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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

30:14

The Politician

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/10/11

This month, Emma and Steve discuss Netflix original series The Politician. The first season of this show follows the campaign of consummate politician Payton Hobart as he campaigns to be Class President of his high school. A dark comedy in primary colours The Politician is very watchable. But is it at once too cynical and too innocent?

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36:27

England, England

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/08/29

This month Emma Burnell and Steve Fielding discuss England, England by Julian Barnes. Written in the late 90s when New Labour was still new and The Referendum Party was just a joke outfit, this prophetic novel shows that our 'little Englander' never really went away. The discussion covers Britpop's role in re-normalising patriotism and why Peter Mandelson didn't just use a female Bulldog!

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35:39

The Left Behind

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/07/27

In this episode, journalist Emma Burnell and Professor Steve Fielding discuss BBC 3 Drama The Left Behind. Bleak and uncompromising, it tells the tale of Gethin, a young man in South Wales who becomes radicalised into the far right.

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38:48

Years and Years

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/06/30

This month, Emma and Steve are joined by Jonn Elledge of the New Statesman to talk about BBC Drama Years and Years. Written by Russell T Davies it's the tale of a dystopian (though sadly plausible) near future. Britain has descended into chaos, the banks crash - again and facism - in the smiling form of Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson) is on the rise.

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35:51

Passport to Pimlico

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/05/27

As a nod to the discussions of sovereignty and independence that have surrounded the EU elections this month Emma and Steve have watched Passport to Pimlico. This Ealing comedy is a pean to the collectivism of the Attlee government. But it's also good at tweaking the nose of bureaucracy.

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32:19

Conspiracy Theory: A Lizard's Tale

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/04/25

This month, Emma and Steve interviewed Marlon Soloman about his one-man show Conspiracy Theory: A Lizard's Tale. In it, Marlon unpacks both antisemitism in conspiracy theories and specifically in the Labour Party. It's a fascinating show - full of rich humour and details that will shock. And we talk about the reaction he's had.

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48:26

Zeitgeist Tapes: Limehouse

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/03/25

This month Emma and Steve are delighted to be joined by Steve Waters, playwrite and author of the recent highly successful play Limehouse. Limehouse is a fictionalised account of the day the 'Gang of Four' broke away from the Labour Party to form the SDP. Originally performed at the Donmar Warehouse, this play is still very timely, especially after the formation of The Independent Group of MPs. Show notes: More information on Steve Waters here:

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33:54

Zeitgeist Tapes: Vice

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/02/26

This month, Steve and Emma are joined by Historian and Screenwriter Alex Von Tunzelmann to discuss Vice. Telling the story of Dick Cheyney this film - from the makers of The Big Short - does it's "fucking best" according to the makers. Do we agree? And if we dont, does it matter?

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21:59

A Modest Little Man

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/01/25

The Zeitgeist Tapes on tour! This month, Emma has dragged Steve all the way down to 'That London' to a play above a pub in Clapham. But a play about Clement Attlee so very much on brand. Listen to us chat while our teeth chatter (all will be revealed).

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34:49

Zeitgeist Tapes: Brexit - the Uncivil War

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2019/01/08

New Year - new naming scheme! This is a special episode where Emma and Steve have got together to discuss last night's James Graham TV play Brexit: The Uncivil War. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings, this covered the ins and outs of the in or out vote in 2016. Largely focussed on the successful leave campaign, we discuss the timeliness or otherwise of the drama, the casting and the baggage that brings and how you decide what to include and what to leave out.

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36:02

Podded

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/12/24

Happy Christmas! For this year's Christmas special, Emma and Steve look at the Bill Murray vehicle Scrooged. Loosely based on Charles Dicken's classic A Christmas Carol, this is a tale of how rampant greed ruinds lives and redemption through giving - at Christmas.

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21:43

In Pod We Trust

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/12/04

In this special episode, journalist Emma Burnell has made a short documentary about political podcasts. In it she explores who is making them, who is listening to them and why they are taking off. Interviewees include Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, Nick Robinson, Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, Iain Dale, Matt Chorley, Helen Lewis and Stephen Bush.

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44:41

Podaloo

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/11/25

This month, Steve and Emma talk about Mike Leigh's Peterloo. In cinemas now, this tells the tale of the massacre in the early 19th century of democracy and poverty campaigners at a rally in Manchester. With a stunning cast, this epic is historically accurate - but is it entertaining?

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41:48

Dr Pod

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/10/25

This month Emma and Steve are joined by Clangers Expert and writer for Dr Who Magazine Tim Worthington to discuss the politics of The Doctor. Is the Doctor basically a centrist Dad even now she's a woman?

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42:28

Ploughman's Pod

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/09/25

This month, Emma and Steve are joined by Dr Sarah Lonsdale, Author of The Journalist in British Fiction and Film. We talk about 1983's Ploughman's Lunch - a drama about journalists covering the 1982 Argentine War, the Tory Party conference and generally climbing the greasy pole of the establishment. Written by Ian McEwan and directed by Richard Eyre, this early Channel 4 film is as watchable as its characters are unlikeable.

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45:23

Podnial

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/08/25

This month, Emma and Steve discuss 2016 film Denial. Based on the true story of a court case between Jewish historian Deborah Lipstadt and holocaust denier David Irving. The film speaks to the Labour Party's current crisis, but equally to the importance not just of remembering, but of not forgetting, which as Emma says are two different things.

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39:23

Dirty Podding

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/07/25

Seminal dance movie of the 80s, few think of Dirty Dancing as a political film, but it absolutely is. From having women's reproductive rights at it's heart to its critique of middle-class liberalism, politics are at the heart of this classic film. And it makes its point much better by not hammering them home, but dancing around them.

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39:41

A Very English Podcast

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/06/25

This month, Emma and Steve discuss the recent Russell T Davis penned, real life drama A Very English Scandal. The true story of the leader of the Liberals who tried to have his ex-lover killed. With barnstoming performances from both Hugh Grant and Ben Wishaw, this drama exposes just how far the establishment will go to protect their own.

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41:04

Podland: World Cup Special

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/06/14

In this episode, Professor Steve Fielding and journalist Emma Burnell discuss the novel Heartland by Anthony Cartwright. Set around the 2002 world cup at a time and place of heightened racial and political tensions it tells the story of three contests playing out in the fictions Cinderheath neighbourhood of Dudley.

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42:18

The Podcast

The Zeitgeist Tapes ·

2018/05/25

In this episode, Emma and Steve discuss The Crown - the Netflix series about the life and times of Queen Elizabeth the Second. Gloriously shot, but somewhat overstretched, this drama centres on the least interesting person in the monarchy, but does so in a way that shows the conflicts of duty and regality.

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72 results

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