Delayed but never denied, the Hollywood Prospectus podcast tackled The Newsroom (2:10) this week, and with it the most pressing issues of 2010. Wait, scratch that. Instead, we debated the show’s merits, considering one of us kinda liked it and the other, well . . . We also discussed the return of Louie (22:00), a show both Chris and I came late to, and how the secret to appreciating this comedy is realizing it’s not really a comedy at all. From there it was onto music, where we discussed Fiona Apple, her critically-lauded new album, and her mega-revealing interview in New York magazine (30:44). When an artist acts up is it genuine? Is it for the spotlight? And is it ever possible to separate the two?

Then it was time to introduce a new Mixtape feature on the pod (39:35), where Chris and I will each make Spotify playlists to enchant and frustrate our listeners. Chris’s surprisingly rock-heavy first offering is called Up North (Of The Wall) Trips while my wider-ranging mix is Something Beautiful You Can Truly Own. Mine features late-breaking nominee for Summer Jam 2012, French Montana’s “Pop That” (warning: link is NSFA – Not Safe For Anything). We ended the talk with the latest entry in the Double Down Book Club, Don Winslow, whose book Savages is soon to be an Oliver Stone movie starring the box-office-gold-certified Taylor Kitsch. And, hey! All fans of the Double Down Book Club (48:27) should know that we now have an official, permanent home on the internet: snitchbutlers.tumblr.com. As of this moment, it’s updated through the first two entrants into the DDBC, George Pelecanos and James Crumley, but soon it will be the go-to place for all your hard-boiled, whiskey-addled, page-turning needs.)

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