Progressive Pop

We have met the enemy and he is us and he is so awesome! What do you get when you create an alien civilization based on war and rampant resource extraction? American capitalism on steroids! Let's see how planet Earth handles a group of aliens living the American Dream. Independence Day (also promoted as ID4) is a 1996 American science fiction action film directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein, and Harry Connick. The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by an extraterrestrial race. With the other people of the world, they launch a counterattack on July 4—Independence Day in the United States. (via Wikipedia) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Harrison Ford stars as President James Marshall in this love letter to killing commies. What else are you looking for in a president besides the ability to be tough and whoop some tail? No negotiations? Unless... Air Force One is a 1997 American political action thriller film directed and co-produced by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Xander Berkeley, William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell, and Paul Guilfoyle. It was written by Andrew W. Marlowe. It is about a group of terrorists who hijack Air Force One and the president's attempt to rescue everyone on board by retaking his plane. (via Wikipedia) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Probably one of the greatest movies to be made. Harold and Maude is a shot of antibiotics in the bloodstream of American film. How does Harold and Maude do it? Our hosts, Phil and Tom, try to pull back the curtain and find out. Harold and Maude is a 1971 American coming-of-age black comedy–drama film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama. The plot follows the exploits of Harold Chasen (Bud Cort), a young man who is intrigued with death, and who rejects the life his detached mother (Vivian Pickles) prescribes for him. (via Wikipedia) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy is a hot and sexy voyage of boring man losing out on love. We talk about the impact it has had on us as cis het men and the impact on nerd culture. Chasing Amy is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The film is about a male comic artist (Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian woman (Adams), to the displeasure of his best friend (Lee). (via Wikipedia) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Our co-hosts, Phil and Tom, have a heated debate for the very soul of Rushmore's main character, Max Fischer. Is an innocent child or a devil in the making? Rushmore is a 1998 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson about an eccentric teenager named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman in his film debut), his friendship with rich industrialist Herman Blume (Bill Murray), and their love in common for elementary school teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). (via Wikipedia) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

What's the matter with Family Matters? Does the beloved sitcom of the nineties hold up to a modern eye? Phil and Tom take a look at this classic show, and Phil lays into Urkel while Tom desperately defends the nerd icon. Family Matters is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989 and ended on May 9, 1997, before moving to CBS from September 19, 1997 to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of Perfect Strangers, the series revolves around the Winslow family, a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois. (via Wikipedia.) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

It's our first album. What's the significant impact of a ska band from Orange County in the mid-90s? Would you be shocked if we said a lot? Let's talk No Doubt and Tragic Kingdom! No Doubt was an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. (via Wikipedia.) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Hey! We're checking out the classic family film, Mrs. Doubtfire. If you've not seen then you probably should. It's filled with intrigue, mystery, and Robin Williams as a man-child learning to take responsibility by dressing and acting as an aging British nanny! Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It was written for the screen by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, based on the 1987 novel Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. (via Wikipedia.) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Let's take a look at the raunchy teen comedy, American Pie. Filled with sex, teen angst, and parties, American Pie capped off the 90s with a contagious case of Stifflers. How does it hold up? Did it ever hold up? What could it offer two 30 year old men today? The answers may surprise you! American Pie is a film series consisting of four sex comedy films. American Pie, the first film in the series, was released by Universal Pictures in 1999. The film became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon and gained a cult following among young people. (via Wikipedia.) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Welcome to a new season of Pop of the Morning! Your hosts Tom and Phil take a dive into the Spider-Man intellectual property. What makes the character tick? Who is the real Spider-Man? What's wrong with current takes and what's right? The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, a high school student from Queens behind Spider-Man's secret identity and with whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. (via Wikipedia.) *** Visit us at the Cosmic Blair website. (https://cosmicblair.com/) Become a Patreon member. (https://www.patreon.com/join/cosmicblair) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

Find out how Pop of the Morning takes a look at the impact of pop culture on American society and values. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pop-of-the-morning/support

In this, our season one finale, we look at perennial holiday classics A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! These commercially-produced television specials date from the height the mid-century American boom, but they have a lot to say about the materialism and excess that had only begun to grip the Christmas season at that point… If only Schulz and Seuss could have lived to see Black Friday…!We'll be back with a brand new season in due time - keep your eyes on this feed!***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

It's Christmas in December - and what better way to celebrate than by dissecting Scrooged, one of the most biting takes ever on the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Full of stunning visual effects and strong performance from Bill Murray, Scrooged updates this story of a self-centered miser for the age of mass media.Scrooged is a 1988 American Christmas fantasy comedy directed by Richard Donner and written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue. The film follows Bill Murray as Frank Cross, a cynical and selfish television executive, who is visited by a succession of ghosts on Christmas Eve intent on helping him regain his Christmas spirit. The film also stars Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, and Alfre Woodard. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Slack-vember concludes with a look at Reality Bites, a cult-classic film about the perils artistic integrity in a world that wants you to sell out.Reality Bites is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Helen Childress and directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with supporting roles by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The plot follows Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring videographer working on a documentary called Reality Bites about the disenchanted lives of her friends and roommates. Their challenges exemplify some of the career and lifestyle choices faced by Generation X. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

What is the rational response to a system that seems to make a virtue out of its expense and futility?Richard Linklater's masterpiece Slacker begs the question - in the face of the unbending, unelectable absurdity of the world, who's crazier? Those who participate or those who withdraw in disgust from the status quo?Slacker (1990) follows a single day in the life of an ensemble of mostly under-30 bohemians and misfits in Austin, Texas. The film follows various eccentric and misfit characters and scenes, never staying with one character or conversation for more than a few minutes before picking up someone else in the scene and following them. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Cameron Crowe's Singles (1992) is a smart twist on the rom-com formula set in grunge-era Seattle. It's ground zero for so much of what followed in the 90s, setting the stage for everything from grunge to Friends.While the idea of the “slacker” has its roots in Generation X, very few of these 20 somethings - pursuing their dreams, working to make their community a better place - fit the mold.Singles is a 1992 American romantic comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe, and starring Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, and Matt Dillon. It features appearances from Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell, Mark Arm, and many more musicians prominent in the early 1990s grunge movement in Seattle.… (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Can a man with a gun be authentic and vulnerable? What if the gun is fake?Airheads (1994) is about the high cost of fame - the price of making it in a world increasingly obsessed with spectacle over substance.Airheads is a 1994 American comedy film written by Rich Wilkes and directed by Michael Lehmann. It stars Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler as a band of loser musicians who stage a hijacking of a radio station in order to get airplay for their demo recording. Joe Mantegna, Michael McKean, Ernie Hudson, Judd Nelson, David Arquette and Michael Richards play supporting roles. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

It's rare that we get the chance to discuss a movie that changed everything - but this is one of those times. For better or worse, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was ground zero for a whole new sub genre of films - the slasher horror flick, which continues to dominate the horror market today. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. The film was marketed as being based on true events to attract a wider audience and to act as a subtle commentary on the era's political climate; although the character of Leatherface and minor story details were inspired by the crimes of murderer Ed Gein, its plot is largely fictional. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

One of the coolest things about the Halloween season is that it's one of the best chances of the year for a B-movie to breakout into the mainstream, as otherwise less adventurous movie watchers take a chance on something a little weirder.The cult classic Night of the Comet is exactly the kind of the movie that deserves that kind of attention - produced on a low budget at the margins of the Hollywood system, its strong protagonists defy well-worn gender and racial tropes, giving us a different kind of spooky, goofy action movie.Night of the Comet is a 1984 American science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Thom Eberhardt. It stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney as survivors of a comet that has turned most people into either dust or zombies. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Rosemary's Baby (1968) is a movie with baggage - a Rorschach test of a film that is really hard to reckon with even fifty years after its release.In one light, it's a genius body horror film that uses Satanism as a powerful metaphor to depict the nightmare that is women's sexuality and reproductive health in the United States. On the other hand, it is the work of none other than Roman Polanski, a man who remains a fugitive from justice, fleeing charges of sexual assault against a minor.How do we reconcile the undeniably influential legacy of this film with the reprehensible actions of its creator?Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 American psychological horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, and starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Angela Dorian, Clay Tanner, and, in his feature film debut, Charles Grodin. The film follows a young, pregnant wife in Manhattan who comes to suspect that her elderly neighbors are members of a Satanic cult, and are grooming her in order to use her baby for their rituals. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth - or so we're told part way through George Romero's 1978 cult masterpiece Dawn of the Dead, which offers critical takes on race, consumerism, and nationalism with the relentless force of a zombie hoard.Dawn of the Dead is the second film in Romero's series of zombie films, and though it contains no characters or settings from the preceding film Night of the Living Dead (1968), it shows the larger-scale effects of a zombie apocalypse on society. In the film, a phenomenon of unidentified origin has caused the reanimation of the dead, who prey on human flesh. David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, and Gaylen Ross star as survivors of the outbreak who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall amid mass hysteria. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Midway through the cult-classic black comedy Heathers, a mother lets loose after her teenage daughter bemoans the cruelty and injustice of life. “When teenagers complain that they want to be treated like human beings, it's usually because they are being treated like human beings," she observes, entirely without sympathy.Heathers (1989) is a different kind of teen film - one that goes all in on the darkness and class conflict that are present and yet never fully challenged in the better known work of John Hughes. But despite that darkness, the film manages to present a more hopeful vision for a better tomorrow than those other, more widely-seen films.Heathers is a 1989 American black comedy teen film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. It stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and Penelope Milford. The film portrays four teenage girls—three of whom are named Heather—in a clique at an Ohio high school, one of whose lives is disrupted by the arrival of a misanthrope intent on murdering the popular students and staging their deaths as suicides.***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

House Party (1990) contains multitudes - a teen movie about the goods times and the indignities of trying to have a good time when you're young and Black; a mindless hang out flick with a lot on its mind. Set over the course of one 24 hour period, we follow Kid n Play in a movie that celebrates Black youth culture circa 1990 - even as it offers a critical look at police harassment, street violence, and toxic masculinity.***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

The Breakfast Club (1985) is perhaps the most iconic teen film of all time, standing simultaneously as a monument to both the sensitivity and problematic misogyny of John Hughes. Even as the film explores themes of self-acceptance, even as it hints at how joyous life can be when we transcend the stereotypes that keep society locked in place, The Breakfast Club also perpetuates some of the most problematic tropes of toxic masculinity - and the women who can't help but think that with just a little bit of tender love they can save the bad boys.The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy as teenagers from different high school cliques who spend a Saturday in detention with their authoritarian assistant principal (Paul Gleason).***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Rodney Dangerfield's turn in Back to School (1986) was once a staple of Comedy Central reruns. Before that, it was an honest to goodness box office hit. An artifact of another era from the moment it was made, Back to School is a hilarious film about gatekeepers, higher education, and status anxiety.The plot centers on a wealthy but uneducated father (Dangerfield) who goes to college to show solidarity with his discouraged son Jason (Keith Gordon) and learns that he cannot buy an education or happiness. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Jordan Peele's Us (2019) is frightening as hell - not just for its rich, A-list horror imagery and jump scares, but for the way that probes deeply into the dysfunctions that make our society run. This is a horror movie with a social critique that cuts deep - a movie worth seeing, even if scary movies aren't your typical genre of choice. Peele says of the film's symbolism, “One of the central themes in Us is that we can do a good job collectively of ignoring the ramifications of privilege. I think it's the idea that what we feel like we deserve comes, you know, at the expense of someone else's freedom or joy… Those who suffer and those who prosper are two sides of the same coin. You can never forget that.”Us is a 2019 American horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele, starring Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker. The film follows Adelaide Wilson (Nyong'o) and her family, who are attacked by a group of menacing doppelgängers. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

In observance of Labor Day (a bourgeois holiday ever there was one - look it up!) we're covering Bong Joon-ho's 2019 black comedy masterpiece Parasite. The film is a bracing look at late stage, unrestrained capitalism - a portrait of a system whose very object is to extract the maximum value from its every participant.Parasite follows a poor family who scheme to become employed by a wealthy family and infiltrate their household by posing as unrelated, highly qualified individuals. And it begs the question - who is taking advantage of whom? (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

It was the tabloid story to rule them all - Tonya Harding involved in a plot to break Nancy Kerrigan's leg. Trashy, over-the-top, and full of easy stereotypes, it neatly split the difference between the checkout aisle and late night comedy.But there's a human toll to every juicy story - and in the US, that toll is often exacted disproportionately on women. I, Tonya (2017) attempts to complicate your understanding of a story you think you already know - but probably don't. But more than that, it lays at your feet and mine the threads of misogyny and classism that run through so much of our culture.I, Tonya is a 2017 American biographical sports black comedy film directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Steven Rogers. It follows the life of figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection to the 1994 attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan. The film states that it is based on "contradictory" and "true" interviews with Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, suggesting they are unreliable narrators. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Black Panther is the eighteen installment in the blockbuster Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only that, but it's one of the most popular of the vast bunch. It is also deeply interested in the Black experience, in the persistence of racial injustice and imperialism - and what else a superhero might do to make the world a better place beyond punching guys in the face… Batman, I hope you're taking notes…In Black Panther, T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but he is challenged by Killmonger who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution. The film was directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and it stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Sorry to Bother You is a career-defining film - a gantlet thrown, a masterwork, an opening salvo against capitalism itself. The praise a burden to bear as it's Boot Riley's directorial debut - but it is a film that you ignore at your own risk…Sorry to Bother You is a 2018 American black comedy film following a young Black telemarketer who adopts a white accent to succeed at his job. Swept into a corporate conspiracy, he must choose between profit and joining his activist friends to organize labor. (via Wikipedia.)But that's only the half of it…***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Summer of Schwarzenegger draws to a close with Jingle All the Way - a film about fatherhood, fragile masculinity, and reindeer abuse in the late stage of capitalism.Arnold takes on his most challenging, most nuanced role yet as he attempts to answer the age old question of whether or not a father can buy the love of his wife and son.Jingle All the Way is a 1996 American Christmas family comedy film directed by Brian Levant. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as two rival fathers, workaholic Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) and postal worker Myron Larabee (Sinbad), both desperately trying to purchase a Turbo-Man action figure for their respective sons on a last-minute shopping spree on Christmas Eve. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Summer of Schwarzenegger enters its third trimester! Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for his imposing physique. He's portrayed Greek gods and unstoppable robots from the future - but if you want to him perform feats of true strength, look no further than Junior. This is an odd duck of a movie - but Phil and Tom argue that it is unfairly lampooned and a great jumping off point for all kinds of conversations about masculinity, gender roles, and other topics that are all too rarely up for discussion in mainstream Hollywood films.Junior is a 1994 American buddy sci-fi comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Emma Thompson. The film follows Alex Hesse, an Austrian-American scientist who agrees to undergo a male pregnancy from a newly developed drug Expectane. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Summer of Schwarzenegger is in full swing! This episode, Phil and Tom take a look at the 1990 hard-R action smash Total Recall from provocateur (and friend of the show!) Paul Verhoeven. At a moment when actual real-world billionaires are personally blasting off to space and setting their sights on space mining and the colonization of Mars, Total Recall is as relevant as ever. And Verhoeven again proves himself ahead of the curve!There are few voices as recognizable as Arnold's - but in Total Recall nothing is as it seems. Except capitalism - even on Mars, Adam Smith's invisible hand is flipping humanity the bird.Total Recall is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film tells the story of a construction worker who suddenly finds himself embroiled in espionage on Mars and unable to determine if the experiences are real or the result of memory implants. (via Wikipedia.)

The Running Man (1987) has been a staple of basic cable and Saturday afternoon broadcasts for more than a generation now. Initially misunderstood and unfairly dismissed as a dumb B-movie detour on the otherwise accelerating trajectory of Arnold Schwarzenegger's action movie career, the film cuts deeply. It is a scathing critique of the violence inherent in the U.S. justice system - and the stories we tell ourselves as we rationalize that violence in the name of maintaining an often inequitable status quo.The Running Man is a 1987 American dystopian action film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, and Jesse Ventura. It is very loosely based on the 1982 novel of the same title written by Stephen King. Set in a dystopian United States, the film is about a television show called The Running Man, where convicted criminal "runners" must escape death at the hands of professional killers. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Space Jam (1996) is set for a big sequel this year - expectations and nostalgia are running extraordinarily high for a movie that never claimed to be much more than a 90 minute adaptation of a Nike commercial from 1992.And yet, Space Jam IS so much more than that!In this episode of the podcast, Phil and Tom walk you through the ways in which the film serves as an inadvertent Cliff's Notes on the Blackness of American entertainment - and exploitation that has gone hand-in-hand with that almost since the beginning.Space Jam is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka and starring basketball player Michael Jordan. The film presents a fictionalized account of what happened between Jordan's initial retirement from the NBA in 1993 and his 1995 comeback, in which he is enlisted by the Looney Tunes to help them win a basketball match against a group of aliens who intend to enslave them as attractions for their theme park. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Starship Troopers (1997) is an unlikely blockbuster - divisive by design. Director Paul Verhoeven has called it the most expensive art film ever made - a movie that ostensibly looks on the surface like any other big summer action film, but one that intentionally baits and switches over and over again. It's a movie meant to make you sick to your stomach - to set off all kinds of alarm bells. And yet, many fans have championed its fascist ethos at face value.Yikes! Will the real proto-fascists please stand up?Starship Troopers follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military unit. Rico's military career progresses from recruit, to non-commissioned officer, and finally to officer, against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an insectoid species known as Arachnids. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Mars Attacks! is generally considered to be one of the lesser works of Tim Burton, overshadowed by the inferior (but better-marketed) Independence Day in the summer of 1996 and marking the end of Burton's imperial phase.On this week's podcast, Phil and Tom reassess this largely-forgotten film, making the argument for its humor, off-beat charm, and insight. A clever satire of a world in existential crisis, Mars Attacks is a stinging critique of our national response (or lack thereof) to emergencies like climate change, the pandemic, or a national political party increasingly committed to one-party rule… Or, to put it in simple terms - ack, ack, ack, ack!!Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American comic science fiction film directed by Tim Burton featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Jack Nicholson (in a dual role), Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, and many more. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Nearly forty years after his death, Andy Kaufman's work continues to defy easy categorization. Man on the Moon (1999) presents a man obsessed with the long con, the prank, the happening, the song-and-dance. Carrey as Kaufman is constantly toying with reality, perception, and the insidious ways in which the fourth wall is merely a construct of a complacent consumer society…Jim Carrey famously lost himself in the role - and this week, Phil and Tom lose themselves in a movie that has more to say about Donald Trump's post-truth reality than we'd like to admit.Take a heel turn on this episode of the Progressive Pop Podcast.Man on the Moon is a 1999 biographical comedy-drama film about the late American entertainer Andy Kaufman, starring Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, and Paul Giamatti. Directed by Miloš Forman, the film pays particular attention to the various inside jokes, scams, put-ons, and happenings for which Kaufman was famous, most significantly his long-running "feud" with wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and his portrayal of the character of bawdy lounge singer Tony Clifton. (Via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

