The Laser Age

Keith Phipps

The Laser Age, a podcast about science fiction films from the second half of the 20th century hasted by Keith Phipps and brought to you by The Reveal. Each episode focuses on a sci-fi movie released between 1947 and 1999—from the Roswell incident through The Matrix—and features a deep dive into the film's history followed by a conversation with a special guest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episódios

  1. 15/09/2025

    'RoboCop' with Donna Bowman

    RoboCop: Who is he? What is he? Scholar, pop culture writer, and longtime Paul Verhoeven fan Donna Bowman joins The Laser Age to discuss RoboCop, Verhoeven's ultraviolent 1987 sci-fi satire about a police officer's second life as a cyborg law enforcer. Did it offer a vision of things to come? Is it a vessel for Verhoeven's particular notions of what an American Jesus might look like? Why not both? And this marks the end of the first run of Laser Age episodes. We're going to take a short break before releasing a new batch of episodes. You might even call it a new season. You might even say this season will have a theme. We'll return soon to kick off a five-episode run focusing on films about giant animals from apes to lizards to rabbits. (Yes, rabbits.) If you want to watch ahead, we'll be starting things off with Them!, the quintessential 1950s giant bug movie. Look for it soon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min

  2. 01/09/2025

    'eXistenZ' with Scott Tobias

    Throughout the 1990s, film after film explored the possibilities of the then-new concept of virtual reality. The trend reached a seeming peak in 1999, with the release of the semi-forgotten The Thirteenth Floor, the anything-but-forgotten The Matrix, and, like a shadow cousin to those big-budget studio efforts, eXistenZ. With his first film taken based on a wholly original idea since Videodrome, David Cronenberg put his own spin on the notion, one informed by Philip K. Dick, existential philosophy, and his own abiding obsessions with sex and the slippery nature of reality. Film critic Scott Tobias, a name doubtlessly familiar to readers of The Reveal, joins this episode to discuss the film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    27 min

  3. 11/08/2025

    'Night of the Comet' with Jen Chaney

    Released in 1984, Thom Eberhardt's sci-fi comedy takes a (mostly) lighthearted look at the end of the world via the story of two teens who survive a visit from a deadly comet. Jen Chaney, critic and author As If!: An Oral History of Clueless, joins the podcast to discuss a decidedly '80s teenage wasteland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    25 min

  4. 28/07/2025

    'Visit to a Small Planet' with Noel Murray

    There were few bigger movie stars than Jerry Lewis in 1960, the year he released three films: Cinderfella, his directorial debut The Bellboy, and this adaptation of a popular Gore Vidal play. Lewis plays Kreton, a traveler from the other end of the universe who drops down to Earth, talks to dogs and cats, jams with beatniks, and generally stirs up trouble. Longtime film and pop culture critic Noel Murray joins us to discuss a semi-forgotten entry in Lewis' filmography with a longer-lasting influence than you might expect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    34 min

  5. 10/07/2025

    'Silent Running' with John Hodgman

    SERIES PREMIERE: In 1972, special effects genius Douglas Trumbull made his directorial debut with a story of conservation, space travel, robots... and murder. In this premiere episode of The Laser Age we're joined by author, actor, and podcaster John Hodgman to explore a vision of the near-future rooted in the early 1970s. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    57 min
  • 5 episódios

Sobre

The Laser Age, a podcast about science fiction films from the second half of the 20th century hasted by Keith Phipps and brought to you by The Reveal. Each episode focuses on a sci-fi movie released between 1947 and 1999—from the Roswell incident through The Matrix—and features a deep dive into the film's history followed by a conversation with a special guest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Informação

  • Autoria
    Keith Phipps
  • Anos em atividade
    2 mil
  • Episódios
    5
  • Classificação
    Explícito
  • Copyright
    © Keith Phipps
  • Site do programa
    The Laser Age