D Magazine's Earburner

In the Roman Catholic tradition, there's something called a year's mind. It's a requiem Mass held on the one-year anniversary of someone's death. That's exactly what we did for Zac and those who loved him. Except the Mass was held at a bar called the Old Monk. And we recorded a podcast during the Mass. We boldly declare that it's the funniest year's mind you'll ever listen to. Stick around till the end, when Zac's son, Isaac, drops in and delivers one of the sickest burns you'll ever hear. Here are the links to all the Zac stories we talk about. And remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

Sarah was the U.S. Attorney for the North District of Texas before Barack Obama appointed her head of ICE in 2014. She talks with Tim about why the agency shouldn't be abolished, despite President Trump's current campaign to use it as a tool of terror; about why Dallas hasn't yet seen the sorts of raids that have gone down in other large cities; about why the agency will never deport the number of people the president claims it will; and about why her family was ultimately wrong when they encouraged her to become the first Latina to lead ICE. Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

It's a themed episode! Kathy tells us about a controversy she experienced while judging cakes for the State Fair of Texas. Brian covers the same ground, except with a halal barbecue contest. And then Tim takes us to the Colonial for some golf talk that involves way more fashion choices than it does golf. Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

Our own Mike Piellucci talks about one of the world's best bull riders, John Crimber, who lives with a bunch of other badass Brazilian bull riders in or near Decatur, Texas. Kathy Wise reveals her secret nicknames and the difference between her marriage and that of Tim Rogers. Also: Cooper Flagg! Kathy gets a bit quiet during this portion of the podcast, as Tim and The Looch go deep on the Mavs' No. 1 overall pick. Stay tuned for maybe the dumbest question Tim has ever posed: "Do you believe in spaceships?" Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

We discuss meat and the proper smoking thereof. Plus what is "motorcycle paint" and who in the D Magazine office is most likely to assassinate whom? Oh! Also, we reveal a secret Thai menu at a restaurant in Allen. But that's all.  Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine.

D Magazine’s dining critic, Brian Reinhart, joins Tim and Kathy to talk about the Dallas dining scene, the origin of Texas toast, how the Rice University mascot got its name, the best pancakes in town, and whether Kathy is insane for suggesting that diners should eat salad with their hands. Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. 

If you listened to the previous episode of EarBurner (and you should), you know that Bobby Abtahi was sitting at the table at the Old Monk as Matt and Tim interviewed Mike Rawlings. When they finished the episode with the former mayor, Abtahi, a former president of the Dallas Park Board, having consumed a statistically significant number of beers, started talking about how the city got into the current mess over the management of Fair Park—at which point Tim and Matt plugged the mics back in and recorded this episode. Abtahi was on the Park Board back in 2018, when it was decided that a nonprofit (Fair Park First) would oversee a new for-profit operator of Fair Park (Spectra, which eventually became the Oak View Group), which operator is now nearly $6 million in the red and asking for a handout.  You know what? It's all very byzantine and boring, and we did a poor job of setting up on the podcast what's at stake and what happened. You should probably just skip this episode.  Remember: print makes the podcast

On your November ballot, there will appear 18 proposed amendments to the Dallas city charter, which is quite something. Three of those props—S, T, and U—if they were to pass, would throw the city into chaos. The 59th mayor of Dallas joined Matt and Tim at the Old Monk to talk about why that's the case. While Rawlings (aka His Worship) refused to speculate on the motives of the people behind these props, Tim was not so reserved. (Also, with the passing of Zac, this episode served as a cohosting tryout for Matt. Give us a review, and let us know how he performed.) Remember: print makes the podcast possible. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. 

The Oak Cliff Film Fest runs this year from June 20–23. Barak is one of the smartest, funniest dudes in Dallas, so it's always a pleasure to have him on the pod to talk about the film festival he co-founded. Tim struggles with the buttons and levers to play sound from the movies' trailers. Zac and Barak demonstrate their pop-culture literacy. Oh, and we talk about why we haven't seen more assassinations in America. So there's that.  You know why this podcast is free? Because D Magazine still makes money in print. Consider subscribing. It's a deal. 

In another lifetime, Julia was Tim's boss at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Now she's a best-selling author with six novels to her credit. Her latest is Night Will Find You. Zac gives it five stars. Tim confesses he hasn't yet read it, but that doesn't stop him from reading to Julia the worst review of the book he could find on Amazon. Other stuff you'll hear: how Julia approaches the writing process, why editing is better on paper than screens, and if a building can be shaped like a barn without actually being a barn. Also, the city of Decatur catches some shade. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible.

In the May issue of D Magazine, Matt Goodman wrote a story titled "The Lawyer Who Landlords Don't Want to See in Court." That would be Mark. Sort of by accident, he started the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, which now employs 18 people. On a per capita basis, A LOT of people get evicted in Dallas. That's because the justice of the peace courts where eviction hearings happen are a little wildass. So we talked about all that and about why you should care about people getting evicted. And we explored Mark's personal story, how he lost a job in Oklahoma and, without a college education or any real prospects, loaded up his family in a car and drove to Dallas. Why Dallas? It had a lot of highways so he figured it must have jobs. (He wound up as a bouncer at Cowboys in Arlington before eventually making partner at Holland & Knight.) Please consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. Come on! It's like the price of three coffees! Or one coffee and one beer! Or a sandwich at Eatzi's!

James is the artistic director of the Dallas International Film Festival, which runs from April 25 through May 2. We talked about how many movies he had to watch to pick the 145 (so far) that will screen this year. We talked about how much he cries and why his back is giving him so much trouble and whether Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn get back together at the end of The Break-Up. But James also made us talk about this year's DIFF lineup, which features a bunch of world premieres, including a "30 for 30" documentary about—ugh—Dude Perfect. (Not to be confused with Dude, Sweet.) Get in here and get your ears all over it.  Right now: rate and review the podcast. Then subscribe to D Magazine. Seriously.

Megan spent four years researching and writing her new book, City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways. Here's what Richard Florida said about it: "City Limits is a triumph. Megan Kimble echoes Robert Caro exposing how powerful groups like TxDOT are able to take away people’s homes, destroy their neighborhoods, and run roughshod over communities with virtually no accountability.” So yeah. We talked about highways and I-345. And about how Megan went on a fishing trip to the Eisenhower Library and discovered something amazing. Oh, also, we talked about her high school basketball career.  Consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. 

Mike used to work at D Magazine. Now he doesn't. But he's got a new podcast that dropped April 11 on Audible. It is titled Hold Fast. Over nine episodes, Mike and two other journalists (Sam Eifling and Trevor Aaronson) chronicle the rise and fall of Backpage.com, the Dallas-born classified ad site that a federal prosecutor called "the world’s largest sex trafficking operation." Mike spent three days interviewing Mike Lacey, the founder of the New Times chain of alt weeklies and the man the feds say ran a criminal operation with Backpage.com. In addition to all that, we talked about why Mike escaped Oak Cliff for the suburbs.  Consider subscribing to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast work.

Greg is an SMU professor who hails from Pumpkin Bend, Arkansas. He's also the lead singer for Beekeeper Spaceman and the editor of the Southwest Review. It is under the auspices of the latter that he is launching a new literary festival. Frontera runs April 12 and 13 in three Oak Cliff venues (Wild Detectives, the Texas Theatre, and the Kessler Theater). So we talked with Greg about how you stage a lit fest that feels less like homework and more like a party. And we talked about one of the most amazing physical feats ever performed in the city of Arkadelphia (by him).  If you have a minute, throw us some stars and write a review of the podcast. Then subscribe to D Magazine. Print makes the podcast possible. 

You probably know Joel from his appearances on the Ticket and his Fox Sports work on college football. Along with Curt Menefee, he'll be calling the first-ever United Football League game, at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, March 30, at noon. We got the breakdown on the game, but we also talked with him about why specialization in youth sports is lousy and the fact that he's so cheap that he listens to Spotify with commercials.  You should subscribe to D Magazine. At the very least, rate and review this podcast. Do it.

Over the years, starting in 1992, D Magazine has unintentionally caused the man grief. In this episode, Tim and Zac run through the slights—but only to properly apologize. Also to give Zac a moment to humble-brag. For reference, here is what Eric Celeste's 1992 profile of Aikman looked like with the dumb "Troy Aikman Won't Dance" headline. Here's Aikman on our cover in 2011, when Wick made up a cover blurb that suggested Troy had talked to us about his divorce. And, finally, here's the blog post that made it look as if Tim and Troy were lovers. Again, we're sorry. Subscribe to the magazine so we can keep telling you these silly stories.

Right here you've got another chat recorded on the shady side of White Rock Lake, at Goodfriend. The boys tackle the goofiness of what one local official said about transportation to World Cup matches in Arlington. E.g.: "[W]e wish to have an aggressive travel demand management program to encourage our residents to participate in FIFA." Also they talked about tattoos. 

We're doing a thing. Sometimes we'll have a guest on the pod, sure. But sometimes (if we stick with it), Tim and Zac will simply go to a bar near their houses (Goodfriend) and chop it up as a duo, like Simon and Garfunkel. The hatred for each other will still be there, but they'll make beautiful music together. In this episode, the boys talk about a recent giraffe death at the Dallas Zoo (and whether there are animals smart enough to kill themselves), the proposed ban on horse-drawn carriages (Zac hates them, Tim is right), and Mayor Eric Johnson's footwear at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Allbirds ain't all that). The podcast is made possible by our print pub. Consider subscribing to D Magazine. And give this dang podcast a rating. And write a review. One sentence. You can do it!

Casey is one of the most committed magazine writers working today. When he profiled Leon Bridges for Texas Monthly, he rented a house and bought a crazy-expensive shirt to establish a connection with the recording artist. For his profile of Erykah Badu that ran in the January issue of D Magazine (not yet online), he hired a team of researchers to help him understand the icon. More than a podcast about magazine journalism, though, this one is about striving to become the best possible version of yourself. And South Oak Cliff football.  Make this podcast (and all of Casey's dreams) possible by subscribing to D Magazine.