Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Onward and upward!

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Congrats on your new gig, Bob, I'm really happy about it. I've been sitting here watching BhTV for a long time, and I'm a believer in your idea of covering the ideological spectrum. Looking forward to seeing the future.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

I hereby create BloggingHeadsaholic Anonymous.

Hi, my name is Unit....

Did we succeed in Iraq
 

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Congratulations, Bob. And Brenda, Mickey, Greg, all the other people involved in this that I don't know about.

I found you guys in the fall of '05, at a pretty awful point in my life, and for three or four years I rarely missed an episode. (I still don't think I've ever missed a Bob & Mickey.) It's a wonderful gift you've all been able to give. I don't know of any other website that's been better at showing off the golden age of nonfiction that's flowered before our eyes in the last six years. It's made you guys part of a historic moment I think we'll all remember for the rest of our lives.

If only we had a few more Borgias or Medicis to pay the bills ... but if we did we'd probably all end up in Switzerland.

I'll be grateful if you can find ways to keep this up, and grateful if you can't. Good work.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

in unison:

"hi Unit!"

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Suggestions for Bob's show:

Positive Diavlogs

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Sorry to hear about the transition at BhTV.

Bob, you have done remarkable work here for five years and have built a legacy you'll always be able to be proud of. You've provided a ton of extremely compelling and high level content that frankly wasn't available anywhere else -- including giving voice to opinions and perspectives that are not often heard in the conventional media.

Thanks for the many, many hours of thought-provoking programming, and best of luck in the new year. Whatever form BhTV takes in the future, I'll continue to be a loyal fan. And honestly, if the new BhTV features more diavlogs with you, it might actually be better!

Occupy Slate!
 

Best of luck, Bob.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Wonderful to see Kaus again. Too bad Wright wasted 1/3 of the show hemming and hawing about his failed project. And even with all that time spent talking about himself and the site, we never even really get any insight as to what the hell went wrong. Five staffers and they still can't explain to diavloggers how to do a mic check? How to maintain a quiet area for recording? They still record diavlogs without a way to monitor the audio? Forget about the content for a minute, the site will never succeed with such horrible basic technical quality.

Why is it even a video site? These could easily be audio podcasts. Bob has NEVER taken advantage of the video except to hold up a book cover now and then. Never used overlays, never shown graphs, etc. Completely misused medium. Good luck even trying to find the audio-only RSS anymore, they've hidden it on purpose.

And what does Bob mean when he says that the "Classic" BHTV is made up of first-timers who don't know how to use a computer? It sounds to me like they're planning to dump the regulars: Althouse; Lowry; McWhorter; etc. They all have webcams, mics, etc all setup and know how to use them.

I don't know where Bob is getting his figures (7 out of 9) but if you just go back and look at the past few months of Diavlogs, the overwhelming majority are "regulars" with working mics and webcams and experience with BHTV.

There is something very odd here and I don't think Wright is giving us the straight dope. Looks more like he is actually turning this into the Bob network.

What a sad thing. Yeah, just what will draw the viewers, more of Bob's dynamic stammering. I don't know about the rest of you, but Bob Wright is not the reason I've been coming to BHTV for all these years.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

If I recall a previous explanation, the technical problems had to do with post-production issues and asking people to do diavlogs. I can understand that professionals from various parts of the world with varying schedules would be enough to give any staff a trial. Factoring in whatever personal baggage each 'head brings, professional conflicts with 'heads from other organizations, and restrictions set by employers, all those other 'heads we love come at a premium.

As for the video suggestions, I agree. But, that would add to post-production. Five people, that's it!

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Ah, Bob, when the larger world beckons, one must answer the call. Of course a regular salary is probably somewhat alluring, too. Carry on, nurse...

Thank you for all your efforts and successes in creating and maintaining BH. I've enjoyed and grumbled during many happy hours viewing and reading. And thanks, too, for keeping it going as much as possible, even if in a different form. I think Mickey (yes, great to have him back) is on to something with his idea of naked mud wrestling.

One request that I imagine many of others will echo: Try to preserve Science Saturday! Thank you. Bob

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Awesome rant, Globo! You're the first Bloggingheads Truther.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

A hearty second!

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9709/roflba.gif

If there was ever a final one to end on, let it be that one. Well done, Wondermentperson.

Speaking of which (in re the first 20 min), I thought Mickey was perfect. Say what you will about him, and I've said plenty, he does have that LA state of mind that's just the right blend of tough and tender, that can at the same time appreciate what has happened and keep in it perspective.

Of course I will wish Bob the best of luck in his future endeavors, recent unpleasantnesses notwithstanding. I suppose I will let the news settle and digest for a bit before I say anything more on this front.

To the rest of you, diavloggers and commenters (well, in all honesty, to a strong fraction of the rest of you): thank you for every which way you've stretched my mind, challenged my preconceptions, made me laugh, and fired up my cylinders. I've made a few friends here that I hope will last for life, I'm sure I'm not alone in that, and when it comes right down to it, I think Mr. Wright ought to take that one to the bank.

Go12.

Over and out.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Good luck Bob. It was a great ride. I've been watching for about 5 years, and enjoyed or was enraged by a great deal. That's what good television is supposed to do. ;)

Applauding While Lamenting
 

This is the second-best video capture I can recall recently (the best being Henry Farrell's abject visage when Varoufakis described the Greek situation). I really missed Mickey Kaus and these Wright-Kaus diavlogs. I hope Wright and Kaus keep this feature, or at least battle in text. Mickey Kaus personified the ethos of this site - no one more demonstrated why bhtv needed two windows to work. He always challenged with his opinions and he always did it with a big heart.

