x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

The Pop Culture Professors

Stephen Dyson and Jeff Dudas

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.

tv & film

All Episodes

60:59

Springsteen’s "Nebraska" as a Political, Sonic, and...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/11/05

It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we consider Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska as personal and political document. With the release of the Nebraska 82 box set, and Deliver Me From Nowhere – about the making of the album – we take up the musical and social importance of Springsteen’s lo-fi lament. One of us has been listening to Nebraska for their whole adult life, the other had never heard of it until a week ago.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en-us

30:55

In The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift Addresses...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/10/07

It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we review Taylor Swift’s new album “The Life of a Showgirl.” We consider the album’s themes: love, nostalgia, how hard it is to be famous, and how the internet is bad. We set the songs in the context of Taylor’s wider career and public persona.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en-us

58:15

Alien: Earth Episode Analysis: Emergence and The Real...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/09/29

It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we conclude our analysis of the FX series Alien: Earth with episode 7, “Emergence” and episode 8, “The Real Monsters.”Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en-us

52:10

Alien: Earth Episode Analysis: In Space, No One… and...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/09/15

It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we continue our analysis of the FX series Alien: Earth with episode 5, “In Space, No One…” and episode 6, “The Fly.”Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en-us

54:55

Alien: Earth Episode Analysis: Metamorphosis and...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/09/04

It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we continue our analysis of the FX series Alien: Earth with episode 3, “Metamorphosis” and episode 4, “Observation.” We continue to investigate the series’ dominant problematic of crossing boundaries, and hypothesize as to the reason for its divisiveness: it’s generic placement somewhere between science fiction and fairy tale.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en-us

42:56

Transhuman Horror in Alien: Earth

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/08/16

It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and today we react to the first two episodes of Alien: Earth. We break down the themes and ideas in the series, focusing on its central questions of transhumanism, the Peter Pan mythology, and the dream / nightmare imagery. We consider how this series is consistent with and differs from the Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) movies, particularly on the central political and ideological problematics invoked. We further consider the nature and motivations of Wendy and the

en-us

68:32

Horror and Humanism in "28 Years Later"

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/08/11

We break down the themes and ideas in 28 Years Later, with a particular focus on the politics of this Danny Boyle / Alex Garland sequel to 28 Days Later. We react to the humanitarianism of Dr. Kelson, the role of the islands within the movie, and analyze the visions of family, fatherhood, and masculinity presented. We explain the controversial ending to the movie, and consider the extent to which the movie is commenting on Britain past, present, and future. We begin, though, with a review of the

en-us

50:35

Is Sinners a New Classic of Political Utopianism?

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/06/25

It’s the UConn Popcast, and we analyze the movie Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan, just released on streaming. We address the political themes of the movie, focusing on its generic identity as a Southern Gothic, the historical context in which the movie takes place, its engagement with ideas of utopia, community, freedom, and the siren songs that often lead communities down false roads in search of these goals. We appreciate the aesthetic achievement of the movie, which is perhaps Director Ryan

en-us

58:57

The Politics of Andor (Season 2, Episodes 10-12):...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/05/18

It’s the UConn Popcast, and we continue our analysis of Andor season 2 with the conclusion to the series. We break down, analyze, and explain the political themes in these finale episodes, focusing on freedom, order and their interconnectedness in both the rebellion and the Empire. We explore the extent to which farce is an operative mode of storytelling in this arc. And we consider Cassian's statement that "nothing is ending," finding it to be both an accurate log-line for this arc and also a

en-us

70:58

The Politics of Andor (Season 2 Episodes 7-9): Truth...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/05/11

It’s the UConn Popcast, and we continue our analysis of Andor season 2 with episodes 7-9.We break down the politics of these episodes, focusing on the question of when in a rebellion must you break cover and insist - publicly - on the truth. We see a second major theme of this arc as discipline. The rebellion is moving from a para-military to a military posture, and requires increasing discipline from its members as it does so. Further, Cassian fights a battle in this arc between his belief that

en-us

55:24

The Politics of Andor (Season 2 Episodes 4-6): Too...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/05/03

It’s the UConn Popcast, and we continue our analysis of Andor season 2 with episodes 4-6. We break down the politics of these episodes, focusing on the mirrored political challenges faced by figures from the Empire and the Rebellion. We see a big theme of these episodes as “too much information,” as both sides struggle to distinguish friend from foe, signal from noise, the authentic from the inauthentic. We discuss classic political problems portrayed in the episodes such as collective action

en-us

51:28

The Politics of Andor (Season 2 Episodes 1-3): The...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/04/26

It’s the UConn Popcast, and today we react to Andor Season 2, episodes 1-3. We break down the politics of these episodes, focusing on the motives and aims of the rebellion and the Empire. Both sides have major coordination problems in these episodes, although the causes are very different. We explain and analyze the recurrent problems of authoritarian control and rebellion against it, and the way Andor comments upon them. We see a major theme of these three episodes as “the personal is political,”

en-us

61:16

Will AI Transform What it Means to be Human in the...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/04/19

It’s the UConn Popcast, and what impact will AI have on being human in the next decade? Elon University’s Center for Imagining the Digital Future just released a big report on this question, based on a survey of nearly 300 global tech experts.These insiders predict major changes in the very near future to the way we think about work, life, and ourselves. We talked with Lee Rainie, the director of the center and co-author of the report. We also discuss another center report, on the impact of AI on

en-us

107:43

The Great Gatsby is an American Dystopia

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/04/11

It’s the UConn Popcast, and on the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, we explore what The Great Gatsby means in America today.In this deep-dive we ask: What did Gatsby mean in 1925, and how have those meanings changed in 2025? What mythologies of America does Gatsby circulate, and challenge? How does Gatsby read to a Brit who never read it in high school, and to an American who only encountered it as an adult? Is Nick Carraway right that Gatsby is the only pure soul in

en-us

53:43

James Boyle Draws the Line Between Humans and AI

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/04/05

It’s the UConn Popcast, and we spoke with Duke Law Professor James Boyle about his new book The Line: AI and the Future of Personhood (MIT Press, 2024). We spoke with Boyle about how our legal and moral understandings of personhood are being challenged by advances in AI. We discussed the role of the law, popular culture, tests of sentience, and our capacity for empathy in shaping this urgent debate.James Boyle is William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law at Duke Law School and founder of the Center

en-us

65:45

Sex and Love with Robots and Chatbots

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/03/26

It’s the UConn Popcast, and can you fall in love with ChatGPT? Can, and should, you have sex with a robot? We asked Professor Kate Devlin, a leading researcher on intimate relations between humans and artificial intelligences, to help us navigate the new landscape of sex and love with robots.Kate is a Professor of AI & Society in the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London. She’s the author of the excellent book Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots (Bloomsbury, 2018), which examines

en-us

58:08

Lessons on Living with AI from the Home Computer...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/03/10

It’s the UConn Popcast, and we've been experiencing a revolution in the past few years, as artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly common part of everyday life. Powerful AI tools are now integrated into our work, our schools, our creative industries, and our experiences of dating and companionship. This is a disorientating experience, one that changes not only our views of technology, but of ourselves. Can we look to a past technological revolution for help? We revisit Sherry Turkle's

en-us

76:31

In “The Beast,” AI Puts Limits on Human Emotion

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/02/22

It’s the UConn Popcast, and “The Beast” is a 2023 sci fi / romance movie by French director Bertrand Bonello, in which artificial intelligence has determined that human emotions are a danger, and must be surgically controlled. In this deep dive, we ask whether this is really a film about AI, a transhistorical love story, a narrative of societal decline, or something else entirely. The Beast stars Lea Seydoux and George McKay.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

en-us

65:53

Our History with AI is (much) Longer than You Think...

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/02/08

It’s the UConn Popcast, and when did we really start dreaming about the promise, and the danger, of artificial intelligence? When ChatGPT was released in 2022? When IBMs Deep Blue defeated Chess world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997? When Stanley Kubrick introduced us to HAL 9000 in 1968? Or perhaps you think it was much earlier. Maybe we have had the dream of AI since the development of the first computers by Von Neumann, or even earlier, by Babbage. Or maybe you think the dawning of the age of

en-us

84:22

A.I. is Spielberg & Kubrick’s Dark Twisted Fantasy

The Pop Culture Professors ·

2025/01/28

It’s the UConn Popcast, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg’s 2001 movie, is a strange and profound text on human-AI relations. Centering on David, an artificial child who is embraced and then abandoned by his adoptive human mother, the movie has the structure of a fairy tale and the sensibility of a horror film. We found the text to have significant things to say about the ethics of creating, and rejecting, artificial life, as well as functioning as something of a meta-commentary on

en-us

40 results

Similar Podcasts

BEHIND THE VELVET ROPE

David Yontef

Nerd Culture - A Gamekings Podcast

Blammo Media

UPodcast

UPodcast

The Writers Hangout

Sandy Adomaitis

The Sarah Fraser Show

Sarah Fraser