Bandied Basics

It's April Fools Day! We have some real news mixed in with foolish news, can you spot the difference? Dr. Roberto Heins joins us from Carnegie Mellon to discuss Pittsburghese as a language, Bill Kubicki's Super Fans take over the airwaves, and we play "rants from a hat". Thank you to our telethon donors!

It's telethon! Please do show your support for WRUW-FM as we couldn't produce this show without the equipment and resources provided by our lovely station. Brett and Brad discuss the St. Patrick's Day meteor over NE Ohio and how NASA tracks and plans to deal with other, generally more serious meteors. Brad talks about an article he read about the U.S. government being insolvent that made him angry, and Brett describes baseball food to us in honor of MLB's Opening Day.

Brett and Brad tour Cleveland bars for St. Patrick's Day this year reviewing the most storied of all Irish beers... Guinness. We taste, or attempt to taste, draft Guinness at a number of places around Cleveland: McGuire's Pub, The Grog Shop, Parnell's Pub Downtown, Flannery's Pub, MCarthy's Downtown, Flat Iron Cafe, Hoopples, Carney's Top of the Flats Bar, Old Angle Tavern, The Harp, Stone Mad Pub, and Merry Arts Pub & Grille. We're joined often by friends Tom and David, and occasionally others.Join us on our expedition!

Brett and Brad bask in the burgeoning spring and marvel at the return of Daylight Savings before digging into Federalist 60 justifying the power the federal government has over elections. After the break we mention the Oscars coming up this weekend and Brad reviews some of the short film nominees. We end with a roundup of sports: the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, the upcoming Forest City Cleveland MLS NEXT Pro team, and the World Baseball Classic with the stunning defeat of Team USA.

Brett and Brad start with a healthy dose of banter today before discussing the Iran war and specifically the various reasons the US administration has given for why we started it as of the time of recording.

Brett and Brad are joined by friend of the show Tom Burke, a producer and writer for independent films and graduate of Case Western and the American Film Institute. Tom leads us through a preview of the upcoming Academy Awards on March 15th so that, by the end of this show, you'll have an appreciation for who the top nominees are, who's most likely to win, and what the behind-the-scenes stories are for the top awards. Check out Tom's movies released in the last year available for streaming: Old Guy and The Thing with Feathers.

Brett and Brad celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of Pluto by reading the first chapter of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, just kidding, sorta. It's also the anniversary of the US publishing of Adventures of Huck Finn! Brad discusses the Oscars in preparation for next week's Academy Award rundown and promotes Train Dreams, one of the nominees for Best Picture. After the break, we talk the SAVE America Act that almost certainly won't get a vote in the Senate. We end with some Olympics talk, a late recant of the Super Bowl, and a discussion on Ring's "Search Party" feature (that is potentially the start of a dystopian novel?).

Brett and Brad discuss the differences between civil and criminal law. Is everything illegal a crime? When are you at risk of going to jail? Do the 5th and 6th amendments always apply to you? Who decides? All that and more answers to other exciting questions on today's show! After the break, Brad rants about tax season and specifically the deceptive practices of places like H&R Block. Finally, Brett relays the story of the first study on the harmfulness of caffeine and coffee and updates us on some current research.

Brett and Brad lead with a new, promising treatment for pancreatic cancer from the Spanish National Cancer Research Center that nearly totally eliminated tumors in mice. Brett then talks about a new law in Utah that allows AI to issue prescription refills, and the questions that raises. After the break, we play another round of Released, Redacted, or Red Herring with material from the latest Epstein files release. Brad then discusses startling statements by U.S. Attorney Julie Le in the District of Minnesota and picture it paints for the entire Department of Homeland Security. We end with rapid fire sports talks on the Cavaliers trades, the Olympics, and the Super Bowl.