My Summer Lair

Yo… What’s your relationship like with YouTube? Recently I had an interesting experience with YouTube. I got a new laptop and I hadn’t signed into YouTube via Google. So it didn’t know who I was. “Hi, my name is Sammy.” The initial displays were mostly popular culture…music videos Harry Styles I think; Stranger Things for sure. It was like when Disney Plus started and the algorithm didn’t know who...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan talks to director Alex Winter (You know Alex Winter as the non-Keanu Reeves half of Bill & Ted) for his latest documentary The YouTube Effect. Now screening at Tribeca Film Festival. My Summer Lair Chapter #234: What Is The YouTube Effect? Recorded: Monday, June 13, 2022 10:30 am (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter...

Yo… Shall we begin with a song? From the 2001 The Optimist LP from Turin Brakes…here is Future Boy : So Future Boy where are you from? My time machine crashed over yonderWe’ll build you a time machine to get back home One aspect of modern life is the pain of arriving at a store...maybe a bank too late. To tug fruitlessly on a locked door while being able to peer inside and spot weary staff who are...

Yo! So you don’t gimme any grief we’ll keep this brief; there’s a lot going on today: NBA Finals- Game 1 is tonight (9pm / ABC) The NBA Finals defy easy routes, microwave popcorn shortcuts and all the other pious nonsensical platitudes. We accept so much mediocrity from teachers, co-workers, pastors and politicians so the NBA Finals is a rare opportunity to (literally) court greatness, cultivate h...

Yo welcome back to the My Pal Sammy newsletter. Let’s take a “Kit Kat break” from connecting pop culture and instead focus on fresh and fun updates. A number of cool My Summer Lair guests have been doing some really cool things so let's get into them, shall we? ➡️ 2 Documentaries: We got photography with Henry VanderSpek aka Culture Snap . His Toronto based exhibition On Notice opens on May 24 as...

Sammy is joined by photographer Henry VanderSpek aka Culture Snap to discuss and recommend a happy handful of Contact Photography Festival exhibitions. Oh Snap! From Henry's exhibition On Notice to Tyler Mitchell to Ajani Charles’ exhibit Project T Dot on Toronto's hip hop history there's something special for everyone and anyone. Running for the month of May in Toronto (and sometimes into June) t...

Nothing of real importance happened that day. That’s the way I enjoy starting this tale. Not only because it’s true but it adds a little flare. The Day is May 16, 1983. And what actually happened happened at night. The day was as plain as a sandwich made only of bread. However the night was a one of a kind tailor made sub the kind that sits in your belly and warms your body. I was dressed in my be...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan interviews director Maurizius Staerkle Drux whose documentary The Art of Silence is on famous mime Marcel Marceau,; now screening at Hot Docs and other film festivals. My Summer Lair Chapter #194: Did You Hear What The Mime Said? Recorded: Thursday, March 24, 2022 11:30 AM (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter becaus...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan talks to actor Alex Mallari Jr. who stars in 2 time travel projects: The Adam Project on Netflix and Hello (Again) on CBC Gem. My Summer Lair Chapter #233: Are you impressed with how hard a time traveller from Scarborough hustles? Recorded: Thursday, March 24, 2022 11:30 am (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter becau...

Yo: Welcome back to the My Pal Sammy newsletter proceedings. Speaking of proceedings before we proceed we should concede that yesterday was 4/20 which of course means it was National Weed Day. Did you partake in any of the celebrations? I did not; though after watching the Raptors’ playoff hopes go ‘up in smoke’ (too soon?) as a cool down I watched Dave Chappelle’s 1998 goofy ‘classic’ Half Baked...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan interviews stand-up comic Simon King whose latest comedy special is As Good As Or Better Than. (Now on YouTube.) My Summer Lair Chapter #191: Did You Hear The One About Racism? Recorded: Tuesday February 25, 2022 2:00 PM (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO doesn't stand for Fun. Stress free po...

We have oversold the values and virtues of political correctness which most often has the ugly habit of turning Debate Club into Fight Club. That’s just one way to sum up my conversation with stand up comic Simon King. I relish these My Summer Lair conversations…actually not even exclusively on my podcast…anywhere they happen from NPR’s Fresh Air to CBC’s Q to Larry King. (Wait I think Larry King...

“I was too young to fade away but too old to start again.” So writes Dave Grohl in The Storyteller his memoir published on October 4, 2021. Dave’s book came out 172 days before his drummer Taylor Hawkins suddenly passed away on March 25, 2022. A: With the sudden news that Taylor Hawkins had passed away, people were drawing the obvious and on the nose comparison: Dave Grohl was a drummer in Nirvana...

Sammy & Stephanie discuss the shocking and sad passing of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins on March 25, 2022. (Please Note: We also cover MCA's passing as well as Michael Jackson's passing. This is a heavy episode.) Recorded Live on Twitter Spaces on March 28 at 4 p.m. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mypal...

Science Fiction and Horror are frestastic because they offer us stories disguised as metaphors. Ready made visuals for when our imagination has gone blind. It’s one of the primary reasons why I continue to swim in those pop culture pools. In real life it’s not easy to identify the consequences of rejecting prophets with the swift ease we use to decline a lousy Tinder profile. The following are two...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan interviews sci-fi writer Claire Holroyde who debut novel is The Effort. My Summer Lair Chapter #190: What Would You Do If Faced With An Extinction Level Event? Recorded: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7pm (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO doesn't stand for Fun. Stress free pop culture (TV shows...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan talks to writer and director Jefferson Moneo who latest feature is Cosmic Dawn. My Summer Lair Chapter #232: Why Do You Believe What You Believe? Recorded: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 Noon (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO doesn't stand for Fun. Stress free pop culture (TV shows! Books! Movi...

Sammy & Stephanie discuss All The Batmans: from Michael Keaton to Ben Affleck. (Please Note: At the time of recording neither of us have seen Robert Pattinson's Batman.) Recorded Live on Twitter Spaces on March 8 at 4 p.m. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mypalsammy.substack.com

“Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses – especially learn how to see.” ~Leonardo Da Vinci I In 2007 ESPN.com columnist and Grantland.com founder Bill Simmons and ESPN’s Connor Schell created 30 for 30 . “30 films in celebration of ESPN’s 30th anniversary in 2009, with an exploration of the biggest stories from ESPN’s first 30 years on-air, through a series of 30 o...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan talks to NBA journalist Scott Howard-Cooper whose latest profile is Steve Kerr: A Life. His outstanding NBA biography on the Warriors coach Steve Kerr. My Summer Lair Chapter #206: Are You Grateful for Steve Kerr? Recorded: Tuesday, November 9, 2021 1:00 pm (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO...

From the “diary” of sportswriter Scott Howard-Cooper: On August 10, 2019...he wrote:“Beginning work on a biography of Warriors coach Steve Kerr, to be published by William Morrow in Fall 2020. Kerr’s journey through triumph and tragedy is unmatched anywhere — not just sports — with layers of growing up around the world, activism, overcoming adversity, constantly having to prove himself and, of cou...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan talks to writer, actor, director and now video game developer Jeff Sinasac about his video game: Stop the Saturnians! out now on Steam. My Summer Lair Chapter #222: How Do You Stop The Saturnians? Recorded: Saturday, December 18, 2021 12:00 pm (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO doesn't stand...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan interviews comic book creator Dave Chisholm whose graphic novel is Chasin' The Bird: A Charlie Parker Graphic Novel is a biography of sorts about the late great jazz saxophonist. My Summer Lair Chapter #168: Was Charlie Parker Free As A Bird? Recorded: Thursday, December 3, 2020 2:00 PM (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my new...

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan interviews rapper and beatmaker More or Les whose latest album is The Human Condition. My Summer Lair Chapter #178: How Has This Pandemic Affected Your Human Condition? Recorded: Thursday, November 26, 2020 11:30 AM (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO doesn't stand for Fun. Stress free pop cul...

Let’s jazz up this newsletter with a discussion about Charlie Parker aka Bird. (Well Bird for short…his proper nickname was Yardbird.) Miles Davis once said, “You can tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong. Charlie Parker.” Charlie (Bird) Parker was a jazz saxophonist born in 1920 who died in 1955 a combination of pneumonia and heart attack…well really ill health from a well lived...