Michael and Us Luke Savage and Will Sloan, Jacobin
-
- TV & Film
-
A podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world. Hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Exclusive subscriber-only episodes: https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus/overview
-
#518 - The Devil, Probably
Less than a decade after the revolutionary potential of the May 1968 protests, Robert Bresson's THE DEVIL, PROBABLY (1977) follows a disaffected youth in a world full of evil who asks: Is life worth living? It's a hard question, but we do our best to answer it.
Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus -
PREVIEW - #517 - The Civil War Episode
Aiming straight for the zeitgeist, CIVIL WAR (2024) is a disaster movie for the post-January 6th America. But in deliberately removing any politics or ideology from his vision of a country at war with itself, Alex Garland has made a movie that is rigorously, even militantly unwilling to say anything.
PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/517-civil-war-102614736 -
#516 - Embrace the Fire (w/ Alex Shephard)
By the third entry of the God's Not Dead franchise, its creative team had clearly started listening to their critics. The result was a kinder, gentler right-wing Evangelical Christian drama that sought to heal divides... and failed at the box office. We welcome back New Republic writer and our resident God's Not Dead correspondent Alex Shephard to discuss GOD'S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS (2018).
JOIN US ON PATREON FOR AN EXTRA EPISODE EVERY WEEK - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus -
UNLOCKED - #492 - The Eddie Anderson Story
When he emerged on radio, he was celebrated as a pioneering black star in a white entertainment landscape. By the time of the Civil Rights Movement, he was regarded by many a symbol of black subservience. In this solo documentary episode Cohost Will considers the career and thorny legacy of Eddie Anderson, the actor and comedian who played "Rochester" on The Jack Benny Show.
"Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy" by Katherine H. Fuller-Seeley - https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520295056/jack-benny-and-the-golden-age-of-american-radio-comedy
This episode first appeared on the Michael & Us Patreon. For an extra episode every week, join us at https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus -
PREVIEW - #515 - Escape from the Dinosaur Hour
With the world in flames, it was time to have a little fun. We return to one of our all-time favourite discoveries, checking in on John Cleese's mind-bogglingly awful GB News chat show THE DINOSAUR HOUR to see how or if it has evolved since its debut. PLUS: What exactly do conservatives mean by "Marxism"? And Will uncovers a right-wing Evangelical book from the 1950s that exposes the dark heart of Hollywood.
PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/515-escape-from-102297790 -
#514 - Sit Down, Sit Down
For seven weeks in 1936 and 1937, workers at the General Motors plant in Flint Michigan held a risky sit-down strike. A true David vs. Goliath story, their strike won recognition for the United Auto Workers and changed labour in the United States forever. With a newer UAW strike fresh in the memory, we discuss the BBC documentary THE GREAT SIT-DOWN (1976).
JOIN US ON PATREON FOR AN EXTRA EPISODE EVERY WEEK - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus
Watch "The Great Sit-Down" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Py_vNt4fc&ab_channel=NickSmith
See will introduce Gamera: Super Monster at the Fox Theatre in Toronto on April 16 - https://www.foxtheatre.ca/movies/important-cinema-club-gamera-super-monster/
"Joe Lieberman? Really?" by Branko Marcetic - https://jacobin.com/2018/07/joe-lieberman-democratic-party-conservative-left
"Sam Bankman-Fried will grow old in jail. But don’t forget those who basked in his orbit" by Aditya Chakrabortty - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/28/sam-bankman-fried-jail-ftx-money
Customer Reviews
A must listen
These guys are the unsung heroes of combining real leftist political commentary and film theory. True mavericks!