Welcome Kernels and Cornheads to The Popcornhead Podcast! Each week we will be analysing a different film, past or present, the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly. We’ll talk pre-production, filming, our own thoughts, any historical context, and the occasional wormhole, things can get a little weird around here. So if you enjoy film analysis from an often comical perspective, this is definitely for you!
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Engelsberg Ideas podcasts bring together leading writers, thinkers and historians to discuss the biggest issues facing the world today. You’ll find calm conversations and thought-provoking analysis.
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Alien: Romulus (2024) - Spoiler Free Review
1:00:17
1:00:17
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This week we’re doing a spoiler free review of Fede Álvarez’s Alien Romulus. We look at the Alien franchise, the use of practical effects in film, and give our overall impressions. We also touch on the trailers we saw before the film, and talk nostalgia bait! Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod…
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EI Weekly Listen — Ali Ansari on the secret to Cyrus the Great’s success
18:51
18:51
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Few ancient monarchs have enjoyed such a consistent positive reputation as Cyrus the Great. Perhaps it’s time to become reacquainted. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Tomb of Cyrus, Iran. Photograph taken in 1898. Credit: Penta Springs Limited / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Portraits — Andrew Wilton on Amanda McKittrick Ros, the Florence Foster Jenkins of the romantic novel
13:00
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Andrew Wilton profiles Amanda McKittrick Ros, a late Victorian novelist admired in her day but now largely forgotten. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: A typical late Victorian scene. Credit: Dave Rheaume / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
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In this weeks episode we’re looking at Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. The film follows Rick Dalton, a walking piece of nostalgia, struggling with the changes in his acting career in 1969. We also see a day in the life of his stuntman Cliff Booth, and actress Sharon Tate. We also look at the historical context of the…
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EI Weekly Listen — Lucy Ward on the invention of Catherine the Great
18:12
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Catherine II’s inoculation against smallpox was an extraordinary act of political self-creation. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: A portrait of Catherine the Great (1729-1796) by Alexey Antropov. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Talks... the atomic human with Neil D. Lawrence
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54:47
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Neil D. Lawrence, inaugural DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge and author of The Atomic Human: Understanding Ourselves in the Age of AI, joins the EI team to challenge received wisdom on our AI future. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. EI Talks... is …
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In this episode we are looking at Billy Wilder's seminal film noir Double Indemnity, which would become a template for the genre. We also talk Raymond Chandler, the Hays Code, Edward Hopper, Wham and George Michael, and of course, Barry from Eastenders. Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod…
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EI Weekly Listen — Alexander Lee on why Machiavelli wrote The Prince
21:23
21:23
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If we want to understand the ‘meaning’ of The Prince, we should start with Machiavelli himself. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: A statue of Niccolo Machiavelli in Florence, Italy. Credit: Goran Bogicevic / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Portraits — Rana Mitter on Tsiang Tingfu, pre-revolutionary China’s last bridge with the West
14:21
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Rana Mitter profiles Tsiang Tingfu, the American-educated diplomat and historian, who sought Chinese national revival on cosmopolitan lines. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Tsiang Tingfu raises his arm to veto a proposal introduced by the Soviet Union to the UN. Credit: SuperStock / Alamy Stock Photo…
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In this weeks episode, we’re looking at Alexander Payne’s Sideways. A film that follows two pathetic, middle aged friends as they navigate wine country in Santa Barbara. We also had ourselves a little wine tasting, sampling some of the popular grapes that feature in the film! Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod…
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EI Weekly Listen — Francis J. Gavin on the terrible dilemmas of leadership in a thermonuclear world
16:06
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Nuclear weapons are likely to be around for a long time to come – and the predicaments they create for world leaders are unlikely to be easily solved. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: President John F. Kennedy with Robert McNamara during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Credit: RBM Vintage Images / Alamy Stock Photo…
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EI Talks... Paris in the Belle Époque with Marie Kawthar Daouda
24:08
24:08
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Marie Kawthar Daouda, author and a lecturer in French language and literature at the University of Oxford, joins EI's Alastair Benn to discuss how Belle Époque-era Paris continues to fascinate, with its burgeoning commercial culture, everyday beauty and glittering department stores. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson…
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In this weeks episode, we’re looking at Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy. We also explore the myth behind this realist adaptation of The Iliad, Odysseus not liking his wife, Paris being a massive simp, and some parallels with the film and the Iraq War! Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpodBy Gavin Wilton, Tom Brady, Rory Moore
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EI Weekly Listen — James Marriott on why human art matters in the age of AI
15:08
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A world of machine art would be an eerie one. Art connects us to one another. We cannot, and we should not, replace that connection with an uncanny simulacrum of it. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Tribuna of the Uffizi by John Zoffany. Credit: PAINTING / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Portraits — Lawrence Freedman on John McDonald, poker-playing popularizer of game theory
13:53
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Lawrence Freedman profiles the Fortune journalist and best-selling author who played a key role in shaping mid-20th century perceptions of strategy and the role of the corporation. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: From left to right: Dorothy McDonald (wife of John, née Eisner), Leon Trotsky and John McDonald in Coyoacan, Mexico, in the 1930s. McDona…
