Best Film Books Podcasts (2024)

1
Darshana Sreedhar Mini, "Rated A: Soft-Porn Cinema and Mediations of Desire in India" (U California Press, 2024) 1:21:40

8h ago1:21:40

1:21:40

In the 1990s, India's mediascape saw the efflorescence of edgy soft-porn films in the Malayalam-speaking state of Kerala. In Rated A: Soft-Porn Cinema and Mediations of Desire in India (U California Press, 2024), Darshana Sreedhar Mini examines the local and transnational influences that shaped Malayalam soft-porn cinema—such as vernacular pulp fic…

1
DIANE VON FÜRSTENBERG: Woman in Charge w/ Oscar-winning Director SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY 10:29

5d ago10:29

10:29

“As a filmmaker, I've always made films about extraordinary women whose lives are faced with extenuating circumstances who've had adversity thrown at them and who've risen to the occasion. And when I began to look at Diane's story, for me, Diane is a fashion designer, but she's so much more. Her central ethos is woman before fashion, and we felt it…

1
Making Impactful Films with Oscar & Emmy-winning Director SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY - Highlights 10:29

5d ago10:29

10:29

“As a filmmaker, I've always made films about extraordinary women whose lives are faced with extenuating circumstances who've had adversity thrown at them and who've risen to the occasion. And when I began to look at Diane's story, for me, Diane is a fashion designer, but she's so much more. Her central ethos is woman before fashion, and we felt it…

1
Marsha Gordon, "Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott" (U California Press, 2024) 1:07:33

1h ago1:07:33

1:07:33

Credited with popularizing the label "ex-wife" in 1929, Ursula Parrott wrote provocatively about divorcées, career women, single mothers, work-life balance, and a host of new challenges facing modern women. Her best sellers, Hollywood film deals, marriages and divorces, and run-ins with the law made her a household name. Part biography, part cultur…

1
DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: Woman in Charge w/ Oscar-winning Director SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY 37:47

8d ago37:47

37:47

How can we free ourselves from fear and social barriers to live more fulfilling and meaningful lives? What does it take to overcome trauma and turn it into triumph, and failure into reinvention? How can we shine a light on the marginalized and misunderstood to create social change that transforms the lives of women? Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is an Osca…

1
Feng-Mei Heberer, "Asians on Demand: Mediating Race in Video Art and Activism" (U Minnesota Press, 2023) 59:24

2d ago59:24

59:24

Asians on Demand: Mediating Race in Video Art and Activism (University of Minnesota Press, 2023) explores a multilingual archive of contemporary queer and feminist videos by Asian diasporans in North America, Europe, and East Asia. It grapples with the pressing question of how media representation can critique and advance social justice for raciali…

1
What Do the June 2024 Elections in India Mean? with Angana Chatterji & Siddhartha Deb 57:07

9d ago57:07

57:07

In this episode on Speaking Out of Place podcast Professor David Palumbo-Liu and Azeezah Kanji talk with scholar Angana Chatterji and journalist Siddhartha Deb. For decades, they have exposed the violence and fascism lying behind the mythology of India as the world’s largest democracy. In the wake of India’s most recent elections, in which the far …

1
Forbidden Planet 26:34

3d ago26:34

26:34

A dramatized thought experiment like best episodes of Star Trek, Forbidden Planet (1956) is a wonderful reminder of how people in the past envisioned the future. Part prophecy—looking forward—and part analysis of the timeless human condition, the film wraps heavy ideas about the cost of knowledge and the ways we interact with our own creations into…

1
Does AI-generated Perfection Detach Us from Reality, Life & Human Connection? with HENRY AJDER 12:09

11d ago12:09

12:09

“I would like to preserve a real sense of empathy and humility, which comes with understanding that the world is messy, that people are messy, that defects and imperfections exist, that things don't always necessarily kind of go the way you want, even as much as you wish they could. Imperfection is part of life and I guess my concern is that AI-gen…

1
Does AI-generated Perfection Detach Us from Reality, Life & Human Connection? - Highlights - HENRY AJDER 12:09

11d ago12:09

12:09

“I would like to preserve a real sense of empathy and humility, which comes with understanding that the world is messy, that people are messy, that defects and imperfections exist, that things don't always necessarily kind of go the way you want, even as much as you wish they could. Imperfection is part of life and I guess my concern is that AI-gen…

1
How is AI Changing Our Perception of Reality, Creativity & Human Connection? w/ HENRY AJDER - AI Advisor 53:09

11d ago53:09

53:09

How is artificial intelligence redefining our perception of reality and truth? Can AI be creative? And how is it changing art and innovation? Does AI-generated perfection detach us from reality and genuine human connection? Henry Ajder is an advisor, speaker, and broadcaster working at the frontier of the generative AI and the synthetic media revol…

