Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs
A podcast in association with BeingSociety.com, in which Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva explore the politics, ethics, and societal visions of dystopian tv, film, and literature.
Episodes
In this episode of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha are discussing the incredible yet harrowing 1984 film, Threads, a graphic depiction of the aftermath of nuclear attack, set in Sheffield (where Masha lives!).
Content warning: violence and sexual violence; still-birth
In this episode we discuss the impacts of nuclear attack on infrastructure and human bodies, along with the history of nuclear we...
In Episode 16 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva are discussing the mind-bending physics-filled Netflix Drama, 3 Body Problem.
In this episode, we look at the depiction of Mao's China and the Cultural Revolution, and the Chinese novel on which the show is based. We mention articles from The Guardian, New York Times, and Radio Free Asia.
In Episode 15 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha are discussing Oscar-winning film Poor Things, which we absolutely loved.
Content Warning: suicide, sexual content, FGM
Themes in this episode include:
- brain transplants, animal and human testing, and medical ethics
- the legacy of Frankenstein, Gothic literature, and monstrosity
- identity, social mores, nature vs nurture, and growing up
- issues o...
In Episode 14 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha are discussing The Way, a recent dystopian drama from the BBC, set in Port Talbot, Wales.
Content Warning: this episode includes reference to suicide.
In this episode, we talk about divided families and generational trauma, with particular relation to changing industrial landscapes in Britain. In particular, we discuss the theme of Welsh steel, an...
In Episode 13 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha are talking about the film Downsizing. Resting on the premise that people can choose to shrink to around 10cm tall as part of a project to reduce overpopulation, this odd comedy is full of themes of science fiction, environmentalism, innovation, social justice, and relationship.
In this episode, we refer to this study in our discussion of global m...
In Episode 12 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha discuss the 2023 Netflix film, Leave the World Behind.
As well as themes of cyber warfare, disinformation, privilege in the apocalypse, fear, and the place of trust, we also look at how to see off a f***load of deer, and whether people are really as dreadful as one of the characters proclaims.
In this episode, we reference the interview with Rober...
In our eleventh episode of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha are diving into A Clockwork Orange, both the Stanley Kubrick film of 1971 and the novella by Anthony Burgess from 1962.
Content Warning: themes of sexual violence, physical violence, and suicide
In this episode, we look at multiple layers of dystopian society: the violent world where Alex and his droogs commit their ultraviolence; the po...
In Episode 10 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva are discussing Netflix drama The Society.
CW: please be aware that this episode makes reference to suicide and domestic abuse.
In its single season, this is a drama that covers all aspects of how best a society should be organized and led, without resorting to a state-of-nature post-apocalyptic scenario. Instead, The Society take...
In Episode 9 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva are welcoming 2024 with a deep dive into Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, on its 20th anniversary.
In this episode, we discuss the importance of memory for individuals and communities, and how these are impacted by social media, fake news, and whether or not the echo-chamber effect is affecting our attitude to history.
We tal...
In Episode 8 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva discuss The Children of Men, both the 1992 novel by PD James and the 2006 film starring Clive Owen.
In this episode, we explore the speculative concept of both book and film, in which the human race has long since ceased to be able to have children. Each version imagines differently the consequent development of the society of the...
In Episode 7 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva explore the world of the Hunger Games, through the lens of the prequel novel and latest film, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Along with their discussion of the character of Coriolanus Snow and his relationships, they assess the purpose of the Hunger Games, the analysis of human nature, the role of class, post-apocalyptic autho...
In Episode 6 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare and Masha enter the world of the Matrix, considering the themes of AI, authenticity, authoritarianism, and aesthetic. Join in and decide whether you would dare to take the red pill.
In episode 5 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, on the film Don't Look Up, Masha and Clare discuss political agendas, the state of the media, the climate crisis, and brontorocs.
In episode 4 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva discuss the depictions of society in the Barbie film, why Barbieland is a dystopia, the lens on our own society, the patriarchy, and using comedy for social commentary. Oh, and to sum up the film in Masha's words: 'feminism, innit'.
In Episode 3 on Years and Years, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva explore the frighteningly prescient view of British society offered by this amazing 2019 BBC drama.
In Episode 2 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva discuss Fight Club through the lens of satire, considering themes of gender, capitalism, consumerism, and masculine violence.
In Episode 1 of Dystopian Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs, a Being Society podcast, Clare Coombe and Masha Yakovleva discuss season 1 of The Last of Us and its post-apocalyptic view of a society wracked by a fungal pandemic.
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