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EI Talks... bringing history to the public with Alice Loxton
31:16
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The historian and broadcaster Alice Loxton joins the EI team to discuss her forthcoming book, Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives, and her fight to bring serious history to a wider public. Image: A jigsaw puzzle from the early nineteenth century, bearing representations of the Kings and Queens of England from William I to George IV. Cr…
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EI Weekly Listen — Katja Hoyer on East Germany's battle for technology
19:54
19:54
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East Germany’s quest to catch up with the technological innovations of the West prompted some remarkable successes, but also expanded the oppression of its mass surveillance apparatus. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Trabant car being manufactured at the East German Sachsenring car plant. Credit: Classic Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo…
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EI Talks... how advertising consumed the counterculture with Ian Leslie
17:43
17:43
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EI's Alastair Benn sits down with Ian Leslie, author of Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together, to discuss how the counterculture went mainstream. Image: An advert on the Nike store at Oxford Circus. Credit: Matthew Chattle / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Weekly Listen — Gudrun Persson on Russia’s forever war against Ukraine
21:36
21:36
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An often-overlooked fact about the current Russo-Ukrainian War is that over the centuries Russia has waged several wars to try to conquer Crimea and the Donbas area. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Ukrania quae et Terra Cosaccorum cum vicinis Walachiae, Moldoviae, by Johann Baptiste Homann (1664–1724), 1720. Credit: history_docu_photo / Alamy Stock Pho…
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EI Portraits — Catherine Ostler on Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of many talents
12:56
12:56
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Catherine Ostler profiles Maria Antonia, Electress of Saxony, an artistic polymath who helped re-shape elite culture in the Enlightenment age. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: An 18th-century portrait of Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony, by Peter Jacob Horemans. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo…
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EI Talks... Ronald Reagan's grand strategy with William Inboden
32:19
32:19
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EI's Angus Reilly discusses how Ronald Reagan put economic openness at the heart of the battle for ideas against Soviet Communism with William Inboden, author of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. Image: Ronald Reagan at the Durenberger Republican convention Rally, 1982. Credit: World History Archive / Alamy St…
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In our first Popcornhead Special, we each pitch our own idea for an Oscar-Bait film, a film made solely for the purpose of trying to win Academy Awards. Expect NHS heroes, Canadian blunders, and out-of-favour Generals. We had a lot of fun doing this episode and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpod…
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EI Weekly Listen — Iskander Rehman on early modern information overload
22:53
22:53
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The sense of being overwhelmed and constantly distracted is nothing new. Historians and policymakers should look to the 17th century for guidance on how to grapple with information overload. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Rembrandt's 'Portrait of a Scholar', 1631. Credit: PRISMA ARCHIVO / Alamy Stock Photo…
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EI Talks... marketing Classical music with Richard Bratby
21:45
21:45
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EI's Alastair Benn discusses the condition of Classical music today with Richard Bratby, chief Classical music critic of The Spectator. Image: Music scores. Credit: Tim Gainey / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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In this episode, we explore director Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. We also uncover the three terrifying real-life figures who inspired Ted Levine's infamous composite killer, Buffalo Bill. And we discuss the really important issues like can you take psychotherapeutic advice from someone who's …
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EI Weekly Listen — Julian Jackson on De Gaulle’s world in motion
17:52
17:52
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Part statesman, part prophet, Charles de Gaulle knew instinctively that political success and failure are inevitably interlinked, and that history would be the ultimate judge of both. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The President of France Charles de Gaulle marches through the streets under the Arc de Triomphe in 1944. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy …
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EI Talks... John Law and financial crises with Kwasi Kwarteng
28:10
28:10
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EI's Iain Martin is joined by Kwasi Kwarteng, historian and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, to discuss the turbulent life of the 18th-century financial speculator John Law, whose innovative ideas were credited with bringing Ancien Régime France to the brink of ruin. There are echoes of what happened when the Truss government tried its own finan…
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EI Portraits — Laura Freeman on Helen Sutherland, brave cultivator of the beautiful
12:49
12:49
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Laura Freeman profiles Helen Sutherland, an isolated, austere, and fastidious heiress who dedicated herself to art. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Woman Playing a Piano, by Winifred Nicholson. Her work was championed by Helen Sutherland. Credit: Paul Quezada-Neiman / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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This week we are looking at Thomas Vinterberg's psychological drama, The Hunt. We also talk witch hunts, conspiracy theories, satanism, among other weird stuff! Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpodBy Gavin Wilton, Tom Brady, Rory Moore
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EI Weekly Listen — Josef Joffe on Germany, the engine that couldn't
23:19
23:19
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Celebrated as predestined shepherd in the glory days of Angela Merkel, Germany in the 2020s is an uncertain giant who has defied expectations, good or bad. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The top of the Reichstag Building. Credit: Artur Bogacki / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Talks... women of the ancient world with Daisy Dunn
36:41
36:41
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The leading classicist Daisy Dunn joins EI's Paul Lay to discuss her new book, The Missing Thread: A New History of the Ancient World Through the Women Who Shaped It. Image: Nikolaos Gyzis, a 19th Century painter, depicts Sappho playing the lyre. Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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This week continues our exploration of John Ford's The Searchers. Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpodBy Gavin Wilton, Tom Brady, Rory Moore
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EI Weekly Listen — Maurizio Viroli on how we can learn from history
18:29
18:29
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We cannot afford not to rediscover the fine art, nowadays almost forgotten, of learning from history. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: 16th Century engraving by Theodoor Galle, titled The Printing of Books. Credit: The Granger Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Portraits — James Barr on George McGhee, American father to Britain’s Suez Crisis
13:19
13:19
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James Barr profiles the debonair and open-faced diplomat, George McGhee, whose shuttle diplomacy helped accelerate Britain's decline as a player in the Middle East. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: President John F. Kennedy (left, in rocking chair) meets the newly-appointed US Ambassador to West Germany, George McGhee. Credit: Gibson Moss / Alamy St…
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Join us as we take on the gargantuan task of gulping down John Ford's classic western The Searchers. Delving into this cinematic masterpiece, we explore the burning questions: Is it a white supremacist propaganda film? Who's really the film's antagonist? And what led John Wayne to become the cowboy Captain America? This week we nosh down on Messrs …
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EI Weekly Listen — Philip Bobbitt on the decay and renewal of the US constitutional order
34:00
34:00
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A new constitutional order is coming. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Credit: Lane Erickson / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI Talks... the history of democracy with Erica Benner
55:43
55:43
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Erica Benner applies ancient wisdom to modern problems in her new book Adventures in Democracy: The Turbulent World of People Power. She shares her insights with EI's Deputy Editor, Alastair Benn. Image: Gathering of the Areopagus, a deliberative court that met in the open air in ancient Athens. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Pho…
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A chilling dramatisation of the hunt for a serial killer under an incompetent military dictatorship in 1980s South Korea. Bong Joon Ho's directorial masterclass Memories of Murder showcases the personal and societal changes that take place around the constant threat of a murderer that gripped the country, and rendered the police impotent in their e…
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EI Weekly Listen — Lars Trägårdh on the origins of Swedish democracy
34:50
34:50
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‘Democracy’ is in Sweden built on a basis fundamentally different from the one associated with the development of liberal democracy in the West. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Midsummer Dance by Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920) painted in 1897. A classic of Swedish art history showing traditional folk dancing in the Dalarna countryside in the …
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EI Portraits — Dominic Sandbrook on Jesse Ventura, the wrestling governor who blazed a trail for Trump
14:47
14:47
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Dominic Sandbrook profiles Jesse Ventura, the former Navy SEAL and WWE champion who won Minnesota’s governorship in 1999 on an anti-elite ticket. His transition from showbiz to politics was a precursor of the age of Trump – but ’the Body’ was no ordinary populist. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura yells to the crowd a…
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I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint. Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpodBy Gavin Wilton, Tom Brady, Rory Moore
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EI Weekly Listen — Josef Joffe on the future of the European Union
17:51
17:51
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What is the future of the European Union? The EU is sui generis. It certainly cannot be a nation state. Nor is it destined to turn into a Staatsnation or willed nation. Then what? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: European Union flags. Credit: Brian Lawrence / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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EI's Paul Lay and Alastair Benn ask: do we really live in an age of upheaval? Image: Turner's Vesuvius in Eruption. Credit: Artefact / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpodBy Gavin Wilton, Tom Brady, Rory Moore
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EI Weekly Listen — Simon Mayall on the history of the modern Middle East
22:58
22:58
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The current violence and turmoil in the Middle East is expressive of a conflict between rival ideas, between the modern nation state and an old, historical concept of an Islamic caliphate. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Abdel Nasser at a rally after the rupture of relations with Syria. Credit: colaimages / Alamy Stock Photo…
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EI Portraits — James Hardie on Heinrich Biber, composer of rapture and ravings
10:09
10:09
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James Hardie on the violinist-composer who mixed the sacred and profane in his fantastical music, a lost genius of the 17th century. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: A print of Heinrich Biber. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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Who wouldn't lap this up? It's ridiculous. Tremendous. Fantastic. Fan-dabby-dozy-tastic… Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpodBy Gavin Wilton, Tom Brady, Rory Moore
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EI Weekly Listen — Lawrence James on the invention of jingoism
33:43
33:43
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Jingoism was a natural offshoot of late Victorian imperialism. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Poster for a British imperial railway company. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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A small but riveting exhibition at London's National Gallery tells the dramatic story of the troubled Renaissance master's 'last' painting. Image: The Martyrdom of St Ursula, 1610. Credit: incamerastock / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts
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In our first episode, we track one man's quest to return some videotapes, and he does some other stuff as well... Follow us on Instagram & TikTok: @popcornheadpodBy Gavin Wilton, Tom Brady & Rory Moore
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