Not Quite Great Books: a TV podcast

62. Total Cinema, Baby: Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Mission Impossible

Welcome to Total Cinema, Baby, a Not Quite Great Books production! Danielle and John are BACK recounting their epic weekend partaking in the Barbenheimer cinema experience, and adding the latest Mission: Impossible to the mix for good measure. Join your hosts as they reunite to take in the cinema event of the summer. They set the scenes of their viewing experiences and the Big Picture-inspired origins of “Total Cinema, Baby” before diving into their takes on all three films. Keep in mind, this is a spoiler-filled podcast! First, they tackle Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (15:49), working through their takes, favorite jokes and scenes, and touching on what didn’t quite land. Then, they move on to the spectacle of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (52:59). They consider some of the film’s criticisms, offer analyses of the best performances, and talk about what scenes have stayed with each. John and Danielle then turn to the ridiculousness of Mission:Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (1:18:08), taking in the stunts, being in on the joke, and mostly, Tom Cruise running montages. This is a wild ride of an episode that includes Danielle dragging John for his Marvel takes (on a non-MCU podcast!?), brainstorming which scenes would hit best in Barbie-form (and vice versa), and of course, ends a trip into the Cave. Enjoy!
This podcast was recorded during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist. 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

61. The Young Pope, ”Episode Four”

You Must, You Must, You Must listen to this episode: Regan and John return for another Young Pope episode, taking this opportunity to focus on bodies and power in this episode and in Catholicism more broadly, as Esther becomes a central character of the show. This episode also helps us focus on how we emotionally relate -- and how Paolo Sorretino might expect his audience to relate -- to the psychic travails of the characters of the show. There are also saintly TikTok discussion, Tonnino Petola/Sheep Mary coverage, Voiello-Giorlamo questions, and dancing Greelanders! 
Check yourself for any stigmata and join us for another Popely episode. 
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

60. The Young Pope, ”Episode Three”

Regan and John are back for more Young Pope as they try to lift up God's weight through the magic of podcasting and the help of...*checks notes*...a stuffed deer? They puzzle through the ways that different members of Curia respond to Lenny's faith (or lackthereof) and wrestle with their own faith, wonder whether absence is indeed presence, and map out this episode's politicking.
There's still plenty of time for Esther conversation, introducing a new saintly quest, breaking down the title sequence, and the unabated continuation of Hot Priest Rating. Forget the body and blood, all you need is this podcast. 
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
 

59. The White Lotus 1x4, ”Recentering”

Amy Schiller joins John for the first in our *podcast voice* limited series, The One Percent, where we take seriously and frivolously shows that depict the lifestyles and political economy of the one percent (and adjacent). First up: The White Lotus, Season 1 Episode 4, "Recentering." 
Amy and John dive into the show's depiction of wealth, virtue, and self-soothing; explore Amy's Kitty/Shane-stanning and John's counter identification with Rachel, unpack the multiple Talmudic layers of interpretation the show opens up, spend time with Nietzsche, and of course, discuss non-profit management. Some of your favorite segments remain, while others emerge.
Because there is no ethical vacation under capitalism, join us instead. 
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay
 

58. The Young Pope, ”Episode Two”

Kangaroos and severe speeches and emotional turmoil, oh my! John and summer 2023 co-host Regan are back for the second episode of Young Pope. They consider kangaroos and motherhood (seriously), Lenny's self-conflict as it plays out in his "invisible Pope" proclamation and remarkable address to the crowd of St. Peter's Square, Catholicism's relation to sex and the body, Voiello's attempts at charity, and Sister Mary's role in the Vatican. 
Meanwhile, Hot Priest Rating and Aquinas Time in The Cave continue, and they find plenty of time for digressions on Salinger bros, Harvard and the ivory tower, St. Anthony's patron saint duties, and much more.
No theodicy needed to confirm that this podcast on The Young Pope does exist. 
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

