The Pop Culture Professors
by Stephen Dyson and Jeff Dudas
Latest episode
The Best 100 TV Shows of the 21st Century
The Best 100 TV Shows of the 21st Century
About this podcast
Analysis of popular culture and how it shapes society, with an emphasis on film and television. Features in-depth discussion, interviews with prominent scholars, and recordings of live shows. Hosted by Stephen Dyson, the associate director of the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, and a professor of political science, and Jeffrey R. Dudas, professor of political science and affiliate faculty of American Studies at the University of Connecticut.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 63 episodes
- The Best 100 TV Shows of the 21st Century · 1 h 30 min · Episode 233It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and the New York Times has published its list of the best 100 television shows of the 21st Century. We react to this list, ponder what is…
- Revisiting The Leftovers · 25 min · Episode 232The Pop Culture Professors revisit the pilot of The Leftovers, which ran on HBO from 2014-2017. How does this grief-drenched story about a world in ontological crisis play today…
- Olivia Rodrigo Blends Past and Present in Her New Album · 29 min · Episode 60It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and today we react to Olivia Rodrigo's new album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love. We analyze the lyrics and the aesthetics of the…
- Cape Fear Retells an Archetypal Revenge Story for a New Generation · 56 min · Episode 59It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and today we analyze the new TV series Cape Fear. First we give a reaction to episodes 1 & 2 of the series, and then we discuss the two earlier…
- For All Mankind Concludes Its Search For New Life · 28 min · Episode 58It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and we conclude our analysis of season 5 of For All Mankind with a discussion of the finale, “This Land Is Our Land.”
- Mapping a New Politics in For All Mankind · 1 h 41 min · Episode 57It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and we continue our analysis of season 5 of For All Mankind. In this show, we discuss episode 6 “No Sudden Moves”; Episode 7 “The Sirens of…
- For All Mankind’s Story of Martian Revolution · 1 h 35 min · Episode 56It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and we continue our analysis of season 5 of For All Mankind. In this show, we discuss episode 3 “Home”; Episode 4 “Open Source”; and Episode 5…
- Is "For All Mankind" the Most Ambitious Show on Television? · 1 h 12 min · Episode 55It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and we analyze the first two episodes of season five of For All Mankind, Apple+TV’s alternate history show about a world in which the space race…
- Michael Mann Reconsidered: Heat and Collateral · 38 min · Episode 54It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we conclude our series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we have set his eight most highly…
- Michael Mann Reconsidered: Ali and The Last of the Mohicans · 28 min · Episode 53It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we start a series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we set his eight most highly regarded…
- Michael Mann Reconsidered: Ferrari and Manhunter · 27 min · Episode 52It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we start a series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we set his eight most highly regarded…
- Michael Mann Reconsidered: Thief and The Insider · 26 min · Episode 51It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we start a series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we set his eight most highly regarded…
- What Went Wrong with The Night Manager? · 21 min · Episode 50It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we consider the final three episodes of The Night Manager, season two. We ask what went wrong with the second season, as some promising…
- Is 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple the Most Important Movie of the Year? · 29 min · Episode 49It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and today we analyze the new movie 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. A parable of humanism and dehumanization centered on two charismatic leaders…
- The Night Manager Episodes 1—3 Analysis: It Never Ends! · 28 min · Episode 48It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we analyze the first three episodes of The Night Manager, season two. We consider the season as a continuation of Le Carré’s narrative, and…
- Pluribus Episodes 8 & 9 Analysis: It’s Over! · 1 h 2 min · Episode 47It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we continue our analysis of Pluribus, with our thoughts on episode 8, “Charm Offensive” and episode 9, “La Chico o El Mundo.”
- Pluribus Episodes 6 & 7 Analysis: I Feel Fine! · 1 h 5 min · Episode 46It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we continue our analysis of Pluribus, with our thoughts on episode 6, “HDP” an episode 7, “The Gap.”
- Pluribus Episodes 4&5 Analysis: We Need a Little Space · 49 min · Episode 45It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we analyze the fourth and fifth episodes of Vince Gilligan’s new series Pluribus.
- Pluribus Episode 3 Analysis: The Amazonification of Everything · 27 min · Episode 44It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we analyze the third episode of Vince Gilligan’s new series Pluribus. We talk through this episode as a literalization of the problem of…
- In “Pluribus” An America Without Division, But At What Price? · 26 min · Episode 43It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we analyze the first two episodes of Vince Gilligan’s new series Pluribus. The show posits an extraordinary intervention in worldwide…
