The Chauncey DeVega Show

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Ep. 41: David Krugler on Black Resistance to White Violence During the "Red Summer" of 1919 May 21, 2015

Show notes

Historian David Krugler is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. David is the author of the new book 1919, The Year of Racial Violence: How African Americans Fought Back. Dr. Krugler's work is an exciting intervention against a narrative of African-American passivity in the face of white racial pogroms and other violence in the post World War One era. Black America has used a range of means to resist white supremacy. "Non-violence" has come to dominate public memory about the Black Freedom Struggle. Great work such as David'sis helping a broader public to learn what black Americans have always known: African-Americans fought back with honor and dignity against the violence that was visited upon them by Jim and Jane Crow, the white mob, and the racial state. Dr. Krugler and Chauncey discuss the Black Freedom Struggle, why and how the legacy of African-American resistance to white racial violence has been erased in the American public memory, some of the great stories of resistance that David uncovered in his research, and what prompted the nationwide white on black racial terrorism of 1919 and its relationship to Whiteness. David and Chauncey also talk about the former's great book on American civil defense during the Cold War and how racism even impacted the United States' preparations for defending against a nuclear war. Friend of WARN Bill the Lizard also stops by to talk about the great new movie Mad Max: Fury Road. And of course, Chauncey gives an epic recounting of how he damn near broke his leg before going to see Mad Max: Fury Road and what the recovery has been like so far.

Ep. 40: Robert Neer on Matters of Napalm, Technology and Morality May 14, 2015

Show notes

Robert Neer is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show.

He is a historian at Columbia University and the author of Napalm: An American Biography.

Robert's work is a incisive and unique example of the history of objects and how that type of social history can illuminate broader questions of politics, life, and society. Napalm: An American Biography is more than the history of a horrific weapon: it is an insight into American war fighting, inventions, and foreign affairs. Dr. Neer and Chauncey talk about the history of napalm, its inventors, the moral questions that (should) govern the use of technology and science, the Vietnam War, American power, and the symbolism and meaning that have been constructed around such an iconic and terrifying weapon in both the world's and America's public imagination. Chauncey also shares his thoughts on Tom Brady and "Deflategate", the Oklahoma tornadoes and the Amtrak train crash, how Republican racism has hurt America's infrastructure in the Age of Obama, and a frightening encounter with an entitled student who was moved to gross anger by a discussion of wealth inequality and consumerism.

Ep. 39: Joe McKinney on Zombies and Disaster Planning May 07, 2015

Show notes

Joe McKinney is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is the author of such popular zombie horror books as Dead City, Apocalypse of the Dead, Flesh Eaters and The Zombie King.

Mr. McKinney is also a police officer in San Antonio, Texas with expertise in disaster and emergency management. Joe's professional police expertise and mastery of the zombie horror genre make his work uniquely exciting and compelling. This makes for a great conversation as Chauncey and Joe discuss all things zombies in this week's episode of the podcast known asThe Chauncey DeVega Show. Joe and Chauncey talk about world building in speculative fiction, the challenges of managing the State's response to natural and other types of disasters, the chaos of a confused and frightened public, how a zombie outbreak would likely be responded to by the police and other authorities, fast versus slow zombies, chasing naked drunk suspects down the street, his approach to the craft of writing, and other related zombie goodness. Chauncey also shares his thoughts on Freddie Gray and racism beat ambulance chasers, gives some respect to the Washington Post's Radley Balko, getting love from Mark "the Incredible Hulk" Ruffalo and the WWE's Paul Heyman on Twitter, the new Avengers movie, and surrendering to the necessity of wearing under eye concealer makeup.

Ep. 38: C2E2 2015--Max Brooks and Bill Willingham Apr 27, 2015

Show notes

This special episode of the podcast known as The Chauncey DeVega Show features two conversations from Chicago's 2015 Comic and Entertainment Expo. The first conversation is with Max Brooks. He is the author of the zombie tome and landmark work World War Z. His most recent project is the graphic novel The Harlem Hellfighters. It explores the history of one of America's most storied combat units and how their struggle for dignity and honor in the face of Jim and Jane Crow America is one of the most important, yet little known, histories of the colorline in the United States. Max Brooks and Chauncey chat about the challenge of creating a graphic novel that also tries to be historically accurate where possible, Will Smith's adapting The Harlem Hellfighters as a Hollywood project, the epic book World War Z, and favorite reads from his childhood. The second conversation features Bill Willingham. He is the the author of such comic book series as the multiple Will Eisner award-winning series Fables, as well as Jack of Fables, Elementals, and Fairest. Bill Willingham and Chauncey talk about the narrative arc of Fables, Bill's patience and generous listening to fans of his work, how Fables is an insight into his personal values, and offers some wisdom and advice for journeyman writers, artists, and other folks who want to work as professionals in the comic book industry.

Ep. 37: Keli Dailey on Comedy and the News Apr 23, 2015

Show notes

Keli Dailey is the guest on this week's packed full of goodness installment of The Chauncey DeVega Show. She is the host of News Hangover, anonline comedy news series. News Hangover is smart, sharp, and funny as Keli and her guests use comedy and satire as a means to talk about current events, social justice, and other related topics. Keli is also a journalist who worked at the U-T San Diego newspaper as a food writer. She is a Stanford grad and self-described "black hipster". This makes for a great conversation as Chauncey and Keli connect the dots on a range of issues from life on the "racism beat", to learning the craft of comedy, the challenges of talking to young people about feminism and race, popular culture, Louis C.K. and the movie Pootie Tang, as well as the challenges of putting together a show like News Hangover. This episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show was done just as the story about the video-recorded murder of Walter Scott by a thug cop in South Carolina was breaking as a national news item. Chauncey and Keli share an organic moment where they talk about the unending wave of white on black police and vigilante violence in the United States. Friend of the podcast, Bill the Lizard, also joins the show as he and Chauncey discuss the new trailer for the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Chauncey also shares his thoughts on the Michael Dyson versus Cornel West fracas, going to see legendary comic Dick Gregory, and a funny email about "race play" and kink that he received earlier this week.

Ep. 36: Claire Potter on Public Pedagogy, Digital Culture, Archives and Teaching Apr 14, 2015

Show notes

Professor Claire "Tenured Radical" Potter is the guest on this installment of the podcast known as The Chauncey DeVega Show. Dr. Potter is a scholar of American Studies, history, and popular culture. She is a Professor of History at The New School and is the author/editor of several books including War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men and the Politics of Mass Culture and the forthcomingBeyond Pornography: How Feminism Survived the Age of Reagan. As the "Tenured Radical" she is perhaps best known for her column at The Chronicle of Higher Education and as a scholar at the forefront of public pedagogy and its intersection(s) with digital media and democracy. Claire has also been a friend of The Chauncey DeVega Show for some time. She has also been a great booster and supporter of Chauncey DeVega's other online work. Dr. Potter is very sharp, witty, and wise. This makes for a great conversation on the newest installment ofThe Chauncey DeVega Show. In this new episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Claire and Chauncey talk about police brutality and life in New York in the shadow of the Eric Garner case, the perils, joys, and challenges of public pedagogy and intellectual work; and share some fun stories about the naughty, titillating, and scintillating things that can be found in famous folks' personal archives and collections. Chauncey and Claire also talk about how Times Square was made into Disney World and the relationship between feminism and anti-pornography crusades. Chauncey DeVega also cuts a not short opening promo about the killing of Walter Scott by the thug cop Michael Slager in South Carolina and does a bit of reading and reflection on the great essay The Police Are America's Terrorists.

Ep. 35: Jeffrey Sammons and John Morrow Discuss "The Harlem Hellfighters" Apr 03, 2015

Show notes

Dr. Jeffrey T. Sammons and Dr. John H. Morrow Jr. are the guests on this week's installment of The Chauncey DeVega Showwhere we discuss their new book "Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War". They are both starred scholars. Jeffrey T. Sammons is Professor in the Department of History at New York University and the author of Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing in American Society. John H. Morrow, Jr., Franklin Professor of History at the University of Georgia, is the author of several books, including The Great War: An Imperial History. It has been more than 100 years since the beginning of World War One. In many ways, much more so than is generally understood by the American general public, World War One, "The Great War," has profoundly shaped the present. This is also true of the global colorline. This conversation on The Chauncey Devega Show about World War One and one of the United States' most legendary and accomplished military units--the "Harlem Hellfighters"--is a wonderful lens into some "hidden" American history of which (unfortunately) too few are aware. In this new episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Chauncey and his conversation partners Jeffrey Sammons and John Morrow talk about separating myth from fact regarding World War One and African-American military service, why World War One is understudied in America's schools, how the "Harlem Rattlers" came to be known as the "Harlem Hellfighters", the struggles and unique challenges faced by The Harlem Rattlers/Hellfighters as a unit, their experiences in Europe as one of America's most distinguished and accomplished military units, as well as how Jim and Jane Crow impacted its heroes upon their return stateside. Jeffrey and John also share their opinions about how the story of the legendary Harlem Hellfighters is being adapted for a movie starring Will Smith--one that is based on a graphic novel by Max Brooks.

Ep. 34: Rosalyn Dischiavo on Sex Education, BDSM, Porn and 50 Shades of Grey Mar 27, 2015

Show notes

Rosalyn Dischiavo, founder of the Institute for Sexual Education and Enlightenment is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. This is a fun and interesting conversation that began several years ago when Dr. Dischiavo reached out to Chauncey DeVega with some questions about a blog post he shared regarding the colorline, kink, sexuality, and "race play". That series of emails planted the seeds for Dr. Dischiavo's good sharing on The Chauncey DeVega Show. Roz and Chauncey discuss issues of power, race, and sexual role-playing in the boudoir, the new movie and books 50 Shades of Grey, if online pornography is "harming" young people, how to give "the talk" about "the birds and the bees" to our children, the importance of communication to sexual intimacy and pleasure, and the shadow of Dr. Kinsey. Roz also helps Chauncey to figure out if his parents did a good job preparing him to take the ladies on Space Mountain. This is a jam packed full of goodness podcast episode as Chauncey also chats with Bryan, a fellow smart mark and friend, about this weekend's WWE Wrestlemania event.

Ep. 33: Adilifu Nama on Race, Science Fiction and Black Nerds Mar 19, 2015

Show notes

Adilifu Nama, Professor of African-American Studies at Loyola Marymount University and expert on race and popular culture is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. Adilifu has written several books including Black Space and Super Black. He has also written a forthcoming book on the films of Quentin Tarantino. In this fun episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, Adilifu and Chauncey take a long and winding walk along the colorline and its intersections with race, popular culture, and science fiction. Adilifu and Chauncey discuss their mutual discovery of a love of science fiction and film, how to reconcile white supremacy and science fiction as fans who are people of color, talked about their fear of the comic book store and the Whiteness of geek and nerd culture, and shared thoughts on Django: Unchained, teaching film, and the existential dilemmas of "blackness". Chauncey and Adilifu also share their favorite horror movies--hint: one of them is the recent pathology porn film "Precious"--and mutual love of Clint Eastwood's revisionist Western classic "Unforgiven". Chauncey shares some thoughts about Ferguson and his recent appearance on Ring of Fire TV, rants about incompetent tech support for his new HD webcam, talks about white Right-wing domestic terrorists, and reads a passage from Ethiop's classic essay "What Shall We do With the White People?"

Ep. 32: David Greven on How "Star Trek" Explores Sexuality, Gender and Race Mar 12, 2015

Show notes

David Greven, professor and expert on Star Trek is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. David is the author of numerous books including Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek: Allegories of Desire in the Television Series and Films. He is also Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of South Carolina. In this episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show, David and Chauncey talk about the Star Trek TV and film universe and how it both represents and struggles with questions of gender, sexuality, and race. David and Chauncey also discuss Kirk and Spock's "brotherly" love, Trek's problems with representing black masculinity,Voyager as a show where questions about gay and lesbian rights and agency were channeled via the holographic doctor, Data as a sexual being, and many other Star Trek related topics. Chauncey and David also reminisce about their favorite childhood toy disappointments and the joys of watching early and mid 1980s New York television stations such as Channel 11 and Channel 9. Chauncey DeVega offers some thoughts about the Oklahoma fraternity racism imbroglio and the Department of Justice's two reports on Ferguson.

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