The Well

We are not finished talking about ATHENA by Romain Gavras.  This time we let film critic Bilgi Ebiri  do all the talking. We also get into marketing versus promotion and how even a film like ATHENA can get lost in all the noise.

In this installment of The Drop Branan and Anson discuss and highly recommend the astonishing film ATHENA by Romain Gavras  and film critic Bilgi Ebiri stops by to help us articulate what makes this such an amazing film. Also, Branan and Anson perform an original play written by artificial intelligence.

One of our cultural heroes, Jello Biafra is a legendary figure in the punk rock scene and a spoken word artist and politician. He joins us to discus how he found his unique voice and how to weather the slings and arrows of our chaotic political reality. His solution? Wicked humor.

Just in time for Halloween Branan sits down with author Marshall Julius and legendary makeup FX maestro Howard Berger to discuss their new book , and Branan gets nostalgic and wistful thinking back upon his own almost makeup career.

We were so taken with S.S. Rajamouli’s landmark film,  RRR , we deciated a whole Drop to it! Also, odd news stories and a subtle plea for a new watch.

Back in April of 2020 author and journalist Jack Hitt sat down with us to discuss the beginings of the pandemic and make a few predictions. Over two years later we emerge from our basements and closets to check the accuracy of those predictions and we are once again visted by the ghost of Ignaz Semmelweis. What did we get right and what did we get wrong? Have any lessons been learned?

Imagine getting an anonymous phone call.  The person on the other end tells you that, not only has your work been recognized by group of world recognized artists and innovators, but they are also going to inject your bank account with enough money to change your work and, yes, your life.  That’s what happened to Vijay Gupta.  Here’s our episode about Vijay’s induction into the Ma...

When a virtuoso violinist realizes he has yet to develop his own artistic voice, nor any idea of how to accomplish that task, he is face with a choice: continue a lonely descent into angst, or learn to say “yes”. Here’s the story of how he chose the latter and developed a powerful friendship in the process. You can find Vijay’s album “When the Violin” here . You...

In this episode Branan and Anson discuss: An evil & drugged cat, The STAR TREK: SNW premiere, SEVERANCE, TOP GUN 2, PAM & TOMMY, Robert Egger’s THE NORTHMAN, Cixin Liu’s The Poetry Cloud  (can be read here)  And  Euphemisms That Get on My You-Know-Whats by Adam Sharp. Cat illustration by Louis Wain

When actor Kenneth Mitchell was given a life altering medical diagnosis, it forced him to change his relationship to the concept of time itself.  Join us for our first LIVE episode recording. Additional music provided by Kevin McLeod under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution license .

Tom McElroy has found the road less traveled to be full of unexpected turns, from the absurdities of reality TV to the perils of traveling in remote wildernesses. Along this sometimes tangled path one thing remains clear, we were not meant to go it alone.   And if you haven’t checked it out yet, our  Island Survival Exit Interview  is now on YouTube where Anson Mount interviews Branan Edgens...

Who amongst us has not dreamed of a simpler life more connected to nature, of escaping the rat race and living a singular existence full of adventure? It’s easier dreamed than done but primitive survival expert Tom McElroy of wildsurvivalskills.com sat down with us to tell us how he did it and share the unexpected twists and turns of his adventure thus far.  

This episode finds Branan tired and new father Anson unexpectedly well-rested. Discussed in this episode: SEVERANCE, GIRLS Vs. GANGSTERS AND MIKE TYSON (!), Joel Coen’s THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH as reviewed by Ethan Coen,   Octavia Butler’s  WILD SEED,  THE SPARROW by Mary Doria Russell, A delinquent dancing cactus, wisdom from Sterling Hayden, Anson’s worst moment as an actor, and...

In this episode we discuss impending Fatherhood! Plus Bo Burnham’s INSIDE, Burt Reynolds’  HEAT , Branan’s experience  Cabin living , camping with the gang, John Fahey , Mr. Rogers discusses silence, Never Ending Story , Fellini’s  Toby Dammit excerpt from SPIRITS OF THE DEAD, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater in F minor, RV 621: VI Eja Mater, fons amoris and how is it compares...

Another installment of the segment in which we share all the things we’ve been watching, reading and hearing. AND… The amazing story of how Uncle Philip became a guitar!!!  You won’t wanna miss this one. This episode is dedicated in loving memory to Kao Ly Ilene Her.

Early in the pandemic, the medical community struggled with ways to help people avoid getting sick through physical contact, particularly when it came to our strange habit of constantly touching our faces.  That’s when Astrophysicist Daniel Reardon got an idea.  What follows is the strange and funny tale of a highly intelligent man falling down the rabbit hole of stupidity and then using his...

Anson and Branan chat with Tzi about his time on “Hell on Wheels”, his incredible career trajectory, his ongoing fight against anti-AAPI hate, and that time he was busted for selling powdered sugar at Andy Warhol’s house. For more information about the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund you can visit their website here . Additional music provided by Bored With Four u...

Anson and Branan decide to turn the microphone over to friends and family who have been affected by the rise of anti AAPI violence and hatred in the country.

Anson & Branan take time between seasons to discuss all the things they’ve been reading, hearing and seeing. In Episode number 9 of THE DROP we discuss: QUEEN’S GAMBIT and Anya Taylor-Joy’s eyeballs , Bryan Fogel’s THE DISSIDENT, Netflix’ series of lockdown shorts,  HOMEMADE , Darius Marder’s   SOUND OF METAL , HBO’s The Lady and the Dale , The educational streaming platform  Curiosity S...

Discussed in this Drop:  PEN15 (hulu), THE SOCIAL DELIMA (Netflix), the looming danger of deep fakes, HUMAN NATURE (Netflix), LOVE ON THE SPECTRUM (Netflix), THE DEMON IN THE MACHINE (book), TO HOLD UP THE SKY (book), HARPER’S magazine essay “MAKING MEANING”, BECOMING YOU (Apple TV), WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS (Netflix), The spiritual rootedness of LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO (music) versus the spiritual di...

Join us for part 2 of our conversation with the Martini Samurai Leon Ingulsrud. Topics include: consciousness, learning to “be” through art, how unmarked time slips away into the future, and the eternal question of “Where’s Waldo?”

Back in March, when Anson & Branan founds themselves sheltering with their wives, friends, 6 chickens and 3 dogs, they decided they were missing a very important thing: a new drink recipe. So they phoned up the Martini Samurai himself Leon Ingulsrud of “Hell on Wheels” to help them out with their predicament.

When she found out that her twenty-three year old son Amadou had been shot to death by four plain-clothes NYPD officers (in what they claimed was a case of mistaken identity), Kadiatou immediately boarded a flight for New York City. When she arrived, she suddenly found herself the centerpiece of a political and cultural maelstrom which she had not asked for. Further incensed that the media had dis...

Branan & Anson bring you more fun stuff to discover and experience during the lockdown… Can we even call it a “lockdown” anymore? Whatever. You’re bored and we know it. You can find the trailer for TENET here . You can find the trailer for “Mind Game” here . You can find the trailer fro “The Vow” here . You can find “The Monster of Florence...

Major David Hughes serves as Chief of Professional Standards at the Newport News Sheriff’s Office in Virginia. After nearly falling victim to his own local police culture, and then spending years considering its systemic issues, Major Hughes simply was not willing to keep silent after the killing of George Floyd. He sat down and penned a stunning op-ed for the New York Times entitled, &#8220...