#DogShirtTV: A Schedule for Week #1

Plus, the reader verdict on whether I'm wearing a dog shirt to J-'s wedding

Good Afternoon:

The people have voted. And bound as I am by the vox populi, I will not be wearing a dog shirt to J-’s wedding this evening. While there are still technically three hours remaining to vote, as the estimable Dave Wasserman would say, I’ve seen enough. The No-Dog-Shirters have it.

J- will be relieved.

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Returned and rested from my Italian caper, I am ready to announce the first full week of #DogShirtTV, which will commence on Monday. But first, the rules:

1. The show will be irregular. Irregular days. Irregular times. I intend to do it two or three times a week. But I make no promises. It will happen when it happens. And it may go into periods of hibernation. I get busy sometimes.

2. Similarly, I will try to schedule them over the weekend in advance and do a scheduling post on Saturday or Sunday each week. But again, no promises. I reserve the right to do an impromptu show with minimal notice. And I similarly reserve the right to get lazy and not schedule things in advance in an organized fashion. Deal with it.

3. The estimables Kate Klonick, GDF, Scott Shapiro, and Alicia Wanless are all invited to co-host any show, but their presence or lack thereof will generally not be announced in advance. Coordinating a pain in the ass. They will show up or not at their sole and unreviewable discretion as the spirit moves them. Consequently, show notes that refer to what “I” will discuss with the guest should be to read to mean “I and any co-hosts who may choose to show up.” As that is a mouth-full to say, I will use the first person singular. Again, deal with it.

4. Unlike #InLieuOfFun, #DogShirtTV will end on time. Always. It will be exactly an hour long.

5. Episodes will, as a general matter, be available for free live on YouTube and in the #InLieuOfFun podcast feed after-the-fact. I will post both in appropriate dog shirts. Live attendance in the virtual studio, however, which involves the ability to ask questions and engage in the famed Greek Chorus chat, will be reserved for paid subscribers. You can become one by clicking this button:

   Information regarding how to access the studio will be posted below the paywall in each scheduling episode, including this one. I will change the access information every now and then if I see significant numbers of non-subscribers starting to show up.

6. I reserve the right to do episodes for paid subscribers only, though I have no immediate plans to do so.

7. Technical problems are, of course, part of the show. I’m running these streams myself with no support. Don’t expect them to be glitch-free. That would be no fun. Rather, deal with it.

8. I will not be using Twitter for any aspect of the promotion of #DogShirtTV. I neither encourage nor discourage others from announcing shows on that platform.

What is the goal?

The goal is to continue and try to scale the experiment that Kate and I started playing with during the pandemic: What if we didn’t assume that TV had to be overproduced shit, low on expertise, high on glamor, make-up, and shitty punditry? What if we assumed instead that TV could be a vehicle for community, for education, for improvisational conversations with real expertise and information and with a significant element of audience engagement and participation? What if we assumed dog shirts and saber-toothed anchovies and baby cannon attacks on the cameras and real-time cooking and rescue cormorants? In other words, what if we took seriously the democratization of the technology while also taking seriously the informational responsibility of broadcasting?

How many people want this kind of—as the estimable John Bordeaux once put it—regular “drinks with imaginary friends” and is there a revenue model that would sustain it?

The goal is to try to find out.

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Which brings me to this week’s line-up. On Monday, we will be hearing from my friend Katsiaryna Shmatsina, who is a hardened criminal in her native Belarus—and thus a hero in civilized countries. Katie is a podcaster:

She recently wrote about her own criminal trial for Lawfare. And she and I talked about it on the Lawfare Podcast:

The episode will appear here:

On Wednesday, I will be joined by the estimable Tyler McBrief, Lawfare’s redoubtable managing editor. He and I will discuss Tuesday evening’s debate.

On Thursday, Mike Pesca—an #InLieuOfFun regular—will join the show to talk about whatever we feel like talking about:

All of these shows are scheduled to 6:00 pm Eastern time, but don’t take that as establishing any kind of norm. See Rule #1.

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Occasional Acting #BeastMaster Paul Rosenzweig has been on a trip to Alaska and has returned with a bag-full of beasts. This feeding brown bear is today’s #BeastOfTheDay: