Talking Documentary Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Given today’s combative political environment, why would anyone want to watch a film about government? Well, because Brandon and Lance Kramer made it. Brothers and filmmakers, the Kramers have carved out a space in documentary that’s reflective and thoughtful in an era where loud and combative rule the day. In “The First Step,” the Kramers show that government still works when everyday citizens look beyond superficial differences and recognize their shared humanity. The film successfully follows up on their excellent 2015 film, “City of Trees,” a winning observation of how taxpayer programs really look at ground level … and how they change lives.

Intro and outro music by Podington Bear.

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Even as a young boy growing up in Alaska, David Holthouse was fascinated by newspapers, storytelling and life on the margins. His ability to blend into his surroundings led to a career as a self-styled gonzo journalist. Holthouse did his best work on the inside, infiltrating groups as varied as neo-Nazis and crystal meth addicts. But as the media landscape changed, so too did Holthouse. He now applies his unique perspective to the world of documentary film and has produced a number of popular movies and series on major streamers such as Hulu and Netflix, including “Sasquatch” and “Night Stalker.”

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Joe Brandmeier was an average married guy who accepted the ups and downs of being coupled. But then a particularly tough patch in his marriage prompted him to think more deeply about the institution. Brandmeier became deeply curious about why we get married, what it means to be married, and how different kinds of couples make it work. He hit the road and interviewed a variety of married couples throughout the upper midwest. The interviews became the crux of his 2016 film, "I Do?" It's an amiable look at how real couples love, laugh, cope and persist.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.talkingdocumentary.com

Hollywood photographer Pamela Littky was overtaken by a nagging curiosity ... what happens, she wondered, to the thousands of kids named Most Likely to Succeed in high schools all across America? Littky embarked on her first documentary film to find out. Ten years later, she answered the question in her 2019 film, "Most Likely to Succeed." It's an endearing and honest look into life's most vulnerable period where even high school stars get bumped around along the way.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.talkingdocumentary.com

Jesse Alk's father, Howard, was a documentarian who died when Jesse was a child. Decades later, Jesse wound up retracing his father's footsteps to Kolkata, India, where Howard had documented West Bengali musicians in the early '70s. Jesse fell in love with the city, its people, and particularly its native street dogs. He filmed the dogs and the people who care for them, capturing the loneliness and suffering of both. His film, Pariah Dog, debuted in 2019 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and won Best Feature.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.talkingdocumentary.com

Dani Connor Wild was volunteering for a wildlife photographer in northern Sweden when the Covid pandemic descended and locked her in place. For the next six months she lived alone in a town of 20 mostly elderly residents and found solace and meaning by heading into the dense, rustic woods near her home. What she found there altered the trajectory of her young career and transformed her into a successful multi-platform documentarian. Her first documentary film, The Squirrels & Me, was released on YouTube in February and has already racked up nearly a million views.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.talkingdocumentary.com

In 1996, Michael Lucid was a senior at the Crossroads school in Santa Monica, California. He noticed a social phenomenon that had the school buzzing and wanted to know more. So he grabbed a camcorder and began documenting a group of impossibly young female idealists whose brash manners and clothes were ruffling feathers on campus. In the process, he created a time capsule that still captivates people 25 years later.

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In 1982, three young men from Allentown, Pa., climbed aboard a billboard in a competition to win an $18,000 mobile home. Times were tough, owning a home was an inaccessible dream, and the three competitors were determined to win. They wound up living on the billboard far longer than anyone imagined and became global celebrities in the process. Nearly four decades later, their story of obsession and determination still resonates. Filmmaker Pat Taggart discusses how this unusual contest came to be and how he overcame an unsettling first interview to make the film.

Learn more about the film at billboardboys.com.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.talkingdocumentary.com

The internet is awash in what are known as "Bill Murray stories." Murray crashing a bachelor party. Bill Murray joining a random kickball game. Bill Murray washing a stranger's dishes. Tommy Avallone traveled to two continents to find out whether these stories were true, and what they tell us about Bill Murray as well as ourselves. Avallone's 2018 film, "The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man," is a light-hearted exploration of a quirky and beloved celebrity. But it's also a meditation on life and the importance of being present.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.talkingdocumentary.com

When Jeremy Workman learned his friend, Matt Green, planned to walk every street in New York City, Workman did what any sensible filmmaker would do: he grabbed his camera and followed along. Three years and 600 hours of footage later, Workman had everything he needed to tell the story of Green's unusual quest in Workman's film, The World Before Your Feet.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.talkingdocumentary.com