BFG Podcast #149: 'Challengers,' writers intimidate PEN America, and a new memoir from Salman Rushdie
Description
Host Neal Pollack is full of self-righteous and justified rage this week at the actions of his fellow PEN America members, who absolutely refuse to participate in awards ceremonies or the World Voices Festival until the Zionist menace is eradicated from this Earth. Pollack and BFG contributor Sharyn Vane go off on PEN members in this week's podcast episode, as writers are more concerned with trendy social-justice concerns than freedom of speech, which really should be their primary concern. They sound like college sophomores, not published authors. It's an outrageous trend that needs immediate correction.
Pollack also reviews 'Knife,' the new memoir from Salman Rushdie about his near-fatal stabbing at the hands of an ignorant jihadist. While Pollack admires Rushdie's description of the attack and the resulting medical trauma, and has much respect for him as an outspoken defender of free speech, he also thinks Rushdie isn't hard enough on his fellow PEN America members, who are a real menace to the values that Rushdie supposedly stands for and holds so dear. Maybe you're seeing a theme to this week's show.
But for dessert, Stephen Garrett joins Neal on the podcast to discuss 'Challengers,' the new tennis melodrama from director Luca Guadagnino. Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor burn up the screen as a racket-based love triangle. Neal and Stephen both love the script, the performances, and the general adult-drama vibe of the picture. Neal, as always, has trouble with the non-linear narrative structure. Stephen got a little tired of the aggressive musical cues. But you can forgive Challengers its little sins, because overall, the movie is a lot of fun, and allows us to forget for a while that contemporary "writers" hate freedom of speech and sound like a bunch of Maoist propagandists.
Enjoy the tennis movie! Enjoy our show!
As we continue to process the cultural fallout from the 2024 Presidential election, writer and podcaster Meghan Daum stops by the pod-dome to talk to Neal Pollack about the strange phenomenon of writers and creative people leaving Twitter for Bluesky, seeking a safe space from the MAGA storm. But...
Published 11/21/24
Today we bring you an audio podcast edition of the excellent cultural coverage we've been doing since the Second Coming of President Trump. Explaining political trends lies outside our core mission, but understanding cultural currents is why we exist.
Bobby Hilliard joins host Neal Pollack to...
Published 11/08/24