Podcast appearances and mentions of James Earl Jones

What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! 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Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint.   Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe,   Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point.   Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning.   Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden.   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines?   Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there.   Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff.   Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45   Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start.   Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So   Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston.   Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South   Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie?   Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand,   Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now,   Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you   Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that   Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the   Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified.   Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn.   Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the   Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good.   Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know   Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This   Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset.   Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college?   Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right?   Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public?   Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool.   Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as   Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and   Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner.   Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up?   Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss.   Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor?   Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure   Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during   Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition   Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you?   Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G   Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah   Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones,   Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star.   Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was   Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family.   Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway,   Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no,   Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity   Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and   Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story.   Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time.   Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got   Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV.   Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did.   Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great   Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy   Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and   Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that,   Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story.   Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's   Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know,   Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip.   Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes.   Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us.   Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No,   Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts,   Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And,   Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it   Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope.   Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean,   Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff   Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated   Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You   Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers.   Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch.   Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah.   Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that   Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh,   Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick   Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible.   Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool.   Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking.   Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner,   Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times.   Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much   Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry.   Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep?   Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the   Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do.   Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them   Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights,   Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor,   Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry.   Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes?   Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that   Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just   Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I   Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they   Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And   Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike?   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went,   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le

What does it mean to truly use your voice—to tell stories, bring words to life, and inspire others even when life throws challenge's your way? My guest this week, Amber Ba'th, embodies that Unstoppable spirit. Amber is a professional voice actor, a Bible narrator for the Dwell app, and a functional nutritionist who turned a life-changing diagnosis into a deeper calling. Amber opens up about performing on stage, finding her place in the booth, and learning resilience after being diagnosed with transverse myelitis. Her story reminds us that creativity and courage don't fade—they evolve. I think you'll be moved by her honesty, her strength, and her Unstoppable commitment to sharing her voice with the world.   Highlights:   00:10 – Hear how early curiosity in theater grew into a lifelong love for performance. 03:21 – Learn how family roots in the arts shaped a career in acting and voice. 07:21 – Discover why live theater creates a unique audience experience you can't get in film. 14:03 – See how studying Theater Arts Administration opened doors beyond the stage. 17:24 – Find out what moving to LA taught her about auditions, hustle, and opportunity. 25:37 – Get the real entry point into voiceover and why COVID pushed her to record at home. 27:26 – Understand the scope and process of narrating the entire CSB Bible for the Dwell app. 32:07 – Learn how leaning into “villain” characters can expand your VO range. 35:06 – Take why acting classes matter for believable, persuasive voiceover reads. 38:05 – Hear her journey with transverse myelitis and how she reframed ability. 43:47 – See how diet changes and self-advocacy supported healing and daily function. 54:14 – Learn practical nutrition tips VO pros use to protect tone and clarity.   About the Guest:   Hi, I'm Amber Ba'th—pronounced By-ee-th! I'm a Philadelphia native with roots in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. I earned my BFA in Theatre Arts Administration from the legendary Howard University, and from the very beginning, storytelling and performance have been a huge part of my life. Whether through stage, screen, or sound, I believe creative expression has the ability to inspire, uplift, and connect people. That belief and my faith in Christ, has guided every step of my journey in the entertainment industry.   With over 20 years of experience in theater and film, I've worn many hats—actor, voice actor, producer, company manager, and coach. My early days at Philadelphia's Freedom Theatre gave me the foundation to work on national tours and major productions, such as The Fabric of a Man (national stage and film), and the national tour of If This Hat Could Talk under Tony Award-winning director George Faison. I've also stepped in front of the camera, appearing in Ice Cube's Friday After Next and national print campaigns for McDonald's that landed me in Essence, O Magazine, and Woman's World.   Voice acting has become one of my deepest passions. I've had the privilege of lending my voice to projects for Delorean, Holler Studios, Amazon, Make Originals, and most notably, narrating the greatest story ever told for the Dwell Bible App; just to name a few. I'm known for being versatile—able to bring warmth, humor, authority, and charisma into every read. Whether a character needs to feel animated, compassionate, bold, or simply relatable, I approach every project with creative precision and care.   I've been fortunate to learn from incredible mentors like Nick Omana, Art Evans, Queen Noveen, Linda Bearman, Al Woodley, Joyce Castellanos, JD Lawrence, and Rolonda Watts, and to collaborate with talent across every corner of this industry. I'm always growing, always listening, and always grateful. My goal is not only to entertain but also to reflect God's grace through my work. Faith is my anchor—it's the reason I'm able to keep showing up in this ever-changing field with joy and purpose.   Outside of my career, I'm a mother of two, and I live with a “different ability” that has only strengthened my walk and testimony. I believe that what God has for me is for me, and I want other artists to feel empowered to claim that same truth for themselves. As someone in the faith, You are royalty—act like it, speak like it, know it. I'm here to tell stories, give voice to vision, and ultimately to help others feel seen, heard, and deeply valued in this industry.   Ways to connect with Amber:   LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamamberbath/   IG- https://www.instagram.com/iamamberbath/   YouTube- YouTube.com/@iamamberbath   Website- www.iamamberbath.com     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hello everyone. Wherever you happen to be, I am Michael Hingson, and this is unstoppable mindset. We are really excited that you're here with us today. And we have a fascinating guest who was referred to us by another fascinating guest who is coming on unstoppable mindset, and we'll get to all that, I am sure. But Amber bath is how she pronounces her last name by eth. I'm saying that right. I assume that is correct. Oh, good. Never want to get it too wrong, you know. Anyway, Amber is a voice actor and does a lot of different things. And we learned about Amber from someone who we were referred to by Walden Hughes, that reps in yesterday USA, and Walden has been on unstoppable mindset a couple of times. Amber, do you know Walden? I know I don't. Well, then we can spread all sorts of rumors and you'll believe everyone, right, absolutely. Anyway. So anyway, what Linda Berryman, you know, so that works. Anyway, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. It's really a joy and a pleasure to have you, and thank you for being here.   Amber Ba'th ** 02:42 Thank you for having me. This is such an exciting moment. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:46 I'm anxious to learn all about voice acting and some of those things. But why don't we start by maybe you telling us a little bit about kind of the early Amber growing up and all that sort of stuff. Well, always a good place to start. You know, a   Amber Ba'th ** 03:02 long time ago   Michael Hingson ** 03:03 in a galaxy, far, far away, yes,   Amber Ba'th ** 03:07 oh my gosh. Well, I I'm a suburbian girl here. I'm from the suburbs, actually Philadelphia. I was actually born in DC, raised in Philly, went back to DC, then moved all the way across country to La La Land. Is that where you are now, I'm not. I'm actually back in DC.   Michael Hingson ** 03:33 Go figure. Right now I'm, I'm really curious to hear the history of all these moves. But anyway, so you were raised in Philadelphia. Did you ever meet Rocky Balboa? Just checking,   Amber Ba'th ** 03:45 no, just ran the steps. You did run the steps. I did run the steps. Yeah, actually got a heat stroke. But I did. I was, I was young at the time, and it was super hot. And you know, it's like, yeah, you know, I'm gonna run the steps. Ran the steps, and just shouldn't have   Michael Hingson ** 04:04 done that, not in the middle of the day. No, when did he run them? It was in the morning, wasn't it?   Amber Ba'th ** 04:11 Yeah, he always ran in the morning. So no, I was this was in the heat of the day.   Michael Hingson ** 04:16 So huh, we all have our growth issues that we have to deal with so so you but you were raised in Philadelphia, and you went to school there and so on, and what kind of were your interests and so on, growing up   Amber Ba'th ** 04:32 theater, I was really, I mean, I come from A family who has always been in the spotlight. I had two aunts who actually had a touring show titled The sisters, the Stuart sisters. And, you know, I've always been wanting either to dance, to sing, to act. That was just. Just my thing.   Michael Hingson ** 05:02 So they you came by, it pretty honestly. Then exactly anything else. They were actors in the show.   Amber Ba'th ** 05:10 They were, yeah, one was a singer and one was an actress.   Michael Hingson ** 05:12 Yes, oh, cool, yeah. Well, and what was the show about?   Amber Ba'th ** 05:18 Actually, it was about Harriet Tubman, Sojourner, Sojourner, truth. And it was it they actually toured different toward the country and talked about the Underground Railroad and and and how they were able to escape and free other, other slaves.   Michael Hingson ** 05:42 Now that show isn't whether it's your parents or not, but that show is not on now. It's not running.   Amber Ba'th ** 05:50 This was a stage play. This was many, many years   Michael Hingson ** 05:52 ago, right, right, yeah, but they but no one has continued. I would think it would be a very valuable thing to keep around you.   Amber Ba'th ** 05:59 Would think it would be that, you know, the traditional way, but we kind of moved in different directions, you know. So   Michael Hingson ** 06:06 everything closes eventually. The fantastics eventually closed, and that was on for the longest time, yeah? Well, even cats was on for a long time. Oh, yeah. I, I think, although I don't know, but the producers, I think, has closed,   Amber Ba'th ** 06:22 yeah. And I really wanted to see that. I saw the film, but I wanted to see the stage play.   Michael Hingson ** 06:28 Oh, the stage play was much better than the film, I'm sure. You know, I don't know what it is about Matthew Broderick, but he just doesn't sound natural in films. But we went to see it. It was in August of 2001 and we were living in New Jersey, and I was in New York, because that's where we had our offices, on the 78th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. And on a Tuesday in 2001 in August, I went over to the theater where the producers was, and I figured, I'll see if I can get tickets. Because my wife, Karen, who was now she's my late wife. She and I were married for 40 years, and then she passed away. But anyway, we I decided that we would try to see it, and I went over to the theater, and I said, so I want to see if I can get two tickets to the producers. And I knew that the media had said all the news media said, you can't get a ticket before March of 2002 and I said, well, but the deal is that my wife is in a wheelchair. Can we by any chance get a matinee to to go see it? And the guy said, I'm sorry, there's just nothing until at least no December. And I said, Well, okay, is there any chance of any other time other than the weekend, or anything that we could get? And he said, Well, just wait a minute. And he goes away, and he comes back and he goes, What are you doing Saturday night? I went, I guess I'll go see the producers, right? And we did. We got to see the original cast, of course, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and Katie Huffman, who played Ulla. And was so wonderful to see that show. We had seen Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. And then we saw Nathan Lane, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. So we had seen them all perform before, but that was so fun to see.   Amber Ba'th ** 08:27 That's awesome, yeah, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 08:29 And I think that the film wasn't nearly as good as the play, but   Amber Ba'th ** 08:34 I'm sure it wasn't. So my theater is so dear to me. I I don't know, it's something about the willingness, suspension of disbelief, of breaking out of reality and just, you know, getting away from it all, and just sitting and enjoying yourself, laughing at just sometimes it can be nonsensical. Sometimes it can be sort of reality, you know, whatever, whatever genre you like, and it's nothing like being in the audience when you're when you're having when you're in there as live theater. So it's always a great opportunity to go and see a show, if you are able.   Michael Hingson ** 09:18 Why is it so much more fun, and so many people feel as you do about that, as opposed to going to a movie,   Amber Ba'th ** 09:29 it's, it's a it's a cultural thing for me, and it's immersing yourself in the culture of theater, seeing the different nuances. There's sometimes there's interaction, like, they'll break the fourth wall. Sometimes in that, in every show, is not the same. That's the great thing about theater, because you could go to a show on a Monday and then you go back to see it on a Friday, and it's like, totally different. Yeah, you.   Michael Hingson ** 10:00 It was 93 or 94 whenever they had the big baseball strike. And I went to see Damn Yankees, which has always been one of my favorite movies, because I've always been a ray Walston fan anyway, but went to see it, and during the the and I don't remember who was, who was in it, but at one point, Mr. Applegate, the devil, said, we've got to do something to to disrupt this whole baseball thing and get Joe Hardy back in line with what we want. He said, I got it. Let's organize a baseball strike right there in the middle of the theater. I mean, you know that that had to be ad libbed and just done, but it was so funny to see.   Amber Ba'th ** 10:44 Yeah, you never know what you're gonna get. You know, it's always exciting to see. And   Michael Hingson ** 10:49 I think that the reason that I like theater over over movies is, in part, you're hearing a lot more. Even though there's still audio and electronics, you're still hearing the PA system. You're not hearing the PA system as much. You're really hearing voices exactly you're hearing and seeing so many things. We did go to see Damn Yankees again a few years later, we had moved to New Jersey by that time, and Jerry Lewis was playing Mr. Applegate. Wow. It was the only time he ever did anything on Broadway and and did such a wonderful job. It was incredible, really.   Amber Ba'th ** 11:26 You know, it's the last show that I actually saw. Was Daniel at the sight and sound Oh and oh my goodness, I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go see Noah. But I was literally sitting on the floor at the end aisle, and when the animals came out, I could actually reach out and touch them if I wanted to. But it was just so beautifully done. It was so amazing. It I can't, I can't even there are words that can't describe the the acting, the set, set design, the sound, everything about that show was amazing.   Michael Hingson ** 12:12 We went to see the Lion King. Karen's brother got us tickets. He was a certified ski guide in France, and he was coming back for the summer with his family, and got all of us tickets. So we went to see Lion King. It was a matinee on a Wednesday, and we got into the theater and the show started. And I knew kind of how it started, with the music and so on, but there's still nothing like hearing it live. But we it live. But we, we, we were listening. And then at one point, of course, the hyenas come in, and they meet with scar but in the play, in the in the musical, they come in from the back of the theater, down the stairs, and Karen, of course, being in a wheelchair, sitting in her chair on the aisle, and the hyenas are growling and they're coming by, and one of them gets right up next to her and goes, you've never seen a lady in a wheelchair jump out of her chair. Oh, it was so funny, but we were talking about it later, and she said, It wasn't long before you got completely used to all these animals, these puppets, and you didn't think of them as anything but the actual animals, wow, which, you know, you you you get in a theater, which you don't get the same in the movies at all. But it was, it was a lot of fun. We actually did get to go backstage afterward and meet some of the actors, and I actually got a chance to look at one of the animals, which was kind of fun.   Amber Ba'th ** 13:47 That's awesome, you know, I'm sorry. The other thing is that when you are in live theater, there's an intermission, and you get to actually mix and mingle with other people, other theater goers. So that's always another thing. I mean, you know, going to the movies. Yeah, you see other people walking back and forth, but they're, you know, rushing for their seat, going to the restroom, getting, you know, and going to the concessions. But there are moments where they're either taking pictures. Sometimes the cast members may come out during intermission, take pictures, and it's more of an interaction with everybody.   Michael Hingson ** 14:24 We went to see God spell once in San Diego, and what we didn't know was there was a guy out there who was coming up to people and wanting to clean their windshields and so on. And what we didn't know until later was that was the actor who played John. He was in character. He was being a servant. It was, it was great. That was so clever. That's awesome. So what did you do for college? Well, I went, as if we don't know,   Amber Ba'th ** 14:55 and I know, right? I went to Howard University. Yeah, and I majored in theater arts administration, uh huh, yeah. So it's the funny thing about that was I always, you know, was in the theater, and my mother told me, I am not paying for you to be an actor. I'm like, Well, I don't know anything else. And this particular year, when I came in, they had just started the theater arts administration program, and I said, Well, I can't do acting. I don't know anything else. This is it. And I really didn't know what that entailed until I got in and I said, Hmm, let's see I get to know the behind the scenes aspects. I can also be a producer to director. I could, you know, basically tell people what to do. That is for me,   Michael Hingson ** 15:50 there you go. So you so you got your degree in that. How come your mother wouldn't pay for you to be an actor?   Amber Ba'th ** 15:59 Because, I mean, back then it was just like, you know, that's something that that's not a real job, no. And even though she did it, they think like that, you know, that's not a real job. You know, it'll never amount to anything. You won't you get, you won't get where you want to be, you know. So I said, you know, I don't know anything else but, but this so, you know, so thank God that that was something that was there when I did come in there.   Michael Hingson ** 16:27 Well, so you, you got your degree in theater arts, production, administration, administration, and so you, you learned how to tell everybody what to do, which sounds a good thing to do, right? And so then what happened after college?   Amber Ba'th ** 16:47 Well, after college, I was I had always been one of those types that said, Oh no, I just got out of college, and maybe two days later I don't have a job, and I'm always worried about that, but I had someone, a classmate, say, You know what, I think you'd be a good fit for this. And what is she talking about? And I don't know if you recall HBO taxicab confessions, uh huh. Okay, so they actually came to DC, and, you know, they chose me. I was chosen to be their production assistant, and I was in the follow vehicle with the cab, you know, all that kind of stuff. And it was like, Okay, this is a lot. This is a lot. They never aired it because a little too risque. But, I mean, they could air it now, but, you know, and they asked me to come to LA, you know, as, and that was a funny thing, because when, before then, I said, oh gosh, I'll never go to LA. It's like Sodom and Gomorrah. And so I wound up going to LA they said, you know, I'll give you, you know, get you a round trip ticket, you know, you can either stay, you can go back, you know, giving me that option. And I took it. I took it, and it was the best thing that I've   Michael Hingson ** 18:14 ever done. What did you do when you got out here?   Amber Ba'th ** 18:17 When I got out there? I, of course, I was working with them for a little bit, and then I decided, You know what, I want to be an actress. This is what this is. I'm here. I am in Hollywood.   Michael Hingson ** 18:29 Mom, not withstanding.   Amber Ba'th ** 18:33 I said, Oh my gosh. And of course, what did I do? I got whatever most actors got was a waitress, a way a serving job, you know, just something enough that I could act flexible enough that I could actually go on auditions and things like that. And I did. I went on auditions. I met a lot of different celebrities. I was in McDonald's had their quote, unquote, adult happy meal that I actually was the poster girl for. I was like, Oh my goodness. And I was in magazines, you know, things like that. And then one day, a friend of mine who graduated with me in theater arts administration, she was actually doing a production, a touring play as the company manager, which is like a tour manager. And she she got another invite to be the company manager on TD Jason's TD Jakes show, and she really wanted to take that so the producer said, Well, you're gonna have to find a replacement. So she called me up and I started working on a show with David Talbert called the fabric of a man who had starred Shamar Moore, and we toured for. Oh, wow. This is interesting, because I didn't really think about this until I started talking. We toured until let's see 910 and I remember because something happened in Houston, Texas, and we had to refund money to all of the audience members, and we're leaving. And what I would do after each show is make sure that the hotel was was taken care of, everything was taken care of. And we went home. Everyone went to their destinations, and we went home. And that morning, I called the hotel, and he told me that different people were still there, and I'm and I just didn't understand why, you know, at the time, because it was really early in the morning in LA and so I'm calling, and I'm like, Well, what's happening? He said, You don't know what's going on. And I said, No. He said, planes are going down everywhere. And I'm like, What are you talking about? I turned on the TV, and that's when I saw the second plane going into the tower. And I just Oh my gosh, this is kind of bringing back some stuff, because I am a woman of faith, and I actually prior to us leaving for seven days, prior to us going to to to Houston. I kept having these dreams about a plane going down in a field, you know, but it would be continuous things. And then the next night, there were planes. There were planes. Looks like two planes colliding. Then there was, I saw people falling out of the sky, and I was like that, this is not making any sense. I didn't know anything. I mean, I was, I didn't know what was going on. And I just kept dreaming these dreams. This is what's happening. Then when we when we were leaving Houston, I had a dream prior to us leaving of the exact shape, color of this plane that went down in the field. And we were, I was at the airport, and I'm looking, and I'm like, okay, that's not the plane that I saw. And so I get on the I get on the plane, and as I'm about to settle in, about to, you know, leave Houston, go to LA, there's a man dressed in Arab garb with, you know, something on his head. And I don't know why I said this, but I just said, I hope he doesn't want to jack the plane. And I went to sleep, and i The dream that I had was that I really saw who was falling out of the sky, but they had on business suits. So when I called the hotel and he told me this, it, it just took over me. You know, I was in shambles. I was like, What? What did I just dream? What happened? Something is not right. I didn't know what was wrong with me at the time. I thought there was something actually wrong with me. Like, why am I dreaming this? What is happening? So that was just something that you happened to ask me the question, and that brought it back. And then I'm thinking about you, you know, so,   Michael Hingson ** 23:44 ah, you know, so many people, many people that I've talked to who didn't at first know what was happening, and they they either turn on their TV, or they were at an airport or something, and they saw the second plane hit the towers and they thought it was a movie. And I've heard so many people say that then, of course, they realized that it wasn't a movie. But you know, a lot of people just thought it was a movie at first, because nobody could imagine it. And you know, that is true. How who would have thought that somebody would deliberately crash airplanes like that into the towers and into the Pentagon? And, of course, now the the one falling out of the sky was that flight 93 in Pennsylvania, Yes, uh huh. And eventually, when you saw the plane, or whatever that was, the plane that you dreamed about, exactly, yeah, uh huh, and that's not surprising. Yeah, there are so many stories of of different things that people experienced that day. We didn't know anything about what was going on until actually we got out of the. Towers, and both towers had collapsed, and my wife was the first one who told us that aircraft had been hijacked and so on. And of course, people say to me all the time, well, of course, you didn't know because you couldn't see it. Excuse me, the last time I checked as I tell people Superman and X ray vision are fiction, and the reality is the airplane hit about 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, no one knew all the way down the stairs, the hundreds of people that I interacted with going down the stairs didn't know what happened. We figured, we figured an airplane hit the building because we were smelling burning jet fuel fumes as we were going down the stairs. So we figured an airplane hit the building. But we had no details. We had no information. Blindness. Didn't have anything to do with it at all. But yeah, it's, it's just one of those things. Well, so you were in, you were still in the business of telling people what to do, which was really good. And how did you eventually, then get into voice acting?   Amber Ba'th ** 26:04 Well, I had always first, it's funny because you people who get into voice acting, oh, I really want to get into voice acting, and they think it's just this one thing that was me. I i always like to do voices. I like to play around with different things. My favorite is the villain. I don't know what it is, but I like to play the villain. But what happened was,   Michael Hingson ** 26:30 you and Cruella de Vil, okay,   Amber Ba'th ** 26:34 it was actually covid. You know, it was. The thing was that I literally was a preschool teacher at the time. And, you know, because after I left, I left LA, I got married and I had kids, and, you know, that kind of thing. So I was back in DC, and so, you know, after that, I covid happened, and I don't want to say it forced me, but it forced me. Nudged me, you know? And I said, you know, this would be great, because different things were happening. Where I was meeting people on on an on an app called clubhouse, and I said, Oh, this is cool. And I've always loved audio dramas too. So I actually about a $40 mic. I bought an eye rig, and I just hooked it up, and I just started talking. And I was in some acting workshops, some improv workshops. I was cast in an audio drama on clubhouse, you know? So it was, I was like, Oh, this is fun, you know, I like talking to myself anyway, so why not? So I created space in my walk in closet, and there you have it.   Michael Hingson ** 28:00 And the rest, as they say, is history. That's right. So what kind of roles have you had, and what kinds of voices and so on, have you created and done?   Amber Ba'th ** 28:11 Well, I I actually, I did the Bible, you know. And whenever I tell the person I narrated the Bible, they're like, the whole Bible, yeah, the whole Bible, technically, that would be 66 books that I narrate, yeah, you know. But yeah, I did the whole Bible for a Bible app, the CSB version for the dwell app, and it was just amazing, because just a little story behind that, I was someone wanted me to narrate their book, and they said that, you know, we want you to narrate it, but we don't want to use your name. We want you to. We want to, we want to use your voice, but we want the narrow, the author to be the narrator. Is this like a ghost Narrator or something, really, that's a   Michael Hingson ** 29:10 little strange, you know? And, oh, we'll give you this   Amber Ba'th ** 29:13 amount of money. Like, okay? And then I actually was praying about it. And, you know, the Lord spoke to me, and he said, I gave you that voice. So I had to decline. And then someone else came to me to narrate a book, and they were taking forever. Oh, it's not ready yet. It's ready. It's not ready yet. And I said, look, okay, I can't do this. I had auditioned for the Bible. And normally it takes, it's like a 2448 hour turnaround time to really know if you if this is for you. Yeah, and I didn't hear anything for about maybe three weeks. And I was like, I guess they found their person. And. I get an email saying that we got good news. You just booked the CSV version. I think I dropped whatever I had in my hand and fell before and, you know, it was just, it was just amazing. So, you know, because what I what happened was I read the Bible every day, and this particular and I read it in a year. So this particular year, I decided to listen to it, and, you know? And I said, You know what, Lord, it would be cool if I could narrate this. And then I had this audition, and I was blessed to read the Bible, and I did it in less than a year.   Michael Hingson ** 30:41 Wow, yeah, it's clearly, you know, it's a long thing. Do you know who Carl Omari is? No. Carl Omari, well, he's probably most known for having recreated the Twilight Zone radio broadcasts. So he, years ago, he took all the Twilight Zone episodes. He got permission from Rod Serling estate, and he created radio broadcasts of them, but he also did the Living Bible, and he got people like Michael York to to be involved in other actors and so on. So I know having, and I own a copy, and I didn't even know about Carl doing it at the time, but it's 98 hours long. It's a long it's a big one.   Amber Ba'th ** 31:22 It's a long one. It is long. But, yeah, that was exciting. Also, I recently just narrated a book called heaven, not by Patricia Robinson, and it's very Orwellian. I should say, you know, I, as I was renarrating it, I'm like, this stuff is happening now. And she wrote it years ago. And I'm talking about, as my children would say, in the 1900s you know. So it was, it was amazing. It was amazing to do that and and I love it, but I do love animated characters. So one of the characters that I never actually thought that I was someone to do impersonations. You know, it's like I got my own voice. You don't need to do anybody else voice. But I was in a workshop for with a good friend, Chris Woodsworth, and he's over in the UK. And he said, Well, what do you like to do? And I said, I like villains. So he thought of a villain, and I never would have thought about Isma from the Emperor's New Groove, and when I was researching, when I was going over the lines, I had to stop myself, because it scared me, because I said, Wait a minute, I really sound like her.   Michael Hingson ** 32:56 All right, really creepy. We need to hear you sound like a villain.   Amber Ba'th ** 33:00 Oh, my goodness, Isma. Okay, so Isma is Cronk. Why did I think that you got this one simple thing? It's like you're a dude, a really, really big stupid monkey named Cronk. And do you want to know something else? I never licked your spinach puffs, never Oh, oh, gosh, oh, goodness. And then, you know, I love, it's the last the laugh that a villain does. I did that, you know, I, I did one. It's called a micro animation called house in the Outlands, and I played a character named sathagawa. And it was one of those, you know, one of those. It was so cool. You know,   Michael Hingson ** 33:49 I've, I've always been impressed with listening to voices and so on, and voice acting, to a large degree, one of the things that I that really made me appreciate a lot of it was, of course, James Earl Jones playing Darth Vader on Star Wars. And then I had the opportunity, while I was in New York once, to go see James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer in Othello. What an amazing performance, because at the end, when Othello falls on his sword, you know, you know what's going to happen. People have read the play. It's not like Othello is a secret, right, right? The whole crowd just went when he did that. I mean, they were so drawn in by the power of both of their voices and the acting, which is, I've just always loved the fact that people can do that.   Amber Ba'th ** 34:48 Yeah, it's it's amazing. Sometimes I listen to myself and I'm like, That's me.   Michael Hingson ** 34:56 Well, your prejudice. So I. But still, it's just amazing how people can can do so much with with voice collecting old radio shows, as I do, it's really fascinating to to hear all the old shows and the different things that that people do, and the way they can sound so natural doing so many different kinds of voices and so on. And I think we've lost that art, to a degree, at least for a lot of people who try to go off and recreate radio shows, it sounds forced. And we've we've not been able to really train people, although I think one of the things that the radio enthusiast of Puget Sound wants to do is to actually start providing some acting classes to teach people how to use their voices in really doing radio shows, right.   Amber Ba'th ** 35:54 Yeah, yeah, you're so right. I mean, when I was I was actually a a moderator and assistant to a improv workshop coach. I always told students it is so imperative to take acting classes. I mean, I know with voiceovers, it's a lot of it's commercial and things like that, but you have to understand that when you are conveying a message, you know, I don't care how great your voice sounds, if the listener cannot feel, you cannot really get into what you're saying. Or even, let's just say it's a commercial for food. If they can't say, Okay, I gotta go and get some food. Now, you know, then you didn't do your job, right? You know? And I tried to let I said, Listen, it's not just people, you know. They will say, Oh, I'm selling burgers. No, you're not. You're not selling burgers. You know, it's people are hungry. You know, you're telling people this is what they should do because you're hungry, it's mouth watering, yeah, you know, describe what you're eating, and you have to do it in such a way, in such in such a short amount of time, that it just leaves people salivating, you know? And that's, that's what they want, that's what sells the food, the product, or or whatever, whatever it is that you are sharing. So I really tell students, please take acting classes. Yeah, you have to see it, envision it. Sometimes you got to get up and, you know, move around. Sometimes when you're doing auditions, or when you're actually doing a session or performances, you know, and nobody can see you.   Michael Hingson ** 37:50 And it's about the voice. I know that the again, reps the radio enthusiast at Puget Sound does a number of radio recreations. I participated in a couple, but one of the things that I do, and a few of the actors who have been around for a long time, Margaret O'Brien and Beverly Washburn and other people like that, before they will undertake one of the parts that they're they're asked to do in recreating a radio show, they go back and listen to the original show because they want to get into the character.   You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

This week, Paul, Jason, and June, welcome Zack Pearlman to discuss the 1983 film, Sleepaway Camp. The crew tries their hardest to figure out this movie, from the who's-who of it all to trying to make sense of the geography and economics of the camp, to Robert Earl Jones (father to James Earl Jones) appearance in this film. • L.A. listeners! Register to attend a free special HDTGM show on 10/15 at www.siriusxm.com/podcastsmonth• New live shows 11/7 in NYC & 11/8 in Philly! Go to hdtgm.com for tix, merch, and more• Have a Last Looks correction or omission? Call 619-PAULASK to leave us a voicemail!• Submit your Last Looks theme song to us here• Join the HDTGM conversation on Discord: discord.gg/hdtgm• Buy merch at howdidthisgetmade.dashery.com/• Order Paul's book about his childhood: Joyful Recollections of Trauma• Shop our new hat collection at podswag.com• Paul's Discord: discord.gg/paulscheer• Paul's YouTube page: youtube.com/paulscheer• Follow Paul on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/paulscheer• Subscribe to Enter The Dark Web w/ Paul & Rob Huebel: youtube.com/@enterthedarkweb• Listen to Unspooled with Paul & Amy Nicholson: unspooledpodcast.com• Listen to The Deep Dive with June & Jessica St. Clair: thedeepdiveacademy.com/podcast• Instagram: @hdtgm, @paulscheer, & @junediane• Twitter: @hdtgm, @paulscheer, & msjunediane • Jason is not on social media• Episode transcripts available at how-did-this-get-made.simplecast.com/episodesGet access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using the link: siriusxm.com/hdtgm Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#183 The Big Bang Theory Staffel 7 (Folge 14 - Ein Abend mit Darth Vader) Comic-Con-Chaos und Karaoke mit Darth Vader Die Nerds machen Jagd auf heiß begehrte Comic-Con-Tickets, leider vergeblich. Sheldon reagiert mit einem verrückten Plan: Er gründet kurzerhand seine eigene Convention und stolpert dabei in einen unerwartet urkomischen Abend mit James Earl Jones (der Stimme von Darth Vader) inklusive Karaoke-Auftritt und Sauna-Besuch. Während Sheldon mit seinem neuen berühmten Freund die Stadt unsicher macht (und sogar bei Star-Wars-Ikone Carrie Fisher klingelt), versuchen Penny, Amy und Bernadette krampfhaft, etwas, "Erwachsenes" zu unternehmen, was natürlich Chaos pur bedeutet.

Hoy encendemos el telefunken para recordar una película épica, del género, y esto no me lo invento yo: espada y brujería. Un producción norteamericana de 1982 dirigida por John Millius y protagonizada por: Arnold Schwarzenegger que vio mi foto con el presidente Moreno Bonilla y se le antojó y se hizo una en la comicon, James Earl Jones, Max Von Sidow, hermano de yo noe, yo noe sidow. Pero ojo, que este film cuenta con una impronta española importante: aparte de haberse rodado, en parte, en Ávila, cuenta con la participación de Jorge Sanz y Nadiuska. Yo creo que con todos estos datos habréis adivinado que hoy en el telefunken os ponemos Conan el Bárbaro. -------------------------------------------- Disfruta del programa en vídeo en nuestro canal de Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZafarranchoVilima Escúchanos también en el podcast de la Cadena SER: https://play.cadenaser.com/programa/zafarrancho_vilima/ En Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4U9YnP0b9cxdD0Uhr91Oq5?si=2ztFVbmER6SToIdYUPLrzA En Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/zafarrancho-vilima/id1073084453 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conoce nuestra web: zafarranchovilima.com Y síguenos en nuestras redes sociales: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vilimadas Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zafarranchovilima Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zafarranchovilima/ Email: zafarranchovilima@gmail.com