57. The Young Pope, ”Episode One”

John is joined by summer guest co-host Regan Levitte to worship at the altar of 2016's The Young Pope, which NQGB is covering this summer before returning to The Americans. Covering the first episode, they discuss the show's approach to Catholicism (and excavate their own lapsed Catholicism), examine the dream sequences, assess Lenny Belardo as the titular young Pope and Jude Law as Lenny Belardo, and more. 
The Danielle Dossier is rechristened with a new name suitable for Regan's  predictions, The Cave gets dedicated to everyone's favorite canonical Catholic political thinker, and Regan introduces a brand new segment centered on Jude Law's eternal hotness. 
Say thirteen Hail Marys and join Regan and John as they meet all your religious and TV criticism needs. Welcome to Hot Confessor Summer 2023. 
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

56. The Americans, Season 3 in review

After a whirlwind end to Season 3 of The Americans, Danielle and John pause to reflect on the season. What has changed about the show this season? Why did critics view this season as the one where The Americans reached its highest (Platonic?) form? How good is Danielle at the Dossier? Tune in as we discuss these, other pressing S3 questions, and somehow end up discussing Homeland, all before wishing Danielle farewell for the summer. 
Never fear, John will be back next week with a special guest to cover...well, you'll just have to listen (or check us out on Twitter). 

55. The Americans 3x13, ”March 8, 1983”, with Jon Keller

We end this season with a BANGER. Your hosts are joined once more by their good friend, the ‘Lev Gorn Whisperer’, Jon Keller. Together, they discuss The Americans Season 3 Episode 13, “March 8, 1983.” Inspired by Philip’s newfound EST-thusiasm, John, Danielle, and Jon frame the discussion using the relationship between the body and the truth. This offers a window into Philip’s general disposition and challenges in the ep, Paige & Elizabeth in Berlin, and the exchange between Anton and Nina, not to mention it offers another chance to discuss whether Stan is good at his job! Borrowed Nostalgia becomes Unborrowed Nostalgia, and Keller regales us with tales of the 80s while we touch on some serious (West Berlin) and non-serious (80s toys) touches in the ep. In the Cave, John and Danielle offer some feminist critiques of Descartes to shed some light on the significance of the relationship between truth and the body, and everyone jumps in for TheoryShips, though Keller lodges some serious complaints about the bit. We promise this is an episode you will enjoy, as long as you can make sense of all the insights we drop between bouts of laughter!
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

54. The Americans 3x12, ”I Am Abassin Zadran”

The drama just keeps escalating this season! Taking on the penultimate episode, John and Danielle consider The Americans Season 3 Episode 12, “I am Abassin Zadran.” There’s nowhere else to start but with Martha and Clark, but of course your hosts have to check in on Paige, since she’s acting out following the big reveal. In Glas, John and Danielle get into the choices around Abassin Zadran, and pick this thread up again in the Cave where John offers a rousing deep dive into Minoo Moallem’s “Whose Fundamentalism.” Building on the episode’s troubling themes of fundamentalism and an East/West divide, both John and Danielle TheoryShip Said’s Orientalism - a much needed text for many in this ep! It’s not ALL so heavy - they also ask whether Gabriel and Claudia were an item, and go on a bit of a diner deep dive (don’t act surprised!). 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

53. The Americans 3x11, ”One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov”

John and Danielle are back on their own this week to contemplate the world through the eyes of Anton Baklanov. Together, they dig into The Americans Season 3 Episode 11, “One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov.” They really start at square one, with John explaining the framing device to a none-the-wiser Danielle, and then they ask how using Anton as a lens impacts their takeaways from the ep itself. They follow-up on all things Paige/Jennings in the aftermath of the last episode, and check in on Gabriel, Nina, and of course Martha. They touch on some solid (if surprising) spycraft from Hans, and some weird feminizing of computers in Glas. This leads into our first self-cite, with John invoking an article of his and producer Amy in the Cave! And of course, is it even an episode of NQGB if we don’t give someone Foucault as a TheoryShip?
 
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay