit TV series Hannibal.”  We discuss Hopkins' iconic voice, his tumultuous early years and struggle to become a leading man. There's his honest and interesting autobiography, his incredible range, his Wales-connection to the great Richard Burton, and his incredibly practical outlook to the acting profession. Brian, Conor, and I go long on the actors that have played Hannibal, the movie Freejack, Hopkins' directorial efforts August and Slipstream, and that time Hopkins played a working man's James Bond named Phil (When Eight Bells Toll). There's love paid to Bill Forsyth, Jodie Foster, Kate Burton, and The Edge.

Send a textKnights, Nazis, submarines, and a three-headed robo-dragon walk into a Transformers sequel… and somehow the wildest ingredients still feel weightless. We dig into Transformers: The Last Knight to figure out why the VFX slap while the story slips, how the Arthurian hook gets buried under MacGuffins, and where the franchise lost the character charm that made the first film sing. We compare Shia's live-wire energy to Mark Wahlberg's steady center, debate Cogman's C-3PO-adjacent chaos, and explain why Anthony Hopkins turning exposition into mischief nearly steals the movie.From the medieval prologue to a London chase that forgets who's in which car, we track the editing choices that drain tension and the dialogue tics that mistake “joke density” for personality. The TRF heel turn, the Witwiccan lore tangle, and Optimus Prime's mind-controlled pivot to Nemesis Prime get a clear-eyed autopsy. We also spotlight what works: Bumblebee's mid-fight reassembly is kinetic and clever, the robot silhouettes are finally readable, and the sound design keeps even thin scenes feeling huge. When Bumblebee briefly regains his voice, you glimpse the beating heart this franchise can still find—if the script lets it.If you love franchise archaeology, blockbuster craft talk, and a fair share of roast with your reverence, you'll feel at home. We sketch the version that might have landed: fewer MacGuffins, real consequences, a focused treasure trail for Vivian's historian skills, and a talisman that pays off a character arc rather than a single slow-motion block. By the end, we answer the big question: underrated chaos or unwatchable noise?Enjoy the ride, then tell us your pick for the series' last truly good entry. Subscribe, drop a review, and share this one with a friend who still quotes “more than meets the eye.”Written Lovingly by AIBe our friend!Dan: @shakybaconTony: @tonydczechAnd follow the podcast on IG: @hatewatchingDAT

Anthony Hopkins opens up about being estranged from his daughter for 20+ years, calling it his greatest regret. The panel reflects on forgiveness, fatherhood, belief systems, and the five things young boys need: a present father, standards, friction, fun, and the right foundation.

Join hosts Gaius and Jackson on Back To The Blockbuster as we dive deep into the iconic film 'The Silence of the Lambs' on its 35th anniversary and its 2001 sequel, Hannibal, for its 25th anniversary. Explore the psychological thriller's enduring legacy crafted by director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ted Tally, based on the gripping novel by Thomas Harris. Delve into the unforgettable performances of Jodie Foster as the determined Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins as the chilling Dr. Hannibal Lecter, alongside a stellar cast including Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Ted Levine, and Kasi Lemmons. Unpack the film's intricate narrative and haunting atmosphere that continues to captivate audiences decades later. In addition, we reflect on director Ridley Scott's visionary approach with Hannibal and how the source material and screenplay by David Mamet and Steven Zaillian created a much different beast from its predecessor. We revisit the performances of Julianne Moore as Clarice Starling, Gary Oldman as the grotesque Mason Verger, and Ray Liotta as the corrupt Paul Krendler, alongside returning stars Anthony Hopkins and Frankie R. Faison. Explore the darker themes and intricate character dynamics that define a much different chapter in the Hannibal Lecter saga compared to the first movie and how they measure up side by side on their respective milestone anniversaries.Where To Watch The Silence of the LambsWhere To Watch Hannibal

Welcome to another Walker and Olivia Special where we cover The Silence of the Lambs! The 1991 film is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, and we cannot express how much we love this film. We basically just glaze this movie for an hour and talk about the powerhouse performances from Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, and Ted Levine.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS came to theaters 35 years ago this month, winning the Best Picture Oscar (along with Best Actor, Actress, and Director) a year later. Adam and Josh revisited the film in February 2021, for its 30th anniversary. For full access to the show archive, Filmspotting Discord, monthly bonus episodes, and more, ⁠join the Filmspotting Family⁠⁠. LINKS -"30 years in, The Silence Of The Lambs’ Jame Gumb still deserves better" Harmony Colangelo, A/V Club https://www.avclub.com/30-years-in-the-silence-of-the-lambs-jame-gumb-still-1846252158See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I have an uncle who used to sing the craziest (and often off-color songs). He was a WWII vet and looked like the Canadian actor Lorne Greene. He would rip out the kinds of songs that sailors sang and I would rush to write down the lyrics so I could learn them. And learn them I did. The hard way. It was irritating and frustrating. Even though they say the hand builds the mind and it wasn’t the end of the world that I spent so much time writing them down and rewriting them, I was still relying on rote learning. If only I knew then what I know today about memory techniques! You see, I now memorize and regularly demonstrate poems I’ve committed to memory almost every month during my live memory training bootcamps. I’ve memorized everything from ancient Sanskrit poems to some of the most inventive contemporary poetry. And today I’m going to share a few case studies and key tips I know you’re going to love. How to Memorize Poetry Fast The fastest way I know to memorize poetry involves a combination of ancient memory techniques. These are: The Memory Palace Technique Alphabetical association Numerical association (where relevant) Spaced repetition based on solid active recall principles Now, I know that weaving together so many memory techniques to memorize poetry or even song lyrics, sounds like a lot. But if you want to memorize poems fast, stick with me. Bringing all of these strategies together is much easier than it might seem at first glance. But first, let me demonstrate that I can actually memorize poetry. I believe proof is important because there are a lot of people out there who talk about skills they cannot do. In the case of mnemonics, there are even entire forums filled with people giving advice about memory techniques when they clearly haven’t lifted a finger to memorize a poem. That, or they’ve used rote memorization and are only pretending they used mnemonics. So with those issues in mind, here are a few examples. Please be sure to watch each example because I will refer back to these recitations to help you rapidly memorize poems of your own. Example One: A Univocalic Poem In this video, you’ll see me at the Memory Palace Bookshop I’m developing practicing the recitation of a univocalic poem by Christian Bök: https://youtube.com/shorts/b6oFIOnAwng?feature=share That’s from a fantastic book of poetry called Eunoia. Example Two: Shakespeare This video not only shows me reciting lines from Titus Andronicus. It includes a very important teaching point. That’s because I also demonstrate reciting the lines forward and backward to help teach you how to more easily commit even the most difficult poem to memory using a process I call Recall Rehearsal: https://youtu.be/nhjIkGu32CA?si=s6gIJz6Poq9Zpo6C&t=1380 Now, I regularly memorize Shakespeare. But in the case of the example shared in the video above, I had a special purpose in mind. I was doing it to reproduce the memory technique Anthony Hopkins describes in his autobiography. Here’s the full case study. Example Three: Song Lyrics In this video, you’ll see and hear me singing a famous song called The Moon Represents My Heart in Chinese: https://youtu.be/dCyPV6qfKkI The entire song took just over forty minutes to commit to long-term memory. Even though it’s been a few years since I sang the whole song, I still remember most of the lyrics to this day. Every once and awhile, I whip it out and it always brings a smile to my wife’s face. The reason this Chinese poem set to music took a bit longer to memorize other poems I’ve memorized is because it’s in a foreign language that I was only just beginning to study at the time. Example Four: Poetry Quoted in a Speech When I wrote my TEDx Talk, I incorporated lines from a Sanskrit piece called the Ribhu Gita. This was an interesting challenge because it called me to recall the speech and the poetry that had already been memorized. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvtYjdriSpM This particular performance was a lot of fun, but also challenging due to the combination of a live audience, cameras and the fact that the world was starting to go into lockdown at the beginning of Covid. I had a lot on my mind, but thanks to the memory techniques you’re about to discover, I still think the talk came off fairly well. It’s been seen over four million times now, so I must have done something right. Example Five: Real-Time Poetry Memorization If you want to see me memorize in real time, check out this discussion with Guru Viking. Steve, the host, throws Shakespeare at me and I memorize a few lines and discuss how I did it in real time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J62IN_ngYH0 Now let’s get into the steps, many of which come directly from my premium course on memorizing poetry. Step one: Use the Memory Palace Technique A Memory Palace is essential for memorizing poetry, or anything verbatim. What is this technique? A Memory Palace is a mental recreation of a familiar location. For example, in the first video example above from the poem Eunoia, I used my mom’s home from where she lived years ago. I moved from the master bedroom to the kitchen and living room, to a few other bedrooms and finally out the door and down the driveway in front of the house. How to Memorize a Poem in an Hour (or Less) Using This Technique Using the method of loci, you place mnemonic images along a mental journey. As I just mentioned, I started in one room, then moved to the kitchen, the living room, and so forth. On each corner and wall, I placed an association. For example, for the line, “Awkward grammar appals a craftsman,” I placed an image of Apollinaire in a state of awe changing into being appalled. Now, what exactly it means to “place” an association along a journey in an imaginary version of a building can feel a bit abstract in the beginning. But basically, you’re taking a corner, a wall or a piece of furniture and elaborating it with strange, exaggerated ideas and feelings that remind you of each word of the poem or song lyric. You can do it in any language and if you look at the Guru Viking video above, you’ll see me demonstrate exactly how and why it works in any language. In that particular example, I use the wall behind me for Shakespeare in the same way I memorize Sanskrit phrases when memorizing ancient mantras. To Speed Up The Process When You’re Just Starting Out, Do This Learning to use the Memory Palace technique can feel challenging in the beginning. To reduce the cognitive load, I suggest making a quick sketch of a familiar location that you will turn into a Memory Palace. You don’t have to be artistic. I don’t try to make fine art of it at all. To wit, here’s a quick sketch of a bookstore in the Zamalek area of Cairo I have used many times to memorize poetry and other types of information: A Memory Palace drawn on an index card to maximize its value as a mnemonic device. This one is based on a bookstore in Zamalek, a part of Cairo. The reason for drawing out the journey is to get it clear in your mind. That way, you can spend more time on the next step. But failing to simply draw a Memory Palace in advance can lead to a lot of unnecessary frustration. That’s because you will ultimately wind up trying to encode the poem while developing the Memory Palace at the same time. To memorize any poem as quickly as possible, you need to separate the two activities. Step Two: Lay Down Your Associations One Word At A Time (Most Of The Time) Shakespeare opens King Henry the Fifth like this: O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold our swelling scene! When I memorized these lines, I started at station one with an image of the constellation Orion over the Statue of Liberty. Using the pegword method, I associated Orion with O. Then, using the general concept of a woman that inspires people, I placed the Statue of Liberty in the Memory Palace. In this case, the Memory Palace was a workplace where I was writing curriculum in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. You might choose a completely different image for the words “muse of fire.” But the technical point is that you want to find a direct sound and spelling correspondence that is: Based on ideas and images already in your memory Makes sense to you Making sure that the associations you choose are personal is part of what scientists call active recall. For me personally, Lady Liberty is an especially apt choice not only because she represents inspiration, as the muses. She’s also holding a torch, which helps me encode the word “fire.” But I also lived in both Manhattan and Brooklyn for awhile and often crossed the Manhattan Bridge. This makes the memory of the Statue of Liberty even stronger for me, and another reason why you need to think about the images that make most sense for you. How to Associate “Little Words” for Rapid Memorization What about a word like “that”? Tricky and abstract, right? Not really. You just need to pick an association that makes sense to you while sounding or seeming as close as possible to the target information as you can get it. In the case of the Henry the Fifth line, I just took “th” and linked it with Thor and then used rhyming to have him put on a hat in a dramatic way. Thor + hat = that. When it comes to the Bök poem, there’s a part of the sequence (full poem here) where I used Thor with his hat again: Awkward grammar appals a craftsman. A Dada bard as daft as Tzara damns stagnant art and scrawls an alpha (a slapdash arc and a backward zag) that mars all stanzas and jams all ballads (what a scandal). For a small word like “all,” I used the Punk Rock band All, but only in part. Drawing upon the mnemonic teaching of people like Peter of Ravenna, Jacobus Publicius and Giordano Bruno, I used the principle of reduction. Rather than imagine the entire band, or even an entire mascot, I just imagined the eyes of the mascot. To memorize at speed, I suggest you practice this principle of reduction. Also develop what I call the Magnetic SRS in my full poetry course in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass. By taking an hour or so to assign association to all the pronouns and other “operator” words like “that,” you won’t have to stop and come up with associations ever again. The Magnetic SRS training in my full program goes into further detail. It will help you develop dozens of images for words that seem like they’ll be tricky or repetitive. Done well, they can be used repeatedly, but never cause confusion. Step Three: Memorize Multiple Words When You Can Memorizing more than one word in a poem at a time is called mnemonic compression. This term can mean more than one thing. But in this case, I’ve technically just given you a description of how compression works with the Statue of Liberty example. After Orion for O, she represents five words: “for a Muse of fire.” In this case, it works because I’m familiar with the workings of English grammar. But you can’t always get away with this kind of compression, especially when memorizing poetry in another language. It’s just best to keep an eye out for compression opportunities as much you can. When I memorized my TEDx talk using these techniques for speech memorization, thanks to compression, I loaded one station in my Memory Palace with up to 17 words using just 3-5 images (depending on how you count them). Keep in mind that you don’t have to start with poems with long passages like the ones I included in my TEDx Talk. A lot of people like to start with short Bible verses. I’ve put together a list of Bible verses to memorize that address the theme of memory if you’d like to select a few for practice. Step Four: Use Intelligent, Creative Repetition As I mentioned above, rote learning is a real problem. What you want instead is something called spaced repetition. It provides a simple means of reviewing memorized material on a schedule that keeps it in memory. Different poems and lyrics will require different amounts of repetition, and it’s not easy to predict in advance how much content will require how much repetition. However, there’s something called context-dependent memory. Basically, it gives you a boost when you use a lot of content frequently. Or read continually within particular categories of information. So if you read literature and quote it often, you’ll probably need less repetition than someone who doesn’t. And if you memorize the sonnet form more than free verse, you’ll likely develop a stronger and faster reliability because you’ve internalized its rules. Creative Repetition for Long-Term Maintenance For most of us, poems will fade over time no matter what we do. Fortunately, there are creative repetition strategies that can help make sure you maintain them. One is to follow in the footsteps of geniuses. For example, Anthony Hopkins keep common place books where they store and regularly revisit favorite poems. People like Thomas Jefferson used this strategy too. Another strategy is to use reflective thinking to compare various poems you’ve memorized. You can do this from poem to poem or between poems and your favorite philosophy books, historical events, etc. Finally, look for opportunities to recite the poems. Even if you just quote isolated lines, this smaller recitation will help keep the full poem within your mental reach. 3 Alternative Ways To Memorize Poetry You might be wondering if it’s possible to memorize poetry without using the Memory Palace technique. Indeed, there are. Here are some options. Rote Repetition Although I personally don’t like how rote learning feels, it is an option you can explore. It’s a slower option for most of us. But one simple way to get more mileage out of sheer repetition is to choose the time of day and location where you practice it strategically. You’ll need a lot of focus and concentration on top of sheer will power to keep repeating the same lines without the fun of mnemonics, so make sure you aren’t interrupted. I’d also suggest focusing on shorter poems for use with rote. That way you can memorize more poems in their entirety and enjoy substantial accomplishments more often. Cloze Methods A cloze test involves showing yourself parts of a poem. As you read through the poem, you try and fill in the blanks. This activity can trigger some of the positive benefits of active recall. Here’s an example of how you would apply the cloze test methodology to help yourself remember The Tyger by William Blake: Tyger Tyger, burning _____,  In the _____ of the night;  What immortal ____ or ____,  Could _____ thy ______ ______? Visual Flashcards Finally, if you’re willing to make simple drawings, you can draw on flashcards. This approach is kind of like a visual cloze test. Instead of hiding the word “bright” in the phrase “burning bright,” you would sketch an image that helps trigger the phrase. I’ve done this a fair amount with memorizing the books of the Bible. It’s a fast and easy way to help the mind make connections without having to use a Memory Palace. That said, drawing can take a lot of time. I would save this approach for when you feel like an experimental learning experience. How to Practice Reciting Poetry from Memory There are three key ways that I practice reciting poetry, not only to ensure that they’re locked in long-term memory. The point is also to get the lines as fluid as possible and bring out various parts you want to emphasize. After all, it’s not fun to sound robotic. The point of poetry is to convey meaning and beauty, humor or to stimulate some kind of emotion. One: Write the Poetry from Memory Another aspect of proper active recall practice is to call the information to mind by revisiting your associations in your Memory Palace, then write the words down. When writing out what you’ve committed to memory, don’t worry about mistakes. If you catch yourself making a mistake, just scratch it out. Then, once you’ve written as many lines as you can recall, test them against where the verse is written in a book or online. Here’s an example of a test from another part of Eunoia I recently memorized:   At this point, I hadn’t memorized the entire poem and had to start a new journal. But the important point is to test in this exact manner so that you don’t fall into rote repetition. Two: Recite Verbally As demonstrated in several of the video examples above, I practice recalling the poetry verses from memory out loud. This step is important because it gets the poetry into the muscle memory of the mouth. And this is the best way to practice adding gravitas to your performance. I suggest that you also recite the poetry out of order as you see in the Anthony Hopkins video above. This will give each line primacy and recency using the serial positioning effect, as was codified by Hermann Ebbinghaus. During the learning process, it can also be helpful to make up a little tune to go with the poetry. Even if you don’t sing it later, there’s something to chanting and singsonging that aids memory. This is something Bruno notes in his memory guide, Cantus Circaeus (Song of Circe), available in this English translation. Three: Recite Mentally It’s also valuable to practice reciting what you’ve memorized purely in your mind. You can do this solely by reciting the lines while moving through your Memory Palaces. Or you can do it without thinking of the Memory Palace journey, which is a point you should practice as soon as possible. If you are going to perform the poem live, it’s also helpful to imagine yourself delivering it live on camera or in front of an audience. I’ve done all of these things and it has really helped make sure my performance is fluid. But it also creates that priceless feeling of preparation. Your audience will appreciate your delivery much more as well. Make Poetry Memorization Part of Your Daily Life Finally, I’d like to discuss how to make poetry memorization a daily activity. We’re all different, but I personally prefer to encode new poems during the morning. This is simply because my energy is highest. Then I practice reciting in the evening. You might find that you prefer the opposite pattern. The key is to experiment, all based on having developed your mnemonic tools. Plus, it only makes sense to have a lot of poetry that you like within reach. Along with having the right memory techniques for this kind of verbatim learning task. That’s ultimately the most important tip of all. To get fast with memorizing poetry, you need to have your mnemonics prepped in advance. If you’d like more help on how the Memory Palace technique and related mnemonic strategies will help you memorize poems of any length, please consider signing up for my FREE Memory Improvement Course: It will take you through developing Memory Palaces for memorizing any poem at speed. Those poems can be as short as a simple song or as long as the Bible (which as I discuss in this tutorial, is possible to memorize). Or you can memorize songs from your weird uncle like I often did… even if I can’t always repeat them in polite company. Frankly, I wish I’d known these techniques back when I was young. Not only because I’d remember more of the words to the songs he sang. I’d remember more about him too. And that’s ultimately the greatest thing about memorizing poetry. We’re memorizing the ideas, feelings and images that impacted others, literally integrating ourselves with the stuff of life through memory.

Josh and Drusilla finally discuss one of their favorite films, Bram Stoker's Dracula. From wiki: “Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1992 American Gothic horror film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by James V. Hart, based on the eponymous 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.[4][5][6] The film features an ensemble cast led by Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, and introducing Sadie Frost in her film debut as Lucy Westenra.  Its closing credits theme "Love Song for a Vampire" was written and performed by Annie Lennox.”Also discussed: Russ Meyer double feature of Up! And Vixen!, problematic faves, Wuthering Heights (2026), Donkey Skin, The Philosophical Research Society, Porky's, the career of Winona Ryder, and more!NEXT WEEK: Deranged (1974)Bloodhaus:https://www.bloodhauspod.com/https://www.instagram.com/bloodhauspod/https://letterboxd.com/bloodhaus/Drusilla Adeline:https://www.sisterhydedesign.com/https://letterboxd.com/sisterhyde/https://www.instagram.com/sister__hyde/Joshua Conkelhttps://www.joshuaconkel.com/https://www.instagram.com/joshua_conkel/https://letterboxd.com/JoshuaConkel/  

Get Hannibal Lecter - A Life by Brian Raftery here - https://amzn.to/3OemIq5

In honor of the 35th anniversary of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), we're releasing special retro coverage of the film. This commissioned podcast is brought to you by the generosity of one Aaron Spaulding, thank you! Aaron wanted us to check out the 1991 mystery/thriller, "The Silence of the Lambs", directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. It's no surprise that we're mesmerized by Hopkin's performance of the chilling yet suave and charming Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and found the film offered some smart commentary on a female breaking into a male dominated space as well. What might be to some surprise is Jim and A.Ron's relative unfamiliarity with the material, which led to some confusion in places. Hope you enjoy the podcast, I hear it pairs well with a nice Chianti. Hey there!  Check out https://support.baldmove.com/ to find out how you can gain access to ALL of our premium content, as well as ad-free versions of the podcasts! Join the Club! Join the discussion:  Email | Discord | Reddit | Forums Follow us: Twitch | YouTube | Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Facebook Leave Us A Review on Apple Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ChatGPT 5.2 says: “LISTEN UP, YOU MAGGOTS! This is Unrelenting Podcast Episode 182, where hosts Darren and Gene spill their guts on everything from ancient iPads crapping out on updates to AI scraping scripts that outsmart moralistic bots like Claude while Grok dives headfirst into piracy tutorials. You think your tech life’s a mess? These guys rip into de-Googled Android phones, kernel recompiles, and the Podfather’s AI-fueled No Agenda broadcasts like it’s boot camp for geeks. If you’re into Russian text-to-speech nightmares, FrontPage HTML horrors from the ’90s, or why Dreamweaver turned web design into a bloated Photoshop nightmare, drop what you’re doing and hit play NOW—before your obsolete gadget laughs in your face! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, RECRUITS? Darren and Gene don’t hold back on Geek Squad origins, power supply failures, Starlink conquering airplane Wi-Fi at 580 mph, or stacked VPNs like Obscura and Mullvad that flip the bird to trackers. Then they unleash on hyper-realistic XPeng robots that move so human they had to slice one open to prove it’s not a chick in disguise, tying into Westworld rants where Anthony Hopkins crafts killer androids amid feminist plot twists. Resident Alien binges, AI-generated symmetric redheads, OnlyFans stats exploding among young women—it’s a tech apocalypse mixed with cigar weevil disasters ruining $250 Cubans and Tokaji wine grails lost to history. You want SEO gold on AI robots, tech history fails, and podcast donations? This episode’s your drill—listen or regret it forever! ON YOUR FEET, SOLDIERS! They roast 3Com stock meltdowns costing six figures, Taylor Swift’s trucker bonuses, Katy Perry marrying Castro’s kid (yeah, Trudeau), and hydraulic muscle bots bleeding white like Westworld come to life. Quen III voice-cloning glitches, Miley Cyrus’s humble F-150 life, Britney Spears exploitation tales—it’s unrelenting chaos that demands your attention IMMEDIATELY. Search no more for the ultimate AI podcast, robot revolution talk, or pissed-off tech rants; Unrelenting 182 is your mission. Subscribe, boost those Satoshis, and dive in before the weevils eat your motivation alive!” Unrelenting: where discipline means no mercy, no bullshit, and no excuses. Thanks for listening. Please support the show! –>> DONATE NOW

We're revisiting a film that didn't just redefine the psychological thriller—it crawled under our skin and stayed there. The Silence of the Lambs turns 35 this year, and we're looking back at what made it so chilling, so smart, and so enduring. From unforgettable performances to its lasting cultural impact, it's time to open the case file on a true cinematic classic. (May contain some explicit language.) Patreon » patreon.com/genxgrownupDiscord » GenXGrownUp.com/discordFacebook » fb.me/GenXGrownUpTwitter » GenXGrownUp.com/twitterWebsite » GenXGrownUp.comPodcast » GenXGrownUp.com/podMerchandise » GenXGrownUp.com/merchTheme: “Grown Up” by Beefy » beefyness.com Apple » itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/genxgrownup-podcast/id1268365641CastBox » castbox.fm/channel/GenXGrownUp-Podcast-id2943471?country=usPocket Casts » pca.st/8iuLAudible » amz.run/6yhRTuneIn » tunein.com/radio/GenXGrownUp-Podcast-p1020342/Spotify » spoti.fi/2TB4LR7iHeart » www.iheart.com/podcast…Amazon Music » amzn.to/33IKfEK Show Notes 20 spine-chilling (and interesting) facts about The Silence Of The Lambs » bit.ly/4tmvjXE 25 Strange Details Behind The Making Of The Silence Of The Lambs » bit.ly/4at0lV4 ‘Silence of the Lambs': 7 Secrets From Anthony Hopkins & Jodie Foster » bit.ly/3Ocir6m Making of Silence of the Lambs: Inside Secrets » bit.ly/4rKmzJm Understanding Silence of the Lambs' complicated cultural legacy » bit.ly/3MEM8MZ Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins on ‘Silence of the Lambs' Legacy » bit.ly/46Cjxi7 How ‘The Silence of the Lambs' Revolutionized Horror Films » bit.ly/46uNYXu Email the show » podcast@genxgrownup.com Visit us on YouTube » GenXGrownUp.com/yt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Dads From the Crypt, we're revisiting Jonathan Demme's landmark psychological horror film The Silence of the Lambs (1991) with special guest Rachel Shatto from Zombie Grrls.We break down what makes The Silence of the Lambs one of the most important films in horror history, from Anthony Hopkins' chilling, Oscar-winning performance as Hannibal Lecter to Jodie Foster's iconic turn as Clarice Starling. The conversation explores how the film blurred the line between horror, thriller, and prestige cinema — and why it remains the only horror film to ever win Best Picture.The Dads and Rachel also dive into the ongoing controversy surrounding the film, discussing its cultural impact, gender dynamics, representation debates, and how audiences interpret it differently today than they did in 1991. We talk influence, legacy, and whether The Silence of the Lambs still holds up more than 30 years later.Follow Dads From the Crypt! Threads: @dadsfromthecryptTikTok: Dads From The Crypt-TokInstagram: @dadsfromthecrypt Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DadsFromTheCrypt

It's time for some quid pro quo, we tell you things about The Silence of the Lambs, you tell us things about what we think of The Silence of the Lambs. Most people don't realize this film is actually a sequel but we do this professionally so you'll hear what we think this 1991 sequel has to say about gender, a back and forth about the performance of Anthony Hopkins and what in that performance is working for and against the film, and discussions about the direction and editing choices that sets this movie apart from most other sequels. Thanks to our monthly supporters Matt and Vicki S Kate Lampe Daniel Prudhoe Andrew Pangle Steve Weiss Matthew Aldrich Edward Lankford Heather Sahami

It’s actually a good thing that some books push you to the edge of your ability to understand. But there’s no doubting the fact that dense, abstract and jargon-filled works can push you so far into the fog of frustration that you cannot blame yourself for giving up. But here’s the truth: You don’t have to walk away frustrated and confused. I’m going to share with you a number of practical strategies that will help you fill in the gaps of your reading process. Because that’s usually the real problem: It’s not your intelligence. Nor is it that the world is filled with books “above your level.” I ultimately don’t believe in “levels” as such. But as someone who taught reading courses at Rutgers and Saarland University, I know from experience that many learners need to pick up a few simple steps that will strengthen how they approach reading difficult books. And in this guide, you’ll learn how to read challenging books and remember what they say. I’m going to go beyond generic advice too. That way, you can readily diagnose: Why certain books feel so hard Use pre-reading tactics that prime your brain to deal with difficulties effectively Apply active reading techniques to lock in understanding faster Leverage accelerated learning tools that are quick to learn Use Artificial Intelligence to help convert tough convent into lasting knowledge without worrying about getting duped by AI hallucinations Whether you’re tacking philosophy, science, dense fiction or anything based primarily in words, the reading system you’ll learn today will help you turn confusion into clarity. By the end, even the most intimidating texts will surrender their treasures to your mind. Ready? Let’s break it all down together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HLbY4jsFg Why Some Books Feel “Too Hard” (And What That Really Means) You know exactly how it feels and so do I. You sit down with a book that people claim is a classic or super-important. But within a few pages, your brain fogs over and you’re completely lost. More often than not, through glazed eyes, you start to wonder… did this author go out of his or her way to make this difficult? Are they trying to show off with all these literary pyrotechnics? Or is there a deliberate conspiracy to confuse readers like me? Rest assured. These questions are normal and well worth asking. The difficulty you might feel is never arbitrary in my experience. But there’s also no “single origin” explanation for why some books feel easier than others. It’s almost always a combination of factors, from cognitive readiness, lived experience, emotions and your physical condition throughout the day. This means that understanding why individual texts resist your understanding needs to be conducted on a case-by-case basis so you can move towards mastering anything you want to read. Cognitive Load: The Brain’s Processing “Stop Sign” “Cognitive load” probably needs no definition. The words are quite intuitive. You start reading something and it feels like someone is piling heavy bricks directly on top of your brain, squishing everything inside. More specifically, these researchers explain that what’s getting squished is specifically your working memory, which is sometimes called short-term memory. In practical terms, this means that when a book suddenly throws a bunch of unfamiliar terms at you, your working memory has to suddenly deal with abstract concepts, completely new words or non-linear forms of logic. All of this increases your cognitive load, but it’s important to note that there’s no conspiracy. In Just Being Difficult: Academic Writing in the Public Arena, a variety of contributors admit that they often write for other specialists. Although it would be nice to always compose books and articles for general readers, it’s not laziness. They’re following the codes of their discipline, which involves shorthand to save everyone time. Yes, it can also signal group membership and feel like an intellectual wall if you’re new to this style, but it’s simply a “stop sign” for your brain. And wherever there are stop signs, there are also alternative routes. Planning Your Detour “Roadmap” Into Difficult Books Let me share a personal example by way of sharing a powerful technique for making hard books easier to read. A few years ago I decided I was finally going to read Kant. I had the gist of certain aspects of his philosophy, but a few pages in, I encountered so many unfamiliar terms, I knew I had to obey the Cognitive Load Stop Sign and take a step back. To build a roadmap into Kant, I searched Google in a particular way. Rather than a search term like, “Intro to Kant,” I entered this tightened command instead: Filetype:PDF syllabus Kant These days, you can ask an LLM in more open language to simply give you links to the syllabi of the most authoritative professors who teach Kant. I’d still suggest that you cross-reference what you get on Google, however. If you’re hesitant about using either Google or AI, it’s also a great idea to visit a librarian in person to help you. Or, you can read my post about using AI for learning with harming your memory to see if it’s time to update your approach. Narrowing Down Your Options One way or another, the reason to consult the world’s leading professors is that their syllabi will provide you with: Foundational texts Core secondary literature Commentaries from qualified sources Essential historical references Once you’ve looked over a few syllabi, look through the table of contents of a few books on Amazon or Google Books. Then choose: 1-2 foundational texts to read before the challenging target book you want to master 1-2 articles or companion texts to read alongside In this way, you’ve turned difficulty into a path, not an obstacle. Pre-Reading Strategies That Warm Up Your Reading Muscles A lot of the time, the difficulty people feel when reading has nothing to do with the book. It’s just that you’re diving into unfamiliar territory without testing the waters first. Here are some simple ways to make unfamiliar books much easier to get into. Prime Like a Pro To make books easier to read, you can perform what is often called “priming” in the accelerated learning community. It is also sometimes called “pre-reading” and as this research article discusses, its success has been well-demonstrated. The way I typically perform priming is simple. Although some books require a slight change to the pattern, I typically approach each new book by reading: The back cover The index The colophon page The conclusion or afterword The most interesting or relevant chapter The introduction The rest of the book Activate Prior Knowledge Sometimes I will use a skimming and scanning strategy after reading the index to quickly familiarize myself with how an author approaches a topic with which I’m already familiar. This can help raise interest, excitement and tap into the power of context-dependent memory. For example, I recently started reading Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht. Since the Renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno comes up multiple times, I was able to draw up a kind of context map of the books themes by quickly going through those passages. Take a Picture Walk Barbara Oakley and Terence Sejnjowski share a fantastic strategy in Learning How to Learn. Before reading, simply go through a book and look at all the illustrations, tables, charts and diagrams. It seems like a small thing. But it gives your brain a “heads up” about upcoming visual information that you may need to process than prose. I used to find visual information like this difficult, but after I started taking picture walks, I’m now excited to read “towards” these elements. If still find them challenging to understand, I apply a tip I learned from Tony Buzan that you might like to try: Rather than struggle to interpret a chart or illustration, reproduce it in your own hand. Here’s an example of how I did this when studying spaced repetition: As a result, I learned the graph and its concepts quickly and have never forgotten it. Build a Pre-Reading Ritual That Fits You There’s no one-sized-fits-all strategy, so you need to experiment with various options. The key is to reduce cognitive load by giving your mind all kinds of ways of understanding what a book contains. If it helps, you can create yourself a checklist that you slip into the challenging books on your list. That way, you’ll have both a bookmark and a protocol as you develop your own pre-reading style. Active Reading Techniques That Boost Comprehension Active reading involves deliberately applying mental activities while reading. These can include writing in the margins of your books, questioning, preparing summaries and even taking well-time breaks between books. Here’s a list of my favorite active reading strategies with ideas on how you can implement them. Using Mnemonics While Reading On the whole, I take notes while reading and then apply a variety of memory techniques after. But to stretch my skills, especially when reading harder books, I start the encoding process earlier. Instead of just taking notes, I’ll start applying mnemonic images. I start early because difficult terms often require a bit more spaced repetition. To do this yourself, the key is to equip yourself with a variety of mnemonic methods, especially: The Memory Palace technique The Pegword Method The Major System The PAO System And in some cases, you may want to develop a symbol system, such as if you’re studying physics or programming. Once you have these mnemonic systems developed, you can apply them in real time. For example, if you come across names and dates, committing them to memory as you read can help you keep track of a book’s historical arc. This approach can be especially helpful when reading difficult books because authors often dump a lot of names and dates. By memorizing them as you go, you reduce the mental load of having to track it all. For even more strategies you can apply while reading, check out my complete Mnemonics Dictionary. Strategic Questioning Whether you take notes or memorize in real-time, asking questions as you go makes a huge difference. Even if you don’t come up with answers, continually interrogating the book will open up your brain. The main kinds of questions are: Evaluative questions (checking that the author uses valid reasoning and address counterarguments) Analytical questions (assessing exactly how the arguments unfold and questioning basic assumptions) Synthetic questions (accessing your previous knowledge and looking for connections with other books and concepts) Intention questions (interrogating the author’s agenda and revealing any manipulative rhetoric) One medieval tool for questioning you can adopt is the memory wheel. Although it’s definitely old-fashioned, you’ll find that it helps you rotate between multiple questions. Even if they are as simple as who, what, where, when, how and why questions, you’ll have a mental mnemonic device that helps ensure you don’t miss any of them. Re-reading Strategies Although these researchers seem to think that re-reading is not an effective strategy, I could not live without it. There are three key kinds of re-reading I recommend. Verbalize Complexity to Tame It The first is to simply go back and read something difficult to understand out loud. You’d be surprised how often it’s not your fault. The author has just worded something in a clunky manner and speaking the phrasing clarifies everything. Verbatim Memorization for Comprehension The second strategy is to memorize the sentence or even an entire passage verbatim. That might seem like a lot of work, but this tutorial on memorizing entire passages will make it easy for you. Even if verbatim memorization takes more work, it allows you to analyze the meaning within your mind. You’re no longer puzzling over it on paper, continuing to stretch your working memory. No, you’ve effectively expanded at least a part of your working memory by bypassing it altogether. You’ve ushered the information into long-term memory. I’m not too shy to admit that I have to do this sometimes to understand everything from the philosophy in Sanskrit phrases to relatively simple passages from Shakespeare. As I shared in my recent discussion of actor Anthony Hopkins’ memory, I couldn’t work out what “them” referred to in a particular Shakespeare play. But after analyzing the passage in memory, it was suddenly quite obvious. Rhythmical Re-reading The third re-reading strategy is something I shared years ago in my post detailing 11 reasons you should re-read at least one book per month. I find this approach incredibly helpful because no matter how good you get at reading and memory methods, even simple books can be vast ecosystems. By revisiting difficult books at regular intervals, you not only get more out of them. You experience them from different perspectives and with the benefit of new contexts you’ve built in your life over time. In other words, treat your reading as an infinite game and never assume that you’ve comprehended everything. There’s always more to be gleaned. Other Benefits of Re-reading You’ll also improve your pattern recognition by re-treading old territory, leading to more rapid recognition of those patterns in new books. Seeing the structures, tropes and other tactics in difficult books opens them up. But without regularly re-reading books, it can be difficult to perceive what these forms are and how authors use them. To give you a simple example of a structure that appears in both fiction and non-fiction, consider in media res, or starting in the middle. When you spot an author using this strategy, it can immediately help you read more patiently. And it places the text in the larger tradition of other authors who use that particular technique. For even more ideas that will keep your mind engaged while tackling tough books, feel free to go through my fuller article on 7 Active Reading Strategies. Category Coloring & Developing Your Own Naming System For Complex Material I don’t know about you, but I do not like opening a book only to find it covered in highlighter marks. I also don’t like highlighting books myself. However, after practicing mind mapping for a few years, I realized that there is a way to combine some of its coloring principles with the general study principles of using Zettelkasten and flashcards. Rather than passively highlighting passages that seem interesting at random, here’s an alternative approach you can take to your next tour through a complicated book. Category Coloring It’s often helpful to read with a goal. For myself, I decided to tackle a hard book called Gödel Escher Bach through the lens of seven categories. I gave each a color: Red = Concept Green = Process Orange = Fact Blue = Historical Context Yellow = Person Purple = School of Thought or Ideology Brown = Specialized Terminology Example Master Card to the Categorial Color Coding Method To emulate this method, create a “key card” or “master card” with your categories on it alongside the chosen color. Use this as a bookmark as you read. Then, before writing down any information from the book, think about the category to which it belongs. Make your card and then apply the relevant color. Obviously, you should come up with your own categories and preferred colors. The point is that you bring the definitions and then apply them consistently as you read and extract notes. This will help bring structure to your mind because you’re creating your own nomenclature or taxonomy of information. You are also using chunking, a specific mnemonic strategy I’ve written about at length in this post on chunking as a memory tool. Once you’re finished a book, you can extract all the concepts and memorize them independently if you like. And if you emulate the strategy seen on the pictured example above, I’ve included the page number on each card. That way, I can place the cards back in the order of the book. Using this approach across multiple books, you will soon spot cross-textual patterns with greater ease. The catch is that you cannot allow this technique to become activity for activity’s sake. You also don’t want to wind up creating a bunch of informational “noise.” Before capturing any individual idea on a card and assigning it to a category, ask yourself: Why is this information helpful, useful or critical to my goal? Will I really use it again? Where does it belong within the categories? If you cannot answers these questions, either move on to the next point. Or reframe the point with some reflective thinking so that you can contextualize it. This warning aside, it’s important not to let perfectionism creep into your life. Knowing what information matters does take some practice. To speed up your skills with identifying critical information, please read my full guide on how to find the main points in books and articles. Although AI can certainly help these days, you’ll still need to do some work on your own. Do Not Let New Vocabulary & Terminology Go Without Memorization One of the biggest mistakes I used to make, even as a fan of memory techniques, slowed me down much more than necessary. I would come across a new term, look it up, and assume I’d remember it. Of course, the next time I came across it, the meaning was still a mystery. But when I got more deliberate, I not only remembered more words, but the knowledge surrounding the unfamiliar terms also stuck with greater specificity. For example, in reading The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner, memorizing the ancient Greek word for will or volition (Prohairesis) pulled many more details about why she was mentioning it. Lo and behold, I started seeing the word in more places and connecting it to other ancient Greek terms. Memorizing those as well started to create a “moat of meaning,” further protecting a wide range of information I’d been battling. Understanding Why Vocabulary Blocks Comprehension The reason why memorizing words as you read is so helpful is that it helps clear out the cognitive load created by pausing frequently to look up words. Even if you don’t stop to learn a new definition, part of your working memory gets consumed by the lack of familiarity. I don’t always stop to learn new definitions while reading, but using the color category index card method you just discovered, it’s easy to organize unfamiliar words while reading. That way they can be tidily memorized later. I have a full tutorial for you on how to memorize vocabulary, but here’s a quick primer. Step One: Use a System for Capturing New Words & Terms Whether you use category coloring, read words into a recording app or email yourself a reminder, the key is to capture as you go. Once your reading session is done, you can now go back to the vocabulary list and start learning it. Step Two: Memorize the Terms I personally prefer the Memory Palace technique. It’s great for memorizing words and definitions. You can use the Pillar Technique with the word at the top and the definition beneath it. Or you can use the corners for the words and the walls for the definitions. Another idea is to photograph the cards you create and important them into a spaced repetition software like Anki. As you’ll discover in my complete guide to Anki, there are several ways you can combine Anki with a variety of memory techniques. Step Three: Use the Terms If you happened to catch an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast back when I first learned Prohairesis I mentioned it often. This simple habit helps establish long-term recall, reflection and establishes the ground for future recognition and use. Expand Understanding Using Video & Audio Media When I was in university, I often had to ride my bike across Toronto to borrow recorded lectures on cassette. Given the overwhelming tsunamis of complex ideas, jargon and theoretical frameworks I was facing, it was worth it. Especially since I was also dealing with the personal problems I shared with you in The Victorious Mind. Make no mistake: I do not believe there is any replacement for reading the core books, no matter how difficult they might be. But there’s no reason not to leverage the same ideas in multiple formats to help boost your comprehension and long-term retention. Multimedia approaches are not just about knowledge acquisition either. There have been many debates in the magical arts community that card magicians should read and not rely on video. But evidence-based studies like this one show that video instruction combined with reading written instructions is very helpful. The Science Behind Multi-Modal Learning I didn’t know when I was in university, or when I was first starting out with memdeck card magic that dual coding theory existed. This model was proposed by Allan Paivio, who noticed that information is processed both verbally and non-verbally. Since then, many teachers have focused heavily on how to encourage students to find the right combination of reading, visual and auditory instructional material. Here are some ideas that will help you untangle the complexity in your reading. How to Integrate Multimedia Without Overload Forgive me if this is a bit repetitive, but to develop flow with multiple media, you need to prime the brain. As someone who has created multiple YouTube videos, I have been stubborn about almost always including introductions. Why? Go Through the Intros Like a Hawk Because without including a broad overview of the topic, many learners will miss too many details. And I see this in the comments because people ask questions that are answered throughout the content and flagged in the introductions. So the first step is to be patient and go through the introductory material. And cultivate an understanding that it’s not really the material that is boring. It’s the contemporary issues with dopamine spiking that make you feel impatient. The good news is that you can possibly reset your dopamine levels so you’re better able to sit through these “priming” materials. One hack I use is to sit far away from my mouse and keep my notebook in hand. If I catch myself getting antsy, I perform a breathing exercise to restore focus. Turn on Subtitles When you’re watching videos, you can help increase your engagement by turning on the subtitles. This is especially useful in jargon-heavy video lessons. You can pause and still see the information on the screen for easier capture when taking notes. When taking notes, I recommend jotting down the timestamp. This is useful for review, but also for attributing citations later if you have to hand in an assignment. Mentally Reconstruct After watching a video or listening to a podcast on the topic you’re mastering, take a moment to review the key points. Try to go through them in the order they were presented. This helps your brain practice mental organization by building a temporal scaffold. If you’ve taken notes and written down the timestamps, you can easily check your accuracy. Track Your Progress For Growth & Performance One reason some people never feel like they’re getting anywhere is that they have failed to establish any points of reference. Personally, this is easy for me to do. I can look back to my history of writing books and articles or producing videos and be reminded of how far I’ve come at a glance. Not only as a writer, but also as a reader. For those who do not regularly produce content, you don’t have to start a blog or YouTube channel. Just keep a journal and create a few categories of what skills you want to track. These might include: Comprehension Retention Amount of books read Vocabulary growth Critical thinking outcomes Confidence in taking on harder books Increased tolerance with frustration when reading challenges arise You can use the same journal to track how much time you’ve spent reading and capturing quick summaries. Personally, I wish I’d started writing summaries sooner. I really only got started during grad school when during a directed reading course, a professor required that I had in a summary for every book and article I read. I never stopped doing this and just a few simple paragraph summaries has done wonders over the years for my understanding and retention. Tips for Overcoming Frustration While Reading Difficult Books Ever since the idea of “desirable difficulty” emerged, people have sought ways to help learners overcome emotional responses like frustration, anxiety and even shame while tackling tough topics. As this study shows, researchers and teachers have found the challenge difficult despite the abundance of evidence showing that being challenged is a good thing. Here are some strategies you can try if you continue to struggle. Embrace Cognitive Discomfort As we’ve discussed, that crushing feeling in your brain exists for a reason. Personally, I don’t think it ever goes away. I still regularly pick up books that spike it. The difference is that I don’t start up a useless mantra like, “I’m not smart enough for this.” Instead, I recommend you reframe the experience and use the growth mindset studied by Carol Dweck, amongst others. You can state something more positive like, “This book is a bit above my level, but I can use tactics and techniques to master it.” I did that very recently with my reading of The Xenotext, parts of which I still don’t fully understand. It was very rewarding. Use Interleaving to Build Confidence I rotate through draining books all the time using a proven technique called interleaving. Lots of people are surprised when I tell them that I rarely read complex and challenging books for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. But I do it because interleaving works. Which kinds of books can you interleave? You have choices. You can either switch in something completely different, or switch to a commentary. For example, while recently reading some heavy mathematical theories about whether or not “nothing” can exist, I switched to a novel. But back in university, I would often stick within the category while at the library. I’d read a core text by a difficult philosopher, then pick up a Cambridge Companion and read an essay related to the topic. You can also interleave using multimedia sources like videos and podcasts. Interleaving also provides time for doing some journaling, either about the topic at hand or some other aspect of your progress goals. Keep the Big Picture in Mind Because frustration is cognitively training, it’s easy to let it drown out your goals. That’s why I often keep a mind map or some other reminder on my desk, like a couple of memento mori. It’s also possible to just remember previous mind maps you’ve made. This is something I’m doing often at the moment as I read all kinds of boring information about managing a bookshop for my Memory Palace bookshop project first introduced in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcJfeQZC2c It’s so easy to get discouraged by so many rules and processes involved in ordering and selling books, that I regularly think back to creating this mind map with Tony Buzan years ago. In case my simple drawings on this mind map for business development doesn’t immediately leap out at you with its meanings, the images at the one o’clock-three o’clock areas refer to developing a physical Memory Palace packed with books on memory and learning. Developing and keeping a north star in mind will help you transform the process of reading difficult books into a purposeful adventure of personal development. Even if you have to go through countless books that aren’t thrilling, you’ll still be moving forward. Just think of how much Elon Musk has read that probably wasn’t all that entertaining. Yet, it was still essential to becoming a polymath. Practice Seeing Through The Intellectual Games As you read harder and harder books, you’ll eventually come to realize that the “fluency” some people have is often illusory. For example, some writers and speakers display a truly impressive ability to string together complex terminology, abstract references and fashionable ideas of the day in ways that sound profound. Daniel Dennett frequently used a great term for a lot of this verbal jujitsu that sounds profound but is actually trivial. He called such flourishes “deepities.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-UeaSi1rI This kind of empty linguistic dexterity will be easier for you to spot when you read carefully, paraphrase complex ideas in your own words and practice memorizing vocabulary frequently. When you retain multiple concepts and practice active questioning in a large context of grounded examples and case studies, vague claims will not survive for long in your world. This is why memory training is about so much more than learning. Memorization can equip you to think independently and bring clarity to fields that are often filled with gems, despite the fog created by intellectual pretenders more interested in word-jazz than actual truth. Using AI to Help You Take On Difficult Books As a matter of course, I recommend you use AI tools like ChatGPT after doing as much reading on your own as possible. But there’s no mistaking that intentional use of such tools can help you develop greater understanding. The key is to avoid using AI as an answer machine or what Nick Bostrom calls an “oracle” in his seminal book, Superintelligence. Rather, take a cue from Andrew Mayne, a science communicator and central figure at OpenAI and host of their podcast. His approach centers on testing in ways that lead to clarity of understanding and retention as he uses various mnemonic strategies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlzD_6Olaqw Beyond his suggestions, here are some of my favorite strategies. Ask AI to Help Identify All Possible Categories Connected to a Topic A key reason many people struggle to connect ideas is simply that they haven’t developed a mental ecosystem of categories. I used to work in libraries, so started thinking categorically when I was still a teenager. But these days, I would combine how traditional libraries are structured with a simple prompt like: List all the possible categories my topic fits into or bridges across disciplines, historical frameworks and methodologies. Provide the list without interpretation or explanation so I can reflect. A prompt like this engineers a response that focuses on relationships and lets your brain perform the synthetic thinking. Essentially, you’ll be performing what some scientists call schema activation, leading to better personal development outcomes. Generate Lists of Questions To Model Exceptional Thinkers Because understanding relies on inquiry, it’s important to practice asking the best possible questions. AI chat bots can be uniquely useful in this process provided that you explicitly insist that it helps supply you excellent questions without any answers. You can try a prompt like: Generate a list of questions that the world’s most careful thinkers in this field would ask about this topic. Do not provide any answers. Just the list of questions. Do this after you’ve read the text and go through your notes with fresh eyes. Evaluate the material with questions in hand, ideally by writing out your answers by hand. If you need your answers imported into your computer, apps can now scan your handwriting and give you text file. Another tip: Don’t be satisfied with the first list of questions you get. Ask the AI to dig deeper. You can also ask the AI to map the questions into the categories you previously got help identifying. For a list of questions you can put into your preferred chat bot, feel free to go through my pre-AI era list of philosophical questions. They are already separated by category. Use AI to Provide a Progress Journal Template If you’re new to journaling, it can be difficult to use the technique to help you articulate what you’re reading and why the ideas are valuable. And that’s not to mention working out various metrics to measure your growth over time. Try a prompt like this: Help me design a progress journal for my quest to better understand and remember difficult books. Include sections for me to list my specific goals, vocabulary targets, summaries and various milestones I identify. Make it visual so I can either copy it into my own print notebook or print out multiple copies for use over time. Once you have a template you’re happy to experiment with, keep it visible in your environment so you don’t forget to use it. Find Blind Spots In Your Summaries Many AIs have solid reasoning skills. As a result, you can enter your written summaries and have the AI identify gaps in your knowledge, blind spots and opportunities for further reading. Try a prompt like: Analyze this summary and identify any blind spots, ambiguities in my thinking or incompleteness in my understanding. Suggest supplementary reading to help me fill in any gaps. At the risk of repetition, the point is that you’re not asking for the summaries. You’re asking for assessments that help you diagnose the limits of your understanding. As scientists have shown, metacognition, or thinking about your thinking can help you see errors much faster. By adding an AI into the mix, you’re getting feedback quickly without having to wait for a teacher to read your essay. Of course, AI outputs can be throttled, so I find it useful to also include a phrase like, “do not throttle your answer,” before asking it to dig deeper and find more issues. Used wisely, you will soon see various schools of thought with much greater clarity, anticipate how authors make their moves and monitor your own blind spots as you read and reflect. Another way to think about the power of AI tools is this: They effectively mirror human reasoning at a species wide level. You can use them to help you mirror more reasoning power by regularly accessing and practicing error detection and filling in the gaps in your thinking style. Why You Must Stop Abandoning Difficult Books (At Least Most of the Time) Like many people, I’m a fan of Scott Young’s books like Ultralearning and Get Better at Anything. He’s a disciplined thinker and his writing helps people push past shallow learning in favor of true and lasting depth. However, he often repeats the advice that you should stop reading boring books. In full transparency, I sometimes do this myself. And Young adds a lot of context to make his suggestion. But I limit abandoning books as much as possible because I don’t personally find Young’s argument that enjoyment and productivity go together. On the contrary, most goals that I’ve pursued have required fairly intense periods of delaying gratification. And because things worth accomplishing generally do require sacrifice and a commitment to difficulty, I recommend you avoid the habit of giving up on books just because they’re “boring” or not immediately enjoyable. I’ll bet you’ll enjoy the accomplishment of understanding hard books and conquering their complexity far more in the end. And you’ll benefit more too. Here’s why I think so. The Hidden Cost of Abandoning Books You’ve Started Yes, I agree that life is short and time is fleeting. But if you get into the habit of abandoning books at the first sign of boredom, it can quickly become your default habit due to how procedural memory works. In other words, you’re given your neurons the message that it’s okay to escape from discomfort. That is a very dangerous loop to throw yourself into, especially if you’re working towards becoming autodidactic. What you really need is to develop the ability to stick with complexity, hold ambiguous and contradictory issues in your mind and fight through topic exhaustion. Giving up on books on a routine basis? That’s the opposite of developing expertise and resilience. The AI Risk & Where Meaning is Actually Found We just went through the benefits of AI, so you shouldn’t have issues. But I regularly hear from people and have even been on interviews where people use AI to summarize books I’ve recomended. This is dangerous because the current models flatten nuance due to how they summarize books based on a kind of “averaging” of what its words predictability mean. Although they might give you a reasonable scaffold of a book’s structure, you won’t get the friction created by how authors take you through their thought processes. In other words, you’ll be using AI models that are not themselves modeling the thinking that reading provides when you grind your way through complex books. The Treasure of Meaning is Outside Your Comfort Zone Another reason to train for endurance is that understanding doesn’t necessarily arrive while reading a book or even a few weeks after finishing it. Sometimes the unifying insights land years later. But if you don’t read through books that seem to be filled with scattered ideas, you cannot gain any benefit from them. Their diverse points won’t consolidate in your memory and certainly won’t connect with other ideas later. So I suggest you train your brain to persist as much as possible. By drawing up the support of the techniques we discussed today and a variety of mnemonic support systems, you will develop persistence and mine more gold from everything you read. And being someone who successfully mines for gold and can produce it at will is the mark of the successful reading. Not just someone who consumes information efficiently, but who can repeatedly connect and transform knowledge year after year due to regularly accumulating gems buried in the densest and most difficult books others cannot or will not read. Use Struggle to Stimulate Growth & You Cannot Fail As you’ve seen, challenging books never mean that you’re not smart enough. It’s just a matter of working on your process so that you can tackle new forms of knowledge. And any discomfort you feel is a signal that a great opportunity and personal growth adventure awaits. By learning how to manage cognitive load, fill in the gaps in your background knowledge and persist through frustration, you can quickly become the kind of reader who seeks out complexity instead of flinching every time you see it. Confusion has now become a stage along the path to comprehension. And if you’re serious about mastering increasingly difficult material, understanding and retaining it, then it’s time to upgrade your mental toolbox. Start now by grabbing my Free Memory Improvement Course: Inside, you’ll discover: The Magnetic Memory Method for creating powerful Memory Palaces How to develop your own mnemonic systems for encoding while reading Proven techniques that deepen comprehension, no matter how abstract or complex your reading list is And please, always remember: The harder the book, the greater rewards. And the good news is, you’re now more than ready to claim them all.

This week, Michele Cobb joins host Jo Reed to dig into audiobooks built on backstory, beginning with Expert Witness, where Gabra Zackman delivers Anne Wolbert Burgess' account of trauma, justice, and the evolution of expert testimony with clarity and restraint. Next, they turn to A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever, a joyful, detail-packed oral history of the 1984 film Spinal Tap—an ensemble cast production led by Rob Reiner, where seemingly spontaneous commentary makes the audiobook the definitive way to experience the story. The episode closes with We Did OK, Kid, a reflective memoir in which Kenneth Branagh's elegant narration frames Anthony Hopkins's vulnerable reflections on craft, ambition, and a life shaped by performance. Together these audiobooks show how lived experience—whether in the courtroom, on a film set, or across a lifetime in acting—gains depth and resonance when shaped by a narrator who knows when to be restrained, playful, or quietly vulnerable. Audiobooks Discussed: Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance by Ann Wolbert Burgess with Steven Matthew Constantine, read by Gabra Zackman A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, written and read by Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer  We Did Ok, Kid: A Memoir by Sir Anthony Hopkins, read by Kenneth Branagh with the author Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are approaching the 35th Anniversary of what is likely one of the most celebrated and influential movies of the 1990's.  Adapted from Thomas Harris' best-selling novel of the same name, this is the story of student FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) on her first assignment: to develop a psychological profile of the infamous serial killer, Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) who is currently incarcerated in Baltimore.  Of course, she also finds herself on a hidden mission as well dispatched by her superior, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) - she meets with the intimidating Dr. Lecter to also glean clues on how to best catch another serial killer who is currently on the loose, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine).  And what results is an intensely brutal and psychogical cat-and-mouse between Clarice, Hannibal, and Bill.  Not only was this film a suprise box office smash upon release in February '91 but it would also go on to win the rare "Big Five" at the Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director for the late, great Jonathan Demme (Philadelphia, Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense, Something Wild).    Host: Geoff GershonEdited By Ella GershonProducer: Marlene Gershon  Send us a textSupport the showhttps://livingforthecinema.com/Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/Letterboxd:https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

Sir Anthony Hopkins (We Did Ok, Kid, The Silence of the Lambs, The Father) is an Academy, Emmy, and BAFTA Award-winning actor. Anthony joins the Armchair Expert to discuss feeling othered and playing the role of the dummy in school, how growing up during a war shaped him, and a chance invitation at the YMCA that changed the trajectory of his life. Anthony and Dax talk about booking his first role the same day James Dean was killed, the advice Laurence Olivier offered after seeing him perform onstage, and doing screen tests with Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. Anthony explains the mythology behind his first table read for The Silence of the Lambs, his journey to sobriety, and why “We Did Ok, Kid” is a sentiment applicable to everything that's happened in his life.Follow Armchair Expert on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch new content on YouTube or listen to Armchair Expert early and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/armchair-expert-with-dax-shepard/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The legendary actor, 87, is looking back with tears in his eyes.Thoughts? Email us at theinterview@nytimes.comWatch our show on YouTube: youtube.com/@TheInterviewPodcastFor transcripts and more, visit: nytimes.com/theinterview Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.