Podcast appearances and mentions of jacob bacharach

CW: Spoilers for Conclave.The author Jacob Bacharach returns to the pod for a show about Edward Berger's entertaining political thriller Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes as a conflicted Cardinal who is required to preside over the selection of the new Pope, and amidst the infighting among the Cardinals, uncovers a shocking conspiracy within the halls of power in Vatican City. To discuss the reaction to Conclave from some offended Catholics means we have to spoil the big twist, but despite this movie being practically a commercial for the virtues of The Holy See and the future of the church, many have been outraged by the film's “liberal agenda” and its interpretation of Catholic dogma and we review some of the apoplectic highlights, from Megyn Kelly to Catholic film critics. We also discuss some of Our Boys in this: John Lithgow's ambitions to be the first Canadian Pontiff, and the two Italian men who would be Pope, Sergio Castellitto's racist, vaping Cardinal and the American liberal Stanley Tucci.We also discuss a completely forgotten all-star religious epic that is vaguely relevant to Conclave, 1972's Pope Joan, starring Liv Ullmann as a pious ninth-century woman who disguises herself as a man to save her life, moves up the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and is elected Pope, a medieval legend the film presents as fact. Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilterFollow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and Bluesky and visit jacobbacharach.comTrailer #1 for Conclave (Edward Berger, 2024)Pope Joan can be found on the Russian social network / streaming service Odnoklassniki.SCTV sketch “The Man Who Would be King of the Popes”, 1977

The author Jacob Bacharach returns for a show about Ridley Scott's latest, the big-budget sequel to his Oscar-winning Gladiator. Set 16 years later, Paul Mescal plays Lucius, the secret son of Russell Crowe's Maximus, who seeks revenge against Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) the Roman general who conquered his home and enslaved him. He is sent into gladiator combat in the Colosseum by the scheming arms dealer Macrinus (Denzel Washington) a former slave who plans to use Lucius to seize power from Rome's tyrannical twin emperors. Jacob and I discuss The Ridler's latest epic, which means to top the original in terms of sheer spectacle (including queer-coded villains, baboon and rhino gladiator battles and a crazy naval battle set in a flooded Colosseum filled with sharks), and yet can't quite get out from under the shadow of the original, despite a fantastic supporting turn by the always dependable Denzel. Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and Bluesky and visit jacobbacharach.com Trailer #2 for Gladiator II (Ridley Scott, 2024)

The author Jacob Bacharach returns to continue this podcast's look at Megalopolis. On this episode we compare Coppola's latest to another overheated epic about a visionary architect, King Vidor's ludicrous 1949 adaptation of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Coppola has acknowledged the film version of The Fountainhead as a key influence on Megalopolis, but what Jacob and I value about these two films is how they each rebuke the reactionary source material: Vidor does it through hyperbole while Coppola rejects Rand's philosophy outright in his parable about America as a near-future Roman Empire. And both films are intensely personal projects with Vidor pointing the way towards the future of cinematic language (no doubt inspiring Paul Verhoeven and the Coen Brothers) and Coppola emptying out his bag of tricks to finally finish a deranged project he spent half his life hoping to make. And Jacob and I contrast the ways we each saw Megalopolis: from a packed out IMAX cinema in Toronto with a live-streamed Coppola q&a and the full “immersive” presentation to being the only people in a suburban cinema in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the best time we each had in a movie theatre in eons. Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and visit jacobbacharach.com “Ayn Rand Made Me a Communist”, by Jacob Bacharach for the New Republic, January 27, 2016 Trailer for The Fountainhead (King Vidor, 1949) Second trailer for Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis (that got pulled by Lionsgate)

The author Jacob Bacharach returns for a sequel to our Junk Filter episode about Denis Villeneuve's Dune, with a look at his long-awaited Dune: Part Two.  Villeneuve said in interviews that he thought of Frank Herbert's novel as an allegory for the French Canadians under the thumb of the authoritarian government of Maurice Duplessis that used the Catholic Church to subjugate the Quebecois people before the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Jacob and I use this allegory as a jumping off point to extend the metaphor: are the Bene Gesserit the Catholic Church? Are the Fremen the FLQ? And is Paul Atreides the saviour of an independent Quebec, the Kwisatz Tabarnak? Plus: Jacob and I discuss the charms of Dune: Part Two including how the movie differs from Frank Herbert's novel, the arrival of Christopher Walken as the Emperor qnd Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha, and our MVP Javier Bardem as Stilgar. Plus: Josh Brolin's homoerotic ode to Timothée Chalamet, the dreaded Dune Popcorn Bucket, and a look at some of the galaxy-brained responses online from people who thought Paul was supposed to be the hero of the story. Become a patron of the podcast to access to exclusive episodes every month. Over 30% of Junk Filter episodes are exclusively available to patrons. To support this show directly please subscribe at ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and visit jacobbacharach.com Trailer for Dune: Deuxième Partie (Villeneuve, 2024) Action: The October Crisis of 1970 (Robin Spry, 1973) - great documentary from the National Film Board about the rise of the Quebec separatist movement From New York To L.A. - Patsy Gallant, 1977 A Cerveza Cristal ad stitched into the Chilean cable airing of Star Wars: A New Hope in 2004

"Make sense of the day's news and ideas," urges The Morning, a daily New York Times newsletter. "Get smarter, faster on news and information that matters to you," Axios assures its readership. "This is how the news should sound," The New York Times again declares, via its podcast The Daily. Over the last ten years, roughly speaking, we've seen the proliferation of the daily digest-style newsletter and podcast at legacy and new media organizations. Inspired, at least loosely, by the so-called explanatory journalism of Vox and similar outlets that arose in the mid-2010s, publications now commonly offer bite-sized breakdowns of the news that allegedly matters most, delivered to the inboxes of upwardly mobile, dinner-party-hosting, perennially on-the-go professionals - or at least those who want to think of themselves as such. There's certainly nothing wrong with accessibility in news media—quite the opposite, in fact. But, for corporate “explanatory” news models, it's worth asking who makes the decisions about which news is the “most important,” and about how that news is framed. How do seemingly benign, even folksy promises to “make sense of the news” mask the ideology of corporate media institutions? And what are the dangers of herding audiences into a center-right political consensus that issues complaints like “campus speech is vexing” and “the left is less welcoming than the right”? On this episode, we examine the rise and hegemony of centrist micro-news platforms–from Axios's trademarked "Smart Brevity" to The New York Times' David Leonhardt's newsletter The Morning and The Daily podcast–looking at how they package left-punching, pathologically incurious, glib news nuggets served up to busy, upwardly mobile, well-meaning liberals. Our guest is writer Jacob Bacharach.

The author Jacob Bacharach returns for a show about Ridley Scott's latest, the 200 million dollar epic Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. History nerds, YouTube film cranks and the Roman statue bluechecks on Twitter are up in arms about the latest from the Riddler, for straying too far from the real history and most egregiously for hiring their beloved Joker to portray their beloved Emperor of France as a cucked loser. Jacob and I highly enjoyed it as old Hollywood spectacle and as a strange historical comedy about a horny weirdo, hilariously sold to the masses as a badass action film with Black Sabbath in the trailer.  We also compare this Napoleon to previous attempts to depict him in cinema, with special emphasis on 1970's Waterloo, a spectacular and extremely expensive recreation of that fateful battle starring Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington, literally a co-production between Dino De Laurentiis and the Soviet Union!  It's fashionable in some circles to complain about Ridley Scott but we discuss some movies of his we like, our hopes for the extended version, and discuss some fun facts about the Napoleonic Era including his horny letters to Josephine and an explanation of the French Revolutionary Calendar. Plus: Napoelon Musk, finally facing his Waterloo after an assault on advertisers at a New York Times summit. Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and visit jacobbacharach.com You can sign up to be notified of when orders can be placed for the third edition of Ursula Lawrence's French Republican Wall Calendar here. Over 30% of Junk Filter episodes are exclusive to patrons of the podcast. Some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Will Sloan. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Trailer for Waterloo (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1970) Trailer #2 for Napoleon (Ridley Scott, 2023) Napoleon meme, popular in France.

Subscribe on Patreon and hear this week's full patron-exclusive episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/87687937 We're taking this week off for research and to gear up for what we've got planned for the show in the fall. With that in mind—and since David Leonhardt has been back to writing about covid again recently—today we're revisiting a favorite from last year: our conversation with Jacob Bacharach about what made Leonhardt's New York Times newsletter The Morning such an influential voice of "back to normal," and how Leonhardt's analyses of everything from covid to traffic accidents don't add up. Get Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism Runtime 1:14:45

The pod's sidebar series on NBC's revolutionary TV crime drama Miami Vice (1984-1989) begins with returning guest and friend of the show James Majure joining us from Athens, GA. There is so much to discuss in terms of the influence of Vice on contemporary culture but we're starting at the beginning, with the origins of the idea of Miami Vice, a glimpse into the real world conditions in the city of Miami in the early 80s that led to the concept, how the show refined its style and formula over a long storyline arc about the war between Crockett and Tubbs and the ruthless Calderone Cartel, and how Vice reflects the vision of its two primary architects: creator Anthony Yerkovich and executive producer Michael Mann. We also discuss the influence of Scarface on the production, the casting of playwright Miguel Piñero as Calderone, the Mozambique Drill, and the first appearance of “Crockett's Theme”. Miami Vice is currently available to watch for free on Tubi.  Episodes discussed on this show: Brother's Keeper (pilot) - Season 1, Ep 1 Calderone's Return, Parts I & II - Season 1, Eps 4 & 5 Sons and Lovers - Season 2, Ep 23 Become a patron of the podcast to access to this entire Miami Vice sidebar series, as well as dozens of episodes of the show available exclusively to Junk Filter patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. Sign up at ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow James Majure on Twitter. Opening title sequence for Episode 1 of Miami Vice Jan Hammer performing “Crockett's Theme” on Dutch TV

A ragtag gang of Beltway misfits discover how to start a proxy war in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007), a lighthearted look at American intervention from the combined forces of Tom Hanks, Mike Nichols, and Aaron Sorkin. We discuss how this celebration of the Reagan Doctrine from the very heart of "liberal Hollywood" offers a, shall we say, sanitized version of the end of the Cold War. PLUS: We discuss matters Pablo-matic and not.Preorder "Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality," the new Ed Broadbent memoir coauthored by our own Luke Savage - https://ecwpress.com/products/seeking-social-democracy-ed-broadbent"Fake News" by our own Luke Savage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crSeqJafFt8&ab_channel=JusticeDemocrats"With Hannah Gadsby's ‘It's Pablo-matic,' the Joke's on the Brooklyn Museum" by Jason Farago - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/arts/design/hannah-gadsby-brooklyn-museum-picasso.html"The True Mystery in James Comey's Crime Novel" by Jacob Bacharach - https://newrepublic.com/article/172553/true-mystery-james-comeys-crime-novel-central-park-west-reviewMichael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A ragtag gang of Beltway misfits discover how to start a proxy war in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007), a lighthearted look at American intervention from the combined forces of Tom Hanks, Mike Nichols, and Aaron Sorkin. We discuss how this celebration of the Reagan Doctrine from the very heart of "liberal Hollywood" offers a, shall we say, sanitized version of the end of the Cold War. PLUS: We discuss matters Pablo-matic and not. Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus Preorder "Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality," the new Ed Broadbent memoir coauthored by our own Luke Savage - https://ecwpress.com/products/seeking-social-democracy-ed-broadbent "Fake News" by our own Luke Savage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crSeqJafFt8&ab_channel=JusticeDemocrats "With Hannah Gadsby's ‘It's Pablo-matic,' the Joke's on the Brooklyn Museum" by Jason Farago - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/arts/design/hannah-gadsby-brooklyn-museum-picasso.html "The True Mystery in James Comey's Crime Novel" by Jacob Bacharach - https://newrepublic.com/article/172553/true-mystery-james-comeys-crime-novel-central-park-west-review

Cinema Smorgasbord's Doug Tilley joins the pod for a discussion of the two major AVOD streaming services, Tubi and Pluto TV, and their massive libraries of free content, brought to you with short but forced advertising breaks.  Even though Tubi has over 60 million regular monthly users, it still feels like an underground streaming platform, carrying tens of thousands of obscure films and documentaries along with recognizable catalog titles from major film studios spanning decades. Doug regularly monitors new arrivals to Tubi and posts update threads on Twitter using the #TubiOrNotTubi hashtag. So what are the catches for using a streaming service with a massive library for free? Beyond learning to navigate their algorithms to discover content, some may be uncomfortable with its ownership (Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corporation) or put off by some of the questionable material that can be found (their “documentary'” category is loaded with agit-prop documentaries about Trumpism or some pushing COVID paranoia). We offer tips on how to sift through the trash to find the treasure, and we also discuss highlights from Tubi's main competitor, the more upscale Pluto TV. There are dozens of premium episodes of the show available exclusively to Junk Filter patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. Coming this summer to the podcast: a summer sidebar series on the influential TV show Miami Vice! Sign up at ⁠https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Doug Tilley on Twitter.  Liam O'Donnell and Doug Tilley serve up a platter of cinematic sensations, falling under a variety of unusual and unique categories celebrating undervalued actors and underseen favorites, over at their podcast hub Cinema Smorgasbord. Follow them on Twitter too! Trailer for Cop Killers (Walter R. Cichy, 1973) “Rabbit Hole” - Tubi Super Bowl commercial, 2023

The writer Maggie Serota returns to the show for a deep dive into the 2013 music documentary for Showtime, History of the Eagles, directed by Alison Ellwood. This comprehensive 3 hour documentary is the official story of one of America's biggest rock bands, spanning their massive popularity in the seventies, their solo careers in the eighties and their reunion in the nineties, but Maggie and I think that as entertaining as the movie must be for fans of The Eagles, it's even more fun to watch if you're not a fan. As sanitized and flattering the film is towards the group's two leaders Glenn Frey and Don Henley, their legendary arrogance and the shocking mistreatment of the other members of the group (in particular the guitarist Henley coldly refers to as “Mr. Felder”) bursts through the constructed image to create a very funny portrayal of toxic masculinity and fevered egos on the rampage.  We discuss our favourite moments of hubris and chaos, compare this epic documentary to the more recent Beatles film Get Back (which also includes appearances from the great producer Glyn Johns, who clearly didn't enjoy working with the Eagles), and praise the MVP of the band and the film, guitar god Joe Walsh. There are dozens of premium episodes of the show available exclusively to Junk Filter patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at ⁠https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Maggie Serota on Twitter, and subscribe to her wonderful substack Professor Garbage. Trailer for History of the Eagles (Alison Ellwood, 2013) Music video for “I Can't Tell You Why”, Eagles, 1979 “Choice of a New Generation” - Pepsi commercial featuring Don Johnson and Glenn Frey, directed by Ridley Scott, 1985

The writer Corey Atad returns to the pod for a discussion of the controversial new eco-thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline, an action film inspired by Andreas Malm's best-selling non-fiction work that argues in favour of direct and destructive action against the fossil fuel industry to escalate the battle against climate change. The film dramatizes the blowing-up of a pipeline by depicting the act as if it were a heist film, with stopwatch-precise editing and flashbacks explaining how the members of the crew found each other. We discuss (in some detail) the criticism the film has received from the left and from the right: some on the left feel the movie fails a purity test by being marketed and released in multiplexes by film financiers and studios with ties to Big Oil, while some on the right are furious this pro-terrorist “Hollywood propaganda” is meant to turn the audience into radical extremists. But we also talk about the film itself, and how its in league with classic genre entertainments like First Bloodthat function both as dynamic thrillers and delivery devices for deeper social commentary. Plus: Corey and I prepare to say ‘farewell' to our ‘legacy verified' Twitter bluechecks on 4/20, and we discuss Elon picking a fight with the CBC. There are dozens of premium episodes of the show available exclusively to Junk Filter patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at ⁠https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Corey Atad on Twitter. Trailer for How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Daniel Goldhaber, 2023) “How to Blow Up a Pipeline Filmmakers Hope You Take Their Advice”, by Corey Atad, for Gawker, September 21, 2022 “How to Blow Up a Pipeline Is A Film About Action”, by Corey Atad, for Defector, April 12, 2023 “The Bomb Hardly (Agit)Pops: An Essay on How to Blow Up a Pipeline” by A.E. Hunt, for Cine Móvil NYC, April 4, 2023

The Maryland-based writer and critic Jessica Ritchey is my special guest for a show that compares the current decline in the interconnected comic book movie business to the collapse in the late sixties of the Roadshow Musical with a look at the notorious 1969 musical western Paint Your Wagon (starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood) with 2022's box office disappointment Black Adam, meant to launch a new DC superhero franchise for star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Hubris connects these two movies: Paint Your Wagon was a troubled production that was extremely expensive to make and not nearly the hit Paramount expected it to be, while Black Adam was The Rock's brazen attempt to take over the direction of the DC Universe but released at the moment a new regime took over at Warner Bros's DC unit. Black Adam came from the Shazam saga but Johnson consciously distanced the would-be franchise from its source and even teased a future battle between this antihero and Henry Cavill's Superman that also helped to doom the following Shazam sequel to box office oblivion, leading to public feuding between its star Zachary Levi and Johnson. Jessica and I discuss the cultural conditions that swallowed up these two films in their respective eras, the questionable politics of these films, and why the Simpsons parody of Paint Your Wagon works better than the original! There are over three dozen premium episodes of the show available exclusively to patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Will Sloan. More to come! Sign up at ⁠https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Jessica Ritchey on Twitter and subscribe to her Patreon! Trailer for Paint Your Wagon (Joshua Logan, 1969) Trailer for Black Adam (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2022) The legendary Simpsons' takedown of Paint Your Wagon

Toronto-based writer and content strategist Karen Geier returns to the show to discuss the late screen goddess Raquel Welch and her greatest role as a trans woman out to destroy the Hollywood patriarchy in the 1970 film version of Gore Vidal's controversial best-selling novel Myra Breckinridge, produced on a high budget by 20th Century Fox in the early days of the new X rating. Long considered one of the worst movies ever made, Karen and I mount a defense of Myra Breckinridge as a ruthless satire of Hollywood that is intentionally distasteful and accidentally based in terms of its sexual politics. We discuss the troubled production and the cast of creatives including the British director Michael Sarne (who hated the book), the film critic Rex Reed (who made his acting debut here and trashed the movie when it was released) and the original screen sex goddess Mae West, coaxed back on the screen after nearly 30 years, who refused to appear on screen with Raquel and demanded she get top billing and two musical numbers (even though the film was not a musical). Karen and I also discuss Raquel's insane prime-time network tv specials and her comeback in the eighties as the star of a series of salacious workout videos. You can watch Myra Breckinridge for free over at the Internet Archive. There are over three dozen premium episodes of the show available exclusively to patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Will Sloan. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Karen Geier on Twitter. Trailer for Myra Breckinridge (Michael Sarne, 1970) Raquel! (TV special for CBS from 1970) From Raquel With Love (TV special for ABC from 1980) Highlights from Welch's eighties at-home workout videotape A Week With Raquel (1986) “Swinging Into Disaster”, an in-depth article on the making of Myra Breckinridge, by Steven Daly for Vanity Fair, April 2001

This episode contains major spoilers and deals with difficult subject matter, so please watch the film before you listen to this discussion. Freelance film critic and programmer Rafa Sales Ross joins me from Scotland to discuss Charlotte Wells' debut feature Aftersun, starring newcomer Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal in an Academy Award-nominated performance as Calum, a Scottish single father who takes his 11 year old daughter Sophie on a trip to a resort in Turkey in the late nineties, a story told partly through the use of MiniDV holiday footage but more importantly refracted from the perspective of a grown-up Sophie, now at the same age her father was on this fateful vacation and reconsidering her memories. As a film critic who saw Aftersun at its tear-soaked screening at Cannes and as part of the programming team that later selected the film to open the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Rafa is uniquely equipped to speak about this powerful drama about what gets captured in the “mind camera”; parenthood, loss, depression, empathy, memory, nostalgia and the hard-won wisdom children experience when they transform into adults and finally start to understand their parents as people. There are over three dozen premium episodes of the show available exclusively to patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Rafa Sales Ross on Twitter and visit her website. Trailer for Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022) Rafa's interview with Charlotte Wells on Aftersun, for “Little White Lies”, November 15, 2022

Ed Conroy, a Toronto-based cultural historian and the creator of Retrontario, joins the show for a look back at the 40th anniversary of Pay TV in Canada. On February 1, 1983, Canada's first Pay TV channels arrived on the airwaves to great fanfare: Competing movie services First Choice and Superchannel offered subscribers blockbuster movies "uncut and commercial free" while the more refined C Channel offered more highbrow fare: world cinema, opera, theatre and concerts. First Choice distinguished itself from the other services by offering adult entertainment (softcore nudity on the soap opera “Loving Friends and Perfect Couples” and late night Playboy Channel programming, co-productions that controversially qualified as Canadian Content). But Pay TV was not a success out of the gate, leading to C Channel going off the air within weeks and First Choice eventually having to merge with Superchannel (Canadians know the service now as Crave). Ed and I take the listener on a tour of this chapter in television history, when uncut movies in your home were a novelty in the days before VCRs were commonplace, and the thrill of being exposed to exciting illicit programming, bringing Canadian teenagers in the eighties an at-home crash course in high and low film culture. RIP Noah Cowan, veteran programmer and artistic director for TIFF who brought us Midnight Madness at the Festival and whose father Edgar brought us C Channel, a service ahead of its time. There are over three dozen premium episodes of the show available exclusively to patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ed Conroy on Twitter and visit his wonderful found local video repository Retrontario First Choice commercial, February 1983 Superchannel commercial, March 1983 C Channel commercial featuring Gordon Pinsent, February 1993

Access this entire 87 minute episode (and additional monthly bonus episodes) by becoming a Junk Filter patron! https://www.patreon.com/posts/120-singing-with-77990062 The American writer and filmmaker Ted Mills, now living in Wellington New Zealand, joins the program for a discussion of the television playwright Dennis Potter's greatest achievement, his 1986 series for the BBC, The Singing Detective. One of the earliest examples of what we would now call “Prestige TV”, The Singing Detective was acclaimed for the breakout lead performance from Michael Gambon and for how it told a difficult story in a complex manner taking place over several planes of time, reality and fantasy. In 6 epsiodes, an unpleasant pulp novelist hospitalized with a ghastly and paralyzing case of psoriasis begins to put the pieces of his life together with the help of the hospital's psychiatrist, starting to comprehend that his horrible mental and physical condition may be related to unresolved traumas from his childhood. We talk about Dennis Potter as a tv playwright, critic and advocate for public television's power to both entertain and emancipate the viewer, the controversies in the UK when the program first aired, the show's positive portrayal of psychotherapy, the self-conscious blurring of autobiography and fiction in Potter's work, and how the experimental structure of The Singing Detective influenced modern prestige TV like The Sopranos and Twin Peaks. We also (briefly) discuss the (bad) American remake from the early 2000s with Robert Downey Jr. The Singing Detective is currently available to view at the Internet Archive and on YouTube. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ted Mills on Twitter and Instagram and visit his website.

Danny and Derek are joined by the writer Jacob Bacharach and Matt Christman, co-host of Chapo Trap House and Hell of Presidents, about the "New Chronology" Soviet/Russian conspiracy theory. The four explore everything from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the history of chronology, Mormonism, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

Roxana Hadadi, a TV critic for New York magazine's culture site Vulture. and returning guest Corey Atad join me for an enthusiastic discussion of Tony Gilroy's ambitious new Disney Star Wars streaming series Andor. Gilroy, who had been brought in by Lucasfilm to rescue the troubled production Rogue One in 2016, recently returned to the franchise for a series that provides a backstory for the character Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) who sacrificed his life to steal the plans for the Death Star. But Andor the series is not really a Space Opera with the typical fan servicing Disney has provided Star Wars fans in recent years. Instead it's a program built as a series of mini arcs that analyze how fascist rule is systemically maintained (through private police, colonial rule and the prison industrial complex) and how people living under such a system can either become radicalized, victimized or complicit. It's Star Wars fused with Blade Runner, The Battle of Algiers and yes, Michael Clayton. We discuss the show's intelligent design and impeccable vibes, and we wonder, for a show that is so clearly sympathetic to antifascism, why it hasn't enraged the culture warriors on the right who are usually always angry about Star Wars. There are over three dozen premium episodes of the show available exclusively to patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Roxana Hadadi and Corey Atad on Twitter Roxana's interview with Andor's creator Tony Gilroy, for Vulture, November 23, 2022 Tony Gilroy speaking from the picket lines in support of the 2008 Writer's Guild strike. Trailer #2 for Star Wars: Andor (Season 1, 2022)

Alex Shephard, senior writer for The New Republic, returns to Junk Filter to discuss two demented grindhouse classics from the English director Michael Winner, the notorious Charles Bronson thriller Death Wish 3 (1985) and a recently rediscovered home invasion melodrama from the year prior, Scream For Help. Both films have much in common: two trashy and violent melodramas, both set in New York State but mostly filmed in London. each with an original soundtrack from a member of Led Zeppelin! Alex says Death Wish 3 is a work of American fascist art, a proto-MAGA vision that helps to explain today's reactionary conservative mindset. Scream For Help is like an R-rated After School Special that couldn't be made today and is a must-watch for DW3 heads. Plus! A supersized post-mortem of the World Cup in Qatar, including the greatest WC final ever, Messi securing GOAT status, the crashing-out of Cristano Ronaldo from elite status in football, and how journalists managed to cover the tournament while also combatting the sportswashing efforts of FIFA and the host country. Vamos Argentina Carajo! Happy Holidays! Thank you to the listeners and patrons. We'll have new episodes in early January! There are over three dozen premium episodes of the show available exclusively to patrons: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Alex Shephard on Twitter. A clip from an industrial commercial for the Wildey .457 Magnum, tied into the release of Death Wish 3 Trailer for Death Wish 3 (Michael Winner, 1985) Trailer for Scream For Help (Michael Winner, 1984) Winner promoting Death Wish II in the UK before getting his ass handed to him by BBC presenter Anna Raeburn over the film's depiction of sexual assault, 1982 An archive of some of the “Winner's Dinners”: a long-running restaurant review column for the Sunday Times “Fox Sports' US World Cup Coverage Is An Unmissable Abomination” by Alex Timms, for The Guardian, December 5, 2022

Access this entire 65 minute episode (and additional monthly bonus episodes) by becoming a Junk Filter patron! https://www.patreon.com/posts/116-straub-sight-75792117 Ben Nash returns to the podcast from Colchester England to say farewell to the influential French filmmaker Jean-Marie Straub, who with his wife Danièle Huillet produced several decades worth of formally controlled yet fiercely radical works. We offer the listener an introduction to the relatively obscure films of Straub-Huillet by concentrating on three of them: their controversial first film Not Reconciled (1965), perhaps their most widely-seen work, The Chronicle of Anna Magdelena Bach (1968) and 1979's Italian drama From the Clouds to the Resistance. Ben and I also discuss the results of this decade's Sight & Sound list of the Top 100 Films of All Time as voted on by filmmakers and critics, like the works of Straub-Huillet these results raise questions about the overall “accessibility” of anti-commercial arthouse cinema in the modern streaming age, of anti-commercial arthouse cinema in the modern streaming age, and how 'the canon' reflects the changing tastes of a changing audience. Subscribe to our Patreon to access dozens of additional episodes: some notable previous Patreon guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, @ReclinerNotes and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ben Nash on Twitter. Trailer for Mubi's retrospective of the films of Straub-Huillet, 2019

Access this entire 85 minute episode (and additional monthly bonus episodes) by becoming a Junk Filter patron! https://www.patreon.com/posts/115-risky-with-75212483 Public health worker and trivia host James Majure returns to the pod from Athens, GA for a show about one of the most significant American films of the eighties: Paul Brickman's Risky Business, the movie that instantly turned Tom Cruise into a star and still stands as one of his best films nearly 40 years on. Seen today Risky Business feels like "Michael Mann for Teens"; a sex comedy shot and paced like an urban thriller (set in Chicago at night with a Tangerine Dream soundtrack). We talk about the film's remarkably progressive critique of Reagan-era capitalism and class structure in America, how this film sent many Gen Xers to Horny Jail in the eighties, and the ways it set the template for the rest of Cruise's career. We also discuss Brickman's preferred ending to the movie (a rare example of studio interference benefiting the overall work). Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some notable previous Patreon episode guests include Jared Yates Sexton, Jacob Bacharach, David Roth, Bryan Quinby and Sooz Kempner. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter James Majure runs a mobile public health vaccination team operating in and around Northeast Georgia. He also hosts a weekly trivia game in Athens! Trailer for Risky Business (Paul Brickman, 1983)

The novelist and essayist Jacob Bacharach returns to the pod to discuss the Elon Musk era of Twitter in relation to another cautionary tale about what happens when you fool with Mother Nature, Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park. It turns out there are unintended consequences to messing around with systems you didn't understand when you first altered them! We talk about Jurassic Park as a perfect example of blockbuster filmmaking, and how to get over one's snobbery about Spielberg as a great cinema craftsman, and then we go to town on Twitter's new CEO; "Comedy is now legal on Twitter" proclaimed Musk shortly before discarding the verification system by making a bluecheck available to anyone with a credit card, and just like Jurassic Park, no one in control anticipated what could possibly go wrong. We talk about his misunderstanding of what Twitter is, his new parasitical friendship with Cat Turd, and how his lack of knowledge about comedy, technology and humanity has created this perfect storm, chasing off employees, users and advertisers in what is turning out to be the most expensive 420 joke ever told. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Will Sloan. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and visit jacobbacharach.com Teaser trailer for Jurassic Park (Spielberg, 1993)

Access the entire 109 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/posts/102-blood-with-71701563 In the latest in a recurring series on the albums of Elvis Costello, Scott Bunn, the author of the wonderful Recliner Notes blog, joins me from Asheville, North Carolina for an in-depth discussion of EC's final album for Columbia Records before the breakup of his band The Attractions, Blood & Chocolate. After a creative low point in the wake of the end of his first marriage, and with a dysfunctional band who were nearing their end, Costello roared back in 1986 with both King of America and Blood & Chocolate, the latter a strange, loud rock record about breakups, jealousy, infidelity and increasingly psychotic cuck fantasies, set against an apocalyptic world spinning off its axis. We go track by track into the album; along the way we discuss the role his new partner Cait O'Riordan played in its creation and the various personae Costello inhabits on the record, including his alter-ego Napoleon Dynamite (yes, that name derives from this album, though unacknowledged by the film's director). Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast can access additional exclusive episodes every month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Alex Shephard, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Scott Bunn on Twitter, check out the Recliner Notes blog, and listen to Scott's indie radio podcast! "I Want You" - Fiona Apple (live with Costello's band), 2006

Access the entire 79 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/posts/100-michael-mann-70847596 For the 100th episode of Junk Filter, public health worker and trivia host James Majure joins us from Athens, GA to discuss Michael Mann's first feature film as a director, 1981's Thief starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld. Thief is a fundamental text of modern cinematic language, and the starting point for all of Mann's career-long preoccupations; the personal code of the professional, the challenges facing the criminal trying to re-enter society, and an immersion into a nocturnal world of city streets, dive bars and diners. Notably Thief offers a fairly Marxist critique of the capitalist system and the personal compromises one is forced to make to operate within it. Plus: farewell to the great James Caan, and a preview of the new novel “Heat 2”! Patrons of the podcast can hear this and over 30 premium episodes that are exclusive to the Patreon feed, including guests Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Alex Shephard, Chris Calogero, and Jacob Bacharach. Access bonus episodes every month and support the show directly by going to https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter James Majure runs a mobile public health vaccination team operating in and around Northeast Georgia. He also hosts a weekly trivia game in Athens! Trailer for Thief (Michael Mann, 1981)

The author Jacob Bacharach returns for a show about the new film about the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Michael Morbius. The failure of Morbius, both critically and commercially, is interesting to ponder: why did this particular Marvel movie bomb? Why did this film inspire so many viral memes that Sony Pictures decided to re-release it in cinemas to cash in on Morb Fever? And is the ironic online Morbius Cult our contemporary equivalent to the Juggalos? Jacob and I discuss Morbius in detail, but along the way we also talk about Jared Leto as a “risk-taking” actor, including his notorious Joker, his Oscar-winning role as a trans woman in the frustrating Dallas Buyers Club, and his laboured bid for another Oscar nomination in House of Gucci. Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and visit jacobbacharach.com Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Will Sloan. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter International trailer for Dallas Buyers Club (Vallée, 2013) The first teaser for Morbius (Espinosa, 2022), from 2020 ESKE - Off the Meds (aka The Morbin' National Anthem), 2020

Manhattan-based actor and writer Mike Mekus returns to the show for a discussion of one of Spike Lee's most underrated films, 1998's basketball drama He Got Game starring Denzel Washington and NBA player Ray Allen. Denzel is Jake Shuttlesworth, a convict secretly released from Attica by order of the warden to try to get his son Jesus, a future NBA star, to sign a letter of intent to play college ball for the Governor's alma mater “Big State”. But Jesus is estranged from his father and under great pressure to either sign with a competing college (the aggressive “Tech U”) or head straight to the pros from high school. He Got Game is a film about American exploitation in its many forms, and as messy as it can be, it contains many sequences of great power and beauty, filmed primarily around Coney Island in Brooklyn. It's also a film from the brief period at Touchstone Pictures where Disney was making complex movies for grownups made by great filmmakers. We discuss several aspects of the film including Spike's use of music (the inspired pairing of Aaron Copland with Public Enemy) and his perennial blind spot: the portrayal of his female characters. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Alex Shephard, Chris Calogero, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Mike Mekus on Twitter and check out his blog! Trailer for He Got Game (Spike Lee, 1998) Spike Lee's cryptocurrency commercial for Coin Cloud, July 2021

Access the entire 84 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/69724035 The very funny actor and comedian Chris Calogero joins me from Los Angeles for a discussion on one of the great L.A. films, Michael Mann's Heat! Michael Mann is back in action lately, with Ferrari in production, the impending release of his first novel Heat 2, and the news that it will be adapted for the screen as a prequel/sequel to the 1995 classic. Chris and I go to Riff City for this episode: we talk about the influence Waingro has had on today's hard-right insurrectionists, Mann's 1989 TV movie L.A. Takedown which Heat is a remake of, the increasing insanity of Al Pacino's portrayal of Vincent Hanna, and finally we also offer Mann some free ideas for what he can do when he finally adapts Heat 2 for the big screen. You can watch L.A. Takedown (Mann, 1989) for free on YouTube. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Alex Shephard, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Chris Calogero on Twitter and visit chriscalogero.com

The writer, actor and musician Patrick Marlborough, a regular contributor to Vice, Gawker and The Guardian, joins me from Perth in Western Australia for a show about the groundbreaking 1995 miniseries Blue Murder, starring Richard Roxburgh. Blue Murder tells the true story of corruption in the New South Wales police department and the friendship between the hot-headed detective Roger Rogerson and the Sydney crime kingpin Neddy Smith, who was given the “green light” by Rogerson to commit crimes, including murder, with police protection. This bombshell series, produced by the public broadcaster ABC, was banned from the airwaves in New South Wales for 6 years. We discuss this terrific miniseries, the inferior recent sequel Blue Murder: Killer Cop (2017), produced by the private channel Seven Network, and Patrick offers some insights into Toxic Masculinity, Aussie-style, and the landscape of media culture Down Under that these two miniseries represent. Both Blue Murder and the sequel are currently available to stream on Prime Video in Canada, and can also be found on YouTube. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Alex Shephard, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter You can find Patrick Marlborough on Twitter and Patrickmarlborough.com “Blue Murder: Nothing Has Exposed Australia's Mean Streak Better Than This Sleazy Drama” by Patrick Marlborough, for The Guardian, July 26, 2022 Ad for the DVD release of Blue Murder (Michael Jenkins, 1995) Ad for Blue Murder: Killer Cop (Michael Jenkins, 2017)

The hosts of the Hit Factory podcast, Aaron Casias and Carlee Gomes, return to the show from San Francisco to defend John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), generally considered the weakest film in the series. Woo's underappreciated sequel is best enjoyed as his attempt to fuse modern American blockbuster filmmaking with the delirious style of Hong Kong action cinema and the spirit of Hitchcock's grand Hollywood entertainments, in this case openly echoing the plot of Notorious. It also set the template for Mission: Impossible as a continuing series of thrillers. Most importantly, this was the movie where Tom Cruise turned into the Tom Cruise we have today: the man who does his own death-defying stunts and the last real Hollywood movie star, who practically makes propaganda for himself. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Alex Shephard, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Aaron Casias and Carlee Gomes on Twitter. Subscribe to the Hit Factory podcast; you can also support the show directly through Patreon. Trailer for Mission: Impossible 2 (John Woo, 2000) Trailer for Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946) "Aeropuerto", John Woo's great commercial for Nike, 1998 (he was working on this when he was tapped by Cruise to direct M:I 2.) A great interview with Thandiwe Newton for Vulture where she spills the tea on her film career and talks about working on M:I 2.

Access the entire 84 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/68615908 Alex Shephard, senior writer for The New Republic and co-host of the Mr. Difficult podcast, returns to Junk Filter for a discussion of Baz Luhrmann's maximalist jukebox musical biopic Elvis, starring Austin Butler in a star-making role as The King and the distracting cartoonish performance from Tom Hanks as his manager/svengali Colonel Tom Parker. Plus: Alex discusses his recent TNR interview with the documentary filmmaker Alex Holder, recently subpoenaed to testify for the January 6 Committee in DC about what he captured on the day of the insurrection for his upcoming Discovery+ series on the outgoing first family in the final days of the Trump Presidency. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Will Sloan, Bryan Quinby, Karen Geier, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Alex Shephard on Twitter and check out the Mr. Difficult podcast.

Writer Adam Jackson (Vice, Noisey) returns to the podcast for a discussion of the new Disney/Pixar animated feature Lightyear. Why did Lightyear fail at the box office? Was it the convoluted premise (this isn't a movie about the toy Buzz Lightyear or even a Toy Story film, this is the movie about the actual Buzz Lightyear that young Andy loved so much in 1995 that he bought the toy)? Was it the “controversial” LGBTQ content (which adds up to about 45 seconds of screen time and yet triggered hysterical calls for boycotts of the movie from the anti-Disney religious right)? Was it anger over the replacement of the conservative Tim Allen with the affable Chris Evans as the voice of Buzz? Was it stiff market competition from Jurassic World Dominion and Top Gun: Maverick? Adam and I went to see it together to see for ourselves where things went wrong. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Will Sloan, Bryan Quinby, Karen Geier, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Adam Jackson on Twitter. Trailer for Lightyear (Angus MacLane, 2022)

Toronto-based writer and content strategist Karen Geier returns to the show for a discussion of John Waters and his 1994 “true crime” comedy Serial Mom, starring Kathleen Turner as a suburban Baltimore housewife who is eventually discovered to be a serial killer and becomes a tabloid sensation during her criminal trial. The remarkable thing about this film is it was released mere weeks before the O.J. Simpson murders and Waters strangely anticipated the cultural issues brought up by this case: the American obsession with crime and celebrity. Karen and I discuss the film and some adjacent current topics including Cancel Culture, the moral panic over Trans Rights and Drag Queen Story Time, the legacy of the O.J. trial, and the popularity of True Crime podcasts and documentaries. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Will Sloan, Bryan Quinby, Karen Geier, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Karen Geier on Twitter and check out her podcast On Belief. She also has a Patreon! Trailer for Serial Mom (John Waters, 1994)

Access the entire 90 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/67675544 The hosts of the 30 Years Later podcast, Ricky Camilleri and Chris Chafin, join me from New York City to discuss Larry Clark's 2001 true-crime drama Bully. Possibly the ultimate Florida movie, Bully is a tale of crime and punishment that contrasts a strongly moralistic narrative with Clark's sweaty, lurid and lecherous visual approach to adapt the true story of a group of sex-crazed stoner teens in Fort Lauderdale who conspire to commit the brutal murder of young Bobby Kent, himself a tormentor of one of the killers, his lifelong pal Marty Puccio. We discuss this film as a black comedy, Chris vouches for the accuracy of the film's portrayal of Y2K South Florida teens, we tackle the issues of exploitation and consent that accompany tales of the film's turbulent production, and we wonder if a movie as uncompromising as Bully could even get made in America today. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Will Sloan, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ricky Camilleri and Chris Chafin on Twitter. Check out the 30 Years Later podcast! I was a recent guest of the show to discuss Patriot Games. They have also launched a new Patreon feed. “An Oral History of Larry Clark's Cult Classic Bully” by Daniel Clemens, for i-D magazine, July 27, 2021 Trailer for Bully (Larry Clark, 2001)

Writer and podcaster Gus Lanzetta returns to the podcast from São Paulo, Brazil for a show about Mads Mikkelsen and his 2020 Danish action comedy Riders of Justice. Along the way we discuss Mikkelsen's two careers in domestic and international cinema, the history of Danish cinema that dates back to the beginning of the medium, and how Riders of Justice balances action, violence and comedy and puts a uniquely Danish spin on familiar genre tropes. Plus: Gus lends his Fast Saga expertise to discuss the latest news from the set of Fast X. Has Vin Diesel snapped? Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Will Sloan, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Gus Lanzetta on Twitter. Trailer for Riders of Justice (Anders Thomas Jensen, 2020) Music video for “Bitch Better Have My Money” - Rihanna, 2015 Vin Diesel singing “Stay” by Rihanna in his house

Access the entire 72 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/67140452 From Montreal, Rob Rousseau returns to the podcast for a discussion of the decline of comedian Ricky Gervais, with the release of his new Netflix special Super Nature. We're a long way from the heights of The Office now. Why does Gervais seem more determined now to court controversy than to tell actual funny jokes? Do edgy "anti-woke" comedians with huge platforms realize (or even care) that they are contributing to a cultural anti-trans panic that is already making life dangerous for LGBT people? Plus: Ontario sleepwalks towards the re-election of Doug Ford as Premier. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Will Sloan, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Rob Rousseau on Twitter, and check out his podcasts @insurgentspod and @TRRSpod.

Writer and former NFB senior producer Gerry Flahive joins the podcast to discuss moviegoing in Toronto in the 1970s, at the dawn of the multiplex age. Gerry worked as a teenage usher at the new Imperial Six cinema, under the precise command of cinema manager Phil Traynor, the inspiration for Gerry's alternate Twitter persona Bert Xanadu, who tweets from the year 1973 where he is both the reigning mayor of Toronto and the manager of the Imperial Six. Bert's tweets and essays have been collected in Gerry's new book I Own This Town: The Mayor Bert Xanadu Xanthology. Gerry and I talk about the many movie theatres, from cavernous palaces to alternate film spaces to grindhouses that used to exist on Yonge Street, the eclectic programming and architecture of the Imperial Six, and the local film culture that led to the development of cinema multiplexes and the Toronto International Film Festival. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Will Sloan, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Gerry Flahive and Mayor Bert Xanadu on Twitter. I Own This Town: The Mayor Bert Xanadu Xanthology by Gerry Flahive is now available at the Spacing store in Toronto and other fine bookstores. Also available as an e-book at Amazon. Famous Players Theatres “Next Attraction” snipe, mid-1970s Famous Players Theatres “Gift Books” snipe, 1972 Trailer for Emperor of the North (Robert Aldrich, 1973) Trailer for The Harrad Experiment (Ted Post, 1973)

Access the entire 88 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/66652078 Will Sloan returns to the podcast for an in-depth discussion of the strange career path of comedian and impressionist Joe Piscopo: from his origins on Saturday Night Live and stardom as their second banana to superstar Eddie Murphy, his short-lived movie career, his bodybuilding phase, his various network tv specials, most notably 2012's A Night at Club Piscopo for Showtime, to his current life as a conservative talk radio guy in New Jersey. All of Piscopo's eighties tv specials discussed on this episode are available to watch on YouTube, and A Night at Club Piscopo is currently streaming on Tubi. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Will Sloan on Twitter and subscribe to his great podcasts The Important Cinema Club and Michael and Us. “Kimberly” - Joe Piscopo, 1997 The Vulture Transcript: Joe Piscopo Dissects His Career, From SNL to the Buff Era and Beyond - by Steve Marsh, August 2011

Defector Media's David Roth returns to Junk Filter to discuss highlights from the long career of veteran action filmmaker Martin Campbell and pay tribute to his work beyond the famous 007 reboots. We discuss his origins in film and television: his debut in British sex comedies in the seventies, his groundbreaking 1985 BBC miniseries Edge of Darkness with Bob Peck and Joe Don Baker, a terrific “bottle episode” he made for NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street (“Three Men and Adena”), No Escape, his effective 1994 sci-fi with Ray Liotta (set in the year 2022!), and his latest, the Liam Neeson “Hit Man with Alzheimer's” B-movie Memory. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow David Roth on Twitter and check out his show with Drew Magary, Distractor: A Defector Podcast Trailer for Eskimo Nell (Campbell, 1975) Trailer for No Escape (Campbell, 1994) Trailer for Memory (Campbell, 2022)

Comedy writer and labor organizer Ursula Lawrence (Drunk History, Adam Ruins Everything) returns to the show from Madison, Wisconsin for a look at 3 epic films that in unique ways depict the life of the controversial president of the Teamsters Union Jimmy Hoffa: Sylvester Stallone in F.I.S.T. (Norman Jewison, 1978), Jack Nicholson in Hoffa (Danny DeVito, 1992) and Al Pacino in The Irishman (Scorsese, 2019). How do these films contrast Hoffa's achievements for the American worker with his connections to organized crime, his mysterious disappearance and how he is remembered culturally? Why didn't Danny DeVito continue directing historical epics? And why is there a scene in Hoffa that takes place in the woods but filmed indoors on a giant soundstage (with a live deer?) Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ursula Lawrence on Twitter and her French Republican Calendar project A must-read: Patrick Goldstein's report for the Los Angeles Times from the set of Hoffa, 1992 Trailer for F.I.S.T. (Norman Jewison, 1978) TV commercial for Hoffa (Danny DeVito, 1992) Danny DeVito's address to the 2011 Teamsters convention in Las Vegas

Access the entire 88 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65467969 Writer Brian Buster joins me from Los Angeles to discuss David Robert Mitchell's 2018 mystery Under the Silver Lake, Mitchell's blank check film after the success of It Follows. Silver Lake played in competition at Cannes but for some reason its distributor A24 got cold feet and after moving the release date a couple of times, dumped it into a few theatres and VOD nearly a year later. A disaffected and desperate young man named Sam (Andrew Garfield) meets a beautiful blonde (Riley Keough) who vanishes the next day. Sam plays detective to find out where she went, and descends into a mystery world of secret societies, coded messages and conspiracies just below the surface of sunny Tinseltown. In our spoiler-heavy discussion, Brian and I talk about how Silver Lake anticipated Epstein Brain, this film's placement in the sub-genre of Ambient Noir, the associations the film has to Hitchcock and Mulholland Drive, and the decoding of the cryptic clues and perceived secret messages of the film taken up online by its fans. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Brian Buster on Twitter and stay tuned for Brian's Patreon, coming soon! Trailer for Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell, 2018)

Returning guest Ethan Vestby, a contributor to The Film Stage, joins the pod for a discussion of All Things Wahlberg, including Mark's brand new project, the faith-based comedy/drama Father Stu, based on a true story, co-starring Mel Gibson and directed by Gibson's girlfriend Rosalind Ross in her feature debut. Father Stu is the kind of studio movie we don't see a lot of these days, a personal project aimed at Catholic audiences that Wahlberg partly financed himself along the lines of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ but unlike most entertainment aimed at the religious market, this one is loaded with sleaze and profanity and easily earns its R rating. What does this tell us about the changing world of faith-based entertainment in the new world of the MAGA-influenced religious right and their sudden opposition to “cancel culture”? Plus we talk about Mark Wahlberg's business ventures including the Wahlburgers chain, his HBO reality series Wahl Street, and his prolific partnership with the director Peter Berg. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ethan Vestby on Twitter. Trailer for Season 1 of Wahlberg's HBO reality series Wahl Street Trailer for Father Stu (Rosalind Ross, 2022)

Filmmaker Peter Fishbeast joins me from Belper in Derbyshire, England to discuss the 1969 George Roy Hill blockbuster Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, aka Dudes Rock: Origins. Butch Cassidy is a great example of the influence the French New Wave had on late sixties Hollywood cinema, as it transitioned towards the New American Cinema of the seventies. It's a western loaded with countercultural appeal and modern sensibilities, powered by an unexpected Burt Bacharach soundtrack that spawned the first No. 1 song of the seventies, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head". Peter and I talk about the film's enigmatic director George Roy Hill, the magic of Paul Newman and Robert Redford as Dudes Rock avatars, William Goldman's screenplay being perhaps an unfortunate influence on today's quippy soy banter in modern blockbusters, and the film's forgotten prequel. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Will Sloan, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Peter Fishbeast on Twitter and visit his website. Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head - Bobbie Gentry, 1971 Trailer for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969) Trailer for Butch and Sundance: The Early Days (Richard Lester, 1979)

Access the entire 82 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64822370 Screenwriter and filmmaker Brenden Gallagher joins the program from Los Angeles to discuss two westerns about Toxic Masculinity: Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog (2021), for which she won Best Director at this year's Academy Awards, and John Ford's The Searchers (1956). In some ways The Power of the Dog seems to be a film in dialogue with The Searchers, both stylistically and in terms of being a psychological profile of a damaged and dangerous American male archetype. We also talk about the complex legacy of The Searchers, considered one of the greatest American films, but featuring an unapologetically racist hero. And speaking of the perils of Toxic Masculinity, we also talk about this year's Academy Awards! Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Brenden Gallagher on Twitter and visit his website. Sacheen Littlefeather turning down Marlon Brando's Oscar for Best Actor in The Godfather, 1973 Trailer for The Power of the Dog (Campion, 2021) Trailer for The Searchers (Ford, 1956)

Asawin Suebsaeng, senior reporter for The Daily Beast and co-host of the Fever Dreams podcast, joins the show from Cincinnati to discuss Walter Hill's underrated 1988 Cold War cop thriller Red Heat, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a KGB cop on the hunt for a Soviet gangster on the loose in the United States, forced to cooperate on the case with Chicago cop Jim Belushi. Arnold mentioned filming Red Heat in Moscow during his recent video address for the Russian people to tell them the truth about the war in Ukraine. Swin and I talk about Red Heat as an amazing time capsule of the end of the Cold War and how the film holds a sympathetic view of the Soviet Union (in particular, their style of policing) and how in some ways this movie anticipated the current respect in some American conservative circles for the modern autocratic Russia of Vladimir Putin (himself a former KGB agent in the eighties!) Plus: the secret connection Red Heat has to John Woo's The Killer! Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Asawin Suebsaeng on Twitter and check out the Fever Dreams podcast! Swin's recent book with Lachlan Markay, Sinking in the Swamp: How Trump's Minions and Misfits Poisoned Washington, is available here. Trailer for Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939) Trailer for Red Heat (Walter Hill, 1988)

Toronto musician Marker Starling, who does the music for the podcast, returns for a deep dive into one of our favourites: the 1973 all-star murder mystery The Last of Sheila, directed by Herbert Ross, with an original screenplay by puzzle fanatics Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins. A producer's wife is killed in an unsolved hit-and-run death during his house party. A year later, the producer invites some guests from the party, all Hollywood strivers, for a weeklong cruise on the French Riviera, where every night they must play a parlour game of his devising, in what seems to be his sadistic plan to discover the true identity of the killer. We talk about our shared love as kids for wanting to see “movies for grownups” in the seventies, biographical details of the cast and filmmakers, and a spoiler-filled discussion of the elaborate plot of The Last of Sheila, a key influence on Knives Out and perhaps the ultimate seventies movie. Plus: our duelling James Mason impressions! Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Marker Starling and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Marker Starling on Twitter. James Coburn beer commercial for “Schlitz Light”, 1978 James Mason plugging Thunderbird Wine in the sixties Trailer for T.R. Baskin (Ross, 1971) Trailer for The Last of Sheila (Ross, 1973)

Subscribe on Patreon and hear this week's full patron-exclusive episode here: www.patreon.com/posts/64083399 Jacob Bacharach joins us to discuss New York Times newsletter writer David Leonhardt's outsized influence as a covid minimizer, the broader political philosophy of his newsletter "The Morning," and why "liberals" are mad at David Leonhardt. Read Jacob's piece for The New Republic, "Why Is David Leonhardt So Happy?" here: https://newrepublic.com/article/165729/david-leonhardt-happy-review-new-york-times-morning-newsletter Pre-orders are now live for Bea and Artie's book, Health Communism, out October 18th from Verso Books. Pre-order Health Communism here: bit.ly/3Af2YaJ Runtime 1:15:59, 21 March 2022

Access the entire 58 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63901173 Part two of our Bat Panel on the Gotham Cinematic Universe focuses on Joker (Phillips, 2019) starring Joaquin Phoenix in his Oscar-winning performance as the Clown Prince of Crime, and how both it and The Batman lean heavily on signifiers from other characteristic filmmakers to tell their stories. We also continue our discussion of The Batman, including the evolution of the character on screen, and how the latest film portrays Batman as “The World's Greatest Detective”. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Corey Atad and Ben Nash on Twitter. Trailer for Joker (Phillips, 2019)

Returning Junk Filter guests Corey Atad and Ben Nash join forces for a special Bat Panel, a two part episode on the latest films in the Gotham Cinematic Universe. Part one takes a deep dive into Matt Reeves' The Batman (2022): what we liked about it, our issues with the film, a discussion of the film's politics, and how DC and Warner Bros. continues to evoke the cinematic style of other filmmakers (in this case the work of David Fincher) to tell the Batman story. Part two (available on the Junk Filter Patreon feed) continues the discussion with a focus on Todd Phillips' Oscar-winning Joker (2019), with additional observations on its relationship to The Batman. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Corey Atad and Ben Nash on Twitter. Trailer for The Batman (Reeves, 2022) The Batman - Oreo commercial (UK) The Batman - Little Caesar's Calzony commercial (US) Trailer for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski, 1993)

Access the entire 92 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63667721 Isobel and Noelle from the experimental electro pop group PET wife join me from Bushwick, Brooklyn to discuss the life of Marvin Gaye and his 1978 concept album Here, My Dear. There's nothing like Here, My Dear, the result of a divorce settlement between Gaye and his first wife Anna, where it was agreed that he would record his next album for Motown and give to her the entire advance and half the royalties. He delivered a two record set that chronicled the story of their marriage and divorce. A commercial failure at the time, which hastened his all-consuming drug abuse and eventual death (at the hands of his own father), it has since been re-evaluated as one of his greatest achievements and hugely influential on contemporary r&b. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow PET wife on Twitter and visit the group's website! Music video for PET wife's B.L.O.O.D.O.R.A.N.G.E. (2020) Television commercial for Here, My Dear (1978)

The author and music critic Steven Hyden joins the program from Minneapolis to discuss Paul Newman' and “The Fast (Eddie) Saga”: 1961's The Hustler and Martin Scorsese's only sequel, 1986's The Color of Money. We talk about The Hustler as a bridge between classic Hollywood filmmaking and the New American Cinema of the later 60s, and the great performances (all four main actors were Oscar nominated). This was my first time watching The Color of Money. We discuss Scorsese as a commercial filmmaker, the great pairing of Newman and Tom Cruise, and how this film was a stylistic dry run for the next phase in his career. Plus: Scorsese's masterful use of Phil Collins and Michelob Rock to capture a particular cultural milieu of the 1980s, his musical partnership with Robbie Robertson, and some of our favourite Scorsese needledrops, Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Steven Hyden on Twitter. Steven's upcoming book, Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation, is available for pre-order now! Trailer for The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961) Trailer for The Color of Money (Martin Scorsese, 1986)

One of the great American character actors, Harry Dean Stanton had over 200 acting credits but only played the leading role in two films, and my guest Justin Schneider (a patron of the podcast) pitched his way onto the show to discuss them: 1984's arthouse classic Paris, Texas and the underseen 2017 comedy-drama Lucky (Stanton's final film to be released before his death). Along the way we discuss the healing power of cinema, and how beloved Harry Dean was with filmmakers, actors and audiences. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Justin Schneider on Twitter. Harry Dean Stanton promoting Paris, Texas and Repo Man on Late Night With David Letterman, October 16, 1984 Trailer for Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984) Trailer for Lucky (John Carroll Lynch, 2017)

The State of the Union is supposed to be an address to Congress. But author and critic Jacob Bacharach has a new piece in the New York Times arguing that how it's done now is emblematic of our broken political system, and he's suggesting some changes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Access the entire 92 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62861889 The hosts of the Hit Factory podcast return to Junk Filter for a discussion of the 2003 drama Shattered Glass, the directorial debut of screenwriter Billy Ray, starring Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard. It's a great adaptation of the rise and fall of The New Republic's hotshot journalist Stephen Glass, who was exposed as a serial fabulist through the rigorous fact-checking of a competitive news outlet and then the magazine's new editor, Charles Lane. We discuss Shattered Glass as an underrated and compelling drama about ethics in journalism, how it serves as a distant early warning of a problem in media that's only gotten worse, and how the film portrays how white collar sociopaths operate in the workplace and how to successfully confront one. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Aaron Casias and Carlee Gomes on Twitter. Subscribe to the Hit Factory podcast; you can also support the show directly through Patreon.

The author Jacob Bacharach returns to the pod. Following the recent JF episode on Z by Costa-Gavras, we continue to explore the work of the great Greek-French filmmaker with two of his greatest: 1972's State of Siege, set in an unnamed Uruguay but filmed in Salvador Allende's Chile, and 1982's Missing, set in the unnamed Chile of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship but filmed in Mexico. Both films are based on true stories about the executions of American citizens in South America. Both films enraged the State Department for directly implicating the United States in these deaths and the ongoing role of US Imperialism in the violent operations of Latin American military dictatorships. And importantly, both films are thrilling cinema, at once highly entertaining and politically astute. We recorded this show on the day Premier Doug Ford declared a State of Emergency in Ontario, so Jacob and I also discuss the Trucker Convoy for Freedom… did you know that one of the tipping points for the 1973 coup d'état in Chile was an organized trucker protest? Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and visit jacobbacharach.com Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Will Sloan. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Trailer for State of Siege (Costa-Gavras, 1972) Trailer for Missing (Costa-Gavras, 1982)

Access the entire 89 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/62244513 Ben Nash, a PhD student at Kings College London and a writer whose work has appeared at Mubi and Splice Today, joins the show from Colchester, England to discuss two recent films about “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, each grappling in their own way with issues of history, family, memory and cinema. Belfast (2021) has been called director Kenneth Branagh's “most personal film”, a depiction of his childhood as sectarian violence gripped his neighbourhood. It's a film that views the turbulent era from a Protestant child's perspective, but it's notably a story that for the most part omits the city's Catholic population from the narrative. In the excellent 2018 documentary essay-film The Image You Missed, filmmaker Donal Foreman grapples with the legacy of his estranged father, the late American guerrilla filmmaker Arthur MacCaig, who shot documentaries about the conflict in Northern Ireland from the on-the-ground perspective of the Irish Republican socialist left. Along the way we summarize the conflict in Northern Ireland, Branagh's peripatetic directing career, the idea of “personal films” and the challenges of mixing monochrome and multicolour in cinema. The Image You Missed is available for rent at Vimeo On Demand Follow Ben Nash on Twitter. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter

Actor and writer Mike Mekus joins the show from Manhattan for a discussion of Steven Soderbergh and his 2009 “comedy thriller” The Informant! Based on the best-selling non-fiction book of the same name (sans exclamation point) by Kurt Eichenwald, it's the story of Mark Whitacre, an Archer Daniels Midland Company executive turned corporate whistleblower on price-fixing collusion in agri-industry, who turns out to have been embezzling from the company the entire time he was co-operating with the FBI. We talk about what we love about Soderbergh's career-long capitalist critique in his works, the many risks he takes in presenting The Informant! as a comedy, and we shake our heads at the irony of Matt Damon now repeating the role of the unreliable narrator but in real life, as the new pitchman for Crypto dot com. Father of daughters Matthew Damon, what are you doing? Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Mike Mekus on Twitter. Mike writes for the9layground.com and has a blog! Trailer for The Informant! (Soderbergh, 2009) ADM (Supermarket to the World) "Original Impossible Burger" TV Commercial, 1990

Access the entire 111 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61765426 Brooklyn-based musician Nick Miller joins the program for a deep dive into the immortal 1979 Elvis Costello and the Attractions album Armed Forces. Costello and his band recorded Armed Forces after relentlessly touring This Year's Model in America, absorbing the influences of the only music they listened to on the road (ABBA, Bowie, Kraftwerk and Cheap Trick) for a dark, complex, funny and furious power pop record that regularly equated doomed social and romantic relationships with the rise of Neo-Nazism and racism in Britain, an album that was originally titled Emotional Fascism. We discuss every track on the UK release of Armed Forces, Costello's self-destructive response to his sudden success that led to an incident that damaged and nearly derailed his career, why he's not playing “Oliver's Army” in concert anymore, and how Costello somehow managed not to become an accidental hero to incels. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Nick Miller on Twitter, and check out Nick Miller's music on Bandcamp!

My guest Sotiris Tsernoglu joins the show from Lesbos, Greece to discuss the incendiary political thriller Z by the Greek-French filmmaker Costa-Gavras. Z shocked the world on its release in 1969, striking a huge cultural chord worldwide in an era of war, protests and political assassinations (it was immediately banned in Greece). Set in an unnamed French-speaking country and filmed in Algiers to avoid state interference, Z is a thinly-fictionalized but clinically detailed account of the 1963 murder of Grigoris Lambrakis (Yves Montand), a popular democratic politician set up by the country's military establishment to be murdered by right-wing extremists, and the dogged, incorruptible magistrate (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who connects the dots of the incident and attempts to bring the guilty to justice, leading to one of the greatest endings in cinema. We discuss the real life story of the assassination of Lambrakis, the bravery of Costa-Gavras to fuse politics and entertainment to expose the crimes of the Greek military regime to a worldwide audience, the attempts to suppress the film, and how the shocking story told in Zstill resonates today, in Greece and elsewhere. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Will Sloan, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Sotiris Tsernoglu on Twitter. Trailer for Z (Costa-Gavras, 1969)

Access the entire 103 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61121473 Toronto writer and trivia master Terrance Balazo joins the show for a deep dive into the history of the Fleetwood Mac of Sweden, ABBA. From their origins in the European "Schlager" music genre and the contempt for the group in Sweden in their early days, to their legendary victory at the Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo" that instantly broke them in England and kicked off ABBAmania around the globe, to the spectacular disintegration of the band in the early eighties, and forty years later, their unexpected 2021 album Voyage and their bizarre and ambitious new hologram reunion engagement starting this March in London. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Terrance Balazo on Twitter. Terrance's Twitchstream for his weekly trivia contest Another Round Trivia.

Access the entire 86 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/60782460 Film writer Corey Atad, a contributor to Esquire, Hazlitt, Slate and other outlets, returns to the podcast for a discussion of Adam McKay's new all-star satire for Netflix Don't Look Up, a disaster movie about a comet heading directly for Earth that also stands as an allegory for the threat of climate change and the systemic problems in American media and government that we've seen manifested during the pandemic. Corey and I discuss what works about the movie and also what doesn't work, why this satire isn't exactly the new Dr. Strangelove, as well as our reaction to the filmmakers' odd conflation of any criticism this film has received from critics with their supposed climate change denialism or their hurt feelings about the film's depiction of the media. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Until he returns to Twitter, check out Corey's work here Trailer for The Wandering Earth (Gwo, 2019)

Danny and Derek are joined by the writer Jacob Bacharach and Matt Christman, co-host of Chapo Trap House and Hell of Presidents, about the "New Chronology" Soviet/Russian conspiracy theory. The four gentlemen cover a wide area, exploring everything from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the history of chronology, Mormonism, and much more. This is a fun one! Become a patron today! www.patreon.com/americanprestige

Anna Swanson, Senior Contributor for Film School Rejects, returns to the podcast to discuss The Riddler (aka Ridley Scott) and the two all-star historical epics he has released this fall, October's The Last Duel (the critically acclaimed drama that unexpectedly bombed) and November's House of Gucci (a critically drubbed melodrama that has become a sizeable hit). We discuss some of the criticism The Last Duel has received about it's unusual storytelling structure, why Ben Affleck's over-the-top supporting performance in Duel works while Jared Leto's cartoonish turn in Gucci doesn't, the response from the Gucci family over their portrayal in the movie, and the 83-year-old Riddler's delightful IDGAF attitude towards churlish criticism of his Late Style output. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Will Sloan, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Anna Swanson on Twitter. A highlight from Ridley Scott's “Fuck You” tour promoting The Last Duel.

Access the entire 86 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/59961406 Andrew Tracy, the new associate editor of Reel Screen magazine, joins the program as our first in-person guest for a deep dive into the famously problematic 007 entry Live and Let Die, Roger Moore's debut as James Bond, going up against the powerful druglord Dr. Kananga, played by Tha God Yaphet Kotto. Plus, a discussion of Bond's inability to make a proper cup of coffee in his apartment, and we praise another great Yaphet Kotto performance of the period, the film he made just before Live and Let Die, Larry Cohen's incendiary social satire Bone (1972). Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Some collected Andrew Tracy reviews for Cinema Scope magazine. Trailer for Live and Let Die (Guy Hamilton, 1973) UK Milk Board commercial tied-in to the release of Live and Let Die, 1973 From Live and Let Die, Bond trying and failing to make a decent cup of coffee for M

Writer and podcaster Rob Rousseau joins me from Montreal to discuss Peter Jackson's new epic-length documentary about those four mop-topped Lads from Liverpool. The Beatles: Get Back draws from the raw material collected in 1969 by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg for his 1970 documentary Let It Be. More than just a documentary about the Beatles, Get Back is more importantly a film about the process of artistic expression and collaboration that also offers a detailed reconsideration of the official myths and legends about the final days of the band. Rob and I also discuss Smooth Ringo, Checked Out John, Handsome Paul and George's amazing fits. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes every month: some of our notable previous guests include Jacob Bacharach, Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Karen Geier and more! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Rob Rousseau on Twitter, listen to his show The Insurgents, and check out his regular live show on Twitch. Ramsey Lewis - Cry Baby Cry Evinha - Something

After taking some time to let it marinate, the Washington Post's Dave Weigel joins me to unpack the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chloe Zhao's Eternals. We discuss how Eternals was first promoted as “a Terrence Malick version of a Marvel film”, some of the film's flaws and questionable aesthetic choices (particularly the controversial Hiroshima scene), how it was received by critics and fans, whether there will be an Eternals 2, and where the MCU goes from here. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes every month: some of our notable previous guests include Jacob Bacharach, Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Karen Geier and more! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Dave Weigel on Twitter and subscribe to his Washington Post newsletter “The Trailer” Geico Eternals tie-in commercial “Parking Spot” - Lexus / Eternals tie-in commercial McDonald's / Eternals tie-in Happy Meal commercial

Comedy writer Ursula Lawrence (Drunk History, Adam Ruins Everything) returns to the podcast from Madison, Wisconsin to discuss three great films from the Scottish writer/director Bill Forsyth, whose early self-financed successes laid the groundwork for Scotland's film industry to flourish. We talk about three of Forsyth's best films: his first studio project, the highly-acclaimed Local Hero (1982) with Peter Riegert and Burt Lancaster, 1984's Comfort and Joy, his “serious comedy” about an ice cream van turf war in Glasgow (based on true events!) and his American debut, 1987's Housekeeping with Christine Lahti, based on Marilynne Robinson's great novel, an underseen masterpiece sadly orphaned by Columbia Pictures during a studio regime change. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes every month: some of our notable previous guests include Jacob Bacharach, Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner and more! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Ursula Lawrence on Twitter. Trailer for Local Hero (Forsyth, 1982) Trailer for Comfort and Joy (Forsyth, 1984) Horrible trailer for Housekeeping (Forsyth, 1987) to give you an idea of how badly Columbia Pictures marketed the film.

We're joined by novelist Jacob Bacharach to discuss Jonathan Franzen's fourth and most Franzen-y novel, Freedom.

The New Republic's Osita Nwanevu joins the show from Baltimore, Maryland to discuss the life of Scott Joplin, known in his day as the King of Ragtime. At the dawn of the 20th century, Joplin's music achieved widespread popularity in America, transcending segregated society, and his innovations laid the groundwork for the evolution of jazz and helped to revolutionize American music and the culture itself. Joplin died penniless in 1917 and his name languished in relative obscurity for decades until his music was rediscovered in the early 1970s and he received long-overdue recognition for his achievements. Osita and I also discuss some of the key works in Joplin's catalog, including his only surviving opera "Treemonisha". Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes every month: some of our notable previous guests include Jacob Bacharach, Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Will Sloan and more! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Osita Nwanevu on Twitter. You can subscribe to Osita's newsletter here Maple Leaf Rag (Joplin, composed in 1899, performed by Alexander Peskanov) Bethana, A Concert Waltz (Joplin, composed in 1905, performed by Alexander Peskanov)

Access the entire 101 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/58389913 Jared Bailey joins me from Columbia, South Carolina to discuss Elvis Costello's monumental 1978 pop/punk album This Year's Model, his first with his band The Attractions. Costello and his Argentine producer Sebastian Krys recently deconstructed and reimagined this landmark record for the new Spanish Model project where the album's lyrics are reinterpreted by singers from across the Spanish-speaking world, using the original backing tracks. We also discuss Elvis Costello as the prototypical dirtbag leftist, and his career-long musical relationship to the nation of Argentina, from his protest song "Shipbuilding" inspired by the war in the Falkland Islands, his undisguised contempt for the warmongering Margaret Thatcher, and his affinity with the Argentine people that must have informed the Spanish Model project, which makes this timeless work accessible to an entirely new audience of listeners. Follow Jared Bailey on Twitter. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Will Sloan, and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter

Danny and Derek are joined by the writer Jacob Bacharach and Matt Christman, co-host of Chapo Trap House and Hell of Presidents, about the "New Chronology" Soviet/Russian conspiracy theory. The four gentlemen cover a wide area, exploring everything from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the history of chronology, Mormonism, and much more. This is a fun one! Become a patron today! www.patreon.com/americanprestige

Get access to this entire episode as well as all of our premium episodes and bonus content by becoming a Hit Factory Patron for just $5/month.

