Punching Down - Episode 20
Punching Down is back with a bang! So is Susie Cagle!
And just in time for the May Day General Strike, which is scheduled to kick off early Tuesday morning with an occupation of the Golden Gate Bridge (?! We’ll see! UPDATE: Oh well.) then continue with the opening of another SF Commune amid other direct actions and protests around the Bay Area.
Susie, our friend and independent journalist who’s been doing a kickass job reporting on the Occupy movement, says this about #M1GS: “It’s gonna be totally insane, all over the region. It’s just gonna be nuts.”
Then, Susie and Justin talk about their launch of Commie J-School. Did you know that you can get a journalism education without all that debt? Now you can!
Lastly, if you’ve made it this far, we discuss whether some newspaper buying another newspaper is a good thing or not.
Something something future of journalism!
A Blessedly NYT-Free Morning Coffee (Well, Tea) Shot
Friend of the show and HuffPo SF Assistant Editor Aaron Sankin writes:
In a punching down from a while ago you complained that in most of your coffee/paper pics everyone is reading the New York Times. I’m currently hiding the old grey lady behind the tiny paywall in my heart, so I thought I’d rectify that with a pic of me drinking tea and reading the China Daily in Beijing while on a trip I just took to the mysterious orient for my friend’s wedding.
To answer your questions: 1. Yes, that is a picture of a naked dude running along a sidewalk right behind me. 2. Yes, I am reading a story about how people are increasingly experiencing job discrimination based on their Zodiac sign.
Punching Down - Episode 19
Could anything be more fun than getting kettled and cuffed by the cops for allegedly messing with a railroad?
How about the SFPD busting into an urban commune (where you were charging your phone), and pointing a so-called less lethal shotgun at your face?
If you happen to be a journalist, that’s where the fun sort of ends, actually, in part because it’s kind of difficult to report the news when your hands are zip tied and you’re sitting in the sheriff bus.
This week we’re delighted to have as our guest independent journalist Steve Rhodes who describes in detail these true stories about getting arrested while reporting.
For those that don’t already know Steve, he’s often seen covering the news in the Bay Area, including the spectacular April 1 takeover of an abandoned building in San Francisco by Occupy SF, and the forceful eviction by the cops the next day.
Besides his two arrests, Steve also talks about the path that’s led him to become one of the region’s essential sources for real-time information and images.
Punching Down - Episode 18
This week’s offerings:
Fan mail. Our loyal leader (listener+reader=leader) Joe Scales appoints himself editor of the Punching Down Fan Mail segment, to which he’s also a contributor. How does one actually create a Punching Down podcast, Joe wonders. We talk about our vintage-futuristic Podcast Machine and why we’re constantly yelling at it.
Occupy! This time, Justin doesn’t get chased. Rather, he does the chasing - of 2 cops! A batch of OPD emails from Jan. 28, sprinkled with references to reporters’ tweets and livestreams. A brief taste of what Occupy SF and other activists might do April 1. No #newsdesert here, only the most delicious #newsdessert money can buy.
Twitter bugs, like the one that made us unfollow you.
Tim’s man-meat, delicately sliced. Our favorite semi-regular guest shares the next chapter in the story about his vasectomy.
Punch. As always, copious amounts of punch.
Punching Down - Episode 17
This week we’re thrilled to bring you a very special installment of Punching Down - The Brock Keeling Story!
Here’s how it goes: Once upon a time, there was a kid from Orange County named Brock who loved to surf and skate. Then one day found himself in a Bay Area bar where he met Eve Batey, although he has no memory of the encounter. Regardless, this led him to becoming editor of the beloved local blog, SFist.
Somewhere along the way, Brock mastered the art of web-logging. His secret? “Just vomit onto the screen.” Also, sleeping in the nude.
Eventually, he kicked the morning coffee habit and got into food writing. But after the Great SF Food Truck Bubble of ‘13 burst and all the bloggers lost their jobs, Brock turned to making porn, starring certain members of the SF Board of Supervisors.
Today, Brock is working on his latest project, in which he’s hoping to cast former SF mayor Gavin Newsom. “I bet [Newsom] has a big dick,” he says.
We’re currently soliciting possible titles for said project, so please leave your suggestions in the comments.
Punching Down - Episode 16
After the world is destroyed in a nuclear war, will there be any hope left for journalism education?
If anyone has the answer, it’s radio reporter, podcaster and dad Eric Klein who joins us this week to share his experiences working at the ever-troubled KPFA-FM in the Bay Area, and how those experiences contrast with his current volunteer work at Free Geek in Portland.
Punching Down - Episode 15
What is the fundamental unit of journalism? Is it a particle or a wave? And what does Operation Thunderdome mean for the future of news?
This week, we’re back inside a glass box inside the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library to discuss these questions, and we’re joined by special guest and loyal listener George Kelly, an online coordinator working for the Contra Costa Times.
Besides talking about some of the digital tools he likes (Twitter, Cover It Live), does not like (Storify) and seems neutral about (Facebook), George reflects on his career as an online journalist. He also explains why he’s skipping that thing in Austin, Texas.
Eve, meanwhile, would like you to give us a candid photo of someone drinking their morning coffee while reading a newspaper other than the fucking New York Times.
Please send your pic to punchingdown@gmail.com and maybe we’ll publish it on the Tumblr!
You can find George Kelly online in various places including allaboutgeorge.com, notherethere.com and @allaboutgeorge on Twitter.
Thanks, George!!
Punching Down - Episode 14
This week: two stories about cops chasing journalists, and one about a journalist getting a vasectomy.
First, you’ll hear from Jessica Hollie, a student, citizen journalist and live video streamer who recently tried to film a white supremacist rally at the Capitol building in Sacramento but was chased away by a cop on a horse, apparently because of her skin color. (The cops left her white colleagues alone.)
Jessica’s interview leads us to discussion between Eve, Tim and Justin about the democratization of media, in particular for women, people without a lot of upper body strength, and the non-rich.
Then, in our semi-regular Justin Gets Chased (not chaste) segment, Justin shares what happened when he stuck around after closing time to broadcast the occupation of an office building in San Francisco. One of those mysterious blue CHP cops grabbed the helmet-clad Ustreamer by the wrist…watch the video, or listen to the podcast, to find out if Justin was able to escape!
And finally, did you know that if you’re poor and in need of free Valiums, the State of California is more than happy to provide you with a vasectomy? Tim tells all!
Show notes:
2:18 - Jessica Hollie gets chased by a cop on a horse
22:51 - Eve, Tim and Justin discuss the democratization of media
32:38 - Justin gets chased by a blue cop (the chase card of the CHP?)
50:20 - The best time Tim got a vasectomy
