The Zeitgeist Tapes

Dec 23 2024 67 ep. 37 mins 144

The Zeitgeist Tapes Podcast artwork

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

Technology News Society & Culture

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

1984 (1954)

Dec 23 2024 35 mins

This month instead of getting festive, Emma and Steve round off the year looking at the 1954 BBC adaptation of 1984. A dystopian tale of hopelessness and the triumph of evil. Merry Christmas!

The Contender

Nov 14 2024 34 mins

This month - in the wake of the US election and the defeat of Kamala Harris - Steve and Emma look at The Contender (2000). This is a film that is posited as a liberal feel-good film about making a woman the Vice President under unusual circumstances. It might be 'of its time' or it might be - as Emma argues - a timeless liberal man's idea of what a feminist film looks like.

Running on Empty

Aug 04 2024 36 mins

In this episode Emma and Steve discuss 1988 film Running on Empty. Described by Steve as a 'Hallmark film for terrorists' the film follows the Pope family as the evade the police living in suburban domestic bliss - but only for short periods at a time. Directed by Sidney Lumet and starring River Phoenix, Judd Hirsh, Christine Lahti and Martha Plimpton this film combines a discuss

The Pickwick Papers election

Jun 03 2024 32 mins

This month it’s another election special! Emma and Steve discuss the chapter about the election in Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers. Those who know Emma (and especially those who studied with her) will know that she tried to read the whole book once and gave up halfway through with a lifelong aversion to Dickens. But here we talk about the interesting - and interestingly nega

Comedians

May 06 2024 46 mins

This month, Emma and Steve are joined by comedian, writer, director and comedy trainer Logan Murray to talk about Trevor Griffith's Comedians. Originally written in 1975 and translated for TV as a Play For Today the show follows a group of men looking to become successful club comedians as they do their final showcase in front of an audience. The play uses a lot of language tha

Mr Bates Vs The Post Office

Jan 16 2024 40 mins

In this episode Emma and Steve discuss one of the most consequential dramatisations of recent years. Described as 'Kafka meets Ealing Comedy' (Copyright Steve) this ITV drama shown between Christmas and New Year 2023/24 had politicians finally scrabbling to respond to the long-running scandal at the Post Office. David Aaaronovich: The Fatal Flaw in Mr Bates Vs The Post Office htt

Fail Safe

Dec 22 2023 32 mins

This month, to reflect on the death of Henry Kissinger, Emma and Steve look at 1964 film Fail Safe. Based on the same novel as Dr Strangelove, but definitely not played for laughs this film examines from the inside two sides trying and failing to avoid a nuclear confrontation.

Succession

Jun 12 2023 35 mins

This month Emma and Steve discuss the show that has had the political world more obsessed than with anything since The West Wing - Succession. This tale of a family battling over the future of a media empire has obvious real-world parallels. But should we care as much as we do?

Brassed Off

May 20 2023 35 mins

This month, Emma and Steve look at Brassed Off. It's a film about a colliery band, about music and community. It's also an explicitly anti-Tory film set 10 years after the Miners Strike and one year before the Tories were swept out of office by the 1997 Labour election landslide.

My Fair Lady

Apr 15 2023 41 mins

This month, Steve and Emma discuss the 1964 classic My Fair Lady. What does George Bernard Shaw's play and the musical based on it have to say about modern political themes of class or gender?