Unclear and Present Danger

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Unclear and Present Dangeractive

Publisher |: Jamelle Bouie and John Ganz

Media Type |: audio

Podknife tags |: 1990s,; Movies,; Nostalgia,; TV & Film,; USA

Categories Via RSS |: Film Reviews,; Society & Culture,; TV & Film

New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and freelance writer John Ganz delve into the world of 90s post-Cold War thrillers with Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast that explores America in an age of transition to lone superpower, at once triumphant and unsure of its role in the world.

People |: Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie),; John Ganz (@lionel_trolling)
Country Of Origin |: USA
Produced In |: Brooklyn, NY /; Charlottesville, VA
Premiere Date |: 2021-10-28
Frequency |: Biweekly
Explicit |: No

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15 Available Episodes (15 Total) / Average duration: 01:08:10

Date Duration Most Reviewed Highest Rated

15 Available Episodes (15 Total)Average duration: 01:08:10

May 14, 2022

01:12:01

On episode 15 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Mike Duncan (Revolutions podcast, “prose.com/book/9781541730335">Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution”) to discuss the delightful 1992 thriller Sneakers. It’s a movie about a tech mogul who hopes to stage an information revolution and, not surprisingly, John, Jamelle and Mike discuss the internet, social revolutions, and the challenge of building something out of nothing.

Our logo, as always, is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck, who you can find on Instagram.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Mike Duncan

Links from the episode!

New York Times front-page for September 11, 1992

Sneakers Computer Press Kit

“Marxism and Politics” by Ralph Miliband

Apr 30, 2022

01:21:18

It’s episode 14 of Unclear and Present Danger and we’re talking Oliver Stone’s ridiculous yet incredibly-compelling conspiracy thriller, JFK. Jamelle and John are joined by the historian Alexis Coe to discuss the film, as well as the real John F. Kennedy, his life and legacy. This is a long and fruitful conversation, that covers everything from the Boomer wish-fulfillment which animates the movie to the political consequences of conspiracy-thinking.

Once again, our new logo is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Alexis Coe

Links from the episode!

New York Times front-page for December 20, 1991

is-rewriting-history.html">Oliver Stone’s New York Times op-ed defending the film.

Miller Center of Public Affairs page on the Kennedy presidency.

Politico Magazine on John F. Kennedy and Margaret Coit

Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath by Mimi Alford

Apr 16, 2022

01:13:30

Is a Star Trek movie a political and military thriller? We think so! Which is why, for this thirteenth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John (and their guest, Sam Adler-Bell of the “Know Your Enemy” podcast) discussed Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. They talked about the nature of Star Trek’s utopianism, questioned whether the Federation is actually a good thing, and gave a close reading of the film’s Cold War allegory.

Our new logo is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Sam Adler-Bell

Links from the episode!

New York Times front-page for December 6, 1991

IMDB page for Nicholas Meyer

The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years

Apr 01, 2022

01:15:11

On episode 12 of Unclear and Present and Danger, Jamelle and John talk about, and puzzle over, the 1991 action comedy (comedic thriller?) “Company Business.” They have an extended discussion of Gene Hackman’s career, talk Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and think about the surge of populism that struck American politics in the early 1990s.

Our new logo is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Links from the episode!

New York Times front-page for September 6, 1991

hackman-90-birthday-french-connection-unforgiven-a9295326.html">Martin Chilton’s 2020 profile of Gene Hackman

“Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union” by Vladislav M. Zubok

Mar 18, 2022

01:18:11

On this 11th episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by the journalist and author Jonathan Katz to talk John Milius' 1991 Vietnam drama, “Flight of the Intruder.” Among many other things, they talk Milius' work and career, the place of Vietnam in American’s historical memory, the political impact of the Gulf War, and the search for meaning through conflict.

Our logo is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Jonathan Katz

Links from the episode!

New York Times front-page for January 18, 1991

Roger Ebert’s review

The American Conservative on John Milius

Mar 04, 2022

01:05:21

In this tenth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John talk a little about this week’s movie, the 1991 submarine farce “Going Under,” but devote most of the episode to discussing the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia, and the way the world has underestimated the power of democracy.

Also, you might notice that we have a new logo. That is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Links from the episode!

New York Times for Friday, August 23, 1991

A comprehensive explainer of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Jewish Currents magazine.

Wikipedia entry for the French Revolutionary Army

Wikipedia entry for the United States Colored Troops

Feb 19, 2022

01:06:00

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John talk the 1990 John Le Carré adaptation “The Russia House,” starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. They discuss the social base for intelligence work during the Cold War, the period of glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union, the politics of nostalgia and the film’s excellent wardrobe. You can rent “The Russia House” on iTunes or on Amazon.

Also, you might notice that we have a new logo. That is courtesy of the great Rachel Eck! You can find her on Instagram.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Links from the episode!

The New York Times for December 25, 1990

Wikipedia article for glasnost and perestroika

John D. Skrentny’s “The Minority Rights Revolution” on the impact of the Cold War on liberal reforms in the United States.

Feb 04, 2022

01:06:01

In this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John tackle yet another movie about the Troubles, the 1990 film “Hidden Agenda.” This one, however, is more concerned with British politics than the well-being of the Irish people. They discuss Margaret Thatcher, talk a little about colonialism and the intra-European origins of racism, and complain about the dearth of well-made political thrillers. You can watch “Hidden Agenda” for free on Tubi.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Links from the episode!

The New York Times for Wednesday November 21, 1990.

Cedric Robinson’s “Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition”

Alan J. Pakula’s 1974 film “The Parallax View.”

Jan 22, 2022

01:01:50

In this episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John discuss the 1990 made-for-TV movie “By Dawn’s Early Light.” Their conversation centers on the politics of nuclear weapons, what they mean for constitutional democracy, and how fear of nuclear weapons has been a potent political tool since the end of the Second World War.

“By Dawn’s Early Light” is available to stream for free on Amazon and YouTube, and is available for rent on iTunes.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Links from the episode!

New York Times frontpage for Saturday May 19, 1990.

Trailer for “The Day After”

Trailer for “Threads”

Jan 07, 2022

01:04:11

In the sixth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, John and Jamelle discuss “The Fourth War,” a late-period John Frankenheimer film about two crusty bastards who almost start the third world war over a personal grudge match. It looks like a TV movie and it’s not that interesting, but it was good fodder for a fruitful and fascinating conversation. Jamelle brings some 19th century American political history to the table, and John uses Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History” to get at some of the ideas in the film.

John Ganz

Jamelle Bouie

Links from the episode!

New York Times front page for Friday, March 23, 1990

film-roy-scheider-in-a-parable-of-the-cold-war.html?searchResultPosition=1">Janet Maslin’s New York Times review

Roger Ebert’s Chicago Sun-Times review

“The End of History?” by Francis Fukuyama, published in the Summer 1989 edition of The National Interest.

A book worth reading: The Slave Power: The Free North and Southern Domination, 1780–1860

May 14 | 01:12:01

Sneakers (feat. Mike Duncan)

Apr 30 | 01:21:18

JFK (feat. Alexis Coe)