Evan Sounds Like James Earl Jones

It's Mighty Monday, and Ryan is here to take us back to the diamond with one of our favorite films: The Sandlot.ABOUT THE SANDLOTIn the summer of 1962, a new kid in town is taken under the wing of a young baseball prodigy and his rowdy team, resulting in many adventures.AIR DATE & PLATFORM FOR THE SANDLOTApril 7, 1993 | Theatrical ReleaseCAST & CREW OF THE SANDLOTTom Guiry as Scott “Scotty” SmallsMike Vitar as Benjamin “Benny the Jet” RodriguezPatrick Renna as Hamilton “Ham” PorterChauncey Leopardi as Michael “Squints” PalledorousMarty York as Alan “Yeah-Yeah” McClennanBrandon Quintin Adams as Kenny “The Heater” DeNunezGrant Gelt as Bertram Grover WeeksShane Obedzinski as Tommy “Repeat” TimmonsVictor DiMattia as Timmy TimmonsJames Earl Jones as Mr. Mertle (and “the Beast” guardian)Directed & written by David Mickey EvansBRAN'S THE SANDLOT SYNOPSISThe movie kicks off with a narrator telling us about Babe Ruth calling his shot as an announcer gets ready to call a baseball game.Flash back to that guy as a kid. Scotty Smalls moves to the San Fernando Valley with his mom and stepdad, Bill. He doesn't have any friends, so he asks Bill to teach him how to play baseball. Bill puts his prized possession on the mantel—a signed Babe Ruth baseball.The next day, Scotty runs to the nearby baseball field to see if he can make some friends. A fly ball comes right to him, and it doesn't go well. As he fumbles for the ball, he's terrified by this… Beast… on the other side of the fence. The kids give him a hard time for not knowing how to throw or catch. Scotty goes home, asks Bill to teach him again, and ends up with a black eye.The next day, despite the other kids not wanting him to play, the team's best player, Benny, says they should give him a shot because they need a full team. Benny teaches him to throw and catch, and soon Scotty starts to fit in.One day, Ham smacks a home run into the Beast's yard. When Smalls asks about the Beast, the boys hold a sleepover and share the legend of the terrifying dog who lives beyond the fence.The boys become best friends and do best friend stuff—like hanging out at the pool and celebrating the Fourth of July. But at the end of the day, it all comes back to baseball.One afternoon, Benny absolutely crushes their only ball. With Bill out of town, Smalls thinks he's got the solution: he'll grab the one from the mantel. What Smalls doesn't realize is that the ball is signed by Babe Ruth. When he hits his first home run with it, he proudly tells the guys it was signed by “some girl named Ruth.” They freak out once they realize what he's done.The boys quickly forge Babe Ruth's signature on a new ball as a temporary replacement while they try to get the real one back. But the Beast doesn't make it easy.After a dream where Babe Ruth himself tells Benny about being a legend, Benny decides to take matters into his own hands. He hops the fence. The dog—who turns out to just be a big, playful pup—chases Benny all around town. Eventually, Benny makes it back, but the Beast crashes through the fence and gets stuck. Scotty and Benny free him, and the dog gratefully licks Smalls' face before leading them to his stash of baseballs.The boys meet Mr. Mertle, the Beast's owner, and are shocked to learn that he knew Babe Ruth personally. Mr. Mertle gives Smalls a ball signed by the entire 1927 Yankees in exchange for weekly baseball chats.The gang eventually grows up and goes their separate ways. Smalls? He's revealed to be the sports commentator from the beginning, still best friends with Benny, who goes on to play for the Dodgers. Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtubeInterested in advertising on the show? Email bran@deckthehallmark.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us a textA horrible toxic accident transforms an alien Kryptonian into a downtrodden janitor. When this new toxic version of him is exposed to Earth's selfish, inconsiderate ways he turns into a new evolution of a hero: Incel Space Jesus! On Episode 688 of Trick or Treat Radio we are joined by the Vegan Prince of Wales, Linus for his Patreon Takeover! Linus has selected an unlikely duo of Superhero films, The Toxic Avenger (2025) and Superman (2025) for us to discuss! We also talk about; the Frankenstein sequel the world needs now, well known actors who started out in Troma films, and how bad marketing can impact a film's release! So grab your toxic mop, save all the dogs and squirrels you can, and strap on your Kryptonian Bum Bag for the world's most dangerous podcast!Stuff we talk about: Remembering 1990, MC Hammer, The Curse of Frankenstein, Hammer Films, UK theatrical cuts, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Brexit, BST, Patreon Takeover, Linus, Atomsk, Wulf Gas, noise shows, basement shows, Xiphoid Dimentia, The Brute Man, The Abominable Snowman, Macabre, Attack of the Giant Leeches, Night of the Living Dead, Night of the Strangler, House on Skull Mountain, The Stranger Within, Mansion of the Doomed, Prey, Patrick, The Slayer, My Best Friend is a Vampire, Open House, Dark Carnival, Things, Night Terror, Jacquelin Hyde, Night of the Flesh Eaters, The Dead, 90210 Shark Attack, Cracoon, Insidious, Rupert Friend, Curse of Chucky, The Taking of Deborah Logan, Jeremy Holm, The Ranger, Brooklyn 45, Michelle Bauer, Demon Warp, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Granny, The Manitou, Peeping Tom, Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Toxic Avenger, Peter Dinklage, Macon Blair, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Sebastian Shaw, Billy Bob Thornton, Samuel L. Jackson, Oliver Stone, Kevin Costner, Vanna White, Graduation Day, Marisa Tomei, Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town, David Boreanaz, Terror Firmer, Paul Sorvino, John G. Avildsen, Troma Films, Lloyd Kaufman, Father's Day, Cannibal: The Music, Roger Corman, Blue Ruin, The Shitheads, Buttcrack, Elijah Wood, Avator, The Crow without Eric Draven, Alan Scott and Hal Jordan, Brian Michael Bendis, Slimetime, The Toxic Crusaders, CHUDHaven, Swamp Thing, Evil Dead, Fede Alvarez, The Mighty Crabjoys, Savatage, Hall of the Mountain King, Night on Bald Mountain, Ernest Borgnine, Jesus Lizard, James Gunn, Superman, Krypto, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan, Alan Tudyk, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Guy Gardner, John Byrne, The New Gods, Mr. Terrific, Brainiac, Jimmy and Stiggs, Joe Begos, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, mate rate, RobertRodriguezMusic, RIP Renato Casaro, Space Jesus for Incels, Kryptonian Bum Bag, and The Four Swordsmen of the Girthening!Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/trickortreatradioJoin our Discord Community: discord.trickortreatradio.comSend Email/Voicemail: mailto:podcast@trickortreatradio.comVisit our website: http://trickortreatradio.comStart your own podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=386Use our Amazon link: http://amzn.to/2CTdZzKFB Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/trickortreatradioTwitter: http://twitter.com/TrickTreatRadioFacebookSupport the show

Nothing screams the early '90s more than a Tom Clancy thriller, and The Hunt for Red October (1990) might just be the finest adaptation of the bunch. This week on Born to Watch, we take a deep dive into Cold War tension, Sean Connery's questionable Russian accent, Alec Baldwin's finest non-30 Rock performance, and why this film still makes waves decades later. And yes, we're calling this the definitive The Hunt for Red October 1990 Review.It's all systems go as Whitey, G-Man, and DJ Strangles man the periscope and dive deep into this submarine classic. From the moment Connery's Ramíus announces his defection plan to the epic underwater cat-and-mouse chase, the boys break down what makes this a tight, thrilling, and surprisingly rewatchable flick.We cover everything: from Connery's incredible second-act career run (is Red October peak Connery?), to Alec Baldwin's short but strong tenure as Jack Ryan, to the underrated gravitas of Scott Glenn and Sam Neill. Add in a stellar supporting cast that includes Tim Curry, James Earl Jones, and Stellan Skarsgård, and you've got a Cold War nail-biter filled with testosterone, torpedoes, and tense moral decisions.There's time to unpack the politics, too, the Clancy realism, the U.S. Navy flex, and that juicy little nugget of 1990s pre-internet espionage fantasy. But of course, it's not all sonar pings and missile tubes. The crew gets sidetracked (as always) by tales of sub dreams, questionable airline bear policies, and Damo's beer-and-hot-dog benchwarmer story.The team also revisits the box office and critical legacy of The Hunt for Red October. Was it Oscar-worthy? How do the effects hold up in 2025? Is this really the best Jack Ryan movie? Spoiler: the debate gets passionate, and there's no clear winner between Baldwin, Ford, Affleck, Pine, and Krasinski, but there is a winner for worst submarine hygiene. Cigarettes below deck? Not a good time.With classic Born to Watch segments like “Overs and Unders," "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” and a brilliant fan voicemail, this episode has something for every cinephile, Cold War nerd, and nostalgic '90s action fan.So fire up the Caterpillar Drive, crank the Basil Poledouris score, and set your course for one of the most unexpectedly hilarious and insightful takes on a certified action-thriller classic.JOIN THE CONVERSATIONIs The Hunt for Red October the greatest Jack Ryan movie?Should smoking on submarines be an executable offence?Did Jack Ryan seriously buy a business class seat for a teddy bear?Drop us a voicemail at https://www.borntowatch.com.au and tell us if this Cold War classic is a certified banger — or just blowing smoke.Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods. Don't forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and always question political officers with bad attitudes.#TheHuntForRedOctober1990Review #BornToWatch #SeanConnery #JackRyan #SubmarineMovies #TomClancy #AlecBaldwin #MoviePodcast #ColdWarThriller #FilmReview

Frankie Faison is more than just a familiar face from Coming to America, The Wire, and Banshee. With over 200 plays, 200 commercials, 200 television episodes, and 200 films under his belt, he proudly calls himself the “Quadruple 200 Man.” But his story is about more than numbers — it's about perseverance, faith, and determination. In this conversation, Frankie opens up about: -His 15-year journey of training and preparation before landing his first major roles. -Why true success comes from refining your craft daily, not chasing shortcuts. -Stories from Coming to America, The Wire, and Broadway's Fences with James Earl Jones. -His powerful new film Killing Castro, premiering at TIFF — a little-known piece of history about Fidel Castro, Malcolm X, and Harlem. -His most personal and important film to date, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, a heart-wrenching story tied to race, policing, and mental health. -His recent role in Beyond the Rush and why films that address child abuse and mental health matter now more than ever. -Why he believes versatility is the secret to longevity in Hollywood — and in life. Plus: his newest passion project, Frankie's Fabulous Granola, inspired by decades of gifting thousands of bags to family and friends. Frankie embodies what it means to stay determined, stay grounded, and keep working toward something bigger than yourself. His story is one of resilience, legacy, and creativity that refuses to quit. Connect with me : https://link.me/theshawnfrench?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaY2s9TipS1cPaEZZ9h692pnV-rlsO-lzvK6LSFGtkKZ53WvtCAYTKY7lmQ_aem_OY08g381oa759QqTr7iPGA Frankie Faison https://www.instagram.com/faison.frankie/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frankie Faison is more than just a familiar face from Coming to America, The Wire, and Banshee. With over 200 plays, 200 commercials, 200 television episodes, and 200 films under his belt, he proudly calls himself the “Quadruple 200 Man.” But his story is about more than numbers — it's about perseverance, faith, and determination. In this conversation, Frankie opens up about: -His 15-year journey of training and preparation before landing his first major roles. -Why true success comes from refining your craft daily, not chasing shortcuts. -Stories from Coming to America, The Wire, and Broadway's Fences with James Earl Jones. -His powerful new film Killing Castro, premiering at TIFF — a little-known piece of history about Fidel Castro, Malcolm X, and Harlem. -His most personal and important film to date, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, a heart-wrenching story tied to race, policing, and mental health. -His recent role in Beyond the Rush and why films that address child abuse and mental health matter now more than ever. -Why he believes versatility is the secret to longevity in Hollywood — and in life. Plus: his newest passion project, Frankie's Fabulous Granola, inspired by decades of gifting thousands of bags to family and friends. Frankie embodies what it means to stay determined, stay grounded, and keep working toward something bigger than yourself. His story is one of resilience, legacy, and creativity that refuses to quit. Connect with me : https://link.me/theshawnfrench?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaY2s9TipS1cPaEZZ9h692pnV-rlsO-lzvK6LSFGtkKZ53WvtCAYTKY7lmQ_aem_OY08g381oa759QqTr7iPGA Frankie Faison https://www.instagram.com/faison.frankie/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sing "Nants' Ingonyama," "Hakuna Matata," and "Mamela lelando we" as NostalgiaCast returns to Pride Rock for a discussion of THE LION KING, starring the voices of James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, and Matthew Broderick. Rachel Wagner and Stanford Clark of the Talking Disney Classics podcast join Jonny and Darin to chat about the film's long-lasting legacy, stunning animation and adult Shakespearean themes, and place within the '90s Disney Renaissance.

Join us as we talk about this famously quoted 80s classic! If you love baseball or don't (just like James Earl Jones) you'll still probably enjoy us talking about it! We're pretty funny.

Today we pray to Krom for our revenge in Conan the Barbarian. We discuss the fantasy wish fufillment of Conan's world, the fight against a wild snake cult, and the rise of Arnold as our Action Movie King! Conan hack and slashed his way into our hearts and has ruled ever since, join us as we explore the times of High Fantasy! Synopsis: A powerful warrior seeks to avenge the genocide of his people and the murder of his parents at the hands of a snake cult. Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Max Von Sydow, Sandahl Bergman Director: John Milius Help us make our first feature length Messed Up Movie: hthttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mr-creamjean-s-hidey-hole-horror-comedy-movie#/ Support the show on the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/messedupmoviespod Watch our newest short film Sugar Tits Now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz7leFqqo4g  

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! EL SEÑOR DE LOS ANILLOS vuelve a nuestro programa con esta segunda y última entrega del especial monográfico. En esta ocasión nos centraremos específicamente en sus adaptaciones cinematográficas, las que se quedaron por el camino, las que ni siquiera arrancaron, las que mostraron la historia desde el campo de la animación y las que se dividieron en tres películas, arrasaron en los Oscars y pusieron un listón difícilmente superable para cualquier posible remake hasta bien pasadas tres o cuatro décadas, como mínimo. Los colaboradores habituales del programa, Raúl Martín y Nathan Kurtz, acompañados del presentador, editor y director de La Órbita De Endor, Antonio Runa, explorarán todos estos escabrosos terrenos, enfangándose en no pocos pantanos que quizá provoquen controversia entre la audiencia. Además, en la fase final del programa, una vez analizadas las películas más importantes que trasladaron la obra de Tolkien a la gran pantalla, charlaremos animadamente con Miguel Ángel Jenner, director del doblaje de la edición española de la trilogía dirigida por Peter Jackson, quien además prestó su voz al personaje del enano Gimli, y que habitualmente dobla a Samuel L Jackson, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames o el personaje Jigsaw en la saga Saw, entre otros muchos papeles. Junto a él estará José Mediavilla, la voz de Morgan Freeman en español, amén de infinidad de otros actores, como Michael Clarke Duncan, James Earl Jones o John Goodman, entre otros muchos, y que en las películas de El Señor de los Anillos dobló al mago Gandalf. Nos contarán no pocas anécdotas relacionadas con el trabajo que rodeó a la famosa trilogía, desde el punto de vista de su profesión. Os garantizamos que se trata de uno de los episodios de LODE más recomendables de la presente temporada, y lo tenéis que escuchar independientemente de cuál sea vuestra opinión sobre las películas de la saga. Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Episode 170: This is What It's Like When Younglings Ask For Help from Anakin SkywalkerGood Afternoon, and welcome back to the Not Funny Guys Present's: Off the Reels, the internets #1 podcast on Public libraries with books on fascism and how to tell if your government is becoming a fascist state . This is episode 170 of the internets most talked about movie podcast and today we're talking about a movie that doesn't completely suck from 2005. Today we're talking about the third episode of the long running sci-fi trilogy series. Star Wars Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith. A movie that proves that the best way to make an audience hate a character, is to slaughter a bunch of younglings. A movie that proves, that even James Earl Jones isn't immune to bad dialogue. A movie that exemplifies why every villain doesn't need to be explained. Sometimes, we can just accept that the bad guy is a BAD GUY. We are your favorite Ne'er-do-wells the Not Funny Guys, I'm Casey “The Supreme Chancellor”, and i'm joined by my two co-host the other members of the Not Funny Guys, Dr. Jon “The 4 armed lightsaber bandit”, & Eric “He who has the high ground”. We are the Not Funny Guys. Gentlemen it's that time again, that time when we meet up and talk about a lot of random things, and how Star Trek is better, it's time to be Not Funny.Next Week: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)Follow us, like us, comment, share and MORE!!!Questions?Follow us, like us, comment, share and MORE!!!Email us at: NotFunnyGuys.OffTheReels@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram: @not_funny_guys_presents Follow us on Twitter/X: @NotFunnyGuysPodFollow us on BlueSky: @The Not Funny Guys Follow us on TikTok: @nfg.offthereelsFollow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotFunnyGuysPodcastWant to chat?The Ugliest of Words: https://a.co/d/dLnvQjqCheck it out!Acast: https://open.acast.com/public/streams/6412512bc35e5800112d0bb3/episodes/682216f4ca7273465228c509.mp3Find the episode here: Or on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/show/6feiDCgMNynJ8fd6la2zikOr on Apple Pods at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-funny-guys-presents-off-the-reels/id1677589916Or wherever you get your podcasts.Please follow, like, share, and comment!Not Funny Guys! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rebel Scum Con fun continues! In this episode, we're serving up double Wedge and a dash of Watto for your Star Wars enjoyment.   First up, we're honored to be joined by Denis Lawson, the legendary actor who portrayed Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy and returned in The Rise of Skywalker. He shares stories from set and reflects on Mark Hamill's hug in the galaxy far, far away.   But wait—there's more Wedge to go around! We're also joined by David Ankrum, the voice of Wedge in A New Hope, who helped bring the iconic pilot to life. And did you know Wedge makes a subtle appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? We'll reveal exactly where to hear him.   And it wouldn't be a proper celebration without a visit from one of the galaxy's most unforgettable hustlers—Watto himself! Andy Secombe, who voiced the junk dealer in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, stops by for a spirited game of Chance. And no surprise, there's a bit of funny business going on. Sorry, Watto!   Rebel Scum Con, held August 8-10, 2025 is a fan-run event which means the organizers knew exactly what we wanted! Throughout the next month we are sharing ALL that content, so look up episode 525 to and 526 for more interviews.   TODAY in Star Wars History 8/25/1977   48 years ago today... Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca graced the cover of Rolling Stone—Star Wars had officially gone mainstream.   Inside, the feature article “The Force Behind George Lucas” gave fans a behind-the-scenes look. For the first time, Lucas dropped a bombshell: Darth Vader once lost a duel with Ben Kenobi and was knocked into a volcanic pit. (Sound familiar, prequel fans?)   And in another first, Lucas revealed the voice behind the Dark Lord himself—James Earl Jones.   A legendary moment in Star Wars history, captured in print!   Here's our Skywalking episode all about it.   SPONSORS   Small World Vacations is an official sponsor of Skywalking Through Neverland. Contact them for a no obligation price quote at www.smallworldvacations.com. Tell them Skywalking Through Neverland sent you.   SUPPORT THE SHOW   Find out how you can become a part of the Skywalking Force and unlock bonus content.   CONTACT US   Instagram: http://instagram.com/skywalkingpod   Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkywalkingPod   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skywalkingthroughneverland   Send emails to share@skywalkingthroughneverland.com and follow us on Facebook.   If you dug this episode, click over to iTunes | Stitcher | YouTube and leave us a review!   Never Land on Alderaan!

The Rebel Scum Con fun continues! In this episode, we're serving up double Wedge and a dash of Watto for your Star Wars enjoyment.   First up, we're honored to be joined by Denis Lawson, the legendary actor who portrayed Wedge Antilles in the original trilogy and returned in The Rise of Skywalker. He shares stories from set and reflects on Mark Hamill's hug in the galaxy far, far away.   But wait—there's more Wedge to go around! We're also joined by David Ankrum, the voice of Wedge in A New Hope, who helped bring the iconic pilot to life. And did you know Wedge makes a subtle appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? We'll reveal exactly where to hear him.   And it wouldn't be a proper celebration without a visit from one of the galaxy's most unforgettable hustlers—Watto himself! Andy Secombe, who voiced the junk dealer in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, stops by for a spirited game of Chance. And no surprise, there's a bit of funny business going on. Sorry, Watto!   Rebel Scum Con, held August 8-10, 2025 is a fan-run event which means the organizers knew exactly what we wanted! Throughout the next month we are sharing ALL that content, so look up episode 525 to and 526 for more interviews.   TODAY in Star Wars History 8/25/1977   48 years ago today... Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca graced the cover of Rolling Stone—Star Wars had officially gone mainstream.   Inside, the feature article “The Force Behind George Lucas” gave fans a behind-the-scenes look. For the first time, Lucas dropped a bombshell: Darth Vader once lost a duel with Ben Kenobi and was knocked into a volcanic pit. (Sound familiar, prequel fans?)   And in another first, Lucas revealed the voice behind the Dark Lord himself—James Earl Jones.   A legendary moment in Star Wars history, captured in print!   Here's our Skywalking episode all about it.   SPONSORS   Small World Vacations is an official sponsor of Skywalking Through Neverland. Contact them for a no obligation price quote at www.smallworldvacations.com. Tell them Skywalking Through Neverland sent you.   SUPPORT THE SHOW   Find out how you can become a part of the Skywalking Force and unlock bonus content.   CONTACT US   Instagram: http://instagram.com/skywalkingpod   Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkywalkingPod   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skywalkingthroughneverland   Send emails to share@skywalkingthroughneverland.com and follow us on Facebook.   If you dug this episode, click over to iTunes | Stitcher | YouTube and leave us a review!   Never Land on Alderaan!

We play the Debatable card game by Brass Monkey! Win points for winning arguments. This social game by Brass Monkey includes 200 game cards, each featuring opposing views of hot button issues. Just pick a side, and debate it out. In this episode, we specifically pick out the nerdy topics.Chapters00:00 Introduction03:20 Preferable afterlife07:00 Best robot sound10:12 Rockstar lifestyle vs Nerd lifestyle12:26 Home Alone vs Die Hard15:46 The Price is Right vs Golden Girls19:05 Audiobook vs Movie subtitles22:19 Invisibility vs X-ray vision25:57 New movies in theater vs streaming26:30 How to pronounce GIF29:06 Are video games a sport?35:23 Murder She Wrote vs Murder on the Orient Express37:11 Worst character name41:34 James Earl Jones vs Morgan Freeman

Michaela trades horror stories on the open range with Grim Prairie Tales (1990), a little-seen flick that stars Brad Dourif, as a city-slicker tenderfoot, and James Earl Jones, as a rough bounty hunter, who meet and tell each other horror stories around a campfire. Listen as we talk about reverse births, where in an anthology to place your best story, and wish to shave with straight razors on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, I'm thrilled to announce my interview with Tony winner Will Brill, who will be starring in MEET THE CARTOZIANS off-Broadway this fall. Tune in to hear some of the stories of his legendary career, including the unique process of creating STEREOPHONIC, moving the show from Playwrights Horizons to Broadway, being part of the Tonys campaign, why the response to OKLAHOMA surprised him, the cosmic alignment of A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, dealing with different audience interactions during OUR TOWN, finding success on TV with FELLOW TRAVELERS, James Lapine's fearlessness in shaping ACT ONE, how Tony Shalhoub scripted gibberish, the meta experience of starring in ILLYRIA at the Public Theater, his method of memorizing lines, playing Shakespeare on screen, co-starring with David Cromer in UNCLE VANYA, a guiding quote from Uta Hagen, the mythology around alcoholism in theater, what he learned from James Earl Jones during YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, and so much more. Don't miss this in-depth conversation with one of Broadway's brightest stars.

This week on Myopia Movies, we indulge the dog days of summer with a visit to The Sandlot. This is the first time I noticed the puppet, the terrifying terrifying puppet.  How will The Sandlot hold up? Host: Nic Panel: Nur, Alex, Matt   Directed by David Mickey Evans Starring: Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Art LaFleur, Patrick Renna, Denis Leary, Karen Allen, James Earl Jones, Marley Shelton. 

It's a quick one this week as we talk about Walnuts time with the game Peak, Chris read Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz, and Drootin's been playing College Football 26. We also have a brief chat about the Mel Brooks memoir, All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business and Walnut recaps some of the Nintendo Indie Direct. Continuing with our Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon challenge, our next book club pick is The Hunt for Red October (1990), which included James Earl Jones, who is the voice of Darth Vader, including in Rogue One. The goal of the game is each of us will pick a movie that includes an actor from the previous pick with the hopes of the final pick (number 6!) will include Kevin Bacon. Picks so far: Rogue One - Using Forest Whitaker who was in The Last Stand (Pre-Game pick) The Hunt for Red October - Using James Earl Jones Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:07:17 - Agenda 00:07:54 - Peak (Game) 00:27:27 - All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks 00:35:10 - Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz 00:39:31 - College Football 26 00:44:11 - Nintendo Indies Direct 00:52:50 - Outro Support One-Quest https://www.Patreon.com/OneQuest Follow Us Email - Social@one-quest.com Twitter - @One_Quest Instagram - @One_Quest Facebook - OneQuestOnline Follow Chris on Twitter - @Just_Cobb Follow Richie on Twitter - @B_Walnuts Follow Drootin on Twitter - @IamDroot Check out Richie's streaming and videos! Twitch b_walnuts YouTube BWalnuts TikTok b_walnuts Intro and Outro music Mega Man 2 'Project X2 - Title Screen' OC ReMix courtesy of Project X over at OCRemix

A los 93 años ha fallecido la voz de Hollywood. La voz más profunda, respetable y reverencial del cine. El Constantino Romero usamericano. James Earl Jones era el poseedor de un portentoso instrumento con el que cimentó el sello de sus más destacados trabajos entrando de lleno en la cultura popular al haber dado voz al Darth Vader de “Star Wars” o a Mufasa en “El rey león”. Fue galardonado con el Oscar honorífico en la edición de 2012 y el cual tuvo que recoger en las propias tablas en las que representaba la obra “Paseando a Miss Daisy” junto a Vanessa Redgrave (más adelante haría pareja en la obra con Angela Lansbury). Este reportaje pertenece al programa "El Cine de LoQueYoTeDiga" nº 445 (16x02) y fue emitido el 21 de septiembre de 2024.

It's Star Wars Month!! Forrest, Kristina Oakes, and Conan Neutron discuss George Lucas's 1977 A New Hope with Jason Myles of This is Revolution. Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guiness, and James Earl Jones. This is the first of 3 episodes, on the 19th we are discussing Empire Strikes Back and on the 26th Return of the Jedi! #georgelucas #starwars #jedi #markhamill #harrisonford #carriefisher #anewhope #empirestrikesback #returnofthejedi #sith #skywalker #lukeskywalkeredits #moviepodcast #filmpodcast #1977 #jamesearljones #darthvader #milleniumfalcon We are also streaming on @thisspacetv throw them a followJoin our discord: https://discord.gg/ZHU8W55pnhJoin our Patreon to get all our After Parties https://www.patreon.com/MovieNightExtra

This week on PodQuest, we have our next book club chat on the 2016 Star Wars side story, Rogue One. Then Walnut runs down what was on the Nintendo Partner Showcase last week, and he's also started playing Demon's Souls, but with the added challenge of his community built the character! Aside from that, we also talk a bit about moving, and the changes Critical Role is making for campaign 4 this October. Continuing with our Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon challenge, our next book club pick is The Hunt for Red October (1990), which included James Earl Jones, who is the voice of Darth Vader, including in Rogue One. The goal of the game is each of us will pick a movie that includes an actor from the previous pick with the hopes of the final pick (number 6!) will include Kevin Bacon. Picks so far: Rogue One - Using Forest Whitaker who was in The Last Stand (Pre-Game pick) The Hunt for Red October - Using James Earl Jones Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:08:49 - Agenda 00:13:47 - Book Club - Rogue One 00:26:19 - Next Book Club. . .  00:35:56 - Nintendo Partner Showcase 00:43:19 - Demon's Souls (Walnut's Community Build!) 01:08:04 - Critical Role Campaign 4 is changing things up! 01:18:03 - Outro Support One-Quest https://www.Patreon.com/OneQuest Follow Us Email - Social@one-quest.com Twitter - @One_Quest Instagram - @One_Quest Facebook - OneQuestOnline Follow Chris on Twitter - @Just_Cobb Follow Richie on Twitter - @B_Walnuts Follow Drootin on Twitter - @IamDroot Check out Richie's streaming and videos! Twitch b_walnuts YouTube BWalnuts TikTok b_walnuts Intro and Outro music Mega Man 2 'Project X2 - Title Screen' OC ReMix courtesy of Project X over at OCRemix

TAKING DOWN THE OSCARS!! The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult Full Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Use code 50REELREJECTS to get 50% OFF plus free shipping on your first Factor box at https://bit.ly/4ftNIcS! The Naked Gun Reaction:    • THE NAKED GUN (1988) HAD US LAUGHING SO HA...   Become A Righteous Reject by Snagging Our RR Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ With the Seth Macfarlane (Family Guy) & Liam Neeson Naked Gun (2025) on the horizon - Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult reaction is here! Greg Alba, Aaron Alexander, and Andrew Gordon (Cinepals) return to wrap up the iconic trilogy starring the legendary Leslie Nielsen as the endlessly clumsy yet lovable Frank Drebin in the final entry of the Naked Gun series. In this reaction, we dive into all the absurd gags, slapstick brilliance, and unforgettable moments from the 1994 comedy classic, including the Oscars sequence, "Nice beaver!" callback, explosive train climax, and Weird Al Yankovic's cameo. We break down how the film satirizes Hollywood, award shows, and action movie tropes with pitch-perfect timing and Nielsen's deadpan brilliance. We also spotlight returning cast members Priscilla Presley as Jane Spencer, George Kennedy as Ed Hocken, and O.J. Simpson as Nordberg, alongside Fred Ward (Tremors) as villain Rocco Dillon, Anna Nicole Smith as Tanya, and Kathleen Freeman as the prison warden. With guest appearances by Raquel Welch, James Earl Jones, and more, this wild finale delivers non-stop laughs. We celebrate the legacy of this franchise, touch on its influence on spoof movies, and share our favorite quotes, like “Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes.” If you're a fan of Airplane!, Hot Shots, or 90s parody films, this one's for you. Follow Aaron On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealaaronalexander/?hl=en Follow Andrew Gordon on Socials:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MovieSource Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/agor711/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Agor711 Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To All the Men I've Tolerated Before is on a summer vacay! In the meantime, we will be posting episodes of our livestream collaboration with Pop Culture Makes Me Jealous. Still Comfy? is an in-depth look at our favorite comfort shows and movies. After a conversation about the themes presented in the selected show, we then discuss how the show holds up against our Tolerator and Jelly Pops morals and viewpoints. Enjoy our review of the 1993 movie The Sandlot, starring Tom Guiry, Denis Leary, James Earl Jones, and Karen Allen. Nat and Jules set out to answer the question, how much baseball can Natalie even talk about?You can watch Still Comfy? on our Instagram at menivetoleratedpod or our YouTube Channel at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1PX0HKfxH3Ge2GYTIh8g5ElcUJY42UFf.While we're on summer vacation, please take an opportunity to follow the show on all social media platforms. We would also love for you to join us on Patreon for bonus content and early access to ad-free episodes. Our Patreon can be found at https://www.patreon.com/menivetoleratedpod. All ways to support the show, including our merchandise, can be found at https://linktr.ee/menivetoleratedpod.

First Live Show on 4th of July in Wake Up history!  1st Hour:  We kick off with best darn National Anthem possibly ever  plus Lincoln Portrait with James Earl Jones and Charles Heller and Chris recite the Declaration  2nd Hour: Food Friday:  Cooking up hot dogs in studio with Ron Arenas, Shaun McCluskey and Mark Van Buren, then Mark and Shaun count down their favorite patriotic movies 3rd Hour: Charles Foley of Flags for the Flagless installs the Live the Dream Flag at our HQ.

Mati Staniszewski, co-founder and CEO of ElevenLabs, explains how staying laser-focused on audio innovation has allowed his company to thrive despite the push into multimodality from foundation models. From a high school friendship in Poland to building one of the fastest-growing AI companies, Mati shares how ElevenLabs transformed text-to-speech with contextual understanding and emotional delivery. He discusses the company's viral moments (from Harry Potter by Balenciaga to powering Darth Vader in Fortnite), and explains how ElevenLabs is creating the infrastructure for voice agents and real-time translation that could eliminate language barriers worldwide. Hosted by: Pat Grady, Sequoia Capital Mentioned in this episode: Attention Is All You Need: The original Transformers paper Tortoise-tts: Open source text to speech model that was a starting point for ElevenLabs (which now maintains a v2) Harry Potter by Balenciaga: ElevenLabs' first big viral moment from 2023 The first AI that can laugh: 2022 blog post backing up ElevenLab's claim of laughter (it got better in v3) Darth Vader's voice in Fortnite: ElevenLabs used actual voice clips provided by James Earl Jones before he died Lex Fridman interviews Prime Minister Modi: ElevenLabs enabled Fridman to speak in Hindi and Modi to speak in English. Time Person of the Year 2024: ElevenLabs-powered experiment with “conversational journalism” Iconic Voices: Richard Feynman, Deepak Chopra, Maya Angelou and more available in ElevenLabs reader app SIP trunking: a method of delivering voice, video, and other unified communications over the internet using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Genesys: Leading enterprise CX platform for agentic AI Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Comedy/science-fiction series by Douglas Adams that contains the concept of the Babel Fish instantaneous translator, cited by Mati FYI: communication and productivity app for creatives that Mati uses, founded by will.i.am Lovable: prototyping app that Mati loves

In this episode of Four Play, the hosts dissect the 1989 film 'Field of Dreams.' They delve into the peculiar rules of 'ghost baseball,' critique the film's sentimentality, and analyze its deeper themes of American tradition, intergenerational relationships, and personal regret. The discussion explores the broader impact of sports films in American culture, the significance of baseball in connecting different eras, and how this film uniquely stands out despite its flaws. Notably, the hosts praise James Earl Jones's performance, engage in spirited debates about the film's logic, and reflect on its emotional resonance, particularly for American viewers. Join them as they explore the mystical, poignant, and sometimes perplexing world of 'Field of Dreams.' Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with Mando and get $5 off off your Starter Pack (that's over 40% off) with promo code FOURPLAY at https://www.shopmando.com!