That said, I will treasure bhtv, mark 2 all the more. Maybe I didn't link enough here or from my blog or on other social media. I tried to do as as much as I could. I would talk about this website as much as I could offline.

But, Bob, you started diavlogging with people around the world and made it as far as India. China, if you count certain topics. You have to circumnavigate the globe!

Thank you, Bob and Mickey for years of entertainment, elucidation, and class!

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

And, thank you.

I wish now I could have posted more.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Nice post; well said.

(np;ws?)

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Good luck Bob. What you've done here has been wonderful. Thank you.

All good things...
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIGxezrlj2I


Though this may not be an end so much as a transformation. Hopefully things go smoothly enough for people to stay employed though, but if not, there is always something new.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Haven't heard the diavlog yet but there's an elegiac quality to the comments which makes me think everyone is moving on ...

I've had a lot of fun from the Bob 'n' Mickey show for the last few years. My thanks and respect for all you have achieved.

The Bob Show
 

I'm trying to think of a good title for a progressive realist. "The Bob Show" sounds like a something for kids on Saturday morning from the 1960's.

The name "Progressions" has a nice ring to it.

Just don't go with "Realisms". That would make me laugh.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Well, Mr. Keefe, you've been a friend -- to the extent that one can apply that term to people one never actually meets. I will be sad indeed if there ends up being no cyberplace (ooh, how retro: "cyber"!) where people of goodwill with different perspectives can get together and test each others' thinking for soundness and truth.

To the entire Bhtv community, I would like to say: Best of luck. Keep thinking and keep caring. You are a credit to politics, each and every one.

I'll be watching.

"The Wright Stuff"
 

1. Name for Slate feature: "The Wright Stuff"

2. Future funding for Bloggingheads:

Bob, why not follow the lead of the Wilson Center and CSIS and sell out you platform to foreign governments. That's where the real money is ... see ex-Congress members lobbying for foreigners as a model!

3. Nakedness ...

Mickey, you stole my idea ...not naked yoga ... my proposal was "topless Mondays" (joke is ... it is only head shot)

Homoerotic: Bob and Mickey ... of course.
Girl on Girl : Megan McArdle and Ann Althouse
Our Negroes: Glen Loury and John McWhorter
What's a nice Jewish ... :Aaron David Miller and Daniel Levy

Discuss ... more????

4. CELEBRITIES!

Should have followed the Huffington Post business model ... CELEBRITIES!

Barbara Streisand (should have replaced Larry King) and Jon Huntsman
Miley Cyrus and Kristen Soltis
Prince and Glen Loury
"Big Bang Guy" and John Horgan

Discuss ... more?

Science Saturday Please
 

Don't take away science Saturday!!!

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Bob, Bob, Bob....

The first rule of 501c3 success is to learn how to make the ask. I have never heard you make a proper ask. I would be delighted to coach you. I am a very successful fund raiser and a few simple lessons would help you with your funding situation.

We should chat....

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Ave atque vale, bhtv.

I hope something of the original format survives in the new format. The diavlogs on international relations, US foreign policy, economic, scientific, philosophical issues were usually interesting and well-informed. The diavlogs about US politics were much less so. They were barely distinguishable, imo, from the kind of stuff found in the mainstream media. The attempt to combine coverage of politics with more "high-brow" subjects may explain why bhtv never found its true audience.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

i'm at work, and thus can't watch the DV yet, but from the comments it seems like we're potentially seeing the end of BHTV? I'll wait to actually watch the DV to comment further, but this would really be a damn shame, if not understandable.

Re: All good things...
 

Nice link. I also like the Q "It's a Wonderful Life" episode. I wonder if we can also learn something about what really important if we experience a life without bloggingheads

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

I only heard the first topic but I don't think the whole site goes away although I don't know about the comment section and all of that. A restructuring and retrenchment is in the works though so very little non-Wright diavlogs between bloggers/reporters/pundits ( since that is where the costs were the highest ).

I think it will work out well in some fashion since BHTV was ahead of it's time conceptually and content-wise but it needs to catch up to the social media aspect of things (twitter, facebook etc) and adjust the costs involved. Simplifying things will make this a bit easier I would hope.

Re: All good things...
 

That may be going a bit too far!
Truth be told, part of me is glad that my obsession will be forcibly curbed (although it really isn't clear what's going to be happeneing). This way I'll be able to keep a better eye on the climate change controversy or maybe even talk to my husband!

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Just wondering because it really wasn't explained...so these people were being paid...the pundits? Or was it the cost of organizing the operation and the logistics of getting the talent lined up and the equipment sent out?

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

LOL. yea there is a bit of a mismatch between the two in the US. Someone once said that we don't have politics in this country just pop culture. I don't know how far away we are from a completely managed candidacy/reality tv show but that seems to be where we are headed.

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

The latter. AFAIK the on screen talent was all about mutual promotion. A good model but it needs a lot less overhead.

Re: All good things...
 

Allow me a little literary license here for the analogy, now... here... at the end of it all ;)

Re: Dunkirk (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
 

Bummer.

Hope for the best.

Re: "The Wright Stuff"
 

There is definitely some "love that shall not be named" in there. No MORE ! :)