Yanks & Krauts Austin Bah & Marcus Schuler

We have a guest in this episode: Brenda Royal, Award Winning Biology Teacher from Tennessee. She responds to Tennessee lawmakers and their vision for a gun in every classroom as they vote to allow Tennessee teachers to carry concealed firearms. The Yank is pretty sure few of us will ever be trained enough to carry a gun in a school setting; teachers rarely have enough time to do their first jobs and will watch Jack Ryan on television but don't want to play him in real life.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem shoots her dog Cricket in the gravel patch and herself in the foot. Former President Trump is looking for a different running mate now.
The Kraut just doesn't understand Americans. Take ten steps, turn, and fire.

Everything might be different. When we recorded this morning, we were waiting to see if Israel would respond to Iran's missile and drone attack. Well, Israel seems to have launched an attack on a radar installation near--wait for it-- Iran's nuclear development site. Is this a kinetic message or the first step in a multi-stage mission?
By the time you hear this, Mike Johnson, the Tenuous Speaker of the House, might be the Former Speaker of the House since Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to oust him if he votes for Ukrainian and Israeli aid on the House Floor, which he vows to do. He'd rather be Churchill than Chamberlain.
Former President Donald Trump is a bad boy in court when he is not sleeping. Will he be held in contempt?
And the Kraut doesn't want to sing along to Neil Diamond songs. (The Kraut can't sing, but the Yank can't either...)

Con-man Moses Pray sold Bibles. Now Former President Trump sells Bibles. NBC boots Ronna McDaniel. Will she reclaim her Romney name? A bridge in Baltimore is destroyed by a container ship, and Republicans don't want to replace it. But Lara Trump will sing us a country lullaby and make it all okay. This week, the Yank and Kraut recommend two movies to remind us that pretending to believe in God is an age-old, American con-man tradition.

German Soccer drops Adidas and adopts Nike. (Something for the Kraut.) Then the Yank reminds us that Former President Trump has never apologized for calling for the lynching of the five teens accused of the Central Park Jogger Attack. Whiny, white wonderpuffs can't stand the heat when the law is after them, but they talk so tough when it isn't. The rich and powerful take advantage of the two tiered justice system. But the Piper has finally come for his Pay.

The Yank would rather talk about the Oscars than politics. The Kraut is still trying to make sense of United States politics. Derangement Syndrome sets in, but for a pleasant and sometimes meaningful distraction from the craziness of American politics, there are must see films, some even recognized, or nominated and snubbed, by the Oscars.
Hear Austin's (the Yank's) Oscar Principles: One, the Oscars is, above all, a television show. Two, the films on the Oscar list are mostly worth seeing. Three, the Academy votes are not scientifically conducted, and therefore are not definitive. And four, the Oscars is not the vehicle for finding or promoting all films of consequence.
Jump in for some panic, and movie talk.

In the State of the Union Address, President Biden reminds us that we are on a national quest to create a perfect union (e pluribus unum) as envisioned in our earliest documents--but not quite achieved--to ensure the inalienable rights of all, making each of us an equal among citizens. This leads Marcus and Austin, the Kraut and Yank, to discuss the film, Origin (directed by Ava Duvernay), and the book that inspires it, Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents (by Isabel Wilkenson).
It's Oscar Weekend, but the world doesn't need another superhero movie. No fantasy here. A must-see film (and must-read nonfiction study) for anyone who cares about the condition of humanity.