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D Magazine's EarBurner

EarBurner is a weekly conversation about North Texas issues (and a lot of other stuff). It is hosted by the editors of D Magazine, the city magazine of Dallas.
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Now displaying: Page 1
Feb 8, 2024

Right here you've got another chat recorded on the shady side of White Rock Lake, at Goodfriend. The boys tackle the goofiness of what one local official said about transportation to World Cup matches in Arlington. E.g.: "[W]e wish to have an aggressive travel demand management program to encourage our residents to participate in FIFA." Also they talked about tattoos. 

Jan 25, 2024

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!

Jan 6, 2024

Casey is one of the most committed magazine writers working today. When he profiled Leon Bridges for Texas Monthly, he rented a house and bought a crazy-expensive shirt to establish a connection with the recording artist. For his profile of Erykah Badu that ran in the January issue of D Magazine, he hired a team of researchers to help him understand the icon. More than a podcast about magazine journalism, though, this one is about striving to become the best possible version of yourself. And South Oak Cliff football. 

Make this podcast (and all of Casey's dreams) possible by subscribing to D Magazine

Nov 15, 2023

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

Oct 28, 2023

Start here if you don't know who Joshua Ray Walker is. Short version: Rolling Stone said of Josh: "country's most fascinating young songwriter is a baby-faced, 6XL guitar hero with a Dwight Yoakam voice and songs about suicide and boat-show models." We began our conversation at the Old Monk with Josh telling the story about how he wound up in the hospital, for the first time in his life, with a roommate named Dick who was a mob enforcer. We also talk about F1 and helicopters. And the best Tex-Mex in Dallas. And East Dallas dive bars!

If you do dig this episode, consider subscribing to D Magazine. Cheers.

Oct 10, 2023

David McCloskey used to work in the CIA. Now he's a novelist and does most of his writing in coffee shops on Greenville Avenue. Which ones? He wouldn't say. Even after Zac and Tim subjected him to extraordinary rendition, he wouldn't break. He also declined to read a sex scene from his new novel, Moscow X, so Tim did the honors, which was gross. For more about David and his wife, Abby, check out Holland Murphy's profile of the couple in which we wondered if they might be the most interesting couple in Lakewood. (They are.)

If you enjoy the podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine. Cheers.

Sep 13, 2023

This one is a bit of an experiment. When we learned that Catbird, a fancy "Best of Big D" award-winning joint in downtown Dallas' Thompson hotel, was launching a 10-course tasting menu where each course was accompanied by a cocktail and that Catbird would let us preview the experience before the unwashed masses could get their unwashed mouths on it, we were like: "Yes." The idea was that four D Magazine staffers would journalistically investigate this important situation. Our Serious Food People (Brian Reinhart and Nataly Keomoungkhoun) would eat and take notes, while our Seriously Drunk People (Tim Rogers and Zac Crain) would record a podcast as the meal unfolded. A couple of points to bear in mind: Tim served as the (mostly) sober inquisitor and podcast recorder, and the meal wound up falling a bit short of 10 courses. Nonetheless, some strange stuff went down, not least of which was Tim's admission that his parents let him do a birthday shot starting at about age 8. 

If you enjoy the podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine. Cheers.

Aug 10, 2023

OK, first Zac and Tim talked a bit about how to pronounce Lionel Messi's name and whether his recent performance in Frisco (which Zac witnessed in person) is one of the top five sports moments in the history of North Texas. THEN the lads turned their attention to the wonderful Elizabeth Wattley, president and CEO of Forest Forward, the group working to save the historic Forest Theater in South Dallas and rejuvenate the ZIP code with the lowest life expectancy in all of Dallas County. Elizabeth's deep, intimate knowledge of the history of the neighborhood made for a fascinating conversation. As did Zac's deep, intimate knowledge of early ’90s Black fashion. 

Two notes: first, we were wrong about the etymology of the phrase "rule of thumb." Wikipedia has it right, if you're curious. Second, if you like the podcast, you should subscribe to D Magazine

Jun 27, 2023

Michael Sorrell is the president of Paul Quinn, the oldest historically Black college west of the Mississippi. He died in 2008. True story. The man's heart stopped, and his girlfriend Natalie (now wife) performed CPR until medics could arrive and shock him back to life. So we talked about the fact that he's our first undead guest on EarBurner. And we talked about how the pandemic changed people and why those changes have made it harder to run an instution of higher learning. But the main reason we invited Michael onto the podcast was to talk about basketball. He played in college. And after law school at Duke, he played on the courts at the downtown Dallas T. Boone Pickens YMCA—which is about to be sold and torn down. If it weren't for those pickup games, Michael says, he wouldn't today be the president of Paul Quinn. How can Dallas be a great city without a downtown Y? 

Some links for you:

The Morning News reports that the Y, after being downtown since 1885, plans to abandon the city's core. 

Zac profiled Michael in 2021 for our sister publication D CEO.

In 2017, Tim ran Kelly Oubre Jr. off the Y's courts when he interfered with the lunchtime pickup game. The Washington Post covered it

And here's how you can subscribe to D Magazine and help keep the podcast going. 

May 26, 2023

Nick is in the pantheon of Dallas chefs. His new(ish) joint, the Brass Ram, in the East Quarter of downtown Dallas, occupies a space that once housed the broadcast studio for KLIF, one of the most important stations in the history of American radio. The space, called the Triangle Point Building, also once housed the Dallas Observer. So we bellied up to the Brass Ram bar with Nick and two former Observer staffers, Eric Celeste and our own Zac Crain, to talk about Gordon McLendon, the parrot he trained to say the station's call letters, Zac's previous life as an alt-weekly music editor, the supposed coup Eric orchestrated, and the time a certain editor thought the Observer had been the target of an anthrax attack. Oh! And we talk about restaurants and how Nick names them. We covered a lot of ground. You'll want to listen twice. 

May 21, 2023

Barak Epstein from the historic Texas Theatre joins us to preview the 2023 edition of the Oak Cliff Film Festival, which runs June 22–25. Movies discussed (some with confusing sound from their trailers!): Going Varsity in Mariachi, The Lost World, Quantum Cowboys, Walker, Stand By for Failure, Don't Fall in Love With Yourself, The Adults, and Earth Mama. Also, we talk about Barak's resurgent baseball career. REMEMBER: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

May 12, 2023

Once upon a time, Tim was a schoolmate at K.B. Polk Elementary with a guy named David Hale Smith. That fellow wound up becoming kind of a big-deal literary agent, even though DHS wouldn't tell us how much he earned last year. Be that as it may, DHS is part of a cabal responsible for the Dallas Noir Film Festival, which runs May 17–20 ("cabal" is a joke you'll get after listening to the podcast). We talked about books and movies and hamburgers and why Dallas City Council three-time losing candidate Candy Evans blocked Tim on Twitter. Subscribe to D Magazine. Do it now!

Apr 26, 2023

Abraham Alexander is buds with Leon Bridges, a connection that helped him get into the studio to record his debut album, SEA/SONS, which dropped April 14. Zac profiled Abraham for the June issue of D Magazine. In this episode, Zac and Tim talk about the profile-writing process, why more than a few musicians have wanted to punch Zac, and how much (or little) recording artists make from Spotify. Oh, also, we play a few songs from Abraham's new album and talk about them. Help us keep this podcast going by subscribing to the magazine. Cheers.

Apr 14, 2023

Would you spend $500,000 on a bed? The Swedish company Hästens thinks some of you in town will. They just opened a new store in Dallas. Tim and Zac talk about that and about why Tim sleeps on his couch. BUT WAIT. You're more interested in the Stars' chances in the playoffs? StrongSide editor Mike "The Looch" Piellucci joins us at 17:00 to talk hockey and get you ready for what might (maybe) be a special run. (If you dig this free podcast, consider subscribing to D Magazine. That's how we stay in business.)

Mar 23, 2023

Y'all, get ready. Tim and Zac are about to become proper influencers. For the first time, they are reviewing a product, a Western pearl-snap shirt made by a Dallas outfit called Snaps Clothing. They talk about the 1978 movie that allegedly launched the Western snap shirt, why Zac's parents made fun of him for wearing snap shirts as a kid, and what the hell the deal is with the magazine Huntin' Fool. Get out a can of dip, and dig in.

Mar 2, 2023

EarBurner is still trying to find its sea legs, even after 157 episodes. In this one, Tim and Zac make a long-distance call to Kirby Warnock, out in Big Bend, to talk about his new documentary on Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It screens March 23 at the Texas Theatre. Jimmie will be there. Get your tickets now. THEN the lads talk amongst themselves about the Dallas Morning News reporter who was fired for calling the mayor "bruh" on Twitter. Tim broke that story, and now it's all over the internet, even on Fox News and the New York Post. Ack. A note: here is the 2021 piece that Columbia linguist John McWhorter wrote about White people using the word "bruh." Tim refers to it, and it's worth your time.

Feb 23, 2023

This episode is an experiment we're calling an EarBurner Quickie. No guest. It's just Tim and Zac in the podcast kitchen, cooking up a special dish together. For an amuse-bouche, they discuss monster pickup trucks that don't belong in the Whole Foods parking lot. Then the main course: why the mayor of Dallas approaches Twitter like a fifth-round draft pick with a chip on his shoulder. He picks fights. He roasts his "haters." And he makes a fair number of sophomoric references to "Big Dallas Energy." (P.S.: Tim mentions a Cowboys player who tattooed a potato chip on his shoulder, but he couldn't recall his name. It was cornerback Anthony Brown.)

Feb 11, 2023

Jay started Cane Rosso with his first restaurant in Deep Ellum 12 years ago. Now the dude employs 520 people in his pizza empire. He's got a salty mouth. He loves dogs. And his two daughters force him to spend a lot of time in airports. Fun connection: the EarBurner guest from the previous episode, Frank Campagna, has done some mural work for Jay. It's almost like we planned it. In terms of show notes, Tim was right about puntata. Please know that. In terms of everything else, this was a banger. Five stars.

Feb 8, 2023

If you've lived in Dallas for any length of time, chances are you've encoutered Frank's art. He estimates that he has done more than 1,000 murals in Deep Ellum (many of them to promote performances at the old Gypsy Tea Room). On February 11, he'll have his annual "For the Love of Kettle" show at his Deep Ellum gallery, Kettle Art, with works from dozens of artists, each of which is 9 by 12 inches and priced at $50. Doors open at 7 p.m. for what Frank calls "competitive shopping." We also talked with Frank about the 150th anniversary of Deep Ellum and about the time the South Korean pop group BTS created worldwide headlines when a few of its members dropped in to the gallery. 

Feb 2, 2023

GNO is a poet who not long ago put out a collection titled "101 Break Up Poems." In this EarBurner, he explains why he nicknamed himself GNO (pronounced "Gino"), what happened when he told his mom Prince wasn't a girl, and how poetry can save young people's lives. Oh, also, he tells the story about how he wound up doing a McDonald's commercial for the Filet-O-Fish. (If you're reading these words in time for it, you can catch GNO at a poetry-and-cocktails gig on 2/10/23 at the Dallas Institute, where he'll read a selection of his break-up poems.)

Jan 12, 2023

Rev. Peter Johnson came to Dallas in 1969 on a mission: to secure distribution for a documentary about Martin Luther King Jr., the proceeds from which would provide for his widow and family. Of the 800 cities around the world where organizers hoped to show the movie, Dallas was the only place that said no—initially. We started our conversation with Peter explaining why he took the assignment so personally and telling the story about the magic moment, with only three days left to spare, when a beneficent stranger walked into his office and brought him to tears. After that, Peter told us about dragging a sack of snakes to Dallas City Hall, cussing out the rapper D.O.C., and getting arrested at a protest just a few years ago. This man is a leader and a legend. WARNING: In describing historical events, the Reverend at a couple points uses the N-word in this podcast. 

Dec 20, 2022

Victor's bio sounds like a fabrication: he has summitted the seven tallest mountains on earth, and he built his own submersible to dive solo to the bottom of all five oceans. Oh, and he has traveled to space. We talk about why James Cameron has a beef with him, how bumping into the Titanic got him dragged into federal court, and what we possibly need with a genetically reincarnated wooly mammoth that talks like Ray Romano. 

Dec 1, 2022

Mark "Hawkeye" Louis has done the morning show on 96.3 KSCS for more than 30 years. He is radio royalty in North Texas. He's also a runner who has been involved with the BMW Dallas Marathon (this year on December 11) for more than a decade, which is how we got to talking about his nipples and the best way to protect them on long runs. We also talked about jeans, stand-up comedy, why radio stations still broadcast traffic news, and the ship of Theseus paradox. Be forewarned: he swears exactly once in this episode of EarBurner. If you have children, consider abandoning them at a fire station.

Nov 23, 2022

Ken is the guitarist for the Old 97's, which is about to celebrate its 30th year together. The man himself is about to turn 60. We talk about his plans for outliving his bandmates, why he owns more than 400 board games, why high school kids don't cruise anymore, and whether Peter Billingsley is actually a gun nut. Oh, and one more thing: we talk about how the band came to star in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which begins streaming on Disney+ on November 25. That last thing seems important. Almost forgot to mention it.

Nov 18, 2022

Mark is the architecture critic for the Dallas Morning News and a two-time EarBurner guest. We invited him on to talk about a new plan for Dealey Plaza that he has concocted with some of his smart friends. Mark says the space has become tawdry, and we need to prioritize people over their cars. We also talk about whether Dallas is still a "can do" city, why the Mavericks should rethink their branding design, and our favorite movies ever filmed in Dallas. To prepare yourself for this episode, please first watch this trailer for the 1988 action comedy sexploitation thriller It Takes Two. You won't regret it. 

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