Podcasts about uw madison

Microsoft hopes a new collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison will help give the company an edge in artificial intelligence. Then, how partisanship and partisan media is affecting our perceptions of reality. And, our politics team looks at Wisconsin's response to the government shutdown.

This week, Madison is grappling with an array of serious stories in the news. Two staff members at Annie Greencrow Whitehorse Middle School are on leave as a result of sexual assault allegations. UW-Madison employees are facing layoffs. And FoodShare benefits are set to run out Saturday. City Cast Madison host Bianca Martin talks with executive producer Hayley Sperling and newsletter editor Rob Thomas about how these heavy topics are affecting Madisonians. But it's not all bad, we've got some Halloween costume ideas for you too! Mentioned on the show: West High battery [City of Madison]Report Child Abuse [Wisconsin Department of Children and Families] UW Union Leaders speak on state-mandated teaching requirements [

Here's your local news for Thursday, October 30, 2025:We'll outline what's at stake locally as federal lawmakers weigh cuts to AmeriCorps Seniors funding,Discuss the potential flaws in the Madison Police Department's body-cam pilot study,Learn more about UW-Madison's Russian Flagship Program,Sit down with Chicago-based musician Winefred RT,Share the joy that comes from a used sewing machine,And much more.

Here's your local news for Wednesday, October 29, 2025:We get the details on two much-debated items that earned unanimous approval in last night's Common Council meeting,Discuss the road to 2026 with WisDems Chair Devin Remiker,Learn how UW-Madison researchers are partnering with local farmers,Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,Travel back in time to 1969,And much more.

Dr. Emily Auerbach is a great storyteller and cares deeply about helping make other people's stories great. Hear the story of her work of leading the Odyssey Project and mentoring non-traditional students through literature and the humanities. Dr. Auerbach talks about their whole family approach that brings all generations into the learning opportunities. The hope is that the program is a launching pad into further education at UW-Madison. Dr. Gee and Dr. Auerbach share so many connections to graduates who have completed degrees and are active in the community. They also share the development of those that don't think they have more potential and draw it out of them. Support Odyssey – UW Odyssey Project – UW–Madison alexgee.com Support the Show: patreon.com/blacklikeme Join the Black Like Me Listener Community Facebook Group

Dr. Emily Auerbach is a great storyteller and cares deeply about helping make other people's stories great. Hear the story of her work of leading the Odyssey Project and mentoring non-traditional students through literature and the humanities. Dr. Auerbach talks about their whole family approach that brings all generations into the learning opportunities. The hope is that the program is a launching pad into further education at UW-Madison. Dr. Gee and Dr. Auerbach share so many connections to graduates who have completed degrees and are active in the community. They also share the development of those that don't think they have more potential and draw it out of them. Support Odyssey – UW Odyssey Project – UW–Madison alexgee.com Support the Show: patreon.com/blacklikeme Join the Black Like Me Listener Community Facebook Group

Hosts: Rob Chappell, Stephanie Díaz de León, and Omar Waheed Guest: Nate Buescher, UW–Madison freshman and star of Disney Channel's Electric Bloom Runtime: 53:38 On this week's podcast, we catch up on a range of news stories from the week, and get acquainted with a new neighbor who's a rising Disney star.

Erin Silva, Ph.D. https://cias.wisc.edu/directory/17158/FoA 280: Organic Farming Myths and Realities With Erin SilvaI wanted to invite Erin Silva back on the show to hear about her continued work with farmers that are going down the path of organic AND regenerative. On the surface, those two farming approaches are easy to get behind: let's try to reduce our dependence on synthetic chemistry and let's try to build soil health over time while still farming intensively and profitably. But in practice, there are tradeoffs. To promote more living roots on the soil through cover crops, as one example, farmers need a way to terminate those cover crops and using herbicides for that is really really helpful. So I'm intrigued about how farmers are making these systems work and how scientists like Erin our doing the critical research to understand how these practices can work on more acres for more farmers. So that is what today's episode is all about, and for context I'll give you a brief bio on our guest. Dr. Erin Silva is an Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist in Organic and Sustainable Cropping Systems in the Department of Plant Pathology as well as the Director for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. Her research influences the strong organic sector that contributes to Wisconsin's agricultural economy, with Wisconsin second only to California as the state with the greatest number of organic farms. In continued support of these farms and the organic sector within the state, nation, and globally, her research and scholarly contributions continue to be directed in the broad area of the biology and agroecology of organic crop management, with emphases on cover crops, soil health, and genotype/ environment interactions. Dr Silva earned her Ph.D. in Horticulture at Washington State University.

Watch the video version of this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myvXGFZLi2o Our two new books... STORY QUESTIONS: How To Unlock Your Story One Question At A Time - https://payhip.com/b/ZTvq9 and 17 Steps To Writing A Great Main Character - https://payhip.com/b/kCZGd 0:00 - David Zucker (Naked Gun, Airplane!) On How He Broke Into The Comedy Business 12:42 - Why 99% Of Comedy Movies Today Aren't Funny 25:37 - Biggest Difference Between A Bad Spoof Comedy And A Great One 34:30 - If The Audience Doesn't Laugh Out Loud, It's Not Funny Enough 42:53 - First Rule Of Comedy That Filmmakers Need To Know 56:52 - First Steps To Writing A Comedy Movie 1:05:51 - How To Get The Audience To Care About The Characters In A Comedy 1:13:41 - How A Director Builds A Scene MASTERCRASH: A Crash Course In Spoof Comedy https://mastercrash.com BUY THE BOOK - Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! https://amzn.to/3FULs2N Born on October 16, 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, director/writer/producer David Zucker, along with brother Jerry (Ghost, 1990) Zucker and longtime friend, Jim (Hot Shots, 1991) Abrahams, has established himself among Hollywood's (or at least Wisconsin's) most successful filmmakers. Starting out after college, with a borrowed video tape deck and camera, the soon to be legendary trio created the Kentucky Fried Theater, on the UW Madison campus, and moved to California in 1972, quickly becoming the most successful small theater group. in Los Angeles history. After parlaying this success into The Kentucky Fried Movie, the three conceived the idea that would create a whole new film genre. Airplane! (1980) broke all conventions, featuring dramatic actors like Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen performing zany jokes with straight-laced sincerity. The spoof became the surprise hit of 1980, beginning a streak of hilarious movies including Top Secret! (1984) and Ruthless People (1986), after which David branched out on his own to direct The Naked Guns (1988, 1991, 1994), BASEketball (1998), Scary Movies 3 (2003), and 4 (2006), and others. David also found time to produce the successful, but somewhat less hilarious A Walk in The Clouds (1995) and Phone Booth (2002), and recently completed a feature script, The Star of Malta, a comedy set in the Film Noir era, and an international spy thriller, "Counter Intellijence!". CONNECT WITH DAVID ZUCKER https://mastercrash.com https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001878 SUBSCRIBE TO THE FILM COURAGE YOUTUBE CHANNEL http://bit.ly/18DPN37 PERSONALLY SPONSOR FILM COURAGE https://ko-fi.com/filmcourage (Affiliates) ►BOOKS WE RECOMMEND: THE NUTSHELL TECHNIQUE: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting https://amzn.to/2X3Vx5F THE STORY SOLUTION: 23 Actions All Great Heroes Must Take http://amzn.to/2gYsuMf SAVE THE CAT! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need https://amzn.to/3dNg2HQ ►FILMMAKER STARTER KIT BLACKMAGIC Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - https://amzn.to/4gDU0s9 ZOOM H4essential 4-Track Handy Recorder - https://amzn.to/3TIon6X SENNHEISER Professional Shotgun Microphone - https://amzn.to/3TEnLiE ►WE USE THIS CAMERA (B&H) – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra ►WE USE THIS SOUND RECORDER (AMAZON) – http://amzn.to/2tbFlM9 ►Stuff we use: LENS - Most people ask us what camera we use, no one ever asks about the lens which filmmakers always tell us is more important. This lens was a big investment for us and one we wish we could have made sooner. Started using this lens at the end of 2013 - http://amzn.to/2tbtmOq AUDIO Audio Recorder - If we had to do it all over again, this is probably the first item we would have bought - https://amzn.to/3WEuz0k *Disclaimer: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, we'll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for your support!

Why do even the most promising companies fail at change management and lose their best talent? With over 45 years of experience, leadership expert Deborah Laurel reveals the critical skills managers lack and how to fix them. Learn the proven framework to create a supportive environment where employees want to stay and do their best work.

Here's your local news for Wednesday, October 15, 2025:We outline today's debate over a Republican bill that would put a cap on UW's annual tuition increases,Hear what GHC members had to say in a special meeting with the cooperative's Board of Directors,Learn why election reform advocates are calling for Final Five voting in Wisconsin,Find out if UW-Madison's ethnic studies requirement is actually at risk,Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,Travel back in time to 1960,And much more.

This year's Wisconsin Science Festival will feature a special weather event at the Wisconsin Energy Institute on the UW-Madison campus. On October 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wisconet Manager Chris Vagasky tells Stephanie Hoff that it will help introduce people to the behind-the-scenes of weather -- a topic that influences lives every day. He says Wisconsin is a weather hub as it's home to the Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences Department, the National Weather Service, several big-market TV meteorologists, the State Climate Office, and Wisconet. More sunshine on the way today, but showers keep popping up through Thursday. That's the word from Stu Muck. Farm appraisal appointments are taking up a lot of time with the Steffes Group. Ashley Huhn tells Pam Jahnke that farmers and their lenders sometimes want to get a handle on machinery inventory before the end of the calendar year. He also highlights some of the in-season bids that captured equipment while the harvest was underway. Paid for by Steffes Group. The U.S. Meat Export Federation just returned from a trade mission to the United Kingdom. While it may not represent a big geography, it does have a lot of population looking for meat. Jerry Thiel, chair elect of the USMEF, says the UK's alignment with the EU should make things easier - but it doesn't. The information vacuum created by the shutdown of USDA looms over the marketplace and trade activity. John Heinberg, market advisor with Total Farm Marketing in West Bend explains what critical pieces are missing and what it means to production agriculture. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy Homecoming, Badgers! UW-Madison will face off against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 117th Homecoming Game in UW history Oct. 11 at Camp Randall in a battle for the Heartland Trophy. But before the Badgers kick off, the fans party. And each neighborhood does things a little differently. To get the scoop on how and where Madisonians tailgate, executive producer Hayley Sperling and host Bianca Martin chat with local DJ Nick Nice, who's helped bring the party to Regent Street for the past decade. Mentioned on the show How Wisconsin's 'Jump Around' became the best tradition in college football [ESPN] Being Bucky [IMDB]

Here's your local news for Wednesday, October 1, 2025:We head to Madison's Rennebohm Park for a press conference opposing the Line 5 reroute,Get the details on a new antibody treatment that aims to provide seasonal protection from Lyme disease,Find out how state Democrats are working to fill the gap as Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin pauses abortion services,Learn the history behind a trailblazing department at UW-Madison,Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,Travel back in time to 1962,And much more.

  In today's episode, I'm joined by my long-time colleague, and our Chief People Officer here at CEG, Sandy Longworth. Sandy has worked as a therapist, a researcher, college counselor — among other things — and has spent years studying the role that narrative storytelling plays in how teens develop their identities.  Important note: While Sandy trained as a therapist, and we do talk a lot about therapy in our conversation, I want to make clear that I do not hold that college counseling and essay coaching — or what we do at College Essay Guy — to be therapy. It isn't. As college counselors and essay coaches — and I'm speaking about us as a profession here — we help students discover the skills, qualities, values, and interests they'll bring to a college campus… and then express those parts of themselves in writing.  Having said that, when I was first introduced to Narrative Therapy in 2012, I was struck by how some of its techniques — like reframing, for instance, which involves finding alternate perspectives on a set of events, something sometimes called “re-storying” — overlap with some of the things that happen in essay coaching sessions… and that's the territory Sandy and I explore in this conversation.   In this episode, Sandy and I get into:  How adolescence is a key time for identity development, how this process unfolds and why it's so significant for personal statements What is narrative identity theory and how do our stories shape who we think we are and can be?  How can narrative therapy techniques help students develop and showcase these qualities? What are some narrative therapy exercises students can use to reflect on their experiences and write authentically? And more   Sandy Longworth is a proud first-generation college graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison who earned her M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seattle Pacific University, completed her doctoral coursework in Child and Family Studies from UW-Madison, and completed her School Counseling certificate at Northern Illinois University.  There's a little more to her bio, but I'll let her share that with you directly — hope you enjoy.    Play-by-Play: 3:05 – Sandy shares her background and some of her roles and identities  9:46 – Why is adolescence such a key time for identity development, and how does that connect to the personal statement?  12:20 – What role does narrative storytelling play in how students think about and develop their identities?  24:26 – How can narrative therapy techniques help students develop and showcase these qualities in their college application? 39:32 – What are some practical ways counselors and students can bring narrative therapy techniques into the personal statement process? 41:34 – Sandy leads Ethan through a narrative exercise 53:41 – Ethan and Sandy share impact and reflections 1:01:16 – How could narrative therapy ideas inform a montage-style essay? 1:10:10 – What does Sandy love about this work?  1:13:32 – What resources are available to learn more about narrative therapy? 1:16:15 – Closing thoughts    Resources: The Dulwich Centre The Values Exercise CEG's College Admission Nutrients (aka The Great College Application Test) College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

In this episode, Heewone, Evan, and Lauren are joined by Emmett Lockwood, a recent UW-Madison alum, to discuss his experience writing his senior thesis at Madison, how grad school has been, and his path to pursuing a master's degree in critical disability studies at York University in Toronto, Ontario.

In this episode of The Dairy Podcast Show, Dr. Enrico Casella, from Penn State University, discusses how artificial intelligence drives innovation in dairy farming. From using computer vision to estimate body weight to implementing sustainable water management and monitoring heat stress, Dr. Casella explains high-impact solutions advancing cattle health and boosting efficiency on the farm. Tune in on all major platforms!"Depth cameras use height data instead of color, enabling precise bodyweight estimation in dairy systems."Meet the guest: Dr. Enrico Casella, Assistant Professor of Data Science for Animal Systems at Penn State University's Animal Science Department and Co-Hire of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, specializes in leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for animal health and development. With a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Kentucky and postdoctoral experience at UW-Madison, his interdisciplinary research integrates AI, computer vision, and optimization techniques.Liked this one? Don't stop now — Here's what we think you'll love!What you'll learn:(00:00) Highlight(01:15) Introduction(01:67) Dr. Casella's career(06:58) AI & bodyweight(15:22) Sustainable water use(19:10) Group data analysis(27:46) Future opportunities(31:49) Final three questionsThe Dairy Podcast Show is trusted and supported by innovative companies like:* Adisseo* Priority IAC* Evonik- dsm-firmenich- SmaXtec- Natural Biologics- Berg + Schmidt- ICC- Protekta- AHV

Enjoying a grilled cheese at World Dairy Expo is truly a staple in the whole experience. And it’s brought to you courtesy of UW-Madison students. Grace Mansell who hails from Roberts, Wisconsin is a Biological Systems Engineering student on campus. And she’s spearheading the grilled cheese stand at Expo. Her passion for the dairy industry stems from helping her grandparents on their dairy farm in New Richmond. She’s kept that passion alive through Badger Dairy Club, one of the organizations that staffs the grilled cheese stand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's your local news for Wednesday, September 24, 2025:We check in on the race for Wisconsin governor...and the ever-expanding field of candidates,Find out why a UW-Madison professor is urging Congress to support fusion energy research,Consider the declining health of American children,Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,Travel back in time to 1968,And much more.

