Death on the Lot
25 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 months ago - ★★★★★ - 896 ratingsThis season, we’re getting into 1950s Hollywood, ground zero for a cultural transformation that would upend every aspect of Americans’ lives. A movie theater in every city, a TV in every living room, and a Post-war America determined to be happy at any cost. Also during this period… a slew of untimely Hollywood deaths.
The rules of the road for the next seventy years were being written in real-time, and not everyone would make it out alive. This is the story of how Hollywood sold us on a new American Dream, and left a few unlucky stars holding the bag.
Hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession).
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Episodes
Bonus Episode: Death on the Lot Roundtable
July 21, 2023 16:36 - 1 hourAdam sits down with editor Jody Avirgan and writers Brian Steele and Hadley Meares to discuss crafting the series. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. A HyperObject Industries & Sony Music Entertainment production. To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]. F...
The Bomb That Killed John Wayne
July 13, 2023 07:00 - 1 hourEpisode 8 | The fall of the studio system, the rise of the nuclear age, and the lives caught in the fallout. John Wayne and the staggering production of The Conqueror close us out. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episodes of Death on the Lot, ad-free, right now by subscribing to The...
The Swashbuckler
July 06, 2023 07:00 - 1 hourEpisode 7 | The wild story of Errol Flynn, who just kept hanging around as a symbol of Hollywood’s misogynistic past as it tried to navigate its future. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episodes of Death on the Lot, ad-free, right now by subscribing to The Binge. Plus, get binge acces...
Change Agent
June 29, 2023 07:00 - 57 minutesEpisode 6 | How Hollywood’s use of Black actors clashed with the rising Civil Rights movement, and how the first black Oscar winner, Hattie McDaniel, was caught in the middle. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episodes of Death on the Lot, ad-free, right now by subscribing to The Binge...
Faster Than A Speeding Bullet
June 22, 2023 07:00 - 58 minutesEpisode 5 | As television transformed American life, George Reeves became a star, only to get trapped inside the part that made him famous: Superman. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episodes of Death on the Lot, ad-free, right now by subscribing to The Binge. Plus, get binge access t...
Blood Alley
June 15, 2023 07:00 - 56 minutesEpisode 4 | The life of James Dean, a restless man-child desperate to express himself in uptight post-World War II America. The original Rebel Without a Cause, and the prototype for a new kind of American teenager who longed to escape Mayberry. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episode...
The Red-Baiting of a Golden Boy
June 08, 2023 07:00 - 55 minutesEpisode 3 | A new generation of actors questioned the status quo; a rattled establishment fought back; dire consequences ensued. We’re talking John Garfield, Hollywood’s first method actor. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episodes of Death on the Lot, ad-free, right now by subscribin...
Willie Bioff & Labor’s Last Stand
June 01, 2023 07:30 - 54 minutesEpisode 2 | The Life and Death of Willie Bioff, a gangster who bled American unions dry right just as labor was starting to deliver real results for workers. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episodes of Death on the Lot, ad-free, right now by subscribing to The Binge. Plus, get binge ...
Don’t Change That Channel
June 01, 2023 07:00 - 44 minutesEpisode 1 | As post war Hollywood strives to define itself, it mirrors the divide happening in America. A rising right wing seeks to create conformity and fear, while a left wing fights for Civil Rights and a more equitable future. Learn more about the wonderful books, movies, and articles that made this season possible at dotlnotes.blog. Looking to get in touch with us with questions or feedback? Shoot us an email at [email protected]. Unlock all episodes of Death on...
Introducing: Death on the Lot, from Adam McKay
May 11, 2023 17:30 - 3 minutesThis season, we’re getting into 1950s Hollywood, ground zero for a cultural transformation that would upend every aspect of Americans’ lives. A movie theater in every city, a TV in every living room, and a Post-war America determined to be happy at any cost. Also during this period… a slew of untimely Hollywood deaths. The rules of the road for the next seventy years were being written in real-time, and not everyone would make it out alive. Hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Successi...
Introducing: Réunion: Shark Attacks in Paradise
July 08, 2022 07:00 - 18 minutesAdam McKay talks with host Daniel Duane about our new show Réunion: Shark Attacks in Paradise. Plus an update on season 2 of Death at the Wing. Listen to Réunion on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Roundtable: Crafting the Series
May 19, 2021 08:00 - 51 minutesAdam McKay and the “Death at the Wing” team reflect on the scope of the series, and discuss some of the other story lines of how the NBA and politics intersected in the 80s and 90s, from Magic Johnson’s HIV announcement to Ronald Reagan’s personal relationship with basketball. Hosted by Jody Avirgan, series editor and former host of “30 for 30 Podcasts.” Want to get in touch? Email us [email protected] Death At The Wing is hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession) ...
8. Roundtable: Chuck D and Bomani Jones
May 12, 2021 11:32 - 53 minutesLast episode, we left off with one big question: If the NBA has been able to learn from its mistakes and start to engage with the world in a more humane way, can America do the same? Adam sits down with legendary MC, activist, and basketball fan Chuck D; and Bomani Jones of ESPN, to discuss the intersection of sports, politics, culture and more. Want to get in touch? Email us [email protected] Death At The Wing is hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession) and produ...
7. Hodges, Abdul-Rauf, and a Lost Protest Movement
May 05, 2021 08:00 - 46 minutesAs the 1980s turn to the 1990s, the Jordan-led NBA is big business. Amidst it all, two players try to use their platform to speak out about police violence, racism, and American imperialism. In turn, their careers are cut short. Want to get in touch? Email us [email protected] Death At The Wing is hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession) and produced by HyperObject Industries and Three Uncanny Four. Jody Avirgan, executive producer and editor, Raghu Manavalan, sen...
6. Drazen Petrovic and Basketball’s Cold War
April 28, 2021 11:00 - 44 minutesThanks to the 1992 “Dream Team,” basketball becomes a truly global brand. Overseas stars begin to make it in the United States, the land of opportunity, even as US foreign policy leads many parts of the world to fracture. Want to get in touch? Email us [email protected] Death At The Wing is hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession) and produced by HyperObject Industries and Three Uncanny Four. Jody Avirgan, executive producer and editor, Raghu Manavalan, senior pro...
5. Ricky Berry and the Pressures of Fame
April 21, 2021 07:30 - 45 minutesA shooting guard considered 'Reggie Miller with a handle' commits suicide, at a time when the country is ill-equipped to talk about mental health. Want to get in touch? Email us [email protected] Death At The Wing is hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession) and produced by HyperObject Industries and Three Uncanny Four. Jody Avirgan, executive producer and editor, Raghu Manavalan, senior producer, Brian Steele, producer. This episode discusses mental health, self-...
4. Benji Wilson and Chicago’s Flood of Guns
April 14, 2021 07:30 - 34 minutesThe ‘next Magic Johnson’ gets murdered after an argument outside a Chicago High School. Chicago residents had been scapegoated by politicians and cut off from social services for decades, leaving a vacuum for a flood of guns and violence in the 1980s. Benji’s death was a product of that neglect, but his legacy may provide a path to hope. Want to get in touch? Email us [email protected] Death At The Wing is hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession) and produced by H...
Len Bias and the Crack Panic
April 07, 2021 07:30 - 33 minutesA cocaine overdose claims the life of collegiate superstar and ‘can’t miss prospect’ Len Bias before he ever plays in the NBA for the Boston Celtics. This causes a moral and political panic. Weeks after his death, the Reagan administration, with overwhelming Democratic support, passes the "Len Bias Law," installing mandatory minimum sentences and a system that prioritizes incarceration over rehabilitation. As one writer put it, Len Bias became the “Archduke Ferdinand of the total War on Drugs...
3. Len Bias and the Crack Panic
April 07, 2021 07:30 - 33 minutesA cocaine overdose claims the life of collegiate superstar and ‘can’t miss prospect’ Len Bias before he ever plays in the NBA for the Boston Celtics. This causes a moral and political panic. Weeks after his death, the Reagan administration, with overwhelming Democratic support, passes the "Len Bias Law," installing mandatory minimum sentences and a system that prioritizes incarceration over rehabilitation. As one writer put it, Len Bias became the “Archduke Ferdinand of the total War on Drugs...
Terry Furlow and the Crash After The Party
March 31, 2021 08:00 - 40 minutesFlint native Terry Furlow, a Michigan State legend, was a mentor to Magic Johnson, and was primed to make it in the new run-and-gun NBA. But Furlow struggled to adjust to the league, and bounced around from team to team, just at the same moment that a party culture was taking over the NBA and the country. Stories of rampant cocaine use plague the league, and what was once a fun party drug reveals a darker side. In the end, the league and the country decide to react not by supporting their own...
2. Terry Furlow and the Crash After The Party
March 31, 2021 08:00 - 40 minutesFlint native Terry Furlow, a Michigan State legend, was a mentor to Magic Johnson, and was primed to make it in the new run-and-gun NBA. But Furlow struggled to adjust to the league, and bounced around from team to team, just at the same moment that a party culture was taking over the NBA and the country. Stories of rampant cocaine use plague the league, and what was once a fun party drug reveals a darker side. In the end, the league and the country decide to react not by supporting their own...
1. The Invisible Revolution
March 31, 2021 07:30 - 37 minutesIn the late 70s, basketball was changing rapidly, as was the country. The ABA, a start-up basketball league showcased a faster style of play that captivates fans and introduced a 3-point line to professional basketball. But it was struggling financially. The NBA was just the opposite -- gaining a foothold but lacking that “cool” factor. After a merger, and the rise of satellite TV, everything came together -- Dr. J, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s highlights reached fans across the country. Ca...
The Invisible Revolution
March 31, 2021 07:30 - 37 minutesIn the late 70s, basketball was changing rapidly, as was the country. The ABA, a start-up basketball league showcased a faster style of play that captivates fans and introduced a 3-point line to professional basketball. But it was struggling financially. The NBA was just the opposite -- gaining a foothold but lacking that “cool” factor. After a merger, and the rise of satellite TV, everything came together -- Dr. J, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s highlights reached fans across the country. Ca...
Death at the Wing | The Invisible Revolution
March 31, 2021 07:30 - 37 minutesIn the late 70s, basketball was changing rapidly, as was the country. The ABA, a start-up basketball league showcased a faster style of play that captivates fans and introduced a 3-point line to professional basketball. But it was struggling financially. The NBA was just the opposite -- gaining a foothold but lacking that “cool” factor. After a merger, and the rise of satellite TV, everything came together -- Dr. J, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s highlights reached fans across the country. Ca...
Introducing: Death At The Wing, from Adam McKay
March 17, 2021 06:30 - 2 minutesDeath at the Wing tells the story of a generation of rising basketball stars who fell victim to the forces that defined Ronald Reagan’s America. Hosted by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, Succession), the first two episodes of DEATH AT THE WING arrive March 31st. From Hyperobject Industries and Three Uncanny Four Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices