Warren Etheredge is the founder of The Warren Report (www.thewarrenreport.com), an organization that promotes "slow culture" through commentary, outreach, events and education. Our principle: Smarter audiences make a better world! The Warren Report stages year-round screenings, seminars, classes and special events throughout the Pacific Northwest. The Warren Report is also a podcast and a television series (Want a copy? I'll send you a dvd. Just ask.) Our live events have featured notable guests such as: Sir Salman Rushdie, the late Sydney Pollack, Amy Sedaris and Michael Pollan.
Think big. Start Small. Stand tall.
Who knew when this journey began many months ago that the President of the United States would go on television to celebrate this historic milestone. My fellow Americans, today marks The Warren Report's 100th podcast!
In honor of the fact that we the people love round numbers almost as much as we love Cinnabon®, The Warren Report proudly shares these highlights from our recent Words & Wine event with special guest Steven Rinella. Yes, the author of AMERICAN BUFFALO may hunt, kill and butcher big game, but can he endure my ferocious, and sometimes facetious, line of questioning? Watch our centennial podcast to discover whether Rinella withers or dithers under fire. Will he man up or party down? You be the judge and jury. (Due to the current economic downturn, we have been forced to eliminate the budget line for executioners.)
Of course, like Crosby, we've got to have Hope. (Otherwise, we're liable to box our kids 'bout the ears.) Hope is our future. Hope is our wind farm. Hope is the oxygen tent keeping 96-year-old Maybelle Whittaker of Livingston, Michigan alive. I had the great pleasure of speaking with Maybelle the other day. She said: "Warren, what can I do? What can I do to ensure my grandchildren will enjoy at least one hundred more of your charming podcasts? What can I do to guarantee that your unique brand of cultural commentary wrapped in the cheery goodness of irreverent humor reaches its bi-centennial?"
And I asked Maybelle what I must ask you now: Do you have a moment? Do you have a minute to spare for the sake of your country, for the sake of light-hearted critical discourse? I know you do. I knew Maybelle did. And so I urge you, as I urged Maybelle, to take the time, right now, to complete this simple on-line survey.
Sure, you could dilly. You could dally. But together we must rally. Shuck the shackles of indifference and inconvenience. Don the thinking caps of your ancestors. Don't do it for me. Do it for little Timmy McQuackabush of Filbert, North Dakota whose parents took him to see THE CAKE EATERS but refused to discuss the the movie's thematic material. Poor little Timmy was clueless about the ethical implications of Kristen Stewart's fine portrayal of a young woman enduring Friedreich's Ataxia until he watched my interview with director Mary Stuart Masterson. Do it for Vedelma Gonzalez D'Ambrozzio of Queens, New York who had given up "green" because she thought it would be too expensive, too demanding to live a sustainable lifestyle until she listened in on my conversation with Michael Pollan. Do it for Sister Delilah Tanto of Tramp River, North Dakota, so cloistered she knew nothing of the works of Chuck Palahniuk until catching our solemn intercourse regarding the ties between literary giants and indecent research. Most of all, do it for your. Do it because you're proud to be an American. Prove to the world that, as a nation, we are more resilient than David O. Russell is to cast suggestions.
Together, we can rise. Together, we can triumph. Together, we can download another hundred episodes of The Warren Report. Join me. Take this survey, make a donation if you feel so moved. Most of all, just keep reading and watching The Warren Report. Please. Good day, God bless and bon voyage, Bea Arthur.