What do we need to get there?

What are all the components needed to move main HPR website to be statically generated?

Should we initially have the static generator work using the MySQL DB? This would involve a minimal amount of work changing the SQL used in the templates.
Do we just regenerate the whole site on every update? This is the simpliest approach, but does regenerate a bunch of pages that will never be touched. It does take much more time than a targeted update, and grows in time with each episode. It also puts more wear and tear on the underlying hard drives.
What PHP code needs to be updated during the cross-over? Initially the plan is to keep the same PHP code used for uploading episodes. Do we add new triggers in the PHP code to update pages when the change occurs or update from a cron job that is run periodically? For example, when a comment is made on a show, should that page, along with the index page get updated immediately, or is delay acceptable?