Listeners of this show know that Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness love to read, and that includes poetry. Yet, in all the years YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour has been “changing the way people listen to the internet”, Dean and Phil have never dedicated an entire episode to discussing a particular poet’s work. Until now … All That Remains is a powerful, evocative new book of poetry by Betsy Holleman Burke, and it announces the arrival of an indelible voice onto the scene. Betsy joins Phil to discuss the book, its themes and the “moment” poetry seems to be having now. Dean then takes a deep dive into two of the book’s more “stand-alone” poems. Quite unexpectedly, listeners will learn a few new things about Dean, himself! You can learn more about All That Remains and its author at searchingforhummingbirds.com. Have a happy and safe New Year, everybody!

 

This week, your friends in podcasting definitely put the “Hollywood” into YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, not only with the topics they discuss but by recording the show in, you know, Hollywood! That’s right, the “Turlock” drinking game might need to take a couple weeks off, while Dean and Phil discuss jury duty, a forthcoming X-Files/Lone Gunmen virtual convention and a spate of recent “Celebrity Deaths” (including a Supreme Court justice, a founder of Women’s Studies, the founding figure of reggae, a controversial jazz journalist and cultural critic, and more). Phil and Dean sing the praises of the late, great Bea Arthur (discussing both “Maude” and “The Golden Girls”). A comparison of Martin Scorsese to David Lean leads to a conversation about Robert Mitchum. A conversation about last week’s show leads to a discussion of the Vincent Price/Diana Rigg vehicle Theatre of Blood, which leads to a discussion of what it will take for movie theaters – and moviegoing – to survive the pandemic and the digital streaming age. Finally, there is the return of “Lawsuit of the Week” featuring everyone’s (real? phony?) favorite heavy metal act, Spinal Tap! 

 

It’s all classic comedy, classic television and classic movies on this week’s show! The truly legendary Carl Reiner gets celebrated. Then, Dean and Phil compare the years in film 1982 and 1974 with 1962 to see which year they think was the best year ever for movies!

Your friends in podcasting begin with an update on what is being done to restore Phil’s eyesight, and the advice Phil has for those dealing with medical and insurance bureaucracies. They then dig into more than an hour of 20th century history, celebrating Doris Day, novelist Herman Wouk, comedian Tim Conway, architect I.M. Pei and the Arizona mining town of Bisbee.

Back when YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour was just getting started (as “From the Heart of Hollywood”), it’s quite likely that Erynn Petrulis was the youngest listener of the show, teen-ager, living in the UK, who had already acted on-stage with Dean Haglund (while he was touring the UK with his one-man “X-Files” improv).

Now, 7 years later, Erynn is a college graduate and a budding actress, having appeared in dozens of plays and short films. More important, she becomes the youngest guest yet on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour.

So, join us poolside, high atop the historic core of downtown Los Angeles, as the delightful Miss Petrulis swaps stories with her two mentors, your friends in podcasting, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness.