Best Chris Cubas Podcasts (2024)

1
David Kroening Seitz, "A Different Trek: Radical Geographies of Deep Space Nine" (U Nebraska Press, 2023) 59:20

23m ago59:20

59:20

A different kind of Star Trek television series debuted in 1993. Deep Space Nine was set not on a starship but a space station near a postcolonial planet still reeling from a genocidal occupation. The crew was led by a reluctant Black American commander and an extraterrestrial first officer who had until recently been an anticolonial revolutionary.…

1
Sheri Chinen Biesen, "Through a Noir Lens: Adapting Film Noir Visual Style" (Columbia UP, 2024) 1:06:25

1h ago1:06:25

1:06:25

Shadows. Smoke. Dark alleys. Rain-slicked city streets. These are iconic elements of film noir visual style. Long after its 1940s heyday, noir hallmarks continue to appear in a variety of new media forms and styles. What has made the noir aesthetic at once enduring and adaptable? Sheri Chinen Biesen's Through a Noir Lens: Adapting Film Noir Visual …

1
Emily Strand and Amy H. Sturgis, "Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier" (Vernon Press, 2023) 1:00:42

2h ago1:00:42

1:00:42

n this special Star Trek Day episode on the New Books Network, hosted by Dessy Vassileva from Vernon Press, we celebrate over 55 years of Star Trek with a deep dive into the book Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier (Vernon Press, 2023). Co-editors Emily Strand and Amy H. Sturgis join the discussion to explore how Star Trek has shaped sci…

1
Salma Siddique, "Evacuee Cinema: Bombay and Lahore in Partition Transit, 1940–1960" (Cambridge UP, 2022) 1:06:15

30m ago1:06:15

1:06:15

Evacuee Cinema: Bombay and Lahore in Partition Transit, 1940–1960 (Cambridge UP, 2022) offers a new history of the partition. Based on previously unexamined archives and rare films, it investigates key questions around film production, partition and the provenance of the nation in South Asia: How did partition transform the dynamic and transcultura…

1
Jennifer L. Lambe, "The Subject of Revolution: Between Political and Popular Culture in Cuba" (UNC Press, 2024) 1:00:44

3d ago1:00:44

1:00:44

From television to travel bans, geopolitics to popular dance, The Subject of Revolution: Between Political and Popular Culture in Cuba (UNC Press, 2024) explores how knowledge about the 1959 Cuban Revolution was produced and how the Revolution in turn shaped new worldviews. Drawing on sources from over twenty archives as well as film, music, theate…

1
Steve Jones, "The Metamodern Slasher Film" (Edinburgh UP, 2024) 1:04:28

3d ago1:04:28

1:04:28

It is commonly proposed that since the mid-2000s, the slasher subgenre has been dominated by unoriginal remakes of "classics". Consequently, most original slasher films have been ignored by academics (and critics), leaving the field with a limited understanding of this highly popular subgenre. The Metamodern Slasher Film (Edinburgh UP, 2024) correc…

1
GOP Congressional Nominee Chris Eddy Returns to the Omaha Bugle 45:13

3d ago45:13

45:13

Send us a text Adam and Jeff welcome a good friend of the Omaha Bugle, Chris Eddy, back to the program, for an unprecedented third appearance--an honor that would typically be reserved for presidents, kings and deep-pocket program sponsors. Chris provides Adam and Jeff with an update of his campaign to win the 25th Congressional seat in the U.S. Ho…

1
Part Three: Artificial Intelligence vs. Natural Stupidity: A Thought Provoking Look at the New World of AI 38:13

3d ago38:13

38:13

Send us a text The third and final installment of the epic discussion of artificial intelligence by Adam and Jeff marks yet another towering contribution to the intellectual legacy of Western civilization. Adam points out that artificial intelligence has merely accelerated the trend toward greater technical sophistication while increasing the vulne…

1
L. A. Confidential 30:26

4d ago30:26

30:26

If L. A. Confidential (1997) were two degrees campier, it would seem like Dick Tracy–but Curtis Hanson made sure to capture the spirit of James Ellroy’s novel while making its labyrinth plot understandable to viewers. Join us for a conversation about how the film examines the need for heroes yet seems to only offer them in a way to which the movies…

1
Part Two: Artificial Intelligence vs. Natural Stupidity: A Thought Provoking Look at the New World of AI 40:29

4d ago40:29

40:29

Send us a text In their continuing efforts to point out that artificial intelligence has nothing to do with preservatives and food dyes, Adam and Jeff continue their discussion regarding various issues posed by recent advances in the field. Certainly they are both keenly aware of the fact that AI has helped to create a self-generating surveillance …

1
Chris Richardson, "Batman and the Joker: Contested Sexuality in Popular Culture" (Routledge, 2020) 54:44

10d ago54:44

54:44

In Batman and The Joker: Contested Sexuality in Popular Culture (Routledge, 2020), Chris Richardson presents a cultural analysis of the ways gender, identity, and sexuality are negotiated in the rivalry of Batman and The Joker. Richardson's queer reading of the text provides new understandings of Batman and The Joker and the transformations of the …

1
For a Few Dollars More 30:03

11d ago30:03

30:03

A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) are collectively known as “The Man with No Name” trilogy and are often thought of as one long movie about the hero’s adventures, much like we think of the original three installments of Indiana Jones. Quentin Tarantino has called the third film th…

1
Part One: Artificial Intelligence vs. Natural Stupidity: A Thought Provoking Look at the New World of AI 40:57

16d ago40:57

40:57

Send us a text Never reluctant to showcase their artificial intelligence about matters of culture and politics at fancy cocktail parties, Adam and Jeff consider some of the pressing concerns about the brave new world of artificial intelligence. They also discuss the fine line between extremely sophisticated calculators and sentient machines that ar…

1
Christopher Brown, "Mapping Taiwanese Cinema, 2008-2020: Environments, Poetics, Practice" (Edinburgh UP, 2024) 1:21:47

17d ago1:21:47

1:21:47

Accounting for the unique characteristics of Taiwan’s cinema from 2008 to 2020, Mapping Taiwanese Cinema, 2008-2020: Environments, Poetics, Practice (Edinburgh UP, 2024) examines how filmmakers have depicted and imagined the island’s diverse environments. Drawing on cinema, cartography, and cultural studies, Christopher Brown argues that by refocus…

1
To Have and Have Not 20:43

18d ago20:43

20:43

Howard Hawks’s To Have and Have Not (1944) is more Hollywood than Hemingway–something for which we should all be grateful. The film is a wonderful example–perhaps the best–of onscreen chemistry and remains wildly entertaining even aside from the onscreen courtship of Bogart and Bacall. Join us as we talk about banter as a tool of seduction, the way…

1
Thief 24:57

30d ago24:57

24:57

Everyone loves a good heist movie that depends on the combination of cold, logical planning and some element going sideways–and Thief is one of the best. Its 1981 release date is seen in every frame and the soundtrack by Tangerine Dream makes for great nostalgic viewing. But the film has real power as a character study of a highly skilled man tryin…

1
Can "Alien: Romulus" Revive the Alien Franchise? 57:47

25d ago57:47

57:47

Fede Alvarez’s "Alien: Romulus" hit cinemas on August 16th. It’s set between the events of Alien and Aliens, two science fiction classics. We review the movie and ask whether it continues the thematic work done in its lauded predecessors, touching on capitalism, AI, body horror, subversion of sexual and reproductive systems, colonialism, class, and…

1
The Sounds of Silents 47:04

25d ago47:04

47:04

What did going to the movies sound like back in the “silent film” era? The answer takes us on a strange journey through Vaudeville, roaming Chautauqua lectures, penny arcades, nickelodeons, and grand movie palaces. As our guest In today’s episode, pioneering scholar of film sound, Rick Altman, tells us, the silent era has a lot to teach us about wh…

1
Karen Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023) 58:55

1M ago58:55

58:55

In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to …

1
Alonso Duralde, "Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film" (Running Press Adult, 2024) 59:40

1M ago59:40

59:40

Film critic Alonso Duralde and I talk his new book, Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film (Running Press, 2024), including some fascinating anecdotes, case studies, and watershed moments in queer cinematic history, not to mention its creators, its stars, its detractors, and its various ebbs and flows -- fr…

1
Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece, "Movies Under the Influence" (U Minnesota Press, 2024) 55:48

1M ago55:48

55:48

Movies under the Influence (University of Minnesota Press, 2024) by Dr. Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece charts the entangled histories of moviegoing and mind-altering substances from early cinema through the psychedelic 1970s. Dr. Szczepaniak-Gillece examines how the parallel trajectories of these two enduring aspects of American culture, linked by the…

1
Training Day 29:09

1M ago29:09

29:09

Do you need to be a wolf to protect the sheep? That’s the question at the heart of Training Day (2001), in which Ethan Hawke plays the lead and Denzel Washington plays himself–at least for the first hour. What happens in the film once the sun goes down gets Mike and Dan arguing as they haven’t in a while: does the movie become yet another one where…

1
Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, "What's Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service" (Dutton, 2024) 1:03:30

1M ago1:03:30

1:03:30

Twenty-five years ago, The West Wing premiered to great acclaim. This book is a behind-the-scenes look into the creation and legacy of the series, as told by cast members Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack. The authors help us step back inside the world of President Jed Bartlet’s Oval Office as they reunite the West Wing cast and crew, including…

1
Free College Isn't Really Free 33:54

1M ago33:54

33:54

Send us a text Having returned from their worldwide concert tour as the opening act for Taylor Swift, Adam and Jeff discuss the idea proposed by both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that college be made free to everyone. They consider the staggering amount spent each year for post-secondary education and the number of households filing tax returns to d…

1
Nora Stone, "How Documentaries Went Mainstream: A History, 1960-2022" (Oxford UP, 2023) 1:08:59

1M ago1:08:59

1:08:59

How Documentaries Went Mainstream: A History, 1960-2022 (Oxford University Press, 2023) provides a more comprehensive and meaningful periodization of the commercialization of documentary film. Although the commercial ascension of documentary films might seem meteoric, it is the culmination of decades-long efforts that have developed and fortified t…

1
Yiman Wang, "To Be an Actress: Labor and Performance in Anna May Wong's Cross-Media World" (U California Press, 2024) 1:00:16

2M ago1:00:16

1:00:16

Between 1919 and 1961, pioneering Chinese American actress Anna May Wong established an enduring legacy that encompassed cinema, theatre, radio, and American television. Born in Los Angeles, yet with her US citizenship scrutinised due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, Wong—a defiant misfit—innovated nuanced performances to subvert the racism and sexism…

1
Kate Hext, "Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:10:06

2M ago1:10:06

1:10:06

Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema …

1
Getting Joe Biden to Leave the White House 31:26

2M ago31:26

31:26

Send us a text Presidential politics experts Adam and Jeff offer their opinions as to how Joe Biden could be enticed to leave office. This podcast was recorded before Biden decided to end his quest to be the 2024 Democratic nominee and subsequently misfiled by an intern who happens to be the daughter of the chairman of the board of the Omaha Bugle.…

1
Collateral 31:13

2M ago31:13

31:13

Collateral was made in 2004, ten years after Speed—and while both films have the same story of a good guy trying to stop a killer in real time, Collateral feels decades away from the innocence of Speed. Much of that has to do with the villain, who espouses a set of assumptions about the world that we se all around us on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Shark…

1
Kathleen Loock, "Hollywood Remaking: How Film Remakes, Sequels, and Franchises Shape Industry and Culture" (U California Press, 2024) 1:07:10

2M ago1:07:10

1:07:10

From the inception of cinema to today’s franchise era, remaking has always been a motor of ongoing film production. Hollywood Remaking: How Film Remakes, Sequels, and Franchises Shape Industry and Culture (U California Press, 2024) challenges the categorical dismissal in film criticism of remakes, sequels, and franchises by probing what these forma…

1
Rosemary Pennington, "Pop Islam: Seeing American Muslims in Popular Media" (Indiana UP, 2024) 1:16:42

2M ago1:16:42

1:16:42

As Muslim American representation becomes more prominent in popular culture, how are they continued to be portrayed? Rosemary Pennington's new book Pop Islam: Seeing American Muslims in Popular Media (Indiana University Press, 2024) explores the “trap of hypervisibility” faced by Muslims in popular media and the burden of representation that follow…

1
Jonathan Branfman, "Millennial Jewish Stars: Navigating Racial Antisemitism, Masculinity, and White Supremacy" (NYU Press, 2024) 58:47

2M ago58:47

58:47

Jewish stars have longed faced pressure to downplay Jewish identity for fear of alienating wider audiences. But unexpectedly, since the 2000s, many millennial Jewish stars have won stellar success while spotlighting (rather than muting) Jewish identity. In Millennial Jewish Stars: Navigating Racial Antisemitism, Masculinity, and White Supremacy (NY…

1
Steven Powell, "Love Me Fierce In Danger: The Life of James Ellroy" (Bloomsbury, 2023) 1:00:37

2M ago1:00:37

1:00:37

Love Me Fierce In Danger: The Life of James Ellroy (Bloomsbury, 2023) is the story of James Ellroy, one of the most provocative and singular figures in American literature. The so-called “Demon Dog of Crime Fiction,” Ellroy enjoys a celebrity status and notoriety that few authors can match. However, traumas from the past have shadowed his literary …

1
40 Years of Purple Rain: What to Make of the Movie/Album in 2024 1:15:35

2M ago1:15:35

1:15:35

It’s the UConn Popcast, and Purple Rain, Prince’s semi-autobiographical, semi-concert film, hit cinemas 40 years ago this week. The movie followed the album of the same name by a few short weeks. While the album is considered a defining musical achievement, the movie met a mixed reception at the time, and later critics have been both troubled by it…

1
Charles Barr, "British Cinema: a Very Short Introduction" (Oxford UP, 2022) 1:02:00

2M ago1:02:00

1:02:00

Cinema has had a hugely influential role on global culture in the 20th century at multiple levels: social, political, and educational. The part of British cinema in this has been controversial–often derided as a whole, but also vigorously celebrated, especially in terms of specific films and film-makers. In British Cinema: A Very Short Introduction…

1
The Graduate 29:20

2M ago29:20

29:20

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin our descent into Los Angeles.” So begins The Graduate (1967), which everyone loves but which many of us loved for one reason when we were younger and one when we became a little more seasoned. “Plastics” is a great joke when you’re 20; how does it sound decades later? The movie hasn’t changed, but we hav…

1
Filmmaker, Artist, Writer: A Conversation with Paromita Vohra 50:45

2M ago50:45

50:45

This is the Global Media & Communication podcast series. This podcast is a multimodal project powered by the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. At CARGC, we produce and promote critical, interdisciplinary, and multimodal research on global media a…

1
Biden v. Trump: A Presidential Debate for the Ages 45:44

2M ago45:44

45:44

Send us a text Noted political analysts and green belt judo students Adam and Jeff compare notes on the first 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Adam managed to sit through the entire debate believing that he had stumbled onto an hour-long parody on the Comedy Channel. However, Jeff was more fortunate, having elected to go…

1
Expanding Costs and Shrinking Military Forces . . . World War II as the Once and Future Weapon Procurement Model 42:29

2M ago42:29

42:29

Send us a text Adam and Jeff, who know almost everything about everything and are not reluctant to regale their listeners with endless facts and opinions, consider why the U.S. military continues to shrink even as the defense budgets continue to rise. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer defense contractors available to bid on weapons systems t…

1
Ying Qian, "Revolutionary Becomings: Documentary Media in Twentieth-Century China" (Columbia UP, 2023) 1:16:51

2M ago1:16:51

1:16:51

Welcome to another episode of New Books in Chinese Studies. Today, I will be talking to Columbia University professor Ying Qian about her new book, Revolutionary Becomings: Documentary Media in Twentieth-Century China (Columbia UP, 2023). The volume enriches our understanding of media’s role in China’s revolutionary history by turning to documentar…

1
Melissa E. Anderson, "Inland Empire" (Fireflies Press, 2021) 57:30

2M ago57:30

57:30

"A woman in trouble" In her monograph Inland Empire (Fireflies Press, 2021), film critic Melissa Anderson explores meaning (or the impossibility thereof) in the David Lynch film of the same title. We talk everything from Laura Dern (a LOT of Laura Dern), to the Hollywood nightmare of trying to "make it in the movies," to the contradictions of film …

1
Auto Focus 28:45

2M ago28:45

28:45

A great movie that is very difficult movie to recommend because of its subject matter, Paul Schrader’s Auto Focus (2002), the story of TV-star Bob Crane, is another of Schrader’s portraits of a man whose self-destruction we watch with admiration for the writing and unease at what we’re seeing. It’s a combination of The Lost Weekend, Reefer Madness,…

1
Pamela Hutchinson, "The Red Shoes" (Bloomsbury, 2023) 51:41

2M ago51:41

51:41

Endlessly fascinating, dark and bright, The Red Shoes (1948) employs every branch of the cinematic arts to sweep the audience off its feet, invigorated by the transcendence of art itself, only to leave them with troubling questions. Representing the climax of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's celebrated run of six exceptional feature films, t…

1
Olga Gershenson, "New Israeli Horror: Local Cinema, Global Genre" (Rutgers UP, 2024) 47:26

2M ago47:26

47:26

Before 2010, there were no Israeli horror films. Then distinctly Israeli serial killers, zombies, vampires, and ghosts invaded local screens. The next decade saw a blossoming of the genre by young Israeli filmmakers. New Israeli Horror: Local Cinema, Global Genre (Rutgers UP, 2024) is the first book to tell their story. Through in-depth analysis, e…

1
Heidi Honeycutt, "I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies" (Headpress, 2024) 49:32

2M ago49:32

49:32

I Spit On Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies (Headpress, 2024) by Heidi Honeycutt is the first book-length history of female horror directors from the late 1800s to present day. Having conducted hundreds of interviews and watched thousands of horror films, Honeycutt defines the political and cultural forces that shape the …

1
William Gow, "Performing Chinatown: Hollywood, Tourism, and the Making of a Chinese American Community" (Stanford UP, 2024) 1:05:40

2M ago1:05:40

1:05:40

This episode features a conversation with Dr. William Gow on his recently published book, Performing Chinatown: Hollywood, Tourism, and the Making of a Chinese American Community (Stanford University Press, 2024), focuses on the 1930s and 1940s Los Angeles–its Chinatowns, and “city,” as well as the Chinese American community’s relationship with Hol…

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

3M 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
Marsha Gordon, "Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott" (U California Press, 2024) 1:07:33

3M 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
Feng-Mei Heberer, "Asians on Demand: Mediating Race in Video Art and Activism" (U Minnesota Press, 2023) 59:24

3M 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
Russian Ships in Cuba, Oh My! . . . Putin Makes A Peace Offer to Ukraine 39:59

3M ago39:59

39:59

Send us a text The recent visit of several Russian ships to Cuba strikes Adam and Jeff as nothing more than a tit-for-tat move by Putin in response to President Biden's recent decision to allow Ukrainian troops to fire American weapons into Russian territory. Of course there is not much tit or tat because Putin started the war in Ukraine and has di…

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