Welcome back to Frank & Sense!

We've been off for the last couple weeks. Turns out independently publishing a podcast/newsletter is a lot of work! We're back and better than ever this May with many exciting episodes on deck:

• A "Cowboy Carter" Listening Party with Mary Catherine Curran, Chloe Mikala, and Matthew Reckeweg
• A Meeting of "The Tortured Poets Department" with Becca Ballinger and Rebecca Wahls
• "Artificial Intelligence is a Metaphor" with Michael Madaio

Those are all coming soon to a podcast feed near you!

This week, I had the absolute pleasure of interview Ross Godwin, one of my best friends and a video journalist for the Washington Post. Breaking news: It's a great episode!

But before we get there, I have a special favor to ask.

Frank & Sense is independently published and entirely supported by people like you. That means that your opinion matters to me! Could you spare a moment to share your thoughts via our audience feedback survey? I promise it won't take long, and your insights will be valuable in shaping the future of this scrappy little endeavor. As a thank you for participating, everyone who fills out the survey will be entered into a drawing to win $25!

The deadline is Saturday, May 24 - which is also my birthday. So if you want to get me a really great gift this year, give me the gift of your thoughts and insights. I've never done an audience poll for Frank & Sense, Let's Be Frank, and/or Hoops Crew, and I'm excited to get your thoughts (even if you don't listen to the shows, you're reading this newsletter, and that would be interesting to know!).

Thank you for sharing your feedback, and I look forward to hearing from you! And now, on to the main event!

Witnessing History with Ross Godwin

Ross Godwin has seen some pretty crazy things. He's been to multiple State of the Unions, a Super Bowl, the 2020 vote counting in Philadelphia, the coronation of King Charles, a Goop convention, and much more. That's because he's a video journalist with the Washington Post. He's also one of Frank's oldest and best friends. Ross joins Frank this week to talk about documenting and bearing witness to history, and how it doesn't feel like history while you're there. They also discuss "the media", bias, decentralization of news, and using the same bathroom as the Coptic Christian Pope.

Episode is embedded below and available everywhere you get your podcasts!

Stuff We Talk About:

Here are the links to Ross's video pieces that we discuss:

Quiet On Set - This film is about working conditions for craft people that work in Hollywood. It provides a short history of production tragedies related to the film industry, how the streaming services benefitted from an outdated sweat heart deal, and the struggle for IATSE to negotiate for better working conditions, like meal and rest breaks. It's moving and provides a rare behind the scenes look of the people who work behind the camera, and behind the glitz and glamor. Ross co-directed this film with longtime collaborator Lindsey Sitz.

(This is short documentary that predates the new series that shares the same title.)

Throwback Thursday: Monday Night Raw / Throwback Thursday: The Magician - These two films were a part of "Throwback Thursday", a docuseries about memories from childhood. They run the gamut in terms of subject matter and they can be at turns funny, emotional, and raw. I particularly love the stop motion sequences that animates some of the memories.

Descendants: Diving With a Purpose - This film is about teenagers who scuba dive with a group called Youth Diving with a Purpose. They are exploring and mapping the wreckage of a slave ship that sank off the coast of Florida in what is now Biscayne National Park. They shares how it feels to research slave ships as a descendant of enslaved Americans.

Hoops Crew Corner

Knicks superfan Devin Mahoney joins us on the show! We talk the 2023-24 Knicks, his relationship with the team, and his favorite Knicks. We discuss all of the action from the playoffs, and we play a game of Potomac vs Italy vs New York. Smash that play button and get on in here!

Stuff We Talked About:

• When Devin was on the show this week, he mentioned that he will always love Carmelo Anthony for going to the store in his bathrobe. Here's the video, recorded and shared by his ex-wife LaLa Anthony, if you want to see a Baltimore legend in a bodega wearing a robe with his name monogrammed on the chest. 🤌🤌🤌
• When Debbie Crabbe and Eli EL joined the show a few weeks ago, we talked about the hilarious YouTube series "Game of Zones" and "Hero Ball", which animate the players from the NBA and put them in the worlds of Westeros and anime, respectively. They're fun and silly.

• Misc other links:
  • Here's a picture of Deni Avdija in a wine cave on NBA draft night 2020.

• Track and field is becoming the first Olympic sport to pay winners prize money.
• Here's the 2024 NBA player poll that found many interesting things, including more than half of the NBA does not want to fight a player you may never have heard of. James Johnson is a 37 year old player who plays for the Pacers. He's only played 9 games this season, but he's no slouch. He's 20-0 in kickboxing, 7-0 in MMA matches, and has a black belt in karate. His nickname is "Bloodsport". If I ever have to choose a champion to fight on my behalf, like in Game of Thrones or Space Jam, it will definitely be James Johnson.

And that's all the news that's Frank to print. Happy May, have a great weekend, and we'll see you again next week!

Frankly yours,

Frank

PS. Don't forget to fill out the survey - and thank you in advance!