1
Swapnil Rai, "Networked Bollywood: How Star Power Globalized Hindi Cinema" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 52:38

5d ago52:38

52:38

Swapnil Rai’s book Networked Bollywood: How Star Power Globalized Hindi Cinema (Cambridge UP, 2024) brilliantly navigates the intricate landscapes of stardom, shedding light on its diverse meanings amidst the ever-evolving new media industries and the demands of a globally interconnected audiences. With a keen focus on the global south, she masterf…

1
Barbara Klinger, "Immortal Films: 'Casablanca' and the Afterlife of a Hollywood Classic" (U California Press, 2022) 1:04:53

7d ago1:04:53

1:04:53

Casablanca is one of the most celebrated Hollywood films of all time, its iconic romance enshrined in collective memory across generations. Drawing from archival materials, industry trade journals, and cultural commentary, in Immortal Films: "Casablanca" and the Afterlife of a Hollywood Classic (University of California Press, 2022), Dr. Barbara Kl…

1
Ishita Tiwary, "Video Culture in India: The Analog Era" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:03:48

8d ago1:03:48

1:03:48

Ishita Tiwary’s book Video Culture in India: The Analog Era (Oxford UP, 2024) is an unprecedented attempt in foregrounding the diverse media history of the analog video era in India. It reconstructs the evolution of analog video culture through interdisciplinary approaches, including oral histories, archival resources, and discarded tapes. At the s…

1
Kim Nelson, "Making History Move: Five Principles of the Historical Film" (Rutgers UP, 2024) 27:00

9d ago27:00

27:00

Making History Move: Five Principles of the Historical Film (Rutgers UP, 2024) builds upon decades of scholarship investigating history in visual culture by proposing a methodology of five principles to analyze history in moving images in the digital age. It charts a path to understanding the form of history with the most significant impact on publ…

1
After Hours 22:26

16d ago22:26

22:26

“Kafkaesque” is the word usually used to describe After Hours, Martin Scorsese’s 1985 comedy—a fair point, since there’s a scene in the film that dramatizes Kafka’s “Before the Law.” But the writer whose imagination this film really taps is Lewis Carroll: as in Alice in Wonderland, a naïve but likable young person chases a white rabbit to a differe…

1
PETA Founder INGRID NEWKIRK turns 75: A Lifetime of Animal Advocacy 41:44

19d ago41:44

41:44

How can we show more kindness, respect, and love to the animals we share this planet with? What lessons can we learn from non-human animals about living in greater harmony with nature? Ingrid Newkirk is the Founder and President of PETA, actively leading the organization and advocating for animal rights. PETA is the largest animal rights organizati…

1
Slava Greenberg, "Animated Film and Disability: Cripping Spectatorship" (Indiana UP, 2023) 1:00:03

13d ago1:00:03

1:00:03

While many live-action films portray disability as a spectacle, "crip animation" (a genre of animated films that celebrates disabled people's lived experiences) uses a variety of techniques like clay animation, puppets, pixilation, and computer-generated animation to represent the inner worlds of people with disabilities. Crip animation has the pot…

1
Jennifer S. Clark, "Producing Feminism: Television Work in the Age of Women's Liberation" (U California Press, 2024) 48:14

13d ago48:14

48:14

How have women resisted sexism in TV? In Producing Feminism: Television Work in the Age of Women’s Liberation (U California Press, 2024), Jennifer S. Clark, an Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, explores the people, organisations, TV shows and audiences who all shaped women in and on television during the …

1
How to Fight for Truth & Protect Democracy in A Post-Truth World? - Highlights - LEE McINTYRE 12:11

21d ago12:11

12:11

“One thing people don't realize is that the goal of disinformation is not simply to get you to believe a falsehood. It's to demoralize you into giving up on the idea of truth, to polarize us around factual issues, to get us to distrust people who don't believe the same lie. And even if somebody doesn't believe the lie, it can still make them cynica…

1
How will AI Affect Education, the Arts & Society? - Highlights - STEPHEN WOLFRAM

22d ago

—

“I think as there is more automation, there is more kind of emphasis on this question of our choice. The story of the development of things tends to be what do humans decide that they care about? In what direction do they want to go? What kind of art do they want to make? What kinds of things do they want to think about? There is in the computation…

1
How to Fight for Truth & Protect Democracy in A Post-Truth World? - Highlights - LEE McINTYRE 12:11

22d ago12:11

12:11

“One thing people don't realize is that the goal of disinformation is not simply to get you to believe a falsehood. It's to demoralize you into giving up on the idea of truth, to polarize us around factual issues, to get us to distrust people who don't believe the same lie. And even if somebody doesn't believe the lie, it can still make them cynica…

1
On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth & Protect Democracy with LEE McINTYRE 54:54

23d ago54:54

54:54

How do we fight for truth and protect democracy in a post-truth world? How does bias affect our understanding of facts? Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and a Senior Advisor for Public Trust in Science at the Aspen Institute. He holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a Ph.…

1
Bringing Out the Dead 23:49

17d ago23:49

23:49

What is the proper—or most effective—response to a barrage of horror and pain? The closest that screenwriter Paul Schrader ever came to a comedy (albeit a very dark one), Bringing Out the Dead (1999) is low on special effects depicting medical emergencies but high on drama. Join us for a conversation about one of Scorsese’s sleepers, a movie about …

1
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay, "Sound in Indian Film and Audiovisual Media: History, Practices and Production" (Amsterdam UP, 2023) 1:03:06

17d ago1:03:06

1:03:06

Budhaditya Chattopadhyay’s book Sound in Indian Film and Audiovisual Media: History, Practices and Production (Amsterdam UP, 2023) is an exhaustive attempt to study film sound in the Indian subcontinent through artistic research. It aims to fill a significant scholarly void by addressing issues of sound and listening within the cultural contexts of…

1
How will AI Affect Education, the Arts & Society? - Highlights - STEPHEN WOLFRAM

26d ago

—

“I think as there is more automation, there is more kind of emphasis on this question of our choice. The story of the development of things tends to be what do humans decide that they care about? In what direction do they want to go? What kind of art do they want to make? What kinds of things do they want to think about? There is in the computation…

1
What Role Do AI & Computational Language Play in Solving Real-World Problems? 57:15

26d ago57:15

57:15

How can computational language help decode the mysteries of nature and the universe? What is ChatGPT doing and why does it work? How will AI affect education, the arts and society? Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist. He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alp…

1
Jared Stearns, "Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers" (Headpress, 2024) 1:04:58

22d ago1:04:58

1:04:58

In Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers (Headpress, 2024), Jared Stearns tells the untold story of the world's most famous X-rated star, who rose to fame as the face of Ivory Snow and the star of Behind the Green Door but struggled to find her true self in a world of sex, scandal, and shattered dreams. Marilyn Chambers was the embodimen…

1
On Richard Linklater and “Hit Man” 59:34

22d ago59:34

59:34

It’s the UConn Popcast, and “Hit Man” is writer and director Richard Linklater’s latest film, available on Netflix after a brief theatrical run. We analyze the movie through Linklater’s classic themes: identity and its malleability, American sub-cultures, and American mythologies. “Hit Man” is a less challenging watch than much of Linklater’s canon…

1
Can we have real conversations with AI? How do illusions help us make sense of the world? - KEITH FRANKISH 11:11

30d ago11:11

11:11

“There is magic everywhere. There's wonder everywhere. There's wondrous complexity that is so complex, so difficult to conceptualize, to grasp, to articulate that it might as well be magic for all intents and purposes, but we can gradually start to unpick how the tricks are done, how nature learned to do these wonderful tricks. And that's the wonde…

1
Can we have real conversations with AI? How do illusions help us make sense of the world? - Highlights - KEITH FRANKISH 11:11

30d ago11:11

11:11

“There is magic everywhere. There's wonder everywhere. There's wondrous complexity that is so complex, so difficult to conceptualize, to grasp, to articulate that it might as well be magic for all intents and purposes, but we can gradually start to unpick how the tricks are done, how nature learned to do these wonderful tricks. And that's the wonde…

1
Is Consciousness an Illusion? with Philosopher KEITH FRANKISH 57:24

30d ago57:24

57:24

Is consciousness an illusion? Is it just a complex set of cognitive processes without a central, subjective experience? How can we better integrate philosophy with everyday life and the arts? Keith Frankish is an Honorary Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, a Visiting Research Fellow with The Open University, and an Adjunct Prof…

1
How Can We End the Climate Crisis in One Generation? - PAUL HAWKEN 16:56

1M ago16:56

16:56

“We and all living beings thrive by being actors in the planet’s regeneration, a civilizational goal that should commence and never cease. We practiced degeneration as a species and it brought us to the threshold of an unimaginable crisis. To reverse global warming, we need to reverse global degeneration.” Can we really end the climate crisis in on…

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