Author Jacob Bacharach returns to the pod for a deep dive into the various adaptations of Frank Herbert's Dune, directly comparing David Lynch's 1984 epic with the 2021 Denis Villeneuve version of the first half of the book, with digressions on the 2000 TV miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune and the 2013 documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. We also discuss in detail two of Denis Villeneuve's recent futuristic works that are related through casting and themes to his Dune: his 2015 thriller Sicario (which depicts an American covert war against Mexican drug cartels in an otherworldly manner) and 2017's Blade Runner 2049. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive access to additional exclusive episodes every month: some of our notable previous guests include Jacob Bacharach, Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Bryan Quinby, Sooz Kempner and more! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and visit jacobbacharach.com Trailer for Dune (David Lynch, 1984) Trailer for Dune: Part One (Denis Villeneuve, 2021) Trailer for Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, 2015) Music video for Tom Sawyer (Rush, 1981)

A special, spooky episode for an especially spooky time of year! We talk to author, columnist, and PGH-local Jacob Bacharach about his novel, "The Bend of the World," conspiracy theories, and the dark energy contained within the hollers of Pittsburgh. Come join us down in the Christmas Tree Room You can find Jacob on Twitter @jakebackpack His books are "The Bend of the World," and "The Doorposts of Your House and on Your Gates." They can be found online and wherever books are sold.

Access the entire 80 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/57121333 Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby joins the show from Columbus, Ohio to discuss Jody Hill's black comedy Observe and Report. Misunderstood in 2009 as a mean-spirited comedic spin on Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, it is clearer to see in 2021 that Observe and Report was intended as a vicious satire not only of the American police state, but also of the kinds of toxic males that want to be cops, presented as a Judd Apatow-style laff riot. Bryan and I talk about our appreciation for anti-comedy and harsh satire, how this film anticipated the kinds of guys who populate the alt-right, the bad timing of this film being released right after the smash hit comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and how Jody Hill went on to be one of the great modern satirists of American life through his subsequent work for HBO. Follow Bryan Quinby on Twitter. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Karen Geier, Will Sloan, Zach Vasquez and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter Check out Bryan's great podcasts Street Fight Radio and The P.O.D Kast. Trailer for Observe and Report (Jody Hill, 2009)

Access the entire 82 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/56088312 Veteran boom operator Sean Armstrong (who worked on every episode of Hannibal!) joins the podcast to discuss Chris Smith's 1999 film American Movie, a work by a determined documentary filmmaker about a determined independent filmmaker: it tells the story of Wisconsin's Mark Borchardt and his determination to finally finish his abandoned short horror film Coven and sell enough copies of it on VHS to finance his long-planned feature film Northwestern. Plus: Sean tells us what it was like to work on Hannibal with tha god Mads Mikkelsen! Follow Sean Armstrong on Twitter. Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Karen Geier, Will Sloan, Sooz Kempner and Jacob Bacharach. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter

Access the entire 93 minute episode (and additional bonus episodes) by becoming a patron of Junk Filter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/55330993 Author Jacob Bacharach returns to the pod to discuss Hal Ashby's evergreen social satire Being There (1979), adapted from the novel by Jerzy Kosinski. featuring Peter Sellers in his greatest performance as Chance, a simple-minded gardener raised by television who becomes a respected political thinker in Washington through sheer circumstance, luck and misunderstanding. Along the way we discuss the amazing run of great films Hal Ashby made through the 1970s, Being There's (mostly) successful themes of racial unfairness, media saturation and sexual dysfunction in Washington, and how this film was used as a somewhat tired metaphor during the Trump era to “explain” his Presidency. Plus we discuss the flawed 2004 HBO movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers starring Geoffrey Rush, which includes a depiction of the making of Being There and in so doing reveals the perils of a great actor attempting to play a great actor... with a sidebar about our mutual enjoyment of Predator 2 (by the same director!) Patrons of the Junk Filter podcast receive at least two additional exclusive episodes a month: some of our notable previous guests include Jared Yates Sexton, David Roth, Karen Geier, Will Sloan, Sooz Kempner and Zach Vasquez. More to come! Sign up at https://www.patreon.com/junkfilter

The author Jacob Bacharach joins the pod from Blacksburg, Virginia to discuss selected film adaptations of the work of sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. We feature two films that understood the assignment, striking the balance between properly adapting PKD while retaining the integrity of the filmmaker's vision - Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall and Richard Linklater's underrated A Scanner Darkly. We also talk about two projects that show how you can go wrong adapting Dick: John Woo's last Hollywood film Paycheck and the recent Amazon series The Man in the High Castle, both works that fundamentally mishandle their source material. Obviously we talk about Elon Musk, how High Castle feels like Nazi Mad Men, John Woo getting bossed around by Ben Affleck in Vancouver, and how much we both miss the actual acting of Robert Downey, Jr. Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and check out jacobbacharach.com Jacob is a Junk Filter patron! Consider being one too, and receive access to bonus episodes - Patreon.com/junkfilter Teaser trailer for Total Recall (Verhoeven, 1990) Trailer for Paycheck (Woo, 2003) Trailer for A Scanner Darkly (Linklater, 2006) Trailer for The Man in the High Castle, Season 1 (2015)

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode: https://www.patreon.com/badfaithpodcast A Philadelphia journalist, a local city council member, & a Pittsburgh novelist unlock the mysteries of the crucial Keystone State in the last episode of Bad Faith before the end of our democracy. Also in this spooky Halloween episode, Brie & Virgil debate who is responsible for screwing up their couples costume and whether Robin DiAngelo would approve of Animal House references in the office place. Finally, the pair predicts the outcome of tomorrow's election. Akela Lacy is a politics reporter at The Intercept. Kendra Brooks is an activist and at-large member of the Philadelphia City Council, elected in 2009 on the Working Families Party ballot line. Jacob Bacharach is a novelist and critic based in Pittsburgh, the author of The Bend of the World and The Doorposts of Your House. Find Bad Faith on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, and our RSS feed. Follow Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod) and YouTube. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Writer Jacob Bacharach (The New Republic, novels The Bend of the World, and The Doorposts of Your House and on Your Gates) joins Colb all the way from Pittsburgh to talk the mainstream media's obsession with Russia, Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods as a metaphor for the crumbling American infrastructure, and of course, which Star Trek TNG movie is the best. A dream guest! One for the record books! Young Person's Radio airs every Sunday morning at 10 on Radio Free Brooklyn. Listen live at radiofreebrooklyn.com or the RFB mobile app.

Pittsburgh-based writer and contrarian Jacob Bacharach gets hauled into Court for saying Improv is more insufferable than Stand Up. Judge Gladstone presiding

No Más Today's topics include: That's what Donald Trump told Cuba - no more baseball players coming to the U.S. without defecting...; next, Jacob Bacharach (columnist for The New Republic) joins the show to talk about a recent article he wrote, detailing MSNBC's 'wild ride' in viewership ratings; and finally, Abby Johnson (pro-life activist, author of the book and subsequent movie "Unplanned", & writer for The Federalist) discusses what it was like working at an abortion clinic, the chilling event that lead her to quit her job and turn pro-life activist, and the subsequent book-turned-movie, "Unplanned" about her life, which is in theaters and bookstores now.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacob Bacharach is a Jewish American author based in Pittsburgh.. He wrote an oped today on the website Truthdig.com. Saying that criticism of the left for anti-semitism has become it’s own dogwhistle by the media…

Jacob Bachrach's novel explores the relationship between family, politics and corruption along the Mon-Fayette Expressway

Just figuring a few things out. In approximate order of first appearance: Anthony Bourdain, Jacob Bacharach, Campbell Lane in Battlestar Galactica, Doreen Lang in The Birds, Katee Sackhoff on Battlestar Galactica, David Lynch, Keri Smith, Mtume Gant, Alan Moore, Brian Eno, Helen Frankenthaler, Dots Will Echo (stage banter), Gordon Parks, Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff on Battlestar Galactica. · Songs and music samples by Bee K. www.brokenwindowgarden.org

The Spice Must Flow - We look at a new paper that claims reviving overdosing heroin users is a moral hazard because it encourages junkies to just do more heroin. - We encourage the budding friendship between big square boys Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un - Jacob gives the most concise explanation of Dune possibly ever made as we discuss its enduring legacy. - Finally, David Brooks attempts to get into the Co-ed mindset. San Fransisco and Portland tickets still available: http://chapotraphouse.com/ Buy Jacob's new book on Joan Didion and his Pittsburgh novels: https://www.amazon.com/Cool-Customer-Didions-Magical-Thinking/dp/0989961583 https://www.amazon.com/Bend-World-Novel-Jacob-Bacharach/dp/0871406829/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://www.amazon.com/Doorposts-Your-House-Gates-Novel/dp/1631491741/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1631491741&pd_rd_r=WJB2F62D2SNXYYZB7BMS&pd_rd_w=v9Y0C&pd_rd_wg=6CRms&psc=1&refRID=WJB2F62D2SNXYYZB7BMS Also buy our book: www.indiebound.org/book/9781501187285 www.powells.com/book/-9781501187285 www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chapo-g…/1127949899#/ www.amazon.com/Chapo-Guide-Revol…ook/dp/B079RLXFYB

In our last show of the Pittsburgh Era, we reunite with Jacob Bacharach (@jakebackpack) to talk Scott Adams, hypnosis, the time he met Glenn Beck, and whether Dilbert has fucked. Then we discuss PA's long history of manmade disasters and conclude with an anti-reading series from Jacob's new novel, "The Doorposts of Your House and on Your Gates." Buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Doorposts-Your-House-Gates-Novel/dp/1631491741/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

This week's guest, author and conspiracy theory-enthusiast Jacob Bacharach, begins to explain the wild world of "Pizzagate" to the gang. Subscribe to hear it: patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Will Menaker is an editor at Liveright Publishing, who recently put out Jacob Bacharach's debut novel, The Bend of the World. I've known Will since graduate school, where we shared a common love for The Onion, The Sopranos, and the weird ideological currents flowing through American popular culture. In this episode, we talk about his socialist ancestors, who opened cooperative factories in the United States, and how utopian fantasy and apocalyptic nightmares intersect with real politics.