This year's Wisconsin Science Festival will feature a special weather event at the Wisconsin Energy Institute on the UW-Madison campus. On Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wisconet Manager Chris Vagasky will help introduce people to the behind-the-scenes of weather -- a topic that influences all of our lives every day. The Wisconsin Science Festival is a 10-day, statewide celebration of science, art, and technology, Oct. 16-26. Allison Bender, the Wisconsin Energy Institute outreach program manager, joins Vagasky with more details of the second annual Weather Festival and tells us how the power of weather research in Wisconsin is sure to get people excited to learn more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The church is so much more than a building—but when it comes to managing the physical property of church real estate, we often overlook the great good that can emerge from the land and structures. In this episode, social entrepreneur, strategic executive, and author Mark Elsdon joins Mark Labberton on Conversing to explore how churches and faith communities can reimagine their assets—land, buildings, and money—as instruments for mission, community transformation, and spiritual flourishing. From his decades of work at Pres House in Madison, Wisconsin, to his role as consultant, author, and co-leader of RootedGood, Elsdon shares stories of innovation, courage, and the hard but hopeful work of repurposing property and resources for God's mission in the world. Episode Highlights “It isn't about property, nor is it about money. It's about people's lives and it's about God's work in people's lives.” “We often have the faith of our forebears in the church. But the question is, do we have the courage of them?” “I don't think God's going away. I don't think God's declining. But the way people are engaging their faith is really changed and is changing.” “Sometimes I talk about this as like the Blockbuster Video moment… People still want experiences of the divine. They just don't want to access it primarily on a Sunday morning.” “Constraints can produce creativity and, in the life of faith, can also produce a willingness to trust.” Helpful Links and Resources Mark Elsdon's Website *We Aren't Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry,* by Mark Elsdon *Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition,* by Mark Elsdon RootedGood - resources for congregations, judicatories, and other church leaders related to social enterprise and church property Good Futures Accelerator course How-To Guides Threshold Sacred Development - A mission-aligned property development company focused on supporting churches doing community-oriented development About Mark Elsdon Mark Elsdon lives and works at the intersection of money and meaning as an entrepreneur, non-profit executive, author, and speaker. He is the author of We Aren't Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry (2021) and editor of Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition (2024). In addition to his role as a director with RootedGood, Mark is also executive director at Pres House, where he led the transformation of a dormant non-profit into a growing, vibrant, multi-million-dollar organization. Mark has a BA in psychology from the University of California–Berkeley, a master of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin School of Business. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA, and lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Mark is an avid cyclist and considers it a good year when he rides more miles on his bike than he drives in his car. Show Notes Mark Elsdon reflects on thirty years of ministry, beginning with campus work at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Launch of a $17 million student housing project that became a transformative ministry for thousands of students. Elsdon's discovery: “It isn't about property, nor is it about money. It's about people's lives and it's about God's work in people's lives.” Creation of a sober housing program at Pres House that has saved the state of Wisconsin more than a million dollars in addiction-related costs. Innovative blend of mission, ministry, and real estate development to foster student flourishing. The unique impact of housing students in recovery alongside the wider student population. Elsdon's MBA studies at UW–Madison and his calling at the intersection of money and mission. The “Blockbuster Video moment” for American Christianity: people still seek meaning, community, and transcendence, but not in traditional formats. Challenges churches face with aging buildings, declining attendance, and financial strain. How repurposing property reveals new opportunities for mission and ministry. RootedGood's “Good Futures” Accelerator course: helping churches rethink land, buildings, and resources for social enterprise and revenue generation. Example of two congregations in Madison merging to create an environmentally sustainable multifamily housing project and community center. Redefining church property as community space: “flipping the script” so the building belongs to the neighborhood, with the church as anchor tenant. Courage, risk-taking, and letting go of past models are essential for churches to reimagine their future. The critical role of pastoral and lay leadership in sparking change and vision. Storytelling as central to church renewal: “We often have the faith of our forebears in the church. But the question is, do we have the courage of them?” Learning from the pandemic: every church has the capacity for innovation and adaptation. Honouring grief and loss while embracing resurrection hope in church property transitions. Example from San Antonio: members resisted redevelopment until their need for funerals in the sanctuary was acknowledged—turning “either/or” into “both/and.” Affordable housing crisis intersects directly with church land opportunities. Turner Center study: California churches and colleges hold land equal to five Oaklands suitable for affordable housing development. Elsdon warns against cookie-cutter “models” and emphasizes local context, story, and creativity. Forecast: up to 100,000 church properties in the US may be sold or repurposed in the next decade. Elsdon's hope: more repurposing than selling, with land and buildings becoming assets for life-giving mission. The value of constraints: “Constraints can produce creativity and, in the life of faith, can also produce a willingness to trust.” Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment magazine and Fuller Seminary.  

In her final University of the Air broadcast, Emily Auerbach engages in a lively conversation with UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin about her journey to becoming 30th chancellor, the highs and […]

In this bonus episode of The Cabin Podcast, we explore Badger Talks, a UW–Madison program that connects communities across Wisconsin with expert speakers and unique stories. We chat with Fran Puleo Moyer about the program's mission, dive into Wisconsin's Amish history with Professor Mark Louden, and hear from Bridgitt Zielke on the impact of hosting Badger Talks at the Wade House Historic Site. Learn more: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/

Here's your local news for Wednesday, September 17, 2025:We head to Jefferson County for this year's Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival,Dissect the unsuccessful campaign to ban physical mail at the Dane County jail,Learn how a group of underclassmen brought a humorous internet trend to UW-Madison's Library Mall,Broadcast the most comprehensive weather report on the airwaves,Travel back in time to 1963,And much more.

A new research lab in UW-Madison's Department of African American Studies has set out to document the experiences of being Black in Madison and mapping Black-affirming spaces in the city. The SoulFolk Collective is made up of undergrads and graduate students, and does research projects that centers the Black experience.  To learn more, host Bianca Martin speaks with Dr. Jessica Stovall and Angela Fitzgerald about the Black Madison Archive and what is next for the collective. 

MacIver Intern Courtney Graves describes how the assassination of Charlie Kirk has energized conservatives on UW-Madison campus and is driving record interest in groups like the College Republicans and Young America's Foundation.

In this week's episode, I take a look back at the movies and streaming shows I watched in Summer 2025. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book #1 in the Ghost Armor series, (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store: FALLSERPENT50 The coupon code is valid through September 15, 2025 (please note the shorter expiration date). So if you need a new audiobook this fall, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 267 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is September 5, 2025 and today I'm doing a review roundup of the movies and streaming shows I saw in Summer 2025. Before we do that, we will have Coupon of the Week and a progress update on my current writing and audiobook projects. First up, this week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Ghost in the Serpent, Book One in the Ghost Armor series (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store. That is FALLSERPENT50. This coupon code will be valid through September 15th, 2025 (exactly one week). So if you need a new audiobook to listen to as we head into fall, we have got you covered. Now for an update on my current writing and audiobook projects. I am pleased to report that the rough draft of Blade of Flames, which will be the first book in my new Blades of Ruin epic fantasy series is finished. The rough draft came at about 90,000 words long, which was what I was aiming for. Next up, I will be writing a short story set as sort of a bonus in that plot line called Thunder Hammer and that will be the backstory of one of the characters in Blade of Flames. And when Blade of Flames comes out (which will hopefully be later this September), newsletter subscribers will get a free ebook copy of Thunder Hammer. So this is an excellent time to subscribe to my newsletter. I am also 8,000 words into Cloak of Worlds. At long last, I am coming back to the Cloak Mage series after nearly a year's absence. Longtime listeners will know the reason was that I had five unfinished series and I wanted to spend the summer of 2025 finishing the unfinished ones and focusing up so I will only have three ongoing series at any given time. I'm hoping Blade of Flames will come out before the end of September and Cloak of Worlds before the end of October, and after that I will be able to return to the Rivah series at long last. In audiobook news, recording is finished on Shield of Power. That will be excellently narrated by Brad Wills and hopefully once it gets through processing and quality assurance and everything, it should be showing up on the various audiobook stores before too much longer. Hollis McCarthy is about halfway through the recording of Ghost in the Siege, which was, as you know, the last book in the Ghost Armor series that just came out. And if all goes well, the audiobook should be coming out probably in October once everything is done with recording and quality assurance and all that. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects. 00:02:34 Main Topic: Summer 2025 Movie/TV Roundup So without further ado, let's head into our main topic. The end of summer is nigh, which means this time for my summer movie review roundup. As is usual for the summer, I saw a lot of movies, so this will be one of the longer episodes. For some reason I ended up watching a bunch of westerns. As always, the movies are ranked from least favorite to most favorite. The grades of course are totally subjective and based on nothing more than my own opinions, impressions, and interpretations. Now on to the movies. First up is the Austin Powers trilogy, the three movies of which came out in 1997, 1999, and 2002. The Austin Powers movies came out just as the Internet really got going in terms of mass adoption, which is likewise why so many Austin Powers and Dr. Evil memes are embedded in online culture. Despite that, I had never really seen any of them all the way through. They've been on in the background on TBS or whatever quite a bit when I visited people, but I've never seen them all. But I happened upon a DVD of the trilogy for $0.25 (USD), so I decided for 25 cents I would give it a go. I would say the movies were funny, albeit not particularly good. Obviously the Austin Powers movies are a parody of the James Bond movies. The movies kind of watch like an extended series of Saturday Night Live skits, only loosely connected, like the skit is what if Dr. Evil had a son named Scott who wasn't impressed with him or another skit was what if a British agent from the ‘60s arrives in the ‘90s and experiences culture clash? What if Dr. Evil didn't understand the concept of inflation and demanded only a million dollars from the United Nations? What if Dr. Evil was actually Austin's brother and they went to school together at Spy Academy? Michael Caine was pretty great as Austin's father. Overall, funny but fairly incoherent. Overall grade: C- Next up is Horrible Bosses, a very dark and very raunchy comedy from about 14 years ago. It came out in 2011. Interestingly, this movie reflects what I think is one of the major crises of the contemporary era, frequent failures of leadership at all levels of society. In the movie Nick, Dale, and Kurt are lifelong friends living in LA and all three of them have truly horrible bosses in their place of employment, ranging from a sociopathic finance director, the company founder's cokehead son, and a boorish dentist with a tendency to sexual harassment. At the bar, they fantasize about killing their horrible bosses and then mutually decide to do something about it. Obviously, they'd all be prime suspects in the murder of their own bosses, but if they killed each other's bosses, that would allow them to establish airtight alibis. However, since Nick, Dale and Kurt are not as bright as they think they are, it all goes hilariously wrong very quickly. Bob Hope has a hilarious cameo. If the best “crude comedies” I've seen are Anchorman, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder, and Dodgeball, and the worst one was MacGruber, I'd say Horrible Bosses lands about in the middle. Overall grade: C Next up is Cowboys and Aliens, which came out in 2011. Now I almost saw this in 2011 when it came out, but I was too busy to go to the theater in July of 2011, so I finally saw it here in 2025 and I would say this was almost a great movie, like the performances were great, the concept was great, the scenery was great, the special effects were great, and the story was packed full of really interesting ideas, but somehow they just didn't coalesce. I'm not entirely sure why. I think upon reflection, it was that the movie is just too overcrowded with too many characters and too many subplots. Anyway, Daniel Craig portrays a man who wakes up with no memory in the Old West, with a mysterious bracelet locked around his wrist. He makes his way to the town of Atonement, and promptly gets arrested because he is apparently a notorious outlaw (which he doesn't remember). While he is locked in jail, space aliens attack the town. The aliens, for unknown reasons, abduct many of the townspeople, and Daniel Craig's character, who is named Jake even if he doesn't remember it, must lead the town's effort to recover their abducted citizens. Harrison's Ford has an excellent performance as this awful cattle baron who nonetheless has virtues of courage and fortitude that you can't help but admire. An excellent performance. That said, the movie was just too packed, and I thought it would work better as a novel. After I watched the movie, it turned out that it was indeed based off a graphic novel. Novels and graphic novels allow for a far more complex story than a movie, and I don't think this movie quite managed to handle the transition from a graphic novel to a film. Overall grade: C Next up is Heads of State, which came out in 2025. This was kind of a stupid movie. However, the fundamental question of any movie, shouted to the audience by Russell Crow in Gladiator is, “are you not entertained?!?” I was thoroughly entertained watching this, so entertained I actually watched it twice. Not everything has to be Shakespeare or a profound meditation on the unresolvable conflicts inherent within human nature. Anyway, John Cena plays Will Derringer, newly elected President of the United States. Idris Elba plays Sam Clark, who has now been the UK Prime Minister for the last six years. Derringer was an action star who parleyed his celebrity into elected office (in the same way Arnold Schwarzenegger did), while Clarke is an army veteran who worked his way up through the UK's political system. Needless to say, the cheerful Derringer and the grim Clarke take an immediate dislike to each other. However, they'll have to team up when Air Force One is shot down, stranding them in eastern Europe. They'll have to make their way home while evading their enemies to unravel the conspiracy that threatens world peace. So half action thriller, half buddy road trip comedy. The premise really doesn't work if you think about it too much for more than thirty seconds, but the movie was funny and I enjoyed it. Jack Quaid really stole his scenes as a crazy but hyper-competent CIA officer. Overall grade: C+ Next up, Captain America: Brave New World, which came out in 2025 and I think this movie ended up on the good side of middling. You can definitely tell it went through a lot of reshoots and retooling, and I suspect the various film industry strikes hit it like a freight train. But we ended up with a reasonably solid superhero thriller. Sam Wilson is now Captain America. He's not superhuman the way Steve Rogers was and doesn't have magic powers or anything, so he kind of fights like the Mandalorian – a very capable fighter who relies on excellent armor. Meanwhile, in the grand American political tradition of failing upward, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who spent years persecuting The Hulk and whose meddling caused the Avengers to disband right before Thanos attacked, has now been elected President. To Wilson's surprise, Ross reaches out and wants him to restart the Avengers. But Ross (as we know) did a lot of shady black ops stuff for years, and one of his projects is coming back to haunt him. Wilson finds himself in the middle of a shadowy conspiracy, and it's up to him to figure out what's going on before it's too late. I was amused that lifelong government apparatchik Ross wanted to restart the Avengers, because when the Avengers had their biggest victory in Avengers: Endgame, they were essentially unsanctioned vigilantes bankrolled by a rogue tech billionaire. Overall grade: B- Next up is Ironheart, which came out in 2025. I'd say Ironheart was about 40% very weird and 60% quite good. It's sort of like the modern version of Dr. Faustus. The show got some flak on the Internet from the crossfire between the usual culture war people, but the key to understanding it is to realize that Riri Williams AKA Ironheart is in fact an antihero who's tottering on the edge of becoming a full-blown supervillain. Like Tony Stark, she's a once-in-a-generation scientific talent, but while she doesn't have Stark's alcohol problems, she's emotionally unstable, immature, ruthless, indifferent to collateral damage and consequences, and suffering from severe PTSD after her best friend and stepfather were killed in a drive-by shooting. This volatile mix gets her thrown out of MIT after her experiments cause too much destruction, and she has to go home to Chicago. To get the funds to keep working on her Iron Man armor, she turns to crime, and falls in with a gang of high-end thieves led by a mysterious figure named Hood. It turns out that Hood has actual magic powers, which both disturbs and fascinates Riri. However, Hood got his magic in a pact with a mysterious dark force. When a job goes bad, Riri gains the enmity of Hood and has to go on the run. It also turns out Hood's dark master has become very interested in Riri, which might be a lot more dangerous for everyone in the long run. Overall, I'd say this is about in the same vein as Agatha All Along, an interesting show constructed around a very morally questionable protagonist. Overall grade: B Next up is A Minecraft movie, which came out in 2024. I have to admit, I've never actually played Minecraft, so I know very little about the game and its ecosystem, only what I've generally absorbed by glancing at the news. That said, I think the movie held together quite well, and wasn't deserving of the general disdain it got in the press. (No doubt the $950 million box office compensated for any hurt feelings.) One of the many downsides of rapid technological change in the last fifty years is that the Boomers and Gen X and the Millennials and Gen Z and Gen Alpha have had such radically different formative experiences in childhood that it's harder to relate to each other. Growing up in the 1980s was a wildly different experience than growing up in the 2010s, and growing up in the 2010s was an even more wildly different experience than growing up in the 1960s. Smartphones and social media were dominant in 2020, barely starting in 2010, and implausible science fiction in 2000 and earlier, and so it was like the different generations grew up on different planets, because in some sense they actually did. (A five-year-old relative of mine just started school, and the descriptions of his school compared to what I remember of school really do sound like different planets entirely.) The Minecraft game and A Minecraft Movie might be one of those generation-locked experiences. Anyway, this has gotten very deep digression for what was essentially a portal-based LitRPG movie. A group of people experiencing various life difficulties in a rural Idaho town get sucked into the Minecraft world through a magic portal. There they must combine forces and learn to work together to master the Minecraft world to save it from an evil sorceress. As always, the fundamental question of any movie is the one that Russell Crowe's character shouted to the audience in Gladiator back in 2000. “Are you not entertained?” I admit I was entertained when watching A Minecraft Movie since it was funny and I recognized a lot of the video game mechanics, even though I've never actually played Minecraft. Like, Castlevania II had a night/day cycle the way Minecraft does, and Castlevania II was forty years ago. But that was another digression! I did enjoy A Minecraft Movie. It was kind of crazy, but it committed to the craziness and maintained a consistent creative vision, and I was entertained. Though I did think it was impressive how Jack Black's agent managed to insist that he sing several different times. Overall grade: B Next up is Back to School, which came out in 1986 and this is one of the better ‘80s comedies I've seen. Rodney Dangerfield plays Thornton Melon, who never went to college and is the wealthy owner of a chain of plus-sized clothing stores. His son Jason is attending Great Lakes University, and after Thornton's unfaithful gold-digging wife leaves him (Thornton is mostly relieved by this development), he decides to go visit his son. He quickly discovers that Jason is flailing at college, and decides to enroll to help out his son. Wacky adventures ensue! I quite enjoyed this. The fictional “Great Lakes University” was largely shot at UW-Madison in Wisconsin, which I found amusing because I spent a lot of time at UW-Madison several decades ago as a temporary IT employee. I liked seeing the characters walk past a place where I'd eat lunch outside when the day was nice, that kind of thing. Also, I'm very familiar with how the sausage gets made in higher ed. There's a scene where the dean is asking why Thornton is qualified to enter college, and then it cuts to the dean cheerfully overseeing the groundbreaking of the new Thornton Melon Hall which Thornton just donated, and I laughed so hard I almost hurt myself, because that is exactly how higher ed works. The movie had some pointless nudity, but it was only a few seconds and no doubt gets cut in network broadcasts. Overall grade: B Next up is Whiskey Galore, which came out in 1949 and this is a comedy set in Scotland during World War II. The villagers living on an isolated island have no whiskey due to wartime rationing. However, when a government ship carrying 50,000 cases of whiskey runs aground near the island, wacky hijinks ensue. I have to admit the first half of the movie was very slow and deliberate, gradually setting up all the pieces for later. Then, once the shipwreck happens, things pick up and the movie gets much funnier. Definitely worth watching both as a good comedy movie and an artifact of its time. A modicum of historical knowledge is required – if you don't know what the Home Guard is, you might have to do some Googling to understand the context of some of the scenes. Regrettably, the version I watched did not have captioning, so I had to pay really close attention to understand what the characters were saying, because some of the accents were very strong. Overall grade: B Next up is Happy Gilmore 2, which came out in 2025. This was dumb and overstuffed with celebrity cameos but thoroughly hilarious and I say this even though it uses one of my least favorite story tropes, namely “hero of previous movie is now a middle age loser.” However, the movie leads into it for comedy. When Happy Gilmore accidentally kills his wife with a line drive, he spirals into alcoholism and despair. But his five children still love him, and when his talented daughter needs tuition for school, Happy attempts to shake off his despair and go back to golf to win the money. But Happy soon stumbles onto a sinister conspiracy led by an evil CEO to transform the game of golf into his own personal profit center. Happy must team up with his old nemesis Shooter McGavin to save golf itself from the evil CEO. Amusingly, as I've said before, the best Adam Sandler movies are almost medieval. In medieval fables, it was common for a clever peasant to outwit pompous lords, corrupt priests, and greedy merchants. The best Adam Sandler protagonist remains an everyman who outwits the modern equivalent of pompous lords and corrupt priests, in this case an evil CEO. Overall grade: B+ Next up is Superman, which came out in 2025 and I thought this was pretty good and very funny at times. I think it caught the essential nature of Superman. Like, Superman should be a Lawful Good character. If he was a Dungeons and Dragons character, he would be a paladin. People on the Internet tend to take the characterization of superheroes seriously to perhaps an unhealthy degree, but it seems the best characterization of Superman is as an earnest, slightly dorky Boy Scout who goes around doing good deeds. The contrast of that good-hearted earnestness with his godlike abilities that would allow him to easily conquer and rule the world is what makes for an interesting character. I also appreciated how the movie dispensed with the overused trope of the Origin Story and just got down to business. In this movie, Lex Luthor is obsessed with destroying Superman and is willing to use both super-advanced technology and engineered geopolitical conflict to do it. Superman, because he's essentially a decent person, doesn't comprehend just how depraved Luthor is, and how far Luthor is willing to go out of petty spite. (Ironically, a billionaire willing to destroy the world out of petty spite is alas, quite realistic). Guy Gardener (“Jerkish Green Lantern”) and the extremely competent and the extremely exasperated Mr. Terrific definitely stole all their scenes. The director of the movie, James Gunn, was quite famously fired from Disney in 2018 for offensive jokes he had made on Twitter back when he was an edgy young filmmaker with an alcohol problem. I suppose Mr. Gunn can rest content knowing that Superman made more money than any Marvel movie released this year. Overall grade: A-   Next up is Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which came out in 1988. This was a very strange movie, but nonetheless, one with an ambitious premise, strong performances, and a strong artistic vision. It's set in post WWII Los Angeles, and “toons” (basically cartoon characters) live and work alongside humans. Private eye Eddie Valiant hates toons since one of them killed his brother five years ago. However, he's hired by the head of a studio who's having trouble with one of his toon actors, Roger Rabbit. Roger's worried his wife Jessica is having an affair, and Valiant obtains pictures of Jessica playing patty cake (not a euphemism, they actually were playing patty cake) with another man. Roger has an emotional breakdown, and soon the other man winds up dead, and Roger insists he's innocent. Valiant and Roger find themselves sucked into a dangerous conspiracy overseen by a ruthless mastermind. This movie was such an interesting cultural artifact. It perfectly follows the structure of a ‘40s film noir movie, but with cartoons, and the dissonance between film noir and the cheerfulness of the toons was embraced and used as a frequently source of comedy. In fact, when the grim and dour Valiant uses the toons' comedy techniques as a tactical improvisation in a moment of mortal peril, it's both hilarious and awesome. Christopher Lloyd's performance as the villainous Judge Doom was amazing. (I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he's villainous, because his character is named Judge Doom and he's literally wearing a black hat.) Like, his performance perfectly captures something monstrous that is trying very hard to pretend to be human and not quite getting it right. And the amount of work it must have taken to make this movie staggers the mind. Nowadays, having live actors interact with cartoon characters is expensive, but not unduly so. It's a frequent technique. You see it all the time in commercials when a housewife is smiling at an animated roll of paper towels or something, and Marvel's essentially been doing it for years. But this was 1988! Computer animation was still a ways off. They had to shoot the movie on analog film, and then hand-draw all the animation and successfully match it to the live film. It wouldn't have worked without the performance of Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant, who plays everything perfectly straight in the same way Michael Caine did in A Muppet Christmas Carol. So kind of a strange movie, but definitely worth watching. And it has both Disney and Warner Brothers animated characters in the same movie, which is something we will never, ever see again. Overall grade: A Next up is K-Pop Demon Hunters, which came out in 2025. Like Who framed Roger Rabbit?, this is a very strange movie, but nonetheless with a clear and focused artistic vision. It is a cultural artifact that provides a fascinating look into a world of which I have no knowledge or interest, namely K-pop bands and their dueling fandoms. Anyway, the plot is that for millennia, female Korean musicians have used the magic of their voices to keep the demons locked away in a demon world. The current incarnation is a three-woman K-Pop group called Huntrix, and they are on the verge of sealing away the demons forever. Naturally, the Demon King doesn't like this, so one of his cleverer minions comes up with a plan. They'll start a Demon K-Pop Boy Band! Disguised as humans, the demon K-Pop group will win away Huntrix's fans, allowing them to breach the barrier and devour the world. However, one of the Huntrix musicians is half-demon, and she starts falling for the lead demon in the boy band, who is handsome and of course has a dark and troubled past. Essentially a musical K-drama follows. I have to admit I know practically nothing about K-Pop groups and their dueling fandoms, other than the fact that they exist. However, this was an interesting movie to watch. The animation was excellent, it did have a focused vision, and there were some funny bits. Overall grade: A Next up is Clarkson's Farm Season Four, which came out in 2025. A long time ago in the ‘90s, I watched the episode of Frasier where Frasier and Niles attempt to open a restaurant and it all goes horribly (yet hilariously) wrong. At the time, I had no money, but I promised myself that I would never invest in a restaurant. Nothing I have seen or learned in the subsequent thirty years has ever changed that decision. Season 4 of Clarkson's Farm is basically Jeremy Clarkson, like Frasier and Niles, attempting to open a restaurant, specifically a British pub. On paper it's a good idea, since Clarkson can provide the pub with food produced from his own farm and other local farmers. However, it's an enormous logistical nightmare, and Clarkson must deal with miles of red tape, contractors, and a ballooning budget, all while trying to keep his farm from going under. An excellent and entertaining documentary into the difficulties of both the farming life and food service. I still don't want to own a restaurant! Overall grade: A Next up is Tombstone, which came out in 1993. The Western genre of fiction is interesting because it's limited to such a very specific period of time and geographical region. Like the “Wild West” period that characterizes the Western genre really only lasted as a historical period from about 1865 to roughly 1890. The Western genre was at its most popular in movies from the 1940s and the 1960s, and I wonder if it declined because cultural and demographic changes made it unpopular to romanticize the Old West the way someone like Walt Disney did at Disneyland with “Frontierland.” Of course, the genre lives on in different forms in grittier Western movies, neo-Westerns like Yellowstone and Longmire, and a lot of the genre's conventions apply really well to science fiction. Everyone talks about Firefly being the first Space Western, but The Mandalorian was much more successful and was basically a Western in space (albeit with occasional visits from Space Wizards). Anyway! After that long-winded introduction, let's talk about Tombstone. When Val Kilmer died earlier this year, the news articles mentioned Tombstone as among his best work, so I decided to give it a watch. The plot centers around Wyatt Earp, played by Kurt Russell, who has decided to give up his career in law enforcement and move to Tombstone, Arizona, a silver mining boomtown, in hopes of making his fortune. However, Tombstone is mostly controlled by the Cowboys outlaw gang, and Earp is inevitably drawn into conflict with them. With the help of his brothers and Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer's character), Earp sets out to bring some law and order to Tombstone, whether the Cowboys like it or not. Holliday is in the process of dying from tuberculosis, which makes him a formidable fighter since he knows getting shot will be a less painful and protracted death than the one his illness will bring him. Kilmer plays him as a dissolute, scheming warrior-poet who nonetheless is a very loyal friend. Definitely a classic of the Western genre, and so worth watching. Overall grade: A Next up is Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, the eighth Mission Impossible movie. Of the eight movies, I think the sixth one was the best one, but this one comes in at a close second. It continues on from Dead Reckoning. Ethan Hunt now possesses the key that will unlock the source code of the Entity, the malicious AI (think ChatGPT, but even more obviously evil) that is actively maneuvering the world's nuclear powers into destroying each other so the Entity can rule the remnants of humanity. Unfortunately, the Entity's source code is sitting in a wrecked Russian nuclear sub at the bottom of the Bering Sea. Even more unfortunately, the Entity knows that Hunt has the key and is trying to stop him, even as the Entity's former minion and Hunt's bitter enemy Gabriel seeks to seize control of the Entity for himself. A sense of apocalyptic doom hangs over the movie, which works well to build tension. Once again, the world is doomed, unless Ethan Hunt and his allies can save the day. The tension works extremely well during the movie's underwater sequence, and the final airborne duel between Hunt and Gabriel. I don't know if they're going to make any more Mission Impossible movies after this (they are insanely expensive), but if this is the end, it is a satisfying conclusion for the character of Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Mission Force. Overall grade: A Next up is Deep Cover, which came out in 2025. This is described as a comedy thriller, and I didn't know what to expect when I watched it, but I really enjoyed it. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Kat, a struggling comedy improv teacher living in London. Her best students are Marlon (played by Orlando Bloom), a dedicated character actor who wants to portray gritty realism but keeps getting cast in tacky commercials, and Hugh (played by Nick Mohammed), an awkward IT worker with no social skills whatsoever. One day, the three of them are recruited by Detective Sergeant Billings (played by Sean Bean) of the Metropolitan Police. The Met wants to use improv comedians to do undercover work for minor busts with drug dealers. Since it plays 200 pounds a pop, the trio agrees. Of course, things rapidly spiral out of control, because Kat, Marlon, and Hugh are actually a lot better at improv than they think, and soon they find themselves negotiating with the chief criminals of the London underworld. What follows is a movie that is both very tense and very funny. Kat, Marlon, and Hugh are in way over their heads, and will have to do the best improv of their lives to escape a very grisly fate. Whether Sean Bean dies or not (as is tradition), you will just have to watch the movie and find out. Overall grade: A Next up is Puss in Boots: The Final Wish, which came out in 2022. I don't personally know much about the history of Disney as a corporation, and I don't much care, but I do have several relatives who are very interested in the history of the Disney corporation, and therefore I have picked up some by osmosis. Apparently Disney CEO Michael Eisner forcing out Jeffrey Katzenberg in the 1990s was a very serious mistake, because Katzenberg went on to co-found DreamWorks, which has been Disney's consistent rival for animation for the last thirty years. That's like “CIA Regime Change Blowback” levels of creating your own enemy. Anyway, historical ironies aside, Puss in Boots: The Final Wish was a funny and surprisingly thoughtful animated movie. Puss in Boots is a legendary outlaw and folk hero, but he has used up eight of his nine lives. An ominous bounty hunter who looks like a humanoid wolf begins pursuing him, and the Wolf is able to shrug off the best of Puss In Boots' attacks. Panicked, Puss hides in a retirement home for elderly cats, but then hears rumors of the magical Last Wish. Hoping to use it to get his lives back, Puss In Boots sets off on the quest. It was amusing how Little Jack Horner and Goldilocks and the Three Bears were rival criminal gangs seeking the Last Wish. Overall grade: A Next up is Chicken People, which came out in 2016. A good documentary film gives you a glimpse into an alien world that you would otherwise never visit. In this example, I have absolutely no interest in competitive chicken breeding and will only raise chickens in my backyard if society ever collapses to the level that it becomes necessary for survival. That said, this was a very interesting look into the work of competitive chicken breeding. Apparently, there is an official “American Standard of Perfection” for individual chicken breeds, and the winner of the yearly chicken competition gets the title “Super Grand Champion.” Not Grand Champion, Super Grand Champion! That looks impressive on a resume. It is interesting how chicken breeding is in some sense an elaborate Skinner Box – like you can deliberately set out to breed chickens with the desirable traits on the American Standard of Perfection, but until the chickens are hatched and grow up, you don't know how they're going to turn out, so you need to try again and again and again… Overall grade: A Next up is The Mask of Zoro, which came out in 1998. I saw this in the theatre when it came out 27 years ago, but that was 27 years ago, and I don't have much of a memory of it, save that I liked it. So when I had the chance to watch it again, I did! Anthony Hopkins plays Diego de la Vega, who has the secret identity of Zorro in the final days before Mexico breaks away from the Spanish Empire. With Mexico on the verge of getting its independence, Diego decides to hang up his sword and mask and focus on his beloved wife and daughter. Unfortunately, the military governor Don Montero realizes Diego is Zorro, so has him arrested, kills his wife, and steals his baby daughter to raise as his own. Twenty years later, a bandit named Alejandro loses his brother and best friends to a brutal cavalry commander. It turns out that Montero is returning to California from Spain, and plans to seize control of California as an independent republic (which, of course, will be ruled by him). In the chaos, Diego escapes from prison and encounters a drunken Alejandro, and stops him from a futile attack upon the cavalry commander. He then proposes a pact – Diego will train Alejandro as the next Zorro, and together they can take vengeance upon the men who wronged them. This was a good movie. It was good to see that my taste in movies 27 years ago wasn't terrible. It manages to cram an entire epic plot into only 2 hours and 20 minutes. In some ways it was like a throwback to a ‘40s movie but with modern (for the ‘90s) production values, and some very good swordfights. Overall grade: A Next up is Wick is Pain, which came out in 2025. I've seen all four John Wick movies and enjoyed them thoroughly, though I've never gotten around to any of the spinoffs. Wick is Pain is a documentary about how John Wick went from a doomed indie movie with a $6.5 million hole in its budget to one of the most popular action series of the last few decades. Apparently Keanu Reeves made an offhand joke about how “Wick is pain” and that became the mantra of the cast and crew, because making an action movie that intense really was a painful experience. Definitely worth watching if you enjoyed the John Wick movies or moviemaking in general. Overall grade: A The last movie I saw this summer was Game Night, which came out in 2016. It was a hilarious, if occasionally dark comedy action thriller. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play Max and Annie Davis, a married couple who are very competitive and enjoy playing games of all kinds. Jason has an unresolved conflict with his brother Brooks, and one night Brooks invites them over for game night, which Max resents. Halfway through the evening, Brooks is kidnapped, with Max and Annie assume is part of the game. However, Brooks really is involved in something shady. Hilarity ensues, and it's up to Max and Annie to rescue Brooks and stay alive in the process. This was really funny, though a bit dark in places. That said, Max and Annie have a loving and supportive marriage, so it was nice to see something like that portrayed on the screen. Though this also leads to some hilarity, like when Annie accidentally shoots Max in the arm. No spoilers, but the punchline to that particular sequence was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Overall grade: A So no A+ movie this time around, but I still saw a bunch of solid movies I enjoyed. One final note, I have to admit, I've really come to respect Adam Sandler as an entertainer, even if his movies and comedy are not always to my taste. He makes what he wants, makes a lot of money, ensures that his friends get paid, and then occasionally takes on a serious role in someone else's movie when he wants to flex some acting muscles. I am not surprised that nearly everyone who's in the original Happy Gilmore who was still alive wanted to come back for Happy Gilmore 2. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show enjoyable and perhaps a guide to some good movies to watch. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.  

How do you build the mental fortitude to complete a triathlon? Hundreds will see if they have what it takes this weekend when the annual IRONMAN Wisconsin comes to Madison. Participants will swim, bike, and run just over 140 miles in and around Madison. To learn what it takes mentally finish the race, host Bianca Martin talks with Larry Shapiro, recently retired UW-Madison philosophy professor, IRONMAN Wisconsin finisher, and author of Zen and the Art of Running.

The U.S. military possesses a deep and extensive body of cyber expertise in uniform in the National Guard and Reserve force in particular. Leveraging this expertise effectively, both in a way that is productive for the military, and that is fulfilling and meaningful for the servicemember — which results in benefits for recruiting, retention, and continued development of this expertise — has been an ongoing challenge. This productive employment is even more challenging while in reserve status, resulting in attrition of this critical force. There is a national imperative, as well as clear statements from military cyber leadership, to effectively utilize all available resources to include the National Guard and Reserve force to meet the nation's cyber challenges. About the speaker: Dave Schroeder works to enable and advance intelligence and security research and partnerships at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is passionate about creating connections and bringing the rich and dynamic expertise at UW–Madison to the most pressing global security challenges. Dave serves as a Cyber Warfare Officer in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, and previously served a Navy Cryptologic Warfare Officer. He is also Research Director of the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium (WSRC), and manages UW-Madison's Cyber Programs and Designations. He holds graduate degrees in Cybersecurity Policy and Information Warfare, and is graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval War College, and Joint Forces Staff College.

This week, the City Cast Madison team is talking about Madison's ties to the Minneapolis school shooting, updates to the Dane County Humane Society's stray animal contract, and the removal of a downtown homeless encampment. Host Bianca Martin talks with producer Jade Iseri-Ramos and newsletter editor Rob Thomas about these heavy news topics, plus the hiring of Madison's new police chief. Wrapping things up on a brighter note, Rob tries to stump the team with a quiz about UW-Madison slang. Mentioned on the show: The Clock Is Ticking For the Dane County Humane Society [City Cast Madison]What we know about the shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school [Associated Press]

Tatian Silva is a research associate at UW-Madison. Her research focuses on the health of the soil and the prosperity of the crops that grow in it. Her trail has come upon a few unforeseen challenges. However, those challenges will help shape future research. She talks the importance of knowing your soils' health and how to maintain it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tatian Silva is a research associate at UW-Madison. Her story starts more than 5,000 miles away in Brazil. Her family's farm fueled her love for agriculture. That love, ultimately, brought her to the UW-Madison. Her research focuses on the health of the soil and the prosperity of the crops that grow in it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another beautiful day in Wisconsin with plenty of sun and a high in the mid-70's! Was actually a bit chilly on the ride to work this morning. Had to turn on my grip warmers! Jean returned from her 4-day weekend of moving her daughter into the doors at UW-Madison and told us all about her emotional rollercoaster. Grant Bilse of the Wisco Sport Show also joined the program today just after 8am to talk about the Brewers, the Packers, and more! We let you know what's on TV tonight and what's new on New Release Tuesday. In the news this morning, Anquin St. Junious finally gets sentenced to prison, the body of a man who jumped from a tour boat in the Wisconsin River has been recovered, Cracker Barrel finally responds to the backlash of their recent rebrand/update, today marks the return of the Pumpkin Spice Lattes to Starbucks, and President Trump is looking at renaming the Department of the Defense. In sports, the Brew Crew managed to take care of the Diamondbacks last night, Cal Raleigh hit his 50th homerun for the Mariners, a look at this week's NCAA schedule, and a rundown of some of the roster moves being made in the NFL as we get ready for "cutdown day". Elsewhere in sports, an MJ/Kobe card just set a record at an auction, MLB is returning to the Field of Dreams in Iowa next summer, and the latest on the Raja Jackson debacle. We had a couple of interesting birthday stories this morning, including an 85 year-old woman who went skydiving to celebrate hers, and a very unique-looking turtle celebrated his 41st B-day. After the incredible final show from Black Sabbath just a few weeks ago…we looked at a list of other major classic rock bands who could reunite with their most famous line-ups for another show or maybe a small tour. In case you were unaware, today is "National Dog Day"…so make sure you spoil your pooches. And it's also "National TP Day"! And in today's edition of "Bad News with Happy Music", we had stories about an A.I. order-taker at a White Castle that tried to charge a guy $15,000 for some sliders, a woman in Nashville who pulled her gun on a guy after his dog pooped on her lawn, a guy who kept making dirtbike sounds at a township meeting, a #FloridaWoman who violated her probation by attacking her ex's truck with a crowbar….but it wasn't even his, a #FloridaMan who headbutted his girlfriend after she got upset when he started watching some porn while they were being intimate, and a fake dentist who used nail glue to attach veneers to a patient.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Aug. 24, 1970, four men bombed UW-Madison's Sterling Hall in protest of the ongoing Vietnam war. The blast resulted in millions of dollars in damage, multiple injuries, and the death of a physics researcher. For some, the legacy of the Sterling Hall bombing still looms large. For others, this critical part of our city's history is almost entirely unknown. In honor of the anniversary of the bombing, we spoke to UW oral historian Troy Reeves about the event and its lasting impact on the Madison community.  Learn more about the bombing through UW Archives' 40th anniversary project. 

Hemp harvest has begun. It is the ideal time to harvest hemp for fiber. Grain harvest is in its early stages. Overall, it has been a good growing season as the crop likes warm conditions with adequate moisture. Late season precipitation and higher humidity creates ideal conditions for insects. Producers will watch these pressures into the fall. Phillip Alberti is a Research Program Manager in the hemp program at UW-Madison.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is an underdiagnosed condition which leads to decreased bone mineral density, fracture, renal disease, among other symptoms that can decrease the quality of a patient's life. Moreover, once diagnosed, only a small fraction of patients with the diease end up being offered surgery. Whether it is because of misunderstood indications and benefits of surgery, non-localization of disease, or various other reasons, we thought it was worthwhile to review relevant literature. Hosts: Dr. Becky Sippel is an endowed professor of surgery at Division Chief of endocrine surgery at University of Wisconsin Madison and she is the most recent past president of the AAES.  She is an internationally recognized leader in the field of endocrine surgery. She has over 250 publications. She was the PI for a RCT which studies prophylactic central neck dissections which is a widely read and quoted study in endocrine surgery. Dr. Amanda Doubleday is a fellowship trained endocrine surgeon in private practice with an affiliation to UW Health. Her primary practice is with Waukesha Surgical Specialists in Waukesha WI.  Dr. Simon Holoubek is a fellowship trained endocrine surgeons affiliated with UW Health. He works for UW Health with privileges at UW Madison and UW Northern Illinois. His clinical interests are aggressive variants of thyroid cancer, parathyroid autofluorescence, and nerve monitoring.  Learning Objectives: 1 Understand the natural history of primary hyperparathyroidism and how the disease process can affect bone mineral density. 2 Learn about fracture risk associated with primary hyperparathyroidism. 3 Learn about decreased fracture risk in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism who have parathyroidectomy compared to those who are observed.  References: 1 Rubin MR, Bilezikian JP, McMahon DJ, Jacobs T, Shane E, Siris E, Udesky J, Silverberg SJ. The natural history of primary hyperparathyroidism with or without parathyroid surgery after 15 years. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Sep;93(9):3462-70. doi: 10.1210/jc.2007-1215. Epub 2008 Jun 10. PMID: 18544625; PMCID: PMC2567863. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18544625/ 2 Frey S, Gérard M, Guillot P, Wargny M, Bach-Ngohou K, Bigot-Corbel E, Renaud Moreau N, Caillard C, Mirallié E, Cariou B, Blanchard C. Parathyroidectomy Improves Bone Density in Women With Primary Hyperparathyroidism and Preoperative Osteopenia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 May 17;109(6):1494-1504. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgad718. PMID: 38152848. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38152848/ 3 VanderWalde LH, Liu IL, Haigh PI. Effect of bone mineral density and parathyroidectomy on fracture risk in primary hyperparathyroidism. World J Surg. 2009 Mar;33(3):406-11. doi: 10.1007/s00268-008-9720-8. PMID: 18763015. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18763015/ Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.   If you liked this episode, check out our recent episodes here: https://app.behindtheknife.org/listen

On the facets of grief, the joy in the depths, and the presence we bring.   (0:00) — Introduction and Guest Introduction   (3:23) — Rosemerry's Son Finn   (6:05) — Grief and Connection with Finn   (11:53) — Exploring Darkness and Light   (18:39) — Metaphors and Connection   (24:30) — Meadow and Listening   (28:15) — Talking to the Dead   (29:53) — Rosemerry's Work and Resources Devoted to helping others explore creative practice, Rosemerry is co-host of Emerging Form, a podcast on creative process, co-founder of Secret Agents of Change (a surreptitious kindness cabal), and co-leader of Soul Writers Circle. She directed the Telluride Writers Guild for ten years and co-hosted Telluride's Talking Gourds Poetry Club for another ten years. She teaches and performs poetry for mindfulness retreats, women's retreats, teachers, addiction recovery programs, scientists, hospice, literary burlesque and more. Clients include Craig Hospital, Business & Professional Women, Think 360, Ah Haa School, Desert Dharma, Well for the Journey, and the Women's Dermatological Society. She performs as a storyteller, including shows in Aspen at the Wheeler Opera House, at the Taos Storytelling Festival, Page Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. Her TEDx talk explores changing our outdated metaphors. For five years, she performed in the Telluride Literary Burlesque. She has been writing a poem a day since 2006, posting them since 2011 on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils. In 2023, her poems can be heard daily on the Ritual app, The Poetic Path. Favorite themes include parenting, gardening, ecology, love, science, thriving/failure, grief and daily life. She has 13 collections of poetry, and her work has appeared in O Magazine, A Prairie Home Companion, PBS News Hour, American Life in Poetry, on fences, in back alleys, on Carnegie Hall Stage and on hundreds of river rocks she leaves around town. Her poems have been used for choral works by composers Paul Fowler and Jeffrey Nytch and performed around America. Her most recent collection, Hush, won the Halcyon prize. Naked for Tea was a finalist for the Able Muse Book Award. Other books include Even Now, The Less I Hold and If You Listen, a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. In 2023 she released All the Honey; Beneath All Appearances an Unwavering Peace (a book for grieving parents with artist Rashani Réa); a book of writing prompts, Exploring Poetry of Presence II; and Dark Praise, a spoken word album with Steve Law. She's won the Fischer Prize, Rattle's Ekphrastic Challenge (thrice), the Dwell Press Solstice Prize, the Writer's Studio Literary Contest (twice) and The Blackberry Peach Prize. She's widely anthologized including Poetry of Presence, How to Love the World, The Path to Kindness, Send My Roots Rain, Come Together: Imagine Peace, Dawn Songs, and To Love One Another. She's been an organic fruit grower, a newspaper and magazine editor, and a parent educator for Parents as Teachers. She earned her MA in English Language & Linguistics at UW–Madison. One-word mantra: Adjust. Three-word mantra: I'm still learning.

What happens when a world-class mathematician meets '80s college radio, Bill Gates' top-10 favorite books, and a host with an algebra redemption arc? A surprisingly funny, fast-moving conversation. Dr. Jordan Ellenberg—John D. MacArthur Professor of Mathematics at UW–Madison and author of How Not to Be Wrong—swaps stories about The Housemartins, consulting on NUMB3RS (yes, one of his lines aired), and competing at the International Mathematical Olympiad. There's a lot of laughter—and a fresh way to see math as culture, craft, and curiosity.But we also get practical about math education. We discuss the love/hate split students have for math and what it implies for curriculum design; a century of “new” methods (and if anything is truly new); how movie tropes (Good Will Hunting, etc.) shape student identity in math; soccer-drills vs scrimmage as a frame for algebra practice and “honest” applications; grades as feedback vs record; AI shifting what counts as computation vs math; why benchmarks miss the point and the risk of lowering writing standards with LLMs; and a preview of Jordan's pro-uncertainty thesis.Listen to Learn: A better answer to “Why am I learning this?” using a soccer analogyThe two big off-ramps of math for students, and tactics that keep more students on boardHow to replace the “born genius” myth with a mindset that helps any student do mathWhen a grade is a record vs. a motivator, and a simple replacement policy that turns a rough start into effort and growthWhat AI will and won't change in math class, and why “does it help create new math?” matters more than benchmark scores3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. Math mastery comes from practice plus meaning, not a “born genius.” Jordan puts it plainly: “genius is a thing that happens, not a kind of person,” and he uses the soccer drills vs scrimmage analogy to pair targeted practice with real tasks, with algebraic manipulation as a core high school skill. He urges teachers to “throw a lot of spaghetti at the wall” so different explanations land for different students, because real innovation is iterative and cooperative.2. Students fall off at fractions and Algebra I. How do we pull them back? Jordan names those two moments as the big off-ramps and points to multiple representations, honest applications, and frequent low‑stakes practice to keep kids in. Matt's own algebra story shows how a replacement policy turned failure into effort and persistence, reframing grades as motivation rather than just record‑keeping.3. AI will shift our capabilities and limits in math, but math is still a human task. Calculators and Wolfram already do student‑level work, and Jordan argues benchmarks like DeepMind vs the International Mathematical Olympiad matter less than whether tools help create new mathematics. He also warns against letting LLMs lower writing standards and says the real test is whether these systems add substantive math, not just win contests.Resources in this Episode:Visit Jordan Ellenberg's website! jordanellenberg.comRead How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical ThinkingWe want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn

When state lawmakers passed their biennial budget in July, they approved a $256 million increase to the University of Wisconsin system budget — but that money came with a lot of strings attached. Professors across the UW system are expected to carry heavier teaching loads, which has raised concerns about the potential impact on research and overall academic quality. To unpack these concerns and other potential consequences, host Bianca Martin speaks with Jon Shelton, a professor at UW-Green Bay and president of the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin, and Barret Elward, president of the United Faculty & Academic Staff union at UW-Madison. ‼️We're doing our annual survey to learn more about our listeners. We'd be grateful if you took the survey at citycast.fm/survey — it's only 7 minutes long. Plus, anyone who takes the survey will be eligible to win a $250 Visa gift card and City Cast Madison swag!

Here's your local news for Thursday, August 7, 2025:We get the details on yesterday's failed outdoor warning siren test,Meet Madison's new Director of Transportation Christof Spieler,Sit down with the conductor of UW-Madison's Russian Folk Orchestra,Consider the potential pitfalls of AI interpreters in the courtroom,Discuss the art of mending textiles,And much more.

Listen to Thursday's "Dan O'Donnell Show" as Dan reads a letter from a UW-Madison lecturer to his students that just may be the most paranoid, delusional left-wing screed you will ever encounter. Why are our tax and tuition dollars funding this? 

Here's your local news for Tuesday, August 5, 2025:We get the details on Wisconsin's first confirmed measles cases of the year,Gear up for student move-out week with some advice from Madison's recycling coordinator,Find out why a federal appeals court ruled against UW-Madison in a social media standards lawsuit,Outline the hidden costs of manure digesters,Learn how a local business is bringing the art of tortilla-making to the Midwest,Explain why opossums can be especially tricky patients,And much more.

It's becoming difficult to ignore the Canadian and western U.S. wildfire smoke that is causing an increasing number of air quality alerts throughout the Midwest, including within Door County. To help us understand what's going on, a leading air quality expert at UW-Madison, Brad Pierce, (Director of Space Science and Engineering and former NOAA physical scientist and NASA research scientist), joins Debra Fitzgerald to talk about why we're seeing more Door County days flagged for poor air quality, what people can do to keep themselves and their families safe, and what the future may hold for the air we breathe.

Did you know the UW Geology Museum is home to fossils from the oldest known dinosaur in the northern hemisphere? The two bone fragments belong to a creature called Ahvaytum bahndooiveche that lived 230 million years ago and were discovered in Wyoming in 2013 by a UW-Madison team led by Dr. Dave Lovelace. Host Bianca Martin chats with Lovelace about Ahvaytum, other Northern Hemisphere dinosaurs, and the collaboration with the  Northern Arapaho Tipo and Eastern Shoshone Tipo Tribal Historic Preservation Offices. The UW Geology Museum at 1215 W. Dayton St. is free and open to the public. Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We're also on Instagram!  You can get more Madison news delivered right to your inbox by subscribing to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. 

The University of Wisconsin-Madison will shutter its division of diversity, equity and inclusion. It's moving most employees to other departments. We'll hear from our politics team on a big Supreme Court decision this week. And, the latest story in our Wisconsin Road Trip series brings us to Kenosha where a 75-year-old baton-twirler is a crowd favorite at Kenosha Kingfish games.

Hey, ho, let's go! It's Friday, which means the City Cast Madison team is rounding up the news of the week. First of all, producer Jade Iseri-Ramos digs into a scathing report from the Wisconsin Elections Commission about the Madison City Clerk's office. Then, newsletter editor Rob Thomas crunches the numbers on the UW-Madison's budget and new tuition increase. Finally, host Bianca Martin celebrates an artist and an architect who in their own ways make Madison a beautiful place.  Mentioned on the show: Missing Madison ballots “unconscionable” and a “profound failure,” Wisconsin Elections Commission finds [Wisconsin Public Radio]Wisconsin has a new budget. Here's what UW-Madison will receive. [Daily Cardinal] “Mother and Child” statue unveiled on Madison's east side [WKOW] Darbo Sculpture Unveiling [City of Madison] Sculptor Austen Brantley's “Mother and Child” statue in-process photos  Look back on architect Kenton Peters' most famous projects [WSJ] Muse at Art Fair on the Square  Your Guide to July [City Cast Madison] Wanna talk to us about an episode? Leave us a voicemail at 608-318-3367 or email madison@citycast.fm. We're also on Instagram!  Want more Madison news delivered right to your inbox? Subscribe to the Madison Minutes morning newsletter. 

Returning guest, Dr. Byars-Winston, is the inaugural chair of the UW- Madison's Institute of Diversity Science. She honestly explores what doing research on causes of group-based discrimination and what effective ways to eliminate discrimination look like in our current social and political environment. They discuss that more people than the media and politicians appear are in favor of broad diversity. The conversation covers how most businesses want to hire a diverse staff but don't necessarily want to use the DEI labels. Dr. Byars-Winston explains that there is and can be data to back up approaches to diversity in the workplace but most do not have access to the information now. As an example she shows the lack of available evidence illustrated in a public hearing in WI State Assembly.  Hear about the ties between Dr. Byars-Winston's work and The Center for Black Excellence and Culture's goals. Also, listen in to understand the importance mentorship representation. Heads of UW system, state agencies defend diversity, inclusion practices to audit committee, Wisconsin Examiner Article alexgee.com Support the Show: patreon.com/blacklikeme Join the Black Like Me Listener Community Facebook Group

Jason talks with Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist at UW-Madison, about the weather warning system, concerns about how it works, and if we can make it better. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

4pm Hour: Jason talks with Kate Raddatz on the "Radd Report" - what makes a person "cool"? Then he's joined by UW-Madison meteorologist Chris Vagasky to talk about the weather warning system, and if it can be improved to prevent tragedies like the Texas floods