Pod Casty For Me

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: our episode on Soderbergh's 2019 Panama Papers infotainment film THE LAUNDROMAT. Joining us to parse this deeply odd "comedic" "look" into the mysterious world of offshore finance is co-host of the Michael & Us podcast and author of The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History, Luke Savage! Together we get to the bottom of Soderbergh and Scott Z. Burns' decision to give the BIG SHORT treatment to Jake Bernstein's entirely unfunny nonfiction book Secrecy World, and find in the film a very familiar liberal disinterest in the transformative potential of moments like the Panama Papers leak. Great conversation, check it out (whether or not you've seen the pretty lousy movie)!
Note: We had a small technical problem in the last 20 minutes or so, and our guest's audio quality is notably lower but still perfectly listenable for the end of the episode. We blame transnational gangs of malefactors.
Further Reading:
Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein
The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History by Luke Savage
The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money by Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier
The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens by Gabriel Zucman 
"The Dirty Problems with Operation Car Wash" by Vincent Bevins: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/08/anti-corruption-crusades-paved-way-bolsonaro/596449/
"'Keep It Confidential': The Secret History of U.S. Involvement in Brazil's Scandal-Wracked Operation Car Wash" by Andrew Fishman, Natalia Viana, & Maryam Saleh:
https://theintercept.com/2020/03/12/united-states-justice-department-brazil-car-wash-lava-jato-international-treaty/
"Steven Soderbergh: On His New Film 'The Laundromat' And What The Panama Papers Teach Us" by Risa Sarachan:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/risasarachan/2019/10/17/steven-soderbergh-on-his-new-film-the-laundromat-and-what-the-panama-papers-teach-us/
"Meryl Streep Says Financial Corruption in 'Laundromat' Is a 'Black-Hearted Joke'" by Ariston Anderson:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/venice-2019-meryl-streep-steven-soderbergh-laundromat-1235958/ 
Further Viewing:
THE INSIDER (Mann, 1999)
WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS (Gibney, 2013)
WILD TALES (Szifron, 2014)
THE BIG SHORT (McKay, 2015)
SPOTLIGHT (McCarthy, 2015)
THE REPORT (Burns, 2019)
CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (Jia, 2024)
Follow Luke Savage:
https://x.com/LukewSavage
https://www.lukewsavage.com/
https://www.patreon.com/cw/michaelandus
 
Follow Pod Casty For Me:
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Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe
Artwork by Jeremy Allison:
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart
Produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.

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.
It's commentary time once again, folks, and we thought we'd revisit the first time we talked about Louisiana and sex work on the show: the Clint Eastwood film TIGHTROPE! This sort-of-Richard Tuggle joint is almost as sweaty and nasty as the two guys talking over it, discussing the American giallo, cop sneakers, and hoisting oysters. Listen along with the film or just listen while you do whatever!
Thanks as always to Jetski for our theme music and Jeremy Allison for our artwork.
Produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.

Roundball...talk?!?!?! That's right, it's the HIGH FLYING BIRD episode where we cover Soderbergh's second shot-on-iPhone feature, a 2019 direct-to-Netflix basketball lockout drama starring his old THE KNICK pal André Holland (and a totally different guy named Dr. Edwards). Join us for a great in-person (!) discussion of the intersections of sports, labor, race, and technology, and what exactly Soderbergh is trying to suggest he's really doing with this experimental distribution business. Plus we come up with some genuinely great names for basketball teams. Listen or we'll smoke you like the clown that you are!
Further Reading:
The Revolt of the Black Athlete by Harry Edwards
Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA by Theresa Runstedtler
"Harry Edwards, a giant of sports activism, still has people shook" by Lonnae O'Neal: https://andscape.com/features/harry-edwards-mexico-city-olympics-sports-activism-john-carlos-tommie-smith-1968/
"Michele Roberts vs. the NBA: Why the New Head of the Players Union Is a Hero for Progressive Sports Fans" by Will Leitch: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2014/11/michele-roberts-the-hero-of-progressive-sports.html
"Steven Soderbergh on the High-Speed Production of High Flying Bird" by Brian Raftery: https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/steven-soderbergh-high-flying-production.html
Further Viewing:
JERRY MAGUIRE (Crowe, 1996)
MONEYBALL (Miller, 2011)
LOGAN LUCKY (Soderbergh, 2017)
UNSANE (Soderbergh, 2018)
THE LAST DANCE (Hehir, 2020)
Follow Pod Casty For Me:
https://www.podcastyforme.com/
https://twitter.com/podcastyforme
https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/
https://bsky.app/profile/podcastyforme.bsky.social
https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe
Artwork by Jeremy Allison:
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart
 Produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.

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.
Originally written for Clint Eastwood by friend of the show Elmore Leonard, Richard Fleischer's 1974 Charles Bronson vehicle MR. MAJESTYK is that classic action film setup: a melon farmer accidentally ends up in the middle of a mob hitman's prison transport escape and teams up with a beautiful migrant labor organizer to save his crop. It's a hell of a lot of fun, and probably should have been Patreon episode 3, but here we are. We talk Bronson, small grower economics, and a whole lot about the United Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta, Larry Itliong, and Cesar Chavez. Good ep!
Roger Ebert's profile of Bronson: https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/charles-bronson-its-just-that-i-dont-like-to-talk-very-much
Paul Koslo interview: https://iamlegendarchive.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_10.html
Review of Christian Paiz's Strikers of Coachella: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/coachella-united-farm-workers/
Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers by Frank Bardacke: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2213-trampling-out-the-vintage
As always, thanks to Jetski for our theme music and Jeremy Allison for our artwork. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.

It'll be a lot easier for everyone if you just listen to our episode on UNSANE, Soderbergh's 2018 shot-on-iPhone experiment that's otherwise a pretty solid thriller! Writer Esmé Holden returns to the show after far too long to talk smartphone aesthetics, involuntary holds, whether all doctors are cops or just most of them, the intersections of mental illness and misogyny and transphobia, and a very special man by the name of Gavin de Becker. Wonderful guest, wonderful conversation, check it out!
Heads up: there's a very brief bit of rough audio right when our guest starts speaking, but it clears up quickly.
Further Reading:
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
"Still The Smartest Guy On The Hill 30 Years After Sex, Lies & Videotape: Steven Soderbergh Unravels Hollywood Chaos" by Mike Fleming, Jr. https://deadline.com/2019/01/steven-soderbergh-sundance-slamdance-icon-interview-1202544513/
Further Viewing:
GASLIGHT (Cukor, 1944)
SHOCK CORRIDOR (Fuller, 1963)
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Demme, 1991)
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (Myrick & Sánchez, 1999)
SIDE EFFECTS (Soderbergh, 2013)
TANGERINE (Baker, 2015)
Follow Esmé Holden:
https://letterboxd.com/esmepartii/
https://substack.com/@esmeholden
Follow Pod Casty For Me:
https://www.podcastyforme.com/
https://twitter.com/podcastyforme
https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/
https://bsky.app/profile/podcastyforme.bsky.social
https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe
Artwork by Jeremy Allison:
https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart
Hosted and produced by Ian Rhine and Jake Serwin. Additional production by Ryan Torgeson.