THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD: Q&A with ANDY BICHLBAUM & MIKE BONANNO (Recorded October 13, 2009)

Summary: THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD: The Yes Men are anti-corporate troublemakers who get themselves invited to high-level corporate conferences and onto television, where they hilariously unmask global injustice. They are the 21st century’s answer to Abbie Hoffman, and like him they care less abut changing consciousness than changing policy. Announcing, as faux spokespeople for Dow Chemical, that the company will at last take full financial responsibility for the victims of the Bhopal disaster, they create a media sensation. Outfitted in their wacky “Survivaball” getups, they address a room full of straight-laced suits who don’t think there’s anything funny about going to insane lengths to assure one’s personal safety in the event of any and all climate calamities. The Yes Men collaborated on the entirely fake issue of The New York Times, originally printed last fall, to the great amusement of many. They don’t exactly speak truth to power — but their lies are just as powerful and very, very funny. This podcast is a recording of the Q&A with ANDY BICHLBAUM & MIKE BONANNO at Film Forum after a screening of the film, on October 13, 2009.