Enzo Ferrari wanted to race cars, sing opera or write sports; was too much of a coward to race, couldn't sing worth a damn and doesn't believe the truth is entirely necessary. You can find examples of this all over motorsports history, but Brock Yates — who created, participated in and wrote about Cannonball Run — wrote a spectacular biography of t…

Tony Gilroy, Andor’s maestro, adapted action movies I love—the Bourne trilogy, Armageddon, Michael Clayton and The Devil's Advocate. He made Rogue One too. And I didn't like that as much as others did. His pops, Frank, adapted a movie into a Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play—The Subject Was Roses in 1965. His brothers Dan and John can Kool and t…

Spawn is the first Black superhero ever to feature in a major motion picture — one year before Wesley Snipes featured in Blade. That fact serves to illustrate Spawn is one of the most overlooked and most popular Black superheroes in history. That juxtaposition merits investigation. So does the idea that the first mainstream superhero or antihero br…

RJ chopped it up with Racing Incident co-host Anna Tarkov about Formula One. They gushed about Lewis Hamilton, talked about the lack of racial and gender representation in the sport, the upcoming Imola and Miami Grands Prix and just what Drive to Survive has done for the sport.Also, RJ reads the prologue of Adrian Newey's excellent autobiography ca…

I read Sara Gay Forden's book, "House of Gucci," so you don't have to. It's the story of how Aldo, Rodolfo and Maurizio Gucci built Guccio Gucci's business into an internationally-respected brand and produced iconic fashion and fashion designers like Tom Ford and how Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli Gucci became the symbol of its undoing. House of Gucc…

RJ and Tyler talk about how The Matrix film franchise owes so much of its inspiration to Frank Herbert's 1965 novel "Dune." They compare characters -- Neo is Paul Atriedes, duh -- and themes that overlap between the two properties as well as what Herbert was actually writing about: his distrust of superheroes, fascism, demagogues and dictators.…

Act one, perhaps the best known myth about Loki which involves the creation of Thor's hammer and dwarves nearly chopping off the god of mischief's head for being, well, mischievous and an arrogant prat.Samuel Thompsonhttps://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1436&context=yjlhSif's haircut and Thor's hammerhttps://norse-mytholo…

RJ and Ron talked about Penny Dreadful, writing, TV and movies.Von RJ Young

RJ and Katy chopped it up about Texas federal judge William Wayne Justice.Once Earl Campbell ran over one of his own blockers. The fella had committed the sin of falling down in front of him. Longhorns coach Darrell Royal was asked what he thought about that fella’s misfortune.“Ol’ Earl doesn’t believe in taking any prisoners.”He was the first Long…

RJ and Tyler reviewed Aaron Guzikowski "Raised By Wolves."Von RJ Young

RJ, Ron and Katy chopped it up about Brit Bennett's "The Vanishing Half."Von RJ Young

Katy and I discussed Colson Whitehead's "Nickel Boys" backdropped against contemporary current events in the U.S.Von RJ Young

RJ and Laurel talk about The Old Guard -- a fascinating look into narrative as death fights death.Von RJ Young

Katy Mullins joined me on our Bookish Club podcast to review Salman Rushdie's "Quichotte." The novel follows an Indian American on a quest to win the heart of woman he's never met. This novel is a work of meta-fiction that borders on the surreal and continues to connect us to the trials of present day.I'd recommend you reading it.…

I spoke with one of my best friends, Katy Mullins, about Ann Patchett's "The Dutch House" and with Andolini's Pizzeria owner/operator Mike Bausch about how he built and plans to sustain his restaurant in the Tulsa metro during the COVID-19 pandemic.Von RJ Young