The Truman Show (1998) has been hailed as a prescient treatise on reality television - but it's so much more than that.A milestone in the career of Jim Carrey, the film has a lot to say about capitalism, consumerism, and the culpability we all have in the broad systems of exploitation that define our age.Plus, there are quite a few laughs in there, too!The film stars Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, a man who grew up living an ordinary life that—unbeknownst to him—takes place on a large set populated by actors for a television show about him. Additional roles are performed by Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor, Ed Harris, Paul Giamatti. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Working Girl (1988) has largely faded from the popular memory - and that's a shame, because it is a great example of a rom-com done right. Its a great all-around film that works on so many levels - not the least of which is its nuanced portrayal of gender politics in the boy's club of high finance.Pretty Woman, eat your heart out - you know where you can bury your hatchet!Working Girl is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols, written by Kevin Wade, and starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith. Its plot follows an ambitious secretary from Staten Island who takes over her new boss's role while the boss is laid up with a broken leg. The secretary, who's been going to business night school, pitches a profitable idea, only to have the boss attempt to take credit. (via Wikipedia.)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Pretty Woman (1990) was a smash hit, helping to launch not just the career of Julia Roberts, but a full-fledged a rom com renaissance in the 1990s. But at the heart of this love story lies a real preoccupation with money - how it changes us, how it defines us… Money makes the world go round. And while there is power in the motto, "We say who, we say when, we say how much” - at the end of the month, you've still got to pay the rent.Pretty Woman is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall. he film's story centers on down-on-her-luck Hollywood sex worker Vivian Ward, who is hired by Edward Lewis, a wealthy businessman, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of her week-long stay with him. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

If you are what you eat, are you not also what you watch? Weird Al’s 1989 cult classic UHF presents a vision of your brain on Hollywood. Why is it that you can remember a jingle from a random ad that hasn’t played on TV in 30 years, but you can’t remember where the spatula is? (Hint: It’s at Spatula City!)Phil and Tom plumb the pop culture repository that is the human psyche - this week on the Progressive Pop Podcast!UHF (released internationally as The Vidiot from UHF) is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, and Michael Richards. Yankovic stars as George Newman, a shiftless dreamer who stumbles into managing a low-budget television station and, surprisingly, finds success with his eclectic programming choices, spearheaded by the antics of a janitor-turned-children's television host, Stanley Spadowski (Richards). He provokes the ire of a major network station that dislikes the competitive upstart. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

What does it take to cultivate a sense of working class solidarity in a workplace hostile anything that might endanger the bottom line?Phil and Tom want to know - and Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton have some thoughts on the matter!9 to 5 (listed in the opening credits as Nine to Five) is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Colin Higgins, who wrote the screenplay with Patricia Resnick. It stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton as three working women who live out their fantasies of getting even with and overthrowing the company's autocratic, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss, played by Dabney Coleman. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepop)You can find a list of books that informed this show at(https://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop)

Party time! Excellent!On this episode of the podcast, we talk Wayne’s World (1992) - a surreal, fourth wall-breaking meditation on art, commerce, gender, and rock and roll that also happens to be one of the funniest, most heartwarming films of its era. Or, in the words of Wayne himself, “I thought we'd go for a little Bohemian Rhapsody, gentlemen!”Phil and Tom are always happy to sing back up on that particular tune…Wayne's World is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Penelope Spheeris, produced by Lorne Michaels and written by Mike Myers alongside Bonnie and Terry Turner. Based on the Saturday Night Live sketch of the same name, it stars Myers in his feature film debut as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, a pair of rock music fans who broadcast a public-access television show. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop

The 1994 indie hit Clerks launched Kevin Smith’s filmmaking career. Clerks contains all of the trademark elements for which Smith would become best known - his idiosyncratic dialogue, his truly profane sense of humor, the sense that his films take place in a connected universe, and his love of nerd culture, In this episode, hosts Phil and Tom examine the economic and social critiques embedded in this working class/service industry classic - what does Kevin Smith have to say about living a purposeful, meaningful life in a capitalist society built on the notion that no one is ever really satisfied?Clerks is a 1994 American independent black and white buddy comedy film written, directed, and co-produced by Kevin Smith. Starring Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson, it presents a day in the lives of titular store clerks Dante Hicks (O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Anderson), along with their acquaintances. Clerks is the first of Smith's View Askewniverse films, and introduces several recurring characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith). Clerks was shot for $27,575 in the convenience and video stores where director Smith worked in real life. Upon its theatrical release, the film received generally positive reviews and grossed over $3 million in theaters. (wia Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop

This week, Phil and Tom tackle the not-so-subtle politics of 1984’s Red Dawn, which poses the question - What’s better than a good guy with a gun? A teen boy with a overwhelming grief, the inability to process it, and a gun!Red Dawn is a 1984 American film directed by John Milius, depicting a United States that has been invaded by the Soviet Union and its Cuban and Nicaraguan allies. However, the onset of World War III is in the background and not fully elaborated. The story follows a group of American high school students who resist the occupation with guerrilla warfare, naming themselves the "Wolverines", after their high school mascot. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop

Josie and the Pussycats (2001) bombed critically and commercially at the time of its release. But it’s one of those movies that means a lot to the relatively small group of young people who saw it - a withering critique of consumer culture as identity, this movie lampooned the very pop culture landscape that spawned it. But if you know, you know - for many who saw this film expecting just another cookie cutter teen flick, Josie shined a spotlight on some of the worst excesses of our post-capitalist society, where the actual product isn’t as important as making the sale.And make no mistake - everything in Josie and the Pussycats is for sale.***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop

Mike Judge’s 1999 comedy Office Space is an endlessly quotable cult classic. Almost anyone who watches it can relate on some level to its wry critique of corporate culture. In this episode, Phil and Tom deconstruct the underlying politics of Office Space, a cautionary tale about not letting your job define you.Office Space is a 1999 American black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the work life of a typical mid-to-late-1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, Stephen Root, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich Bader. (via Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepopepop

When the pandemic hit in 2020, the Internet was suddenly alight with memes making the unlikely claim that the sci-fi shoot'-‘em-up Demolition Man (1993) had somehow managed to predict the future: We had entered a time of no touching, where police were called upon to be less violent, where it was rebellious act to party.In this episode, we take a look at these notions and others - and attempt to figure out the curious politics of Demolition Man.Demolition Man is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla in his directorial debut. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, and Nigel Hawthorne. Stallone is John Spartan, a risk-taking police officer, who has a reputation for causing destruction while carrying out his work. After a failed attempt to rescue hostages from evil crime lord Simon Phoenix (Snipes), they are both sentenced to be cryogenically frozen in 1996. Phoenix is thawed for a parole hearing in 2032, but escapes. Society has changed and all crime has seemingly been eliminated. Unable to deal with a criminal as dangerous as Phoenix, the authorities awaken Spartan to help capture him again. (summary from Wikipedia)***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepop

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an iconic feel good teen movie from impresario John Hughes. But between the rapid fire jokes and anarchic four wall breaks, there are deep veins of social critique running through this film - join Phil and Tom as they discuss Jeanie’s burgeoning feminism, Ferris’s tentative critique of excessive materialism, and the cynicism of “the system” as embodied by Principal Rooney.“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepop

Godzilla cannot be defeated - or at the very least, he is always with us. In this episode, we dig into the heavy political symbolism of this perennial monster. In conjunction with the release of Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), we also take a closer look at the way he has been adapted and repackaged for American audiences.Plus, we reveal the secret role that the US military plays in producing summer blockbusters from Top Gun to Transformers - and several entries in the Godzilla franchise.***If you can, please support the show on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/join/progressivepopYou can find a list of books that informed this show athttps://bookshop.org/shop/progressivepop