Best Digital Noir Podcasts (2024)

1
Lucy Weir, "Performance, Masculinity, and Self-Injury" (Routledge, 2024) 40:24

1h ago40:24

40:24

Can self-harm be art? In Performance, Masculinity, and Self-Injury (Routledge, 2024), Lucy Weir, a Reader in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh rethinks the recent history of performance to understand the ‘injurious turn’ in contemporary live art. The book challenges the usual associations between self-harm and gender by exploring the wo…

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

3h 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
Behind the Mic: How Danielle D’Orlando is Transforming Academic Audiobooks at Princeton UP 29:26

7h ago29:26

29:26

Princeton University Press publishes some of the best books every year, racking up accolades and launching the careers of thousands of scholars. As an editor at the New Books Network and a frequent host, I love speaking with Princeton UP authors. A striking feature of many PUP books is the quality of writing. Their books are simultaneously detailed…

1
Lisa Fletcher and Elizabeth Leane, "Space, Place, and Bestsellers: Moving Books" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:02:34

3h ago1:02:34

1:02:34

From airport bookstores to deckchairs, as audiobooks downloaded by commuters, and on Kindles and other portable devices, twenty-first century bestsellers move in old and new ways. In Space, Place, and Bestsellers: Moving Books (Cambridge University Press Elements in Publishing and Book Culture series, 2024), Lisa Fletcher and Elizabeth Leane examin…

1
Ep. 14: Digital Comics Subscription Services 22:25

3h ago22:25

22:25

On this week's mini episode, we examine the pros and cons of various digital comics subscription services, focusing on four specific services: Marvel Unlimited DC Universe Infinite GlobalComix Gold Hoopla Spoiler: Mark likes them all! Next week, Mark's buddy Parish Pollard joins the podcast to discuss Bone Parish, vol. 1, written by Cullen Bunn, wi…

1
Marta Fijak and Artur Ganszyniec, "How and Why We Make Games" (CRC Press, 2024) 32:51

1h ago32:51

32:51

How and Why We Make Games (CRC Press, 2024) delves into the intricate realms of games and their creation, examining them through cultural, systemic, and, most notably, human lenses. It explores diverse themes such as authorship, creative responsibility, the tension between games as a product and games as a form of cultural expression, and the myth …

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

41m 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
Marta Fijak and Artur Ganszyniec, "How and Why We Make Games" (CRC Press, 2024) 32:51

1h ago32:51

32:51

How and Why We Make Games (CRC Press, 2024) delves into the intricate realms of games and their creation, examining them through cultural, systemic, and, most notably, human lenses. It explores diverse themes such as authorship, creative responsibility, the tension between games as a product and games as a form of cultural expression, and the myth …

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

43m 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
Emily Strand and Amy H. Sturgis, "Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier" (Vernon Press, 2023) 1:00:42

1d 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

2d 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
Salma Siddique, "Evacuee Cinema: Bombay and Lahore in Partition Transit, 1940–1960" (Cambridge UP, 2022) 1:06:15

5d 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
Grant Olwage, "Paul Robeson's Voices" (Oxford UP, 2023) 1:38:18

32m ago1:38:18

1:38:18

Paul Robeson's Voices (Oxford UP, 2023) is a meditation on Robeson's singing, a study of the artist's life in song. Music historian Grant Olwage examines Robeson's voice as it exists in two broad and intersecting domains: as sound object and sounding gesture, specifically how it was fashioned in the contexts of singing practices, in recital, concer…

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

4d 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
Postscript: Harris, Trump, and the Politics of Presidential Debates 52:02

35m ago52:02

52:02

In June, a presidential debated ended the candidacy of incumbent President Joe Biden. On September 10th, Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump debated in Philadelphia and two flash polls done by CNN and YouGov declared Harris the winner. Political scientists know that debate wins don’t necessarily translate into November vi…

1
The Political Evolution of Taylor Swift 24:11

6d ago24:11

24:11

It’s the UConn Popcast, and today we offer a political science / popular culture studies view of Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. We situate Swift’s endorsement within the wider moment of popular culture, and consider her long journey from a self-imposed moratorium on political speech to her curren…

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
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
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
Episode 74: Lauren Bacall Centennial Tribute 2:30:01

10d ago2:30:01

2:30:01

We pay tribute to one of our favorite movie stars on the occasion of what would have been her 100th birthday. Lauren Bacall's early films played a major role in the history of the Brattle Theatre, and she's a figure all four of us have long admired. We take a deep dive into some of Bacall's most revered pictures as well as some of her lesser-known …

1
Ep. 13: The Department of Truth, vol. 1: The End of the World, with Gary Marts 1:44:39

4d ago1:44:39

1:44:39

On this episode, host Mark Ohrenberger and his friend Gary Marts discuss The Department of Truth, vol. 1: The End of the World. This sci-fi/alternate history/cloak-and-dagger secret government agency story examines the history, impacts, and possible impacts of popular conspiracy theories on American culture and politics as well as the very nature o…

1
Michael Gavin, "Literary Mathematics: Quantitative Theory for Textual Studies" (Stanford UP, 2022) 54:53

4d ago54:53

54:53

Across the humanities and social sciences, scholars increasingly use quantitative methods to study textual data. Considered together, this research represents an extraordinary event in the long history of textuality. More or less all at once, the corpus has emerged as a major genre of cultural and scientific knowledge. In Literary Mathematics: Quan…

1
Trevor Boffone, "TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:02:06

5d ago1:02:06

1:02:06

Are you a musical theatre fan who loves TikTok? Or are you curious about how this social media app has changed musical theatre fandom - and even the concept of the musical itself? TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age (Oxford UP, 2024) takes readers inside the world of TikTok Broadway, where fans create, expand, and canonize mu…

1
Trevor Boffone, "TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:02:06

5d ago1:02:06

1:02:06

Are you a musical theatre fan who loves TikTok? Or are you curious about how this social media app has changed musical theatre fandom - and even the concept of the musical itself? TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age (Oxford UP, 2024) takes readers inside the world of TikTok Broadway, where fans create, expand, and canonize mu…

1
Trevor Boffone, "TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:02:06

5d ago1:02:06

1:02:06

Are you a musical theatre fan who loves TikTok? Or are you curious about how this social media app has changed musical theatre fandom - and even the concept of the musical itself? TikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age (Oxford UP, 2024) takes readers inside the world of TikTok Broadway, where fans create, expand, and canonize mu…

1
Yiu Fai Chow et al., "It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) 1:02:05

6d ago1:02:05

1:02:05

It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong (Palgrave Macmillan 2024) is unique in focusing on just one band from one city – but the story of Tat Ming Pair, in so many ways, is the story of Hong Kong's recent decades, from the Handover to the Umbrella Movement to 2019's standoff. A comprehensive, theoret…

1
Yiu Fai Chow et al., "It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) 1:02:05

6d ago1:02:05

1:02:05

It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong (Palgrave Macmillan 2024) is unique in focusing on just one band from one city – but the story of Tat Ming Pair, in so many ways, is the story of Hong Kong's recent decades, from the Handover to the Umbrella Movement to 2019's standoff. A comprehensive, theoret…

1
Tom Boniface-Webb, "Modern Music Masters: Oasis" (MMM, 2020) 1:12:06

6d ago1:12:06

1:12:06

In the first book in the Modern Music Masters series, Tom Boniface-Webb examines the Manchester band Modern Music Masters-Oasis (MMM, 2020). Founded in 1994 and playing together until their spectacular and abrupt breakup in 2009, during their time together Oasis made an imprint on British music that will last for generations, impacting fans through…

1
Tom Boniface-Webb, "Modern Music Masters: Oasis" (MMM, 2020) 1:12:06

6d ago1:12:06

1:12:06

In the first book in the Modern Music Masters series, Tom Boniface-Webb examines the Manchester band Modern Music Masters-Oasis (MMM, 2020). Founded in 1994 and playing together until their spectacular and abrupt breakup in 2009, during their time together Oasis made an imprint on British music that will last for generations, impacting fans through…

1
Mark Blake, "Dreams: The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac" (Pegasus Books, 2024) 54:22

7d ago54:22

54:22

An illuminating deep-dive into everything Fleetwood Mac--the songs, the rivalries, the successes, and the failures—Dreams: The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac (Pegasus Books, 2024) evokes the band's entire musical catalog as well as the complex human drama at the heart of the Fleetwood Mac story. Fleetwood Mac has had a ground-breaking career spanning …

1
Mark Blake, "Dreams: The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac" (Pegasus Books, 2024) 54:22

7d ago54:22

54:22

An illuminating deep-dive into everything Fleetwood Mac--the songs, the rivalries, the successes, and the failures—Dreams: The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac (Pegasus Books, 2024) evokes the band's entire musical catalog as well as the complex human drama at the heart of the Fleetwood Mac story. Fleetwood Mac has had a ground-breaking career spanning …

1
Jordan Magnuson, "Game Poems: Videogame Design as Lyric Practice" (Amherst College Press, 2023) 35:18

9d ago35:18

35:18

Scholars, critics, and creators describe certain videogames as being “poetic,” yet what that means or why it matters is rarely discussed. In Game Poems: Videogame Design as Lyric Practice (Amherst College Press, 2023), independent game designer Jordan Magnuson explores the convergences between game making and lyric poetry and makes the surprising p…

1
Sarah Malanowski and Nicholas R. Baima, "Why It's Ok to Be a Gamer" (Routledge, 2024) 24:39

10d ago24:39

24:39

If you enjoy video games as a pastime, you are certainly not alone—billions of people worldwide now play video games. However, you may still find yourself reluctant to tell others this fact about yourself. After all, we are routinely warned that video games have the potential to cause addiction and violence. And when we aren’t being warned of their…

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

15d 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
Sarah Malanowski and Nicholas R. Baima, "Why It's Ok to Be a Gamer" (Routledge, 2024) 24:39

10d ago24:39

24:39

If you enjoy video games as a pastime, you are certainly not alone—billions of people worldwide now play video games. However, you may still find yourself reluctant to tell others this fact about yourself. After all, we are routinely warned that video games have the potential to cause addiction and violence. And when we aren’t being warned of their…

1
Ep. 12: Stand Still 1 & Jane Jet, with Amal Desai 22:50

11d ago22:50

22:50

On this week's mini episode, Mark features two recent books: Stand Still, Issue 1 Story & Color: Lee Loughridge Art: Andrew Robinson Design & Lettering: Rob Tweedie Publisher: Image Comics and Jane Jet, Book 1: Nuclear Shadows Writer/Letterer/Co-Creator: Amal Desai Artist/Co-Creator: Paul Essenson Colorist: Giuliana La Malfa Publisher: Markosia Ama…

1
John S. Garrison, "Red Hot + Blue" (Bloomsbury, 2024) 46:53

11d ago46:53

46:53

John Garrison's Red Hot + Blue (33 1/3 Series) (Bloomsbury, 2024) is a meditation on music's capacity to find us, transform us, and help us make sense of our historical moment. In a narrative that blends memoir and history, Red Hot + Blue explores Garrison's coming out at the height of the AIDS crisis alongside the history of the music industry's r…

1
John S. Garrison, "Red Hot + Blue" (Bloomsbury, 2024) 46:53

11d ago46:53

46:53

John Garrison's Red Hot + Blue (33 1/3 Series) (Bloomsbury, 2024) is a meditation on music's capacity to find us, transform us, and help us make sense of our historical moment. In a narrative that blends memoir and history, Red Hot + Blue explores Garrison's coming out at the height of the AIDS crisis alongside the history of the music industry's r…

1
Wendy Salkin, "Speaking for Others: The Ethics of Informal Political Representation" (Harvard UP, 2024) 1:06:45

12d ago1:06:45

1:06:45

We are familiar with the idea of a formal representative, and perhaps the idea of a formal political representative readily comes to mind. Roughly, this is someone who has been selected by an official process to hold a political office where he or she is tasked with promoting, advocating, and speaking for a constituency. However, we are also famili…

1
Mel Stanfill, "Fandom Is Ugly: Networked Harassment in Participatory Culture" (NYU Press, 2024) 48:29

14d ago48:29

48:29

In their latest book, Fandom is Ugly: Networked Harassment in Participatory Culture (NYU Press, 2024), Mel Stafill highlights the importance of considering contemporary public culture through the lens of fan studies The Gamergate harassment campaign of women in video games, the “Unite the Right” rally where hundreds of Confederate monument supporte…

1
Beth Driscoll, "What Readers Do: Aesthetic and Moral Practices of a Post-Digital Age" (Bloomsbury, 2024) 40:05

13d ago40:05

40:05

What is reading? In What Readers Do: Aesthetic and Moral Practices of a Post-Digital Age (Bloomsbury, 2024) Beth Driscoll, an Associate Professor in Publishing, Communications and Arts Management at the University of Melbourne, explores this question by situating reading in a variety of contemporary social contexts. The book’s analysis engages with…

1
Steven Watts, "Citizen Cowboy: Will Rogers and the American People" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 36:28

14d ago36:28

36:28

Citizen Cowboy: Will Rogers and the American People (Cambridge UP, 2024) is a probing biography of one of America's most influential cultural figures. Will Rogers was a youth from the Cherokee Indian Territory of Oklahoma who rose to conquer nearly every form of media and entertainment in the early twentieth century's rapidly expanding consumer soc…

1
Mel Stanfill, "Fandom Is Ugly: Networked Harassment in Participatory Culture" (NYU Press, 2024) 48:29

13d ago48:29

48:29

In their latest book, Fandom is Ugly: Networked Harassment in Participatory Culture (NYU Press, 2024), Mel Stafill highlights the importance of considering contemporary public culture through the lens of fan studies The Gamergate harassment campaign of women in video games, the “Unite the Right” rally where hundreds of Confederate monument supporte…

1
Steven Watts, "Citizen Cowboy: Will Rogers and the American People" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 36:28

13d ago36:28

36:28

Citizen Cowboy: Will Rogers and the American People (Cambridge UP, 2024) is a probing biography of one of America's most influential cultural figures. Will Rogers was a youth from the Cherokee Indian Territory of Oklahoma who rose to conquer nearly every form of media and entertainment in the early twentieth century's rapidly expanding consumer soc…

51
John V. Pavlik, "Journalism and the Metaverse" (Anthem Press, 2024) 41:15

16d ago41:15

41:15

Journalism has been in a state of disruption since the development of the Internet. The Metaverse, or what some describe as the future of the Internet, is likely to fuel even further disruption in journalism. Digital platforms and journalism enterprises are already investing substantial resources into the Metaverse, or its likely components of arti…

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