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PODCAST

Fascism on Film Podcast

Fascism on Film

What do movies teach us about fascism? From propagandistic myths of power to stories of suffering and belonging, cinema has long chronicled the many faces of fascism. Films don’t just reflect history or envision the future; they help shape it, revealing how authoritarian movements seduce, normalize, and endure, and at what cost to our humanity. Fascism on Film Podcast explores these connections one episode at a time. Each season (10–15 episodes) tackles a different facet of fascism on screen

tv & film film history

All Episodes

40:47

'I'm Still Here': When they come for you

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/12/21

In the Season 2 finale of "Fascism on Film," James and Teal break down the 2024 film, "I'm Still Here." Walter Salles' look at Brazil under military dictatorship in the 1970s is a chilling reminder that what was once another nation's past, strikes an eerily similar note to what we've allowed ourselves to occur in the present. "I'm Still Here" tells the true story of one Brazilian family that seemingly has it all until one day, authoritarianism catches up with them.Enjoy this episode, and James and

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29:52

'A Special Day': The Machismo Meet-Cute of 1938

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/12/14

1977's "A Special Day" is a heartfelt romance of Hitler and Mussolini’s infamous cementing of their two nations culminated in a 24-hour Roman holiday. No, but it is set on the same day as that day-long event. However, in the Roman suburbs, we get a different meeting of two mismatched strangers, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren bring a story of humanity and heartbreak set amidst the backdrop of a political ideology that doesn’t allow homosexuality. "A Special Day" is a masterwork of cinema, and

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36:06

Eddington: Fear is a Fertile Ground

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/12/07

In this episode, James and Teal tackle Ari Aster’s "Eddington," a dark, surprising film set in the earliest days of COVID—when fear, isolation, and conspiracy thinking were reshaping the country in real time. They discuss Joaquin Phoenix’s unraveling sheriff, the town’s descent into misinformation, and the chaotic final act that blurs the line between protest and false-flag operation. It’s one of Aster’s most unsettling films, and a direct reflection on the world we’re living in now.

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32:55

'One Battle After Another': Which America do you live...

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/11/30

Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" is both a thrilling action film, and a mirror-holding look at current American society. Baked into its absurdist right vs. leftist fantasy are truths about how each side views the other. Anderson doesn't let anyone off the hook, as he finds the humor in taking each side to a comical extreme. Make no mistake, through the humor of "One Battle After Another," it's clear who the villains are, and who pulls the strings. As we see our country move closer

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30:17

'Hans Westmar': The Fascist Martyr

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/11/23

Released just months after Hitler came to power, "Hans Westmar" stands as one of the earliest cinematic expressions of Nazi ideology. Ostensibly a biopic of Horst Wessel—the Sturmabteilung (SA) activist turned martyr whose death became a rallying cry for the Nazi movement—the film dramatizes the transformation of a young man from aimless nationalist to disciplined Nazi believer. But more than a tale of political awakening, "Hans Westmar" is a ritualized myth of sacrifice: a cinematic hymn to

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28:33

Reich Cinema: 'Hitler’s Hollywood'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/11/16

Between 1933 and 1945, more than 1,000 feature films were produced under the Nazi regime—most of them not overtly propagandistic, but melodramas, musicals, comedies, and historical epics. Hitler’s Hollywood, a 2017 documentary by German critic Rüdiger Suchsland, explores this vast and often overlooked cinematic universe. Narrated by Udo Kier in haunted tones, the film argues that Nazi cinema was not just an arm of propaganda but a total fantasy system—an attempt to reprogram reality through

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36:33

We’ll Always Have Fascism: ‘Casablanca’

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/11/09

Romance as Resistance: ‘Casablanca’In this episode of Fascism on Film, we look at Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942), one of Hollywood’s most enduring films and one of its quietest acts of persuasion. Beneath the romance and intrigue, Casablanca tells a story of political awakening—about a man, a city, and a country choosing between indifference and action against fascism. We discuss how Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine, with his famous line that he “sticks his neck out for nobody,” becomes a stand-in

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36:48

Everyone loves to hate a Nazi: 'Inglourious Basterds'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/11/02

This week, we take aim at Nazis as pop-culture film villains and the tropes associated with them in a discussion on Quentin Tarantino’s "Inglourious Basterds," in which the auteur shakes up World War II history with his revisionist caper war film. He makes an audience hungry for Nazi revenge, questioning how far one must go along in the journey to experience catharsis in foiling the Nazis. And in the ultimate act of revenge, Tarantino gives the masses something they always wanted to see, and Hitler

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33:34

Before the Curtain Falls: 'The Last Metro'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/10/26

François Truffaut’s "The Last Metro" is a deceptively quiet film about survival, resistance, and performance under Nazi occupation. Set in a Parisian theater during the German occupation of France, the story revolves around a company that tries to continue producing art while hiding the theater’s Jewish director in the basement. Beneath its surface—a war-era romance and backstage drama—is a nuanced meditation on repression, complicity, and cultural resistance.The title refers not just to the curfew

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26:58

An Empire of Crime: 'The Testament of Dr. Mabuse'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/10/19

