The Press Box

This week on 'Damage Control,' The Ringer’s Justin Charity and Kate Knibbs discuss the political chaos surrounding children being separated from their families and detained at the U.S.-Mexico border (1:10). They also delve into the incredibly fraught life and legacy of rapper XXXTentacion, who died on Monday (19:46). More from The Ringer: The Unsolvable Difficulty of XXXTentacion’s Death Odd Futur...

The Ringer's Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker sit down to sift through the blame game regarding children being separated from their parents at the border and how the media writes about "lies" (04:15), the Justice Department seizing 'New York Times' reporter Ali Watkins's emails and cell phone data (14:00), the recent profile of ESPN's Stephen A. Smith in 'The New Yorker' (28:00), and how the media...

Ringer editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey chats with Pixar original Brad Bird about returning to his animation roots with ‘Incredibles 2’ after making live-action movies like ‘Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol’ and ‘Tomorrowland.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer’s Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins give some background on Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson (1:00) before going deep on the timeline of their relationship leading up to their engagement (9:57). Plus, Amanda gives her two-minute review of ‘Ocean’s 8’ (29:17). Refinery29's timeline of their relationship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ringer editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey chats with the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville about his new film, ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor,’ about one of the world’s foremost champions of kindness and decency, Mister Rogers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker sit down to reflect on the legacy of Anthony Bourdain (02:15), conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer announcing he has weeks to live (13:45), the Showtime doc series 'The Fourth Estate' (21:00), and the 'Fire and Fury' sequel (34:00). Credits: Hosted by: Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker   Produced by: Jim Cunningham Brought to you by: The Ringer P...

Ringer editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey sits down with filmmaker Ari Aster to discuss his first full-length feature, ‘Hereditary,’ and the process of crafting a deeply disturbing experience for moviegoers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Justin Charity and Kate Knibbs try to understand why there are so many conspiracy theories around the lack of public Melania Trump sightings (0:52) and how the first lady is different from both her family and her predecessors (4:37). They also discuss the rap beefs that are currently ruling the music world and how people remain entertained even as the public spats turn violent (17:20)...

The Ringer's Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker run the hurry-up offense to tackle Donald Trump's issue with the Philadelphia Eagles (04:30), the Bryan Colangelo story (10:30), Bill Clinton's appearance on 'Today' (23:45), 'High Noon' with Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre (32:00), the end of 'Arrested Development' and 'Roseanne' (39:45), and LeBron James's press conference after the J.R. Smith snafu (46...

Ringer editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey chats with writer-director Bart Layton about his path from unconventional documentaries to his ambitious new docufiction heist movie, ‘American Animals.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer’s Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins are joined by Justin Charity to break down the current feud going on between Pusha-T and Drake, including Pusha-T’s diss track alleging Drake has a secret child (1:32) and what this will mean for the future of the rappers' careers (14:26). Then they breakdown the other feud of the weekend between Kim Kardashian West and Rhymefest over Donda’s House (29...

The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey and David Shoemaker convene for an instant-reaction breakdown of the latest 'Star Wars' spin-off movie, ‘Solo,’ to discuss whether Alden Ehrenreich lives up to Harrison Ford’s legacy, how the story’s timelines fit together, and whether the movie actually works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer’s Kate Knibbs and Justin Charity unpack the complicated politics and relationship between pop musician Grimes and tech billionaire Elon Musk (1:50), and then analyze the recent television ad campaigns from Facebook and Uber that vaguely acknowledge each company’s recent scandals and promise to be better (13:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker "celebrate" the one-year anniversary of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's possible involvement in the 2016 presidential election (02:30), examine how America consumed the royal wedding (22:30), and look at Alex Rodriguez's media makeover (35:30). Credits: Hosted by: Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker Produced by: Jim Cunningham Brought to you...

Ringer editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey sits down with legendary filmmaker Paul Schrader to discuss his powerful new film, ‘First Reformed,’ starring Ethan Hawke; his patient style of filmmaking, and his major career achievements, such as cocreating ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘Raging Bull,’ and ‘The Last Temptation of Christ.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey and Andrew Gruttadaro digest the latest blockbuster superhero movie, ‘Deadpool 2,’ by unpacking what worked and what didn’t among the numerous meta jokes and pop culture references. They discuss the long-anticipated arrival of Josh Brolin’s "Cable," why Deadpool is so popular, and where the character and the franchise goes from here. SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains...

In his first micropod, chef and Momofuku founder Dave Chang is joined by The Ringer’s Mallory Rubin to recapitulate their debate over the controversial film ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi.’ Stay tuned for Dave’s interview with ‘Last Jedi’ director Rian Johnson and film critic Karina Longworth later this week. Subscribe to 'The Dave Chang Show' feed here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...

The Ringer’s Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins answer listener questions about Saturday’s royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. They cover everything from the situation with Meghan’s dad (1:21) to speculation about Prince Harry's real parents (24:57). Then they make some predictions for the event (41:31). For more reading on the royal wedding, check out the links below: The latest o...

The Ringer's Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker take a look at how sports writers may be partially responsible for the Supreme Court's recent ruling on sports gambling (02:15), how the media is celebrating John McCain (21:00), and why Andrew Marchand of the 'New York Post' called out ESPN's Katie Nolan (37:45). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ringer editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey chats with comedic filmmaker Ben Falcone about ‘Life of the Party’—his new movie starring his wife, Melissa McCarthy—and what it’s like to creatively collaborate with his life partner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ringer editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey chats with filmmaker Jason Reitman about his early box office success with movies like ‘Juno’ and ‘Up in the Air,’ the complicated nature of making movies that are not meant to be blockbusters in 2018, and his new and terrifying film about parenting, ‘Tully,’ starring Charlize Theron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Justin Charity and Kate Knibbs discuss Childish Gambino's new song, "This Is America," and its controversial music video (0:29), what the qualifications are for handing out the "black genius" title (11:03), and R. Kelly potentially beginning to face consequences for his actions (19:31). More from The Ringer: When a Culture’s Fed Up Donald Glover’s Next Phase Is Here Learn more about y...

The Ringer's Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker sit down to examine Rudy Giuliani's enlightening interview with Sean Hannity (02:00), Peter King's departure for 'Sports Illustrated' (23:00), and the confusion surrounding MSNBC's Joy Reid (38:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins discuss what led to Kanye West's latest controversial statement (2:13). Then, TMZ producer Van Lathan joins the show to discuss his confrontation with Kanye on 'TMZ Live' (15:48) and what happened after the cameras went off (30:33). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer's Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker deconstruct the media reaction Michelle Wolf's jokes (03:15), the role journalists played in bringing Bill Cosby to justice (26:00), and Mike Francesa's brief retirement and return to WFAN (28:45). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices