The B-Side Ep. 171 – Richard Linklater (with Ryland Aldrich)

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we discuss Richard Linklater! He’s an American indie legend who we recently just spoke to! With two new films out here at the end of 2025 (Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague), we discuss his B-Sides: SubUrbia, The Newton Boys, Me and Orson Welles, and Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood. Our guest is Ryland Aldrich, our dear friend, an accomplished producer and experienced writer on film, as well as the creator of FYCit App,“the number one smartphone app for awards voters and guild members to find awards screenings, events, and content for all the season’s top contenders.” Conor, Ryland, and I dig into our love for Linklater, the highs and lows of his long, accomplished career, and his continued improvement as a stylist. We debate Ethan Hawke’s chances of getting an Oscar nomination for his Blue Moon performance, the lasting cultural relevance of School of Rock, and Orson Welles’ famous response to a question about Elia Kazan many years ago. There’s also mention of the Mercury Theater’s famous 1938 broadcast of “The War of the Worlds,” the documentary Chasing Chasing Amy, and those real-life clips of The Newton Boys.