Pod Casty For Me

TV time! Almost immediately after "retiring" from feature films, Steven Soderbergh directed ten episodes of THE KNICK, a period medical drama for Cinemax about the early days of modern surgery. Joining us to talk about nearly ten hours of television is comedian and host of the podcast This Is Your Afterlife, Dave Maher! We have a wide-ranging discussion covering everything from prestige television antiheroes to addiction to chronic illness to racial disparities in medical care to what Kimi would like to do with Dave if she ever gets him alone. It's a real fun extra-long episode, and still probably our lowest ep-length-to-subject-length ratio ever. Take off your white shoe and dig in!
Further Reading:
"No Leeches, No Rusty Saw, But Hell Nonetheless" by Alessandra Stanley
The Knick: Anatomy of a Series by Steven Soderbergh et al.
"The Binge Director" by Matt Zoller-Seitz
"Meet the Man Who Makes Sure The Knick Is Medically Accurate" by Marcus Jones
"Syphilis Noses and Finding the Right Dirt: The Knick's Production Designer on Making the Show Look Real" by Matt Patches
"'The Knick' Creators on How They Went From Writing Studio Rom-Coms to Steven Soderbergh's New TV Show" by Ben Travers
Further Viewing:
ER (1994)
GANGS OF NEW YORK (Scorsese, 2002)
MAD MEN (2007)
THE PITT (2025)
Follow Dave Maher:
https://thisisyourafterlife.com/
https://x.com/ThisIsDaveMaher
https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/
https://www.instagram.com/thisisdavemaher/
Follow Pod Casty For Me:
https://www.podcastyforme.com
https://twitter.com/podcastyforme
https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/
https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe
Artwork by Jeremy Allison:
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month.
How come nobody told us there was a 2023 Tamil film with a fully CGI Clint Eastwood?! Well, at least our guest did - so luckily we're joined today by Gigi aka Girl aka @SummerOfFilm to talk Karthik Subbaraj's 2023 "Pandyaa Western" JIGARTHANDA DOUBLEX. Hop on board for a crash course in Desi cinema and its political contexts, what Clint means to Desis, and why we all have to stop Getting RRR Vibes From This. We cannot stress enough how nuts the CGI Clint is in this movie, folks. And the rest of it is great too! It's on Netflix right now, go watch it! And listen to the ep!
As always, thank you to Jetski for our theme music and to Jeremy Allison for our artwork.
Follow Gigi:
https://x.com/SummerOfFilm
https://letterboxd.com/moviehideen/
Gigi's Further Viewing List:
AURAT (1940)
NADODI MANNAN (1958)
AAYIRATHIL ORUVAN (1965)
SHOLAY (1975)
DAKU HASINA (1987)
KODAMA SIMHAM (1990)
KUSHI (2000)
KANCHANA (2011)
JIGARTHANDA (2014)
Gigi's Further Reading List:
Cut-outs, Caste and Cine Stars: The Word of Tamil Politics by Vaasanthi
Conversations With Mani Ratnam by Baradwaj Rangan
https://letterboxd.com/nrh/
https://muckrack.com/subha-rao/articles
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critics/anupama-chopra/movies

Shine up those rhinestones, everybody: it's the BEHIND THE CANDELABRA episode. We're talking Soderbergh's sort-of-final film before his sort-of-retirement, a 2013 Liberace biopic starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon - and we're joined by writer and Liberace expert Eva Anderson! We talk Vegas, camp, Douglas's infamous throat cancer disclosure, plastic surgery, palimony, the closet, Eva's absolutely insane experiences touring Liberace's home and other associated places, and lots more. You know what they say... too much of a good thing is wonderful (also unfamiliar to listeners of this show).
Further Reading:
Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace by Scott Thorson and Alex Thorleifson
Liberace: An American Boy by Darden Asbury Pyron
The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo
"Michael Douglas on Liberace, Cannes, cancer and cunnilingus" by Xan Brooks
"The Boy Toy's Story" by David Segal
Further Viewing:
DRACULA (various)
SUNSET BOULEVARD (Wilder, 1950)
THE INFORMANT! (Soderbergh, 2009)
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES (Greenfield, 2012)
SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD (Tyrnauer, 2017)
Follow Eva Anderson:
https://www.instagram.com/evafay/
https://bsky.app/profile/evafay.bsky.social
Follow Pod Casty For Me:
https://www.podcastyforme.com/
https://twitter.com/podcastyforme
https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/
https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe
Artwork by Jeremy Allison:
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart

This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month.
Handsome leading man jumps from television to film working with a handful of dynamic filmmakers before hopping in the director's chair himself - sound familiar?! Unfortunately, it turned out a lot better when Clint did it. But we're talking about George Clooney anyway, starting with his 2002 directorial debut CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, based on the clearly-a-joke-to-everyone-but-Clooney "unauthorized autobiography" by Gong Show producer/host Chuck Barris. Written by Charlie Kaufman (rewritten by Clooney), produced by Section Eight, edited by Stephen Mirrione...what could go wrong? We'll tell you!
As always, thank you to Jetski for our theme music and to Jeremy Allison for our artwork.

Listen to this episode twice and call us in the morning! That's just a joke and is not medical advice. But we ARE talking about Soderbergh's 2013 pharmaceutical thriller SIDE EFFECTS today, with our friend poet/podcaster/famous celebrity Jane Altoids! Topics may include: Hitchcock, the history of madness, women being called crazy, big pharma, our own experiences with mental illness, Blake Lively, Soderbergh's then-impending retirement, the asylum and the prison, the mad rights movement, CONTAGION, and more. Give it a listen!
Further Reading:
Health Communism by Artie Vierkant and Beatrice Adler-Bolton
Quick Fixes by Benjamin Y. Fong
Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault
Soderbergh interview by Nigel M. Smith for Indiewire
"Trojan Horses and Immaculate Math: An Interview with Steven Soderbergh" by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
"How New York's mentally ill get lost in courts, jails and hospitals" by Ben Hattem
Further Viewing:
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Wilder, 1944)
GASLIGHT (Cukor, 1944)
SPELLBOUND (Hitchcock, 1945)
LES DIABOLIQUES (Clouzot, 1955)
 
Follow Jane Altoids:
https://x.com/staticbluebat
Follow Pod Casty For Me:
https://www.podcastyforme.com/
https://twitter.com/podcastyforme
https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/
https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe
Artwork by Jeremy Allison:
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart