D Magazine's EarBurner

For the 15th iteration of the OCFF, running July 30 through August 2, our annual guest Barak Epstein dogged us, sending instead his co-conspirator Ashton Campbell to talk about movies. We went from Barak to frickin Ashton. So it was a rough podcast, as you might imagine. D Magazine contributor Eric Celeste and editor Tim Rogers did their best to keep a stiff upper lip and bring you this preview of the festival. Open your ears—and eyes. And subscribe to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. (We're kidding. Ashton was a great guest.)

The Oak Cliff Film Fest runs this year from June 20–23. Barak is one of the smartest, funniest dudes in Dallas, so it's always a pleasure to have him on the pod to talk about the film festival he co-founded. Tim struggles with the buttons and levers to play sound from the movies' trailers. Zac and Barak demonstrate their pop-culture literacy. Oh, and we talk about why we haven't seen more assassinations in America. So there's that. You know why this podcast is free? Because D Magazine still makes money in print. Consider subscribing. It's a deal.

In the May issue of D Magazine, Matt Goodman wrote a story titled "The Lawyer Who Landlords Don't Want to See in Court." That would be Mark. Sort of by accident, he started the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, which now employs 18 people. On a per capita basis, A LOT of people get evicted in Dallas. That's because the justice of the peace courts where eviction hearings happen are a little wildass. So we talked about all that and about why you should care about people getting evicted. And we explored Mark's personal story, how he lost a job in Oklahoma and, without a college education or any real prospects, loaded up his family in a car and drove to Dallas. Why Dallas? It had a lot of highways so he figured it must have jobs. (He wound up as a bouncer at Cowboys in Arlington before eventually making partner at Holland & Knight.) Please consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. Come on! It's like the price of three coffees! Or one coffee and one beer! Or a sandwich at Eatzi's!

Megan spent four years researching and writing her new book, City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways. Here's what Richard Florida said about it: "City Limits is a triumph. Megan Kimble echoes Robert Caro exposing how powerful groups like TxDOT are able to take away people's homes, destroy their neighborhoods, and run roughshod over communities with virtually no accountability." So yeah. We talked about highways and I-345. And about how Megan went on a fishing trip to the Eisenhower Library and discovered something amazing. Oh, also, we talked about her high school basketball career. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible.

Greg is an SMU professor who hails from Pumpkin Bend, Arkansas. He's also the lead singer for Beekeeper Spaceman and the editor of the Southwest Review. It is under the auspices of the latter that he is launching a new literary festival. Frontera runs April 12 and 13 in three Oak Cliff venues (Wild Detectives, the Texas Theatre, and the Kessler Theater). So we talked with Greg about how you stage a lit fest that feels less like homework and more like a party. And we talked about one of the most amazing physical feats ever performed in the city of Arkadelphia (by him). If you have a minute, throw us some stars and write a review of the podcast. Then subscribe to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible.

Over the years, starting in 1992, D Magazine has unintentionally caused the man grief. In this episode, Tim and Zac run through the slights—but only to properly apologize. Also to give Zac a moment to humble-brag. For reference, here is what Eric Celeste's 1992 profile of Aikman looked like with the dumb "Troy Aikman Won't Dance" headline. Here's Aikman on our cover in 2011, when Wick made up a cover blurb that suggested Troy had talked to us about his divorce. And, finally, here's the blog post that made it look as if Tim and Troy were lovers. Again, we're sorry. Subscribe to the magazine so we can keep telling you these silly stories.

We're doing a thing. Sometimes we'll have a guest on the pod, sure. But sometimes (if we stick with it), Tim and Zac will simply go to a bar near their houses (Goodfriend) and chop it up as a duo, like Simon and Garfunkel. The hatred for each other will still be there, but they'll make beautiful music together. In this episode, the boys talk about a recent giraffe death at the Dallas Zoo (and whether there are animals smart enough to kill themselves), the proposed ban on horse-drawn carriages (Zac hates them, Tim is right), and Mayor Eric Johnson's footwear at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Allbirds ain't all that). The podcast is made possible by our print pub. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. And give this dang podcast a rating. And write a review. One sentence. You can do it!

Tim is a Lakewood dad with four kids and a wife who runs a restaurant (Lounge Here) to which he is sometimes summoned to do handyman work. He's also a rockstar, making his name first with Tripping Daisy and now serving as frontman for The Polyphonic Spree. The latter is dropping a new album, Salvage Enterprise, on November 17. We talked with Tim about how recording that album broke him out of a years-long depression and why kids today can't seem to listen to a song that lasts longer than a minute thirty. Also, we talked about whether Jesus ever rode a triceratops and the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research. If you dig this podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine.