From A Controversial Shooting To Billy Joel’s Return And Why Julia Roberts Almost Skipped Notting Hill

Some stories land like a punch; others feel like a hand on your shoulder. We start with Minnesota’s headline-grabbing shooting involving a DHS officer and a protester and break down the uneasy balance between lawful protest, public order, and necessary force. Instead of shouting past each other, we admit the gray areas: how often can officers yield ground, what counts as escalation, and why media tone shapes whether we learn anything at all.

From there, we explore trust in conservative media and why many listeners are exhausted by personalities who mistake volume for value. We spotlight Dennis Michael Lynch as a thoughtful alternative: documentary roots, clear reporting, and an eye for the “meat and potatoes” of policy and border security. If you crave substance over spectacle, this is a practical way to recalibrate your news diet without giving up on core issues or tough conversations.

Then the energy lifts with a rare feel-good note: Billy Joel’s surprise return to the stage after a diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus. Cane or not, the Piano Man still moves a crowd, and that resilience reminds us why great songwriting outlasts the news cycle. We share a personal concert memory, because sometimes joy and nostalgia are the most honest metrics we have for what matters.

We wrap with Julia Roberts’ revealing reflection on nearly passing up Notting Hill—proof that scripts can sound ridiculous before they become classics. That candid moment opens a fun debate about favorite Roberts roles and why certain films stick. Your turn: what’s your pick, and what does it say about the type of stories you love?

If this mix of clear-eyed news, smarter media picks, and a dose of cultural joy resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Your notes help us keep the signal strong and the noise low.

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Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. 

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Chapters

• 0:29 Minnesota Headlines Set The Tone
• 0:39 ICE Shooting Debate And Media Reaction
• 2:34 Turning From Outrage To Lighter Stories
• 2:44 Touting Dennis Michael Lynch
• 4:27 Billy Joel’s Health And Surprise Performance
• 7:12 Julia Roberts On Notting Hill
• 9:51 Question Of The Day And Sign-Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

Hello, good morning, happy Thursday. Well, what do we have going on today? Obviously, you're gonna hear about everything Minnesota today. They started yesterday strong with the uh fraud hearing and all of this, and then later in the afternoon, of course, we had a uh homeland security HHS ICE uh officer kill shoot and kill a person who was impeding their jobs. She took her vehicle, used it as a weapon, and tried to run over the officer. This is what is being reported. I don't really want to say one way or the other what happened. I wasn't there from what I've seen. I'll probably have a controversial take on this. The dude could have stepped out of the way. Not that that makes it better, because then you think, well, she shouldn't have been there doing that either. I don't know. It's just it seemed unnecessary to me. But then again, how how many more times are we gonna say, okay, let me get out of the way, you go do what you want to do, you protester. You know, forget about law enforcement, forget about us doing our job, you go do what you want to do. That's what you've been doing for the last four years. So go ahead, continue on. I think those days are over. Luckily, the mainstream media, as far as Fox News goes, they are not playing it nonstop. They are still talking about the fraud, they are talking about other news. You know, in the past, this would have been 24 hours, seven days a week coverage of nothing but that all the time. So hopefully, I mean, I I feel bad for the lady, but she shouldn't have been there doing that. Uh all right, we're gonna move on. I have a couple of stories, lighter stories. This is why I don't want to talk about the main news because ever first of all, everybody's gonna talk about it, and everybody's gonna have their own opinions. Uh I tell you what, you know, if you're tired of the Megan Kelly's and the Dan Bonginos, I did write a blog about him the other day, yesterday on my blog, and Americanins.com. I also did a video about Dan Bongino trying to make a comeback after he quit nine months of being an FBI person. Um, but let me tell you who, if you're sick of all the conservative BS media, the new media as they call themselves, the Megan Kellys, the Dan Bongino's, the Ben Shapiro's, the Tucker Carlson. If you're tired of that nonsense, go check out a guy named Dennis Michael Lynch. Just Google him, you'll find him. Just go to YouTube, go to his YouTube channel, start watching his YouTube videos. He is freaking awesome. He's done a couple of investigative documentaries in the past. Uh, he used to work at Fox News. I mean, he's pretty well known. He seems like he's well off. His content is well done, professional, thoughtful, factual. He doesn't go off the deep end and yell and scream like these other people talk about nonsense. He actually talks about the meat and potatoes of what's happening and what we need to do to save this country, to help Donald Trump save this country. Okay. Go check him out. Dennis Michael Lynch. All right, two stories on my X-File. If I can get to it over here, trying to open up my screen. Oh, here we go. La-di-da-di-da. Where is my X-File? I'm sorry. Okay, here we are. All right. Billy Joel surprises fans with first live performance since brain disorder diagnosis. Now, love him or hate him. I love him because of his music. I think he's the most talented musician, piano man, songwriter ever. He his songwriting is just genius. I think he's the best songwriter ever. Um, ever, in all time. Yes, I am saying that out loud. Uh we got to see him in concert in 2019, in October 2019, you know, before this whole pandemic started. It was wonderful. My husband surprised me with the weekend. We flew out to Dallas, stayed out there, got to see Billy Joel, and then flew back. It was a great weekend. Oh, we had like up row front seats. Oh, it was fantastic. I can't believe we had such good seats like that for Billy Joel. I'm so glad we got to see him. But anyway, you know, he's been diagnosed with a brain disorder called normal pressure hydrocephalus. I don't know what that is. But I think one of our friends has this. My I was telling my husband about the Billy Joel thing and tell telling him that what he had. And he said, yeah, so-and-so has that too. And I think our friend has some kind of an implant in his brain, in his head, that helps with that. I mean, the guy, you know, he's still he's still upright and walking around and functioning, so that's good. The piano man is back. Billy Joel 76 surprised fans with a performance. Uh, on Friday, Wellington, Florida celebrated their 30th anniversary with a lineup of multiple bands. As the turnstiles, who named themselves after Joel's 1976 album, closed out the show. The group teased a special guest. Joel appeared sporting a winter coat and a black baseball cap as he walked with a cane. Uh, yeah, I think our friend has to walk with a cane too. The Uptown Girl artist was accompanied by his wife Alexis Roderick and their two daughters, Della Tin and Remy 8. Joel, who also Joel is also a dad to daughter Alexa Ray Joel, 40, with ex-wife Christy Brinkley. The Grammy winner played his 1989 hit, We Didn't Start the Fire, before launching into his 1978 song, Big Shot. Oh, I just love Billy Joel. Now I'm sure his politics are not the same as mine, but I still love him. I don't care. I don't care. I love Billy Joel. During the performance, Della and Ray. Okay, what okay. Anyway, that's pretty cool that he got to do that. I'm so grateful that we got to see him in concert too. Alright, moving on to Julia Roberts. Now, I was desperate to try to find articles to read about and talk about today. So we got Julia Roberts, but it has also sparked an interest in me. So now I want to go watch all of her films again. Because she has a lot. So I'm thinking I might go do that, you know, when on my downtime when I have it. But here's what she says about one of her films. And I thought, Julia, keep your opinions to yourself, keep your thoughts to yourself. You don't have to say it every out loud. Just because Jeffy would say, just because there's a mic in front of you doesn't mean you have to say it. Before it became a rom-com classic, Notting Hill almost lost its biggest star, Julia Roberts. Roberts, who is 58, said she initially dismissed the film as so effing stupid, questioning the premise before discovering the charm that ultimately convinced her to sign on. Gosh, I just remember when my agent called me about Notting Hill, and I thought, well, that sounds like the dumbest idea of any movie I could ever do. I'm going to play the world's biggest movie star and do what? And then what happens? This sounds so effing stupid, she recalled in an interview with Deadline. Now imagine how these writers feel now hearing this. This why? Why do you do that? And then I read the script and I was like, oh, this is so charming. It's so funny, funny. Still, Roberts wasn't completely convinced she was going to say yes to the role. She agreed to meet with Richard Curtis, who wrote the Notting Hill script, producer Duncan Kinsworthy, and director Roger Mitchell, who plans with plans to turn it down. And then I went to the lunch with Richard and Duncan and beloved Roger Mitchell, may he rest in peace. Her intention was clear going in. No, this isn't going to work. I'm passing on this movie. But the meeting didn't go according to plan, Robert said. And they were just so charming and sweet and funny. And I thought, wow, this is really going to happen. Well, that's good. I'm glad she made it. But honestly, honestly, any big female star back then could have done it. Sandra Bullock would have done a good job. Catherine Zeta Joan probably would have done a decent job. But yeah, it was a good movie. I watched it twice. I watched it, of course, when it first came out, and then I watched it again a couple of years ago, and I'll probably watch it again. I think I love me some rom-coms. Okay, so we need to move on. That's all I've got today. We need to move on to the question of the day. Okay, we're just gonna keep it easy and simple. What is your favorite Julia Roberts movie? Wow, that's a that's that's a tough one for me because I like a lot of them. Of course, Pretty Woman stands out. But there's also the one she did with Mel Gibson. I think it's called Conspiracy Theory. That one was pretty good. I liked that one. Um, but I like I like a lot of her movies. I'm sure there's more I can think of, but what is yours? What's your favorite movie? All right, favorite movie of Julia Roberts. All right, I gotta go. Oh, I like Ocean's Eleven, but she's not a big star in it. But okay, anyway, sorry. Moving on. Gotta go. Thanks for listening. Have a great day.