PODCAST

The Pointless Century

The Pointless Century is a podcast of informal discussions about literature and film seeking to understand 20th century history and illuminate 21st century politics. Professor Frank Fucile and research assistants Anna Wendorff and Rachel Hamele work their way through comparative studies of canonical works, examples from pop culture, and some cult classics while reflecting on subjects like technology, art, class, race, gender, sexuality, the environment, (as always) war, and (inevitably)

history film history

All Episodes

01:45:24

S4E3 - Mayakovsky (pt. 3/3)

The Pointless Century ·

2022/03/13

Episode NotesS4E3: Mayakovsky (pt. 3/3): The Epics TW TW: Suicide / Alexander Billet joins us to discuss the Soviet Futurist-Communist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 Baghdati – 1930 Moscow). Finally we get to the good stuff. Two speculative war epics, two wild elegies, messages to the future, and assorted screams into the void. The zoomers are all meetinged out. Alex dreams of a world without borders. Frank talks about the Constructicons and tears like a wolf at bureaucracy. This episode

en-US

01:33:52

S4E2 - Mayakovsky (pt. 2/3)

The Pointless Century ·

2022/01/22

Episode Notes S4E2: Mayakovsky (pt. 2/3): The Shitposts Alexander Billet joins us to discuss the Soviet Futurist-Communist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 Baghdati – 1930 Moscow). We consider a couple of his pre-revolutionary futurist poems, and some of his key works from the revolutionary period of February 1917 to February 1923. Anna and Rachel talk shit on his love life and puzzle over his imagery. Frank makes some bad jokes and talks about photos you can see if you follow on Insta and Twitter

en-US

01:21:31

S4E1 - Vladimir Mayakovsky (pt. 1/3)

The Pointless Century ·

2022/01/04

Episode Notes S4 E1: Mayakovsky (pt. 1/3): The Overshares Alexander Billet joins us to discuss the Soviet Futurist-Communist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 Baghdati – 1930 Moscow). We consider Mayakovsky’s unique status among both modernists and poets; we begin to sketch the cultural milieu of the Russian Empire, Provisional Republic, and Soviet Union in the first three decades of the twentieth century; comparisons to other modernists, futurists, and the present day highlight the political,

en-US

01:17:45

Magickal Realist Horror

The Pointless Century ·

2021/10/31

Episode Notes Bonus Episode: Magickal Realist Horror Happy Halloween! Anna and Madalyn gush about Ari Aster; Will talks about Brecht; Frank explains some creepy things he read on the internet; we all love these movies, but there’s reason to be disturbed by the culture that produced them. That’s horror. Hereditary. Dir./Writ. Ari Aster. Perf. Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro. A24, 2018. Midsommar. Dir./Writ. Ari Aster. Perf. Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper. A24,

en-US

S3E6 - Doctor Zhivago (1965)

The Pointless Century ·

2021/10/03

Episode Notes S3 E6: Doctor Zhivago Anna attempts to remember a book she read last summer; Rachel laments film adaptations again; Frank offers some ideas for propaganda; we all agree that this 1965 anti-Soviet film is a disappointment, but we still find things we can learn from it. Doctor Zhivago. Dir. David Lean. Writ. Robert Bolt. Perf. Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Alec Guinness, Rod Steiger, Tom Cortenay, Geraldine Chaplin, Rita Tushingham, Klaus Kinski. MGM, 1965. Pasternak, Boris. Doctor

en-US

01:18:07

S3E5 - Battleship Potemkin / Man with Movie Camera

The Pointless Century ·

2021/08/28

Episode Notes S3 E5: Battleship Potemkin / Man with Movie Camera Rachel gets angry about the dramatization of an event from 116 years ago; Anna thinks really hard about shot selection and sequence; Frank swears he isn’t a tankie then recklessly glosses over the birth pangs of the most 20th-century of nations; we all agree that these films are great feats of cinema, but we have somewhat different attitudes toward the meaning and value of propaganda. For more detailed explanations of historical

en-US

01:31:37

S3E4 - Johnny Got His Gun / Pale Horse, Pale Rider

The Pointless Century ·

2021/08/14

Episode Notes S3 E4: Johnny Got His Gun / Pale Horse, Pale Rider *TW: Discussion of severe war wounds and suicide Anna shares her expertise in heavy metal; Rachel describes a book as “peace-y”; Frank complains about Dalton Trumbo’s unwillingness to insert actual communist propaganda into his most explicitly political movie; we all think the 1939 novel version of Johnny Got His Gun is a landmark work, but splitting hairs on the value of other examples of the disjunctive post/modernist form is more

en-US

00:58:03

S3E3 - Blade / Black Panther

The Pointless Century ·

2021/07/30

Episode Notes S3 E3: Blade / Black Panther Rachel claps while talking about representation; Anna suffers through two more superhero movies; Frank says “critique” far too many times; Leah tolerates us once again; we all appreciate aspects of these films, but Anna and Frank are sure to spend some time raining on parades. Blade. Dir. Stephen Norrington. Writ. David S. Goyer. Perf. Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright. Amen Ra / Marvel / New Line, 1998. Black Panther. Dir

en-US

01:40:55

S3E2 - Delany's Nova

The Pointless Century ·

2021/07/16

Episode Notes S3 E2: Nova (1968) by Samuel R. “Chip” Delany Frank forces everyone to read a favorite SF novel of his. Leah joins for her first guest appearance. Correction/clarification: Delany is meticulous about in noting when his novels were written at the end of each manuscript, but Frank is not quite as careful in his discussion of them. Nova was written between 1966-67; Hogg was written between 1969-73, overlapping with Dhalgren; Trouble on Triton was written between 1973-74. Works

en-US

S3E1 - Juneteenth Movies

The Pointless Century ·

2021/06/19

Episode Notes S3 E1: Juneteenth Movies Rachel reminds us to include conversations about both Juneteenth and the Tulsa Massacre; Madalyn tells us about her pilgrimage through the South; Anna derides a long, open-mouthed nap; Frank harps on the limitations of individualism; we all agree that these films add something to Americans’ understanding of history, but each of them has their limitations. Jasper the tailless cat contributes some meowing and collar noises. Amistad. Dir. Stephen Spielberg. Writ

en-US

10 results

The Pointless Century

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

The Old Front Line

Paul Reed

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

جنود خلدهم التاريخ

ALSUMOOD PODCAST

Film History - Daily

Inception Point Ai

Madonna - Audio Biography

Inception Point Ai