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PODCAST

The Zeitgeist Tapes

The Zeitgeist Tapes

Where politics and pop culture collide. Every month journalist Emma Burnell and Professor Steve Fielding discuss the way politics is interpreted through popular culture.

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All Episodes

37:35

Katyń

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2022/03/20

This month, prompted by events in Ukraine, Emma and Steve watched Katyń - the 2007 Polish film about the massacre in the Katyń Forest. Heartbreaking and bleak this film depicts strong violence and touches on extremely difficult topics. It also looks at the horrors of war crimes and the distortion of truth in propaganda. To donate to the Red Cross appeal for Ukrainian relief please go here. To see details of, and buy tickets for, Emma's play Triggered, please go here.

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31:24

The Manchurian Candidate

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2022/02/12

This month, Emma and Steve watched the 1963 classic The Manchurian Candidate - and loved it! The superb cast, tight script and conspiracy heavy, but ironic plot have so much to say to a modern audience.

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26:11

Don't Look Up

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2022/01/13

This month, Steve and Emma watched popular Netflix comedy Don't Look Up. Starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Jennifer Lawrence, this obvious climate change allegory asks why we aren't acting against the obvious. But is it asking the right questions and/or challenging the right people?

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34:57

G.B.H.

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2021/12/12

This month, Emma and Steve look at G.B.H. Alan Bleasdale's seven-part fictional account of a city council infiltrated by a Trotskyist group and the man who stands up to them. What starts as a political drama descends into conspiracy theory. But it still has a lot to say about the debates the left are still having with itself today.

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33:22

The Founder

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2021/10/09

The Founder is based on the true story of how McDonalds became the behemoth it is today. It focuses not on the McDonald brothers - who invented the Speed-E system that revolutionised 'fast food' but on Ray Kroc - the man who franchised the idea to millions. Released in 2016, this film encapsulates the tensions between Main Street and Wall Street - which was a dominant political narrative of that year's election

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33:02

The Zeitgeist Tapes: The Parallax View

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2021/07/08

This month, Steve and Emma look at 70s political assassination thriller The Parallax View. While it underperformed in terms of box office, it has had a lasting effect and stands as a classic of the paranoid genre. Even if at times it does look like an episode of Dukes of Hazard. The brainwashing scene can be watched here. Tickets for Emma's play, No Cure for Love can be bought here.

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30:04

The Absence of War

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2021/06/03

This month, Emma and Steve are looking at the David Hare play The Absence of War. Originally set in 1993 (after extraordinary access to the Labour campaign of 1992) the play echoes many themes still discussed by the Labour Party today. Tickets for Emma's play can be bought here: https://app.lineupnow.com/event/no-cure-for-love-camden-fringe?fbclid=IwAR2-qZFd6FHUvbsAnx_dsGGRd2wqj4_TtvbBCwz4w8VLkLUoT9xLipkXNw4

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44:35

Zeitgeist Tapes: The West WIng

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2021/05/06

Emma and Steve finally discuss The West Wing. We use the double episode 20 Hours in America but take in as much of the show as can be covered in under an hour. Links: Tom Hanks Philadelphia acceptance speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBuDMEpUc8k Lin Manuel Miranda 'What's Next' rap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TTD5-3fuZE Emma Burnell: The West Wing was wonderful. But you're still not Josh

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35:29

The Stepford Wives

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2021/03/07

For international Women's Day, Emma and Steve discuss the feminist classic The Stepford Wives. A chillingly dark comedy horror about what men really want from women.

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34:11

The Crime of Monsieur Lange

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2021/02/04

We're back! This month Emma and Steve look at the 1936 French film The Crime of Monsieur Lange. This morality tale from French auteur Jean Renoir divided us on some of the interpretations of characters. But the film is pacey and enjoyable and ahead of its time in many aspects of sex, gender roles and the evils of capitalists.

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41:20

The Hunger Games

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/09/18

This month, Steve and Emma are joined by Dr Scott Rodgers, Senior Lecturer in media theory at the University of London, Birkbeck to discuss The Hunger Games. A film adored across the political spectrum, but is it too down on politics? And is it also inherently conservative?

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33:20

Mrs America

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/08/02

In this episode, Steve and Emma are joined by journalist Helen Lewis - author of Difficult Women: A History of feminism in 11 fights - to talk about Mrs America. The Series depicts the fight around the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s between two groups of women. The second wave feminists and the backlash from conservative women. It is an incredible and complex depiction which - while clearly taking a view - doesn't demonise or idolise either side.

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40:16

Spike Lee

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/07/01

In this episode, Emma and Steve are joined by the President of the New York chapter of National Action Network - Derek Perkinson - to discuss three seminal Spike Lee films. We cover Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and BlacKKKlansman. All three speak to the moment we find ourselves in. Lee uses humour and great storytelling to drive home his point, never losing either anger or control.

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37:23

Interview with James Graham

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/05/28

Today we are delighted to be joined by playwright James Graham. We interview him on the day that his play This House is due to go online (you can watch it here for free for a week https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vsSHyjEMrg). We talk about his portrayal of both real and fictional political actors from This House through Labour of Love and of course we touch on his portrayal of a certain Dominic Cummings.

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38:23

The Campaign (1983)

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/05/13

We have a first this month as Emma and Steve are joined by our first guest ever to be portrayed onscreen as a character. Jon Lansman talks about the 1981 Labour Party conference and the battle to change the way the party elects its leader as depicted in a BBC docudrama which can be found here.

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36:22

The Prisoner

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/04/23

As we all find ourselves willing Prisoners reliant on a strong proactive state to keep us healthy, we thought it might be fun to explore an alternative point of view. In this iconic 60s drama, Patrick McGoohan finds himself trapped in the perplexing and frustrating world of The Village. Constantly experimented on and tortured by Number 2, he is number 6. Though he would argue he's a free man. This drama explores issues of surveillance, freedom, conformity and difference. While a touch baffling

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31:05

Parks and Recreation

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/03/07

This month Emma and Steve discuss Parks and Recreation - possibly the least cyncial programme ever made about politics.

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29:51

Yes (Prime) Minister

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2020/01/21

This month, Emma and Steve discuss Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister. Prompted by the recent death of the last remaining regular, Derek Fowlds who played Private Secetary Bernard Woolley we re-examine what this show meant to perceptions of the civil service and where power really lies.

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29:14

The Campaign

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/12/05

This month, to keep us going through the election, Emma and Steve have been watching The Campaign. These politicians are not kissing babies - they're punching them! Lighthearted and surprisingly sweet in places this is definitely a good antidote to UK politics.

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25:50

Vote For Froglet

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/11/06

In this election special, Steve and Emma are joined by occasional broadcaster and TV's Clangers expert Tim Worthington to talk about the one-off special of that show: Vote For Froglet. This seven-minute-long slice of surreal seventies stuff has a lot more to tell us about our current political moment than you would think. You can find the whole thing here. As always do get in touch and let us know what you think at @ztpodcast on Twitter or on our Facebook page.

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