"The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" is Fritz Lang's 1933 German detective thriller that arrived on the heels of Hilter coming to power, making it the regime's first official 'banned' movie. The film is a fascinating look at how an evil ideology spreads beyond one man when that man make it his mission to make evil the rule of law. "Mabuse" is a semi-sequel to Lang's masterpiece, "M," and it packs a punch visually and through its innovative use of audio. Our discussion hits on its fascist

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35:41

The Mistake of Identity: 'Mr. Klein'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/10/12

In this episode of the Fascism on Film Podcast, we look at Mr. Klein (1976), Joseph Losey’s haunting story of identity, complicity, and erasure in Nazi-occupied France.Alain Delon plays Robert Klein, a Paris art dealer who lives comfortably off the desperation of others, buying paintings and possessions from Jewish families needing to flee persecution. He’s charming, detached, and perfectly suited to the opportunism of wartime Paris until the day a Jewish newspaper arrives in his mail, addressed to

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32:21

Finding the Courage: 'This Land is Mine'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/10/05

We open our second season of "Fascism on Film" with Jean Renoir’s wartime drama "This Land is Mine." This film boldly dramatizes the internal resistance to fascism—not on the battlefield, but in the classroom, the courtroom, and the soul. Released in 1943 while the war was still raging, "This Land is Mine" explores what it means to live under occupation, and what it takes to speak the truth in a world governed by fear. Set in a fictional European town under Nazi rule, the film centers on a timid

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35:16

1.12 In Space Everyone Knows You're a Fascist:...

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/09/08

In the season 1 finale episode of Fascism on Film, we turn to Paul Verhoeven’s "Starship Troopers," a gory, flamboyant, and darkly hilarious satire that asks viewers to confront their own appetite for militarism, propaganda, and authoritarian spectacle. Released in 1997 and adapted (loosely and subversively) from Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 novel, the film uses the grammar of classic war movies to tell the story of a society where service guarantees citizenship, where democracy has failed, and where a

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36:17

1.11 The Question of Fascism: 'To Be or Not to Be'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/09/01

"To Be or Not to Be" was made during the war, not after—a rare example of a Hollywood film that mocked Hitler and the Nazis while the outcome of the war was still uncertain. The U.S. had just entered WWII following the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941), and the mood of the nation was tense and somber.At the time, making jokes about Hitler and concentration camps was controversial. Many critics (including the New York Times’ Bosley Crowther) objected to the tone, accusing Lubitsch of bad taste

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28:40

1.10 Remembering Fascism: 'Amarcord'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/08/25

Italian filmmaking master, Federico Fellini, takes a nostalgic look at his early life as a teenager in fascist Italy with his final masterpiece, 1973's "Amarcord." While this film is not heavy on the violent and repressive aspects of fascism, it does offer an intricate portrait of a town mostly at ease with its repressive government. Filled with many classic Fellini moments and characters, this time Fellini uses his canvas to portray Italian citizens trapped in a fool's paradise, unable to see the

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32:20

1.09 Hiding from Fascism: 'The Garden of the...

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/08/18

This episode explores the haunting beauty and quiet devastation of "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis," Vittorio De Sica’s adaptation of Giorgio Bassani’s semi-autobiographical novel. Set in Ferrara, Italy, during the late 1930s and early 1940s, the film focuses on an aristocratic Jewish family who, shielded behind the walls of their estate, remain willfully detached from the mounting threat of Italian fascism. As racial laws erode their rights and community life, their retreat into games, nostalgia,

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30:15

1.08 The Italian In Crowd: 'The Conformist'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/08/11

This week, James and Teal take listeners back to where Fascism officially started, Italy, with Bernardo Bertolucci's 1970 film, "The Conformist." The movie is a cautionary tale on the human desire to fit in, and how fascism bends its will on a people, and its architecture. This movie is a dazzling array of set design and color cinematography that amazes, shocks, seduces, and leaves the audience spellbound.

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34:28

1.07 American Anti-fascism: 'Black Legion' and...

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/08/04

This episode explores the rise of homegrown authoritarianism as depicted in two groundbreaking Warner Bros. films from the late 1930s. "Black Legion" dramatizes the radicalization of an American factory worker into a shadowy paramilitary group that targets immigrants, Jews, and labor organizers—mirroring the real Black Legion active in Depression-era Detroit. "Confessions of a Nazi Spy," the first explicitly anti-Nazi feature from a major Hollywood studio, presents a procedural exposé of a

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43:13

1.06 Proto-fascism: 'The Birth of a Nation'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/07/28

This episode examines how early American cinema didn’t reflect ideology—it actively shaped American political imagination through opposing forms of propaganda. In "The Birth of a Nation," white supremacist violence is transfigured into sacred national myth, glorifying the Ku Klux Klan as heroic saviors. "The Birth of a Nation" is still one of the most shocking and abhorrent works of cinema, and yet, we believe historians are reluctant to fully dismiss this film, one we see lacking in any merit or

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31:47

The Ecstasy of Leni Riefenstahl: 'Triumph of the Will'

Fascism on Film Podcast ·

2025/07/21

This episode explores Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will"(1935) as both a landmark in cinematic innovation and a chilling demonstration of fascist aesthetics in their purest form. Directed by Riefenstahl, the film is less a historical document than a sacred text of Nazi ideology—one that transforms politics into religion, mass into myth, and submission into beauty.We examine how fascism uses spectacle to overwhelm critical thought, offering audiences not arguments but ritualized emotion

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