Apr 28 2023 26 mins
General Summary: Paul Johnson talks about his work, “Walter White(ness) lashes out: Breaking Bad and male victimage,” and his journey into uncovering ideas within conservative politics. Two undergraduate students at UT ask Johnson a series of questions about his work, allowing Johnson to expand on the ideas of white masculinity and neoliberalism.
Detailed Summary: Johnson’s academic career and transition to his current job and research on ideas such as conservatism, populism, and race scholarly transition from American poetics to classical rhetoric (00.00-02.19); Johnson’s starting interest in conservative politics and how he uncovered more variables within capitalism (02.30-6.12); Johnson discusses the meaning of whiteness and its correlation to what challenges white masculinity (06.40-12.33); Johnson talks about neoliberalism in relation to the series, “Breaking Bad” (12.57-17.12); Johnson expands on neoliberalism in relation to capitalism and its so-called “dark side” (17.29-20.52); Johnson talks about his reference to Obama’s remark in relation to Walter White (21.28-26.36); Johnson processes what “Breaking Bad” would have looked like if Obama was not president (26.59-28.58); Johnson talks about the continuation of “Breaking Bad” popularity and the present circumstance in the United States that challenged American ideology (29.19-34.35); Johnson discusses the character of Walter White and whether or not he was praised as a hero (34.38-37.03).
Scholarly Article Informing this Production: Johnson, Paul. “Walter White(ness)
lashes out: Breaking Bad and male victimage.” Critical Studies in Media
Communication, vol. 34, no. 1, 2017, pp. 14-28.
Credits: This podcast was produced by Travis Fatjo and Brooke Falk, with resources
and assistance provided by the Digital Writing and Research Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. It features the voices of Paul Johnson, Sophia Guild, and Lilly Anthony. Music featured in this podcast, titled “commonGround” was created by airtone and has been repurposed here under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial license 3.0.
Detailed Summary: Johnson’s academic career and transition to his current job and research on ideas such as conservatism, populism, and race scholarly transition from American poetics to classical rhetoric (00.00-02.19); Johnson’s starting interest in conservative politics and how he uncovered more variables within capitalism (02.30-6.12); Johnson discusses the meaning of whiteness and its correlation to what challenges white masculinity (06.40-12.33); Johnson talks about neoliberalism in relation to the series, “Breaking Bad” (12.57-17.12); Johnson expands on neoliberalism in relation to capitalism and its so-called “dark side” (17.29-20.52); Johnson talks about his reference to Obama’s remark in relation to Walter White (21.28-26.36); Johnson processes what “Breaking Bad” would have looked like if Obama was not president (26.59-28.58); Johnson talks about the continuation of “Breaking Bad” popularity and the present circumstance in the United States that challenged American ideology (29.19-34.35); Johnson discusses the character of Walter White and whether or not he was praised as a hero (34.38-37.03).
Scholarly Article Informing this Production: Johnson, Paul. “Walter White(ness)
lashes out: Breaking Bad and male victimage.” Critical Studies in Media
Communication, vol. 34, no. 1, 2017, pp. 14-28.
Credits: This podcast was produced by Travis Fatjo and Brooke Falk, with resources
and assistance provided by the Digital Writing and Research Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. It features the voices of Paul Johnson, Sophia Guild, and Lilly Anthony. Music featured in this podcast, titled “commonGround” was created by airtone and has been repurposed here under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial license 3.0.