A man turns his farm into a baseball diamond inhabited by the ghosts of disgraced ballplayers in what might be the most boomer dad film ever made.  Starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan, Burt Lancaster, and Timothy Busfield. Written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson.

Step back into the Hyborian Age as the Born to Watch team revisits the sword-swinging, snake-worshipping, bass-drum-thumping fantasy epic that turned Arnold Schwarzenegger from a musclebound oddity into a bona fide cinematic icon. In this week's episode, Matt, Damo, and Will the Worky unsheath their mics and tackle John Milius' 1982 cult classic in our Conan the Barbarian (1982) Review, a film where dialogue is sparse, but biceps and barbarism are abundant.From the first clang of steel to the last decapitated villain, the team dissects how Conan carved a path for modern sword-and-sorcery flicks. They marvel at Basil Poledouris' thunderous score, which practically carries the film on its symphonic shoulders, because let's face it, Arnie wasn't hired for his monologues (all 76 words of them). The music, paired with breathtaking cinematography and operatic violence, sets a tone so grand it makes modern blockbusters feel like children's theatre.Matt reminisces about watching Conan far too young, the kind of early exposure to gore and magic that forges lifelong genre fans, or scars. Damo is surprised by how little he remembered and how much more there was to appreciate in the rewatch, especially the high fantasy structure and iconic character archetypes. Meanwhile, while watching it for the first time, Will finds joy in the bizarre mix of stoic barbarism and pseudo-philosophy, and even draws connections to his favourite cult flicks.The team dives deep into the lore, from Nietzsche quotes (anachronistically inserted, of course) to the Riddle of Steel, and unpacks Conan's journey from orphaned child to vengeful demigod. They salute James Earl Jones' haunting performance as Thulsa Doom, complete with snake eyes and an even more chilling voice and appreciate how he lends gravitas to a film otherwise packed with loincloths and camo body paint.There's plenty of laughs, too. From the bizarrely tame “orgy” scene (more twister than temptation) to the ineptitude of Thulsa Doom's guards who fall like dominoes, no absurdity is safe. The guys revel in the moments where the film leans into camp, noting that sometimes a little cheese makes the fantasy feast even better.But it's not all satire and side-eyes. They pay proper homage to the movie's impact on pop culture and its clear influence on everything from Game of Thrones to Willow. There's admiration for the throwback practical effects, the majestic (if questionably choreographed) sword fights, and the sheer cinematic ambition that poured from every dust-covered frame.Of course, no Born to Watch episode would be complete without some detours into the ridiculous. You'll hear about suspiciously hygienic cave-dwellers, the logistics of snake cult recruitment, and even a story involving an orgy, a wall, and a very confident swinger. Yep, it's that kind of episode. So, whether you're a lifelong Conan fan or just now discovering that sword and sorcery can be both epic and unintentionally hilarious, this episode is a glorious deep-dive into a film that helped define 1980s fantasy cinema and the Born to Watch crew wouldn't have it any other way.Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!Join the conversation:Is Conan the most iconic role of Arnold's career?Does Basil Poledouris' score make this an all-time great?What's the most badass moment in the film?Please drop us a voicemail at BornToWatch.com.au and be part of the show!#BornToWatch #ConanTheBarbarian #ArnoldSchwarzenegger #SwordAndSorcery #80sMovies #FantasyEpic #MoviePodcast #BasilPoledouris #JamesEarlJones #CultClassics

I was at MomoCon working with the Momentum 2025 speedrun marathon! I will be back at Summer Games Done Quick 2025 as a host! SAG-AFTRA is now pushing back over Fortnite's use of James Earl Jones' voice to say generative AI voice lines instead of trying to work with existing voice actors who have taken over the Darth Vader character in other games. There are a few games that can't run on the Switch 2, but it's really not as surprising or bad as you think. Then we talk to Rob about how we're going to be at the Southern-Fried Gaming Expo in Atlanta on June 18-20th and also running a panel about overlooked classic games.

We start off remembering friend of the network Kurt Boutin, who went by "VOByKurt" in our community and on TikTok. Fortnite introduced Darth Vader and utilized an AI trained on James Earl Jones's voice with permission - however this made Vader say some very naughty things. Hideo Kojima wants a game that forgets what it was doing the longer you step away from it as a player. Then we talk to Rob about forgetting things after putting games down, and how to effectively parry in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

We are playing a game by creating mini-marathons of movies featuring Star Wars actors in their non-Star Wars roles.   With a lack of Star Wars news as of the time of the recording, we decide to try something new. Many Star Wars actors are known for roles outside of their performances in Star Wars. Other actors famous for their roles in Star Wars don't have as extensive a career.   In this game, we are challenging ourselves to create mini-movie marathons by pulling three actors' names out of the proverbial hat and then picking one other movie each of those actors have appeared in. Some of the picks (we're looking at you Harrison Ford) resulted in easy choices. Other picks (hello, Joel Edgerton) are a bit more challenging.   So, what do you think of our picks? Would you have picked different movies? Download or stream this episode and then let us know what you would have done by reaching out at one of our social media contacts listed below.   Thanks for joining us for another episode! Subscribe to Podcast Stardust for all your Star Wars news, reviews, and discussion wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.   Find Jay and her cosplay adventures on J.Snips Cosplay on Instagram.   Join us for real time discussion on the RetroZap Discord Server here: RetroZap Discord. Follow us on social media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube. T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, masks, and posters are available on TeePublic. Find all episodes on RetroZap.com.

Dave and Chuck the Freak talk about Chardonnay Day, Sherlock Holmes Day, Buy An Instrument Day, Solitaire Day, sleep tape warning, Travis Kelce back hair, top sleep deprived cities in USA, what your sleep position says about your personality, old couple were holding each other when tornado came through their home, another New Orleans fugitive caught, threatening message found on mirror in plane bathroom, mobile home seen being pulled by an SUV, ideal temp inside during summer according to power company, rescue dog doing better, another wild vanity plate, Gronk admitted he encouraged Aaron Hernandez to jerk it during team meetings, Red Sox manager skipped a game to attend daughter’s graduation, owner of OnlyFans wants to sell the site, male escorts took stand at Diddy trial, Woody Harrelson’s pot shop broken into, Tom Cruise eats popcorn weird, MrBeast tries to make up for poor fan experience, estate of James Earl Jones licensed AI voice for Darth Vader, gym teacher arrested for indecent exposure, man rescued after jumping off bridge, man got parrot chlamydia, woman flicked cockroach off man’s head but turned out to be his pet, news anchor continued to do news while in labor, adult film star reveals sex bucket list, what’s on your sex bucket list?, ladies caught performing sex act in public, dump truck crashed into house, tractor trailer crash spilled 44k pounds of ham, people using Uber Currier to deliver drugs, man found bus driver’s shirt, summer trend of wearing cleats all the time, woman who always introduces herself on the phone when she calls places, and more!

AI makes up summer activities, Siri is a four-letter word and there is such a thing as a free lunch.Oops, we made up a bunch of things that don't exist and then published them in newspapers.404 Media tracked down the person responsible.Mark Gurman discusses Apple's AI woes.Google's new AI can now make actual words so that's great.No one wants to buy expensive art in this economy.Fortnite is using an AI version of James Earl Jones's voice for Darth Vader.Correction: Moltz said he saw Nathan Fielder in Hairspray which is laughably incorrect, it was Harvey Fierstein. He regrets the error.If you want to help out the show and get some great bonus content, consider becoming a Rebound Prime member! Just go to prime.reboundcast.com to check it out!Were you aware that you could buy things from us?! That's right! Shirts, iPhone cases, mugs, hats and one other type of thing are all available from our Rebound Store!

MUSIC37 years after it was stolen from The Doors' front man's Paris gravesite, the bronze bust of Jim Morrison has been recovered.Jelly Roll brought out Eminem for his "Lose Yourself" Sunday night at Ford Field in Detroit. Watch it on YouTube. Pearl Jam did "Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog Sunday night in Pittsburgh and dedicated it to the late Chris Cornell. Sunday was the eighth anniversary of Cornell's death. Here is some audio from that night. Apparently Axl Rose's fall on stage during Guns n' Roses show in Mumbai, India on Saturday inspired the folks running their social media to poke fun at the frontman. A new video on their Instagram captioned "Guns n' Roses Greatest Hits" is a montage of Rose slipping and falling on stage 14 different times over the years, with the last one being the fall in Mumbai, all set to the band's "Welcome to the Jungle." Was Jessica Simpson's "comeback" performance on Sunday's "American Idol" really that bad? A lot of fans thought so. It seems that Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and his wife Brittany Furlan have split. On Friday ex-Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese joked about posting a list of reasons he got booted from the band. And now he's come up with an actual David Letterman-like Top 10 list.It include references to The Offspring -- one of his former employers -- plus the subject of many of his Instagram posts, his poodles. TVSesame Street will continue to thrive on Netflix. MOVING ON INTO MOVIE NEWS:The Bruce Springsteen biopic, 'Deliver Me from Nowhere', will hit theatres on October 24th. The Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler film Sinners recently crossed the $300 million global earnings mark On Monday, Disney and Pixar announced that Conan O'Brien will be voicing a new character in the upcoming Toy Story 5!GamingReturn of the voice of Vader … Legendary actor James Earl Jones passed away less than a year ago, but thanks to AI his voice lives on – in the game Fortnite. AND FINALLYLooking for an appropriate movie to watch this Memorial Day? "Reader's Digest" put together a list of the 30 "best". Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order: AND THAT IS YOUR CRAP ON CELEBRITIES!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

GTA 6 trailer 2 and anticipation Grok Pivots From 'White Genocide' to Being 'Skeptical' About the Holocaust Elon Musk's apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Explains How He's Making Himself Obsolete With AI How Finland's district heating systems are harvesting heat from data centers; Microsoft's project in Kirkkonummi will be the largest in the world when completed OpenAI launches Codex, an AI coding agent, in ChatGPT China begins assembling its supercomputer in space NASA engineers revive Voyager 1's dead thrusters from 15 billion miles away 25% of steam playeres play Blue Prince Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad Fortnite players can speak with Darth Vader through a James Earl Jones-voiced AI Epic Games says Apple is blocking Fortnite from the US and EU App Stores Epic wants the court to compel Apple to approve Fortnite's return to the US App Store Nextcloud accuses Google of "Big Tech gatekeeping" over Android app permissions Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge starts off the super thin phone era Square's $399 Handheld accepts tap-to-pay at your table Montana Becomes First State To Close the Law Enforcement Data Broker Loophole - Slashdot Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill The first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming The US Army is getting in on right-to-repair They're just giving up and calling it HBO Max again Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Wil Harris, Devindra Hardawar, and Harper Reed Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: oracle.com/twit ziprecruiter.com/twit drata.com/weekintech monarchmoney.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit

GTA 6 trailer 2 and anticipation Grok Pivots From 'White Genocide' to Being 'Skeptical' About the Holocaust Elon Musk's apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Explains How He's Making Himself Obsolete With AI How Finland's district heating systems are harvesting heat from data centers; Microsoft's project in Kirkkonummi will be the largest in the world when completed OpenAI launches Codex, an AI coding agent, in ChatGPT China begins assembling its supercomputer in space NASA engineers revive Voyager 1's dead thrusters from 15 billion miles away 25% of steam playeres play Blue Prince Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad Fortnite players can speak with Darth Vader through a James Earl Jones-voiced AI Epic Games says Apple is blocking Fortnite from the US and EU App Stores Epic wants the court to compel Apple to approve Fortnite's return to the US App Store Nextcloud accuses Google of "Big Tech gatekeeping" over Android app permissions Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge starts off the super thin phone era Square's $399 Handheld accepts tap-to-pay at your table Montana Becomes First State To Close the Law Enforcement Data Broker Loophole - Slashdot Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill The first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming The US Army is getting in on right-to-repair They're just giving up and calling it HBO Max again Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Wil Harris, Devindra Hardawar, and Harper Reed Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: oracle.com/twit ziprecruiter.com/twit drata.com/weekintech monarchmoney.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit

Fortnite Battle Royale this week introduced a Darth Vader character powered by Gemini AI, allowing lines to be generated in real time that would be said in the likeness of James Earl Jones. Naturally, the internet managed to put this to some horrible use within minutes, which has us questioning why a game like this needed something like this in the first place? Has Epic Games just handed SAG-AFTRA what they need in their STILL ongoing negotiations for AI protections? Is this really what gamers want in the future of games, or what people in boardrooms think we want? We debate this, and discuss much more in gaming news on another week of the longest running video game podcast, Orange Lounge Radio!   Also in the News:   * Bungie Accused of Plagiarizing ... Again * Kojima and the Game Where You Forget * Switch 2 Free Upgrades * Kingdom Hearts Spinoff Canceled   All this and more on the show where EVERY gamer has a voice-- Orange Lounge Radio! LIVE on the VOG Network, Sunday nights at 6 Pacific, 9 Eastern www.vognetwork.com Mailbag: participate (at) orangeloungeradio dot com

GTA 6 trailer 2 and anticipation Grok Pivots From 'White Genocide' to Being 'Skeptical' About the Holocaust Elon Musk's apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Explains How He's Making Himself Obsolete With AI How Finland's district heating systems are harvesting heat from data centers; Microsoft's project in Kirkkonummi will be the largest in the world when completed OpenAI launches Codex, an AI coding agent, in ChatGPT China begins assembling its supercomputer in space NASA engineers revive Voyager 1's dead thrusters from 15 billion miles away 25% of steam playeres play Blue Prince Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad Fortnite players can speak with Darth Vader through a James Earl Jones-voiced AI Epic Games says Apple is blocking Fortnite from the US and EU App Stores Epic wants the court to compel Apple to approve Fortnite's return to the US App Store Nextcloud accuses Google of "Big Tech gatekeeping" over Android app permissions Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge starts off the super thin phone era Square's $399 Handheld accepts tap-to-pay at your table Montana Becomes First State To Close the Law Enforcement Data Broker Loophole - Slashdot Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill The first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming The US Army is getting in on right-to-repair They're just giving up and calling it HBO Max again Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Wil Harris, Devindra Hardawar, and Harper Reed Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: oracle.com/twit ziprecruiter.com/twit drata.com/weekintech monarchmoney.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit

GTA 6 trailer 2 and anticipation Grok Pivots From 'White Genocide' to Being 'Skeptical' About the Holocaust Elon Musk's apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Explains How He's Making Himself Obsolete With AI How Finland's district heating systems are harvesting heat from data centers; Microsoft's project in Kirkkonummi will be the largest in the world when completed OpenAI launches Codex, an AI coding agent, in ChatGPT China begins assembling its supercomputer in space NASA engineers revive Voyager 1's dead thrusters from 15 billion miles away 25% of steam playeres play Blue Prince Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad Fortnite players can speak with Darth Vader through a James Earl Jones-voiced AI Epic Games says Apple is blocking Fortnite from the US and EU App Stores Epic wants the court to compel Apple to approve Fortnite's return to the US App Store Nextcloud accuses Google of "Big Tech gatekeeping" over Android app permissions Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge starts off the super thin phone era Square's $399 Handheld accepts tap-to-pay at your table Montana Becomes First State To Close the Law Enforcement Data Broker Loophole - Slashdot Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill The first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming The US Army is getting in on right-to-repair They're just giving up and calling it HBO Max again Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Wil Harris, Devindra Hardawar, and Harper Reed Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: oracle.com/twit ziprecruiter.com/twit drata.com/weekintech monarchmoney.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit

Go to Kindafunny.com/SubwaySurfers to get special rewards and download it now! Go to http://factormeals.com/kindafunny50off and use code kindafunny50off to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. Fairgames loses its lead developer, Bungie's been caught stealing artwork, and a BUNCH of Nintendo news. Enjoy this ad-free version! Thank you for the support! Run of Show - - Start - HousekeepingToday after, KFGD, you'll get:GAMESCAST - Tim's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 previewAfter Gamescast is Star Wars Andor Season 2 FINALE ScreencastThen the STREAM is DoomIf you're a Kinda Funny Member:You can get today's Gregway from AndyThank you to our Patreon Producers: Karl Jacobs, OmegaBuster, & Delaney TwiningThe Roper Report   - - PlayStation Executive Jade Raymond Leaves Studio She Founded - Jason Schreier @ Bloomberg - Ad - Bungie has been caught stealing artwork - Ash Parrish @ The Verge - Red Dead Redemption 2 is reportedly coming to Switch 2, as Take-Two commits to Nintendo - Andy Robinson @ VGC - Nintendo Details what we're getting with the free Switch 2 updates to Switch 1 games - Nintendo.com - Another wee Nintendo update via Wario 64 - More Wee Nintendo news, Diddy Kong is saved - Scott McCrae @ Games Radar - Fortnite players can speak with Darth Vader through a James Earl Jones-voiced AI - Charles Pulliam-Moore @ The Verge - Wee News! - SuperChats & You‘re Wrong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legacy of Star Wars extends far beyond lightsabers and space battles—it lives in the remarkable humans who brought these iconic characters to life. From the reluctant Jedi to the princess who gave zero f*cks, this episode pulls back the curtain on the fascinating, sometimes tragic lives of the Star Wars actors who've joined the cosmic force.Sir Alec Guinness might have hated the "mumbo jumbo" dialogue of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but his shrewd 2% royalty deal made him wealthy beyond imagination. Yet behind his disdain lurked a complicated man—a convert to Catholicism with arrest records suggesting a hidden sexuality in an era when such truths meant professional death. Meanwhile, Peter Mayhew transformed Chewbacca from a walking carpet into one of cinema's most beloved characters, his 7'3" frame and gentle nature making him the polar opposite of Guinness at conventions—embracing fans rather than telling them to never watch Star Wars again.Carrie Fisher's journey from Hollywood royalty to space princess to mental health advocate stands as perhaps the most compelling story. Her battles with bipolar disorder and addiction never dimmed her razor-sharp wit, turning personal demons into literary gold through memoirs that peeled back celebrity's gilded veneer. When she passed away in December 2016, followed just one day later by her mother Debbie Reynolds, it felt like losing both royalty and family.The men behind Darth Vader—David Prowse's intimidating physicality and James Earl Jones' resonant voice—remind us that even the greatest villains are team efforts. Prowse, who chose to play Vader over Chewbacca because "everyone remembers the villain," never saw his face on screen, while Jones transformed from a stuttering child into the voice that launched a thousand shivers down spines worldwide.These actors created more than characters—they built a modern mythology that continues to resonate across generations. Want to hear more Hollywood tales from beyond the grave? Subscribe now and join us next week when we uncover another chapter in Death in Entertainment.Send us a message!Support the showDeath in Entertainment is hosted by Kyle Ploof and Ben Kissel.New episodes every week!https://linktr.ee/deathinentertainment

Shane and the Howler discuss who they would like to listen to narrate the Bible. Shane also describes a moment on the movie set last week where he almost ruined the take!The Midweek Howl Disclaimer: The Skeptic of the From The Shadows Podcast crew, aka the Ozark Howler, joins Shane each week, to share a story or two and discuss current events. Just a little midweek humor to brighten your day. We like to call this segment “The Midweek Howl.” Enjoy!From The Shadows Podcast is a program where we seriously discuss the supernatural, the paranormal, cryptozoology as well as ufology. Anything that cannot be rationally explained has a platform for discussion here on the From The Shadows Podcast.Web https://www.fromtheshadowspodcast.comFacebook https://www.facebook.com/fromtheshadowspodcastInstagram - Shane Grove  https://www.instagram.com/shanegroveauthorInstagram - Podcast https://www.instagram.com/fromtheshadowspodcast#JamesEarlJones #Bible #movies #ExWife #Funny #StoryTelling

How do you follow up a genuine once-in-a-lifetime pop culture phenomenon like the initial release of Star Wars in 1977?  Well if you're writer/director/producer George Lucas, you use your ownership of the franchise to continue the story but in a unique new direction with a new director (Irwin Kirsher) along with a new up-and-coming writer (Lawrence Kasdan) to take over most creative decisions.  You also decide to bring back most of the main cast (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse/James Earl Jones, Peter Mayhew) while deciding to introduce some exciting new characters including Yoda (Frank Oz) and Lando Calrissian).  Beyond that.....larger scale, more unpredictable twists, and a cliffhanger ending which left many audiences at the time genuinely suprised.  And what resulted was not only an enduring classic which not only redefined the genre but sequels for decades to come.....on the eve of its 45th Anniversary and just in time for May The Fourth, it's time to return to A Galaxy Far, Far Away!   Host & Editor: Geoff GershonProducer: Marlene GershonSend us a texthttps://livingforthecinema.com/Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/Letterboxd:https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

It's no secret that Tony Award-winning actress Annaleigh Ashford is a versatile force to be reckoned with! From her captivating performances on Broadway in 'Legally Blonde' and 'Wicked' to her current role on the small screen in the true crime drama "Happy Place," she's proven she can do it all! Act, sing, and dance, but did you know she's also good at impressions?Ever get together with a friend you're comfortable around, and you let loose and start making silly voices? That happens a lot when Annaleigh joins Sophia on the pod, and it's hilarious! Besides slipping into her 'puppet Judy Garland' character, the actress talks about her new series based on a real-life story and why it's different from other true crime drama shows, making the transition from stage to television, and why it's so easy to slip into people-pleasing mode on sets. Plus, she opens up about working alongside the late great James Earl Jones on the Broadway revival of "You Can't Take It With You" and the surprising request he made near the end of their show's run that taught her an unforgettable lesson! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary, we're featuring interviews with some of the early cast members/writers. Dan Aykroyd talks about the moment he and John Belushi came up with the Blues Brothers. Writer Alan Zweibel talks about working with Gilda Radner on two of her most iconic characters. And Al Franken tells us about a sketch he wrote that didn't make it past the censors. Jon Lovitz tells Terry how his character Master Thespian came to be. Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews The Annihilation of Fish, a romantic comedy starring James Earl Jones, Lynn Redgrave and Margot Kidder, made in 1999 and released now for the first time. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy