Weekend America Videos

A format-breaker episode featuring nothing but stories from listeners about the highs and lows of dating Internet-style. In The Loop for November 27, 2009

ITL for Nov. 20, 2009. After telling his story in song last week, we get our interview with Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao (R-LA), the lone GOP Congressman to vote in favor of health reform in the House. Listeners and Facebook fans share their alternatives to turkey on the Thanksgiving table. A NewsNiche interview with Missouri farmer Richard Oswald. A dandy tune giving thanks for the most ridiculous stories of 2009. The year of IHS Global Insight.

It's In The Loop Nov. 13, 2009. Featuring an interview with Minnesota Viking Visanthe Shiancoe, The Hill's Molly Hooper, Sanden Totten, and a new NewsTune.

In celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis' legendary LSD no-hitter. In the past few years weve heard all too much about performance enhancing drugs from greenies to tetrahydrogestrinone, and not enough about performance inhibiting drugs. If our evaluation of the records of athletes like Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds needs to be revised downwards with an asterisk, we submit that that Dock Ellis record deserves a giant exclamation point. Of the 263 no-hitters ever thrown in the Big Leagues, we can only guess how many were aided by steroids, but we can say without question that only one was ever thrown on acid. Sadly, the great Dock Ellis died last December at 63. A year before, radio producers Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel, had recorded an interview with Ellis in which the former Pirate right hander gave a moment by moment account of June 12, 1970, the day he no-hit the San Diego Padres. Alexander and Ilels original four minute piece appeared March 29, 2008 on NPRs Weekend America. When we stumbled across that piece this past June, Blagden and Isenberg were inspired to create a short animated film around the original audio. www.nomas-nyc.com buy Rufus Thomas (Do The) Push and Pull - Part I and II here: http://bit.ly/4fVbjk

It's ITL for Nov. 6, 2009, featuring interviews with TaxGirl, the Christian Science Monitor's man in Afghanistan, and a Pulitzer Prize winner on the incipient federal Shield Law. Plus nifty H1N1 vaccine and Hamid Karzai-inspired music. Damn!

Plus news from Pakistan and a human-fat-powered boat. It's In The Loop for October 23, 2009

It's a NewsNiche Spectacular. Well, "spectacular" might a little strong...But it's a nifty little diversion from our normal weekly fare. Enjoy! It's ITL for Oct. 15, 2009

Plus listener poems on moon water, Max Baucus, and the (final) end of Saturn. It's In The Loop for October 2, 2010. (And yes, we know Chicago lost at the very instant this podcast dropped. Grrr.)

Plus: Is anyone Congress looking after our mouths? And a musical tribute to our 1,500 Facebook fans. It's ITL for Sept. 25, 2009

It's ITL for Sept. 17, 2009. A "pop culture"-focused episode, featuring a chat about Fair Use and the Ellen Show, an elegy for Patrick Swayze, the new "Mind Your Manners Song" and listener stories of rudeness.

...plus the MPRNewsQ song and a new commentary from Nancy Donoval about keeping her health insurance. It's ITL for Sept. 12, 2009.

We asked listeners to call in to our voicemail with short stories. And they did. Also includes a random earthquake.

In The Loop for August 29, 2009. Plus conversations on small biz and health reform, the "end" of the Wikipedia we all think we knew, and Sanden-Ira the Birth Coach.

Jeff and Sanden have taken a wee vacation. But to mark our four-year-anniversary, please enjoy this first-ever episode of ITL from summer 2005.

ITL for August 14, 2009, featuring interviews with Mitch Berg, Bonnie Marsick, and Terence Mashingaidze. Plus a musical tune for John Yettaw.

August 7, 2009: Molly Hooper of The Hill on the Blue Dogs and the Tuesday Group - Sanden wonders who goes sightseeing in Iraq - James Bond meets Tom Jones meets Bill Clinton (meets a high B-flat) - Jeff meets his Facebook Friend Hal Bichel