Imaginary City

Imaginary City

Imaginary City is a podcast that explores urban spaces through the magic of the movies. The city is a cultural symbol but also a real place where more people than ever before live, love, work and dream. What can the imaginary cities of our favourite films teach us about the built environment and how it shapes our lives? Join us on Imaginary City to find out.

  1. 11/25/2024

    Cleo From 5 to 7

    Chance encounters, cat ladies, and a car-infested Paris. On this episode we discuss the 1962 French New Wave classic Cleo from 5 to 7, directed by Agnes Varda and starring Corrine Marchand. Come tour the streets of the City of Love with a beautiful, young chanteuse as she learns to confront her own mortality, while sitting in cafes and shopping for hats. Learn about gender mainstreaming, how Paris narrowly escaped being destroyed by highways, and why just walking down the city street as a woman can be a radical act of resistance.

  2. 03/10/2024

    Blade Runner

    Rogue replicants, flying cars, and a gritty vision of LA that’s a little bit Mayan and a lot Beijing by way of New York. On this episode we discuss the 1982 sci-fi cult classic Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. In Blade Runner the future is fusion and Los Angelos is dense and walkable (too bad about the killer robots and the nuclear winter). Our imagined urban futures can tell us a lot about our current fears and anxieties, but in reality the future of cities are looking bright. Maybe we don’t need to leave for the off-world colonies, just yet.

  3. 01/21/2024

    Chinatown

    LA! Murder! Conspiracy! Incest! And you thought civic infrastructure was boring. On this episode we discuss the classic 1974 neo-noir classic Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski, and starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. We separate fact from fiction in the California Water Wars as we explore this fascinating tale of power and corruption and how cities get built. Along the way we ask the question: who is the American Dream really for?

  4. 12/03/2023

    Lost in Translation & Adrift in Tokyo

    Unlikely friendships, wandering the streets of Tokyo, and growing emotional intimacy over bowls of noodles. On this episode we discuss the 2003 comedy-drama Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, and the 2007 comedy-drama Adrift in Tokyo (Tenten in the original Japanese), directed by Satoshi Miki and starring Joe Odagiri and Tomokazu Miura. We explore two very different sides of this fascinating city and ask the question: what can the rest of the world learn from Tokyo? Spoiler, a lot! Learn how Tokyo has tamed the car, invested in transit, avoided the affordabilty crisis, and made peace with the inevitable cycles of destruction and renewal.

  5. 11/12/2023

    High Rise

    Brutalism, class warfare, and men behaving badly. On this episode we discuss the 2015 dystopian thriller High Rise, directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, and Sienna Miller. Does Brutalism make people brutal, or is the polarizing architectural style just a scapegoat for more complex social problems? And just how high is too high? This one gets weird. Hide your pets, we’re diving in.

  6. 10/22/2023

    The Truman Show

    New Urbanism, master-planned communities, and the surveillance society. On this episode we discuss the 1998 satirical drama The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir and starring Jim Carrey. We dig in to the origins of the suburbs, the rise of TNDs (traditional neighbourhood developments), and ask the question - do any of us really have free will?

  7. 06/25/2023 ·  Bonus

    Summer Reading (and viewing and listening) Recommendations

    We are taking a break for the summer, but before we sign off we wanted share some of the books, YouTube channels, podcasts, and social media accounts that have helped us better understand cities. Links to all of the content we mention in the episode are below: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/86058/ Home From Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/Home-from-Nowhere/James-Howard-Kunstler/9780684837376 The Walkable City by Jeff Speck https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250857989/walkablecitytenthanniversaryedition Building the Cycling City by Melissa and Chris Bruntlett http://www.modacitylife.com/cycling-city Curbing Traffic by Melissa and Chris Bruntlett http://www.modacitylife.com/curbing-traffic About Here https://www.youtube.com/@AboutHere/videos Never Too Small https://www.youtube.com/@nevertoosmall Not Just Bikes https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustBikes The War on Cars https://thewaroncars.org/ The Urbanist https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-urbanist/ Pedestrian Dignity https://www.instagram.com/pedestriandignity/?hl=en Ugly Belgian Houses https://www.instagram.com/uglybelgianhouses/ Segregation by Design https://www.instagram.com/segregation_by_design/ Modacity Life https://www.instagram.com/modacitylife/

  8. 06/11/2023

    High Fidelity

    Wicker Park, record stores, and emotionally-stunted men. On this episode we discuss the 2000 romantic comedy High Fidelity directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack. Revisit the past when life was analog, people shopped in stores, and the city was a great (and affordable) place to be young and cool. We take a deep dive into the origins of the word hipster, consider what it means to be a sell out, and conclude that resistance to change in our lives and in our cities is futile.

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Imaginary City is a podcast that explores urban spaces through the magic of the movies. The city is a cultural symbol but also a real place where more people than ever before live, love, work and dream. What can the imaginary cities of our favourite films teach us about the built environment and how it shapes our lives? Join us on Imaginary City to find out.

Information

  • Creator
    Imaginary City
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2024
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Imaginary City
  • Show Website
    Imaginary City