The Zeitgeist Tapes

The Zeitgeist Tapes

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

  1. Zeitgeist Tapes - The Finale

    31/08/2025

    Zeitgeist Tapes - The Finale

    Sadly, this is the last episode of The Zeitgeist Tapes as Emma goes off to take up the full time role of Editor of LabourList and Steve valiantly continues to write his book on the Labour Party. In this episode, we pick out a few of our favourite episodes from the eight years of the show. We discuss our bizarre origin story and the unfortunate original naming convention. Read Steve's book that inspired the show: https://www.amazon.co.uk/State-Play-British-Politics-Trollope/dp/1780933169 Steve's Choices: The Campaign: https://audioboom.com/posts/7581395-the-campaign-1983 My Fair Lady: https://audioboom.com/posts/8281940-my-fair-lady Scrooged: https://audioboom.com/posts/7126205-podded Mr Smith Goes to Washington/Meet John Doe https://audioboom.com/posts/8707552-capra-double-bill-mr-smith-goes-to-washington-and-meet-john-doe Emma's Choices: Parks and Recreation: https://audioboom.com/posts/7524657-parks-and-recreation Vote for Froglet: https://audioboom.com/posts/7416090-vote-for-froglet Our Friends in the North: https://audioboom.com/posts/6327558-3-our-friends-on-the-podcast Running on Empty: https://audioboom.com/posts/8551366-running-on-empty Our Joint Favourite: Dirty Dancing: https://audioboom.com/posts/6941048-dirty-podding

    43 min
  2. The Spectator (Novel)

    27/08/2025

    The Spectator (Novel)

    This month after a somewhat hilarious mix up Emma and Steve read and discuss  the Spectator - a Novel by Timothy Balding. This book has an odd format and may be too light on story as a result. Ultimately tries too hard to make answering the question "But what if the Daily Mail is actually awful?" an interesting one.  Read the Spectator: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectator-Novel-Timothy-Balding/dp/1935830767 Read the Director: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-director/daniel-kehlmann/ross-benjamin/9781529435115?sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=57434&awc=3787_1756317426_f55f2a16a2d20e6ace48ecf531d0ef13&sn=1&utm_source=57434&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Easyfundraising

    35 min
  3. Conclave

    26/05/2025

    Conclave

    This month, slightly later than planned (or is timely) Emma and Steve discuss Conclave.  The film has pretensions to high drama, but is it really just an Agatha Christie style novel set in the Catholic Church? Not so much a 'whodunnit' as a They all done something innit!.

    33 min
  4. Capra Double Bill: Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Meet John Doe

    19/04/2025

    Capra Double Bill: Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Meet John Doe

    In a Zeitgeist Tapes first, we have a double bill for your delectation.   Given all that is happening in the USA and the wider world, we delve back to the late 1930s and early 1940s to see how one of the most popular directors of the time dealt with populism - positive and negative. We discuss both Mr Smith Goes to Washington and Meet John Doe - both by director Frank Capra.  Political corruption abounds; the little guy is always the hero and the stooge. But Capra - an immigrant and Republican - did not want to break the American system - he wanted to show that it could be great again. Perhaps a lesson for those who oppose Trump now. Watch Meet John Doe on Youtube Find Steve on BlueSky Find Emma on BlueSky. Buy tickets for Emma's play.

    46 min
  5. Brian and Maggie

    19/02/2025

    Brian and Maggie

    This month Steve and Emma discuss Brian and Maggie - the 2 part TV drama about the interview that - according to the drama at least - led to the fall of Margaret Thatcher.  We ask if long-form interviews really are dead? If TV interviews really were as good as the nostalgia would have it and if arch-Thatcerite Brian Walden really did bring down his friend?

    33 min
  6. 1984 (1954)

    23/12/2024

    1984 (1954)

    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!

    35 min
  7. The Contender

    14/11/2024

    The Contender

    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.

    34 min
  8. Running on Empty

    04/08/2024

    Running on Empty

    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 of radical politics with a more traditional coming of age family drama.  Link to the New York Times article discussed: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/18/movies/film-view-sentimentalizing-60-s-radicalism.html?unlocked_article_code=1._U0.Se0R.62RNH6uMNg0H&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb Link to the Dirty Dancing episode discussed: https://audioboom.com/posts/6941048-dirty-podding

    36 min
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4.7
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    The Zeitgeist Tapes
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2025
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    The Zeitgeist Tapes