Dara kicks off this episode with a revelation from his daughter, follows it with a plant the size of three Manhattan islands, and then discusses a black actress getting hate online after appearing in a new Star Wars tv series.
All that out of the way, the remainder of the episode is essentially a love letter to the late Ray Liotta, one of Dara’s favourite actors. By the time he finishes, Dara finally understands what it was that Liotta meant to him as a young man. To get there, he discusses in some detail Liotta’s acting career and electric screen presence, with particular focus on 1986’s Something Wild, and 1989’s Field of Dreams.
Talking about the latter movie leads to analysing Kevin Costner and the place he occupied in American movies at that time. Dara was a big fan but argues that Costner represented a conspicuously white, Baby Boomer ideal of American masculinity which isn’t quite so appealing nowadays.
This week’s extras: Ray Liotta interviewed by Marc Maron in 2018 – http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/repost-ray-liotta-from-2018
The Rewatchables does Field of Dreams – https://www.theringer.com/2019/4/19/18508201/field-of-dreams-with-bill-simmons-chris-ryan-and-mallory-rubin