Rian Stone: Wrestling Heroes and Dystopian Novels
KEY MOMENTS
0:00 – Intro: author and video essayist Rian Stone
4:30 – Hulk Hogan's death and cancel culture
7:49 – Hollywood communists, Dalton Trumbo, and McCarthy
12:11 – The competence crisis in movies and TV
16:39 – Selling out and CIA cultural operations
20:52 – Showing Cubans and North Koreans the free world
24:08 – Dean Cameron and the Naked Gun reboot
28:03 – Barbie, RoboCop, and satire made with love
30:59 – Watching The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with kids
34:44 – Storytelling lessons from dating in the Navy
38:21 – Watching The Big Chill alone
42:43 – Alien, CGI, and creativity under limits
47:13 – Tom Berenger's underrated range
51:01 – Lou's dad, Robert De Niro, and kayfabe in acting
54:07 – Separating art from artist and Harvey Weinstein
58:03 – Books as marketing: Colleen Hoover and Delicious Tacos
1:00:47 – Rian's novels: Dog Walker and Softbone
1:05:06 – Writing tight and respecting the reader
1:10:03 – Sadly, Porn and writing to entertain
1:12:35 – Books you can't put down: July, July
1:15:45 – Tell writers you enjoy their work and wrap-up
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Video essayist Rian Stone, author of the novels Softbone: Down and Out in New Kowloon and The Dog Walker, thought he was coming on to talk to his pro-wrestling hero, "Lightning" Lou Perez. He got this Lou instead. He joins Lou to talk about culture as a weapon, hosting a stand-up show with Bill Burr on the lineup, and why you should see The Naked Gun reboot.
We also get into Jackson Pollock and Martha Graham, Lou's friend and Ski School alum Dean Cameron, breaking a fan's heart, and why liking things makes them a rare breed.