Grown Folk Talk on Middle East, al-Sharaa and Syria, Trump’s Trip, & Saudi/Qatari Soft Power Plays

On this episode of Heard Tell, host Andrew talks with our friend and certified film critic Luis Mendez of the Mendez Movie Report on why this year's box officeis way up from last year's historically bad Memorial Day weekend to this year's historically great one. Plus, we talk about why live action remakes are controversial with critics but audiences make up their own minds, Snow White's failure vs Lilo & Stitchs success, the upcoming How To Train Your Dragon, and why the genre isn't going away. Also, we talk about the business that is Disney, why cultural currency is vital to movie franchises and IPs, some film reviews, and more.All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsAll that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"Do you have enough principles and personal integrity to survive first contact with a viral video?"On this episode of Heard Tell, host Andrew talks about the ICE raids in LA turning into rioting violence, and an escalation in the PR/news media/social media tv show that is driving the escalation on the streets. Why too many folks want escalation, what it all means, and where we are going from here with much more than just the illegal immigrant debate on this Heard Tell.All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell, host Andrew welcomes back Peter Pischke of CultureScape for a rousing discussion of how "nerd culture" should really just be called "the culture," how the traditional and political news media are missing the generational culture shift, misconceptions about content creation, the ongoing debate over disaffeted 18-34 year old males on the interwebs, and why the old terms and stereotypes about nerds, gamers, weebs, & geeks just doesn’t apply anymore. All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell, host Andrew shares some thoughts on yet another news story furthering the debate on the death penalty, and how a combination of judicial issues, moral difficulties, government accountability and ethics questions, and revealing that the push for "humane" execution is making the problem worse, not better, and exposing a whole bunch of cowardice underneath all the different policy and legal jargon. All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.Casey Smith's piece on the execution of Benjamin Richie's execution can be read here:https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/05/22/violent-moment-during-indiana-execution-draws-scrutiny-doc-officials-deny-botched-process/--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell, host Andrew shares some thoughts on the news that former President Joe Biden has cancer, and how once again the news media, social media, and the interwebs just can't seem to discuss death, illness, mortality, politics, and and culture in the same sphere at the same time without everyone involved embarrassing themselves.All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.Andrew's piece on the Joe Biden situation:https://heardtell.substack.com/p/joe-biden-the-man-interrupts-joe?r=17xgaAndrew's appearance on Fox5 DC regarding Joe Biden from prior to the cancer announcment.https://youtu.be/n7rnW2r2hB4--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell, host Andrew shares some thoughts on the current state of politics, politicians, people, places, and a whole bunch of money involving the Middle East. From the changing leadership and recognition of the Ahmed al-Sharaa led Syria, to President Donald Trump's deal making trip, to the GCC's role as counter to Iran, and why the Saudi and Qatari sovereign wealth funds and soft power plans are key to understanding what is really going on.All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.Andrew's piece on President Trump's policy towards the Houthis can be read here: https://open.substack.com/pub/heardtell/p/american-foreign-policy-drive-by?r=17xga&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell host Andrew talks about the blame game that is a core of politics and pundits but reminds us that the finger pointing of news and social media means three fingers pointed back at ourselves. And since the legislative branch is the one that represents We, The People, it is time to have an honest conversation about what we are representing before we just blame all our ills on Washington. All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell host Andrew shares some thoughts on the NY Magazine article "Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College” and uses it to talk about higher education, why we should have a healthy skepticism of AI, why the learning part of education has been lost in the credentialism, what education ought to mean, and why he signed up for community college this past week.All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell host Andrew shares some thoughts on the Signal scandal involving Trump administration officials using the messaging app as a group chat to discuss details of the recent Houthi strikes in Yemen, which included The Atlantic's Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a stunning series of events. From the sequence of events, to what might or might not happen next, and how the basic principle of "OPSEC ends where convenience begins" is at the heart of this hot mess on this edition of Heard Tell. All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Heard Tell host Andrew comes fresh of some talking heading to talk through the reported cuts coming for Veterans Affairs, the wider push for DOGE & “efficient/smaller” government, and the rhetoric that there should not be any “sacred cows” when it comes to spending cuts. Which is fine in theory, but when it comes to entitlement programs and the optics of veterans and other classes of folks losing their jobs, benefits, and livelihoods, the politics and perception quickly changes from the buzzwords.All that and more on this episode of Heard Tell.--------------------Heard Tell SubStack Free to subscribe, comes right to your inboxhttps://heardtell.substack.com/Questions, comments, concerns, ideas, or epistles? Email us [email protected] follow @HeardTellShow like the program, comment with your thoughts, and share with others.Support Heard Tell here: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/4b87f374-cace-44ea-960c-30f9bf37bcff/donationsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy