It Was 20 Years Ago Today

For November 22, 2010.  Twenty years ago today, the city of Kissimmee, Florida put a new proposed ordinance to a vote.  If passed, theaters could not sell tickets for movies with the new NC-17 rating to minors.  I talk about the fate of that proposal, and offer a history of the MPAA's rating system for movies as well as two other ratings systems -- for video games and TV shows -- which have been instituted in the last twenty years. For a look at the politics behind the MPAA's system as well as its unwritten rules, I highly recommend This Film Is Not Yet Rated (which was itself originally rated NC-17 but surrendered that rating in favor of being released unrated).

Sunday, October 3, 2010. Twenty years ago today, the nations of East Germany and West Germany, separated for 45 years, reunited as one nation.  I take a look at this event, which was the biggest step toward the end of the Cold War to that time, and reflect on how Germany -- and the world -- has changed since then.  

Thursday, November 19, 2009. Twenty years ago today, the US national soccer team qualified for the World Cup tournament, for the first time in forty years. Paul Caligiuri's goal, which won the match for Team USA, quickly became known as "the shot heard 'round the world," and it changed the way Americans looked at soccer.Click here for a YouTube clip which shows the ESPN SportsCenter coverage of the match, including Caligiuri's goal.

Sunday, October 18, 2009.  Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area who owned a Far Side page-a-day calendar would have found the cartoon for twenty years ago today prescient -- and downright creepy.  I describe that cartoon, and talk about some of the big changes that happened to San Francisco and Oakland's transportation infrastructure as a result of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Saturday, October 17, 2009.  5:04 pm.  Twenty years ago today, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck northern California, changing lives and landscapes forever.  I share my memory of the moment the quake struck, and what happened a few minutes later that taught me a very important lesson -- being in the midst of history as it's happening isn't always an adventure.The SFGate website, online home of the San Francisco Chronicle, has a special section devoted to those fifteen seconds that changed everything.

Thursday, October 15, 2009. Twenty years ago today, author Scott O'Dell died at the age of 91.  I talk about O'Dell, his most famous book, and how his writing (and that of my other favorite books as a kid) influenced my reading interests -- and, by extension, helped inspire this podcast.

Sunday, October 11, 2009.  "It Was 20 Years Ago Today" returns with a recollection of the story that Times Herald-Record columnist Mike Levine published twenty years ago today.  The story, and the problem it illuminates, could have easily been written today.Mike Levine went on to become the executive editor of the Times Herald-Record before dying far too young in January 2007.  His family and colleagues established a journalism education scholarship in his name, and the first Mike Levine Workshop was held this past spring.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009. Twenty years ago today, the movie Batman was released, bringing the famous comic book hero to a whole new generation of fans.  I talk about the movie and my own experiences and impressions of Batman, from the Superfriends to "The Killing Joke."One of the earliest episodes of this show was about this same Batman movie, commemorating the date when the first draft script was written.  Fellow Bat-fanatics who haven't been following this show since day one might enjoy checking it out!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009. Twenty years ago today, the movie Star Trek V: the Final Frontier was released.  I share a few facts about the fifth of the Trek movies, and relate my experience of watching it for the first (and almost last) time.  I don't remember seeing the poster design depicted here back in the day, but I couldn't resist showing it now, because my answer to the question it poses would most likely be, "To keep the audience from getting up and walking out."I also refer to a version of the movie given the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" treatment.  This isn't the RiffTrax commentary, but rather a fan film with a Joel, robots and everything, including one unforgettable song, by Seattle filmmaker Ryan K. Johnson.  More information can be found on Ryan's website.

Thursday, June 4, 2009. Twenty years ago today, the Chinese government moved to crack down on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tienanmen Square.  I talk about the crackdown on that day, and the efforts of the Chinese government to prevent its people from even knowing about what really happened in Tienanmen Square twenty years ago.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009.  "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was released twenty years ago today. (Technically, it was released on the Wednesday before, May 24 -- my mistake!)  I talk about the third film in the "Indiana Jones" series, why I think it worked so well, and why the fourth film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls," which we'd waited almost twenty years to see, just didn't work.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009.  Gilda Radner died twenty years ago today.  I share a few memories of the actress and comedienne, who was one of the original (and still the best, to my mind) Not Ready For Prime Time Players.I apologize for the less-than-stellar vocal quality of this episode.  I'm a bit under the weather, but I didn't want to miss out on this event.  To recall another of Gilda's famous phrases, it's always something, isn't it?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009.  Twenty years ago today, the last graffiti-covered subway car on the New York City system was retired from service.  I talk about the efforts to clean up graffiti on the NYC subways in the late 1980s, and how that changed the image of the subways (and the city itself) for people like me who knew about "The Big Apple" from nothing but TV shows.

Thursday, April 30, 2009. Twenty years ago today, film director Sergio Leone died at the age of 60.  I talk about the achievements of the man who defined the "spaghetti Western," and how I first came to see his movies.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009.  Twenty years ago today, 96 people lost their lives in a human crush at Hillsborough, a football (soccer) stadium in Sheffield, England.  I talk a little about the worst disaster in the history of English sport, and about the part we all have to play in keeping the memory alive -- even people like me who didn't learn about the disaster until many years after it happened.The picture at the left is of the memorial to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster at Anfield, the home stadium of Liverpool Football Club.  LFC has never forgotten the tragedy that took the lives of 96 of their supporters, and their website is a great place to begin learning more about the human cost of the Hillsborough disaster.

Sunday, April 12, 2009. Sugar Ray Robinson, considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time, died twenty years ago today.  I talk a little about this remarkable fighter, as well as sharing my own thoughts about being a boxing fan.

Monday, April 6, 2009.  Twenty years ago, the Polish Round Table Agreement was signed, setting the stage for the end of Communist government in the nation of Poland.  I give a brief description of the agreement, as well as a glimpse of some of the events yet to come in 1989, which together spelled the end of the Iron Curtain in Europe.This is the 150th episode of "It Was 20 Years Ago Today."  It's a little hard for me to believe that there have been 150 shows over the last two and a half years.  I want to thank all of my listeners and supporters.  Whether you've just started listening recently, or have been here since the beginning, your downloads and support mean a lot.  Many thanks.

Saturday, April 4, 2009. Twenty years ago today, Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses was in the top spot on the New York Times fiction bestseller list.  I take a look at the controversy surrounding the book, and talk about all the things I didn't understand about that controversy -- from twenty years ago to this day.

Thursday, March 26, 2009.  Twenty years ago today, citizens of the Soviet Union went to the polls in the first multi-party elections in that nation in over seventy years.  I take a look at that election, some of its results, and ponder the changes in the world, where for many of us, the Soviet Union has never even existed.I've also included a promo for the Forgotten Classics podcast, a show where you can find out more about famous books of an even older vintage than I might talk about here.

Thursday, March 19, 2009. Twenty years ago today, the New York Times printed an article about the practice of balancing eggs on their ends on the occasion of the spring equinox.  I look at the idea that you can only balance an egg on its end on the equinox -- which is a folktale -- as well as the idea of urban legends in general.This episode was inspired in large part by a well known article on the Bad Astronomy website.  My favorite reference site for rumors and urban legends is Snopes.com.