Showing results for "Recording Culture" in Popular Culture

The stuff of conspiracy theories makes for great, entertaining stories in movies, books, and television. And there is no shortage of subjects: from who really killed JFK to the truth behind 9/11. And then, there are subjects from alien invasions to the Moon landing was simulated - theories that are truly out of this world, which according to some, is flat. Many of these crazy concepts have jumped off the pages or screens to become so pervasive in our culture that thousands - even millions - subscribe to them as reality.

Athena Aktipis of Arizona State University is a self-professed apocalypse enthusiast, and as the host of the podcast Zombified, she knows the undead inside and out. With Zombified: Real-World Lessons from Fictional Apocalypses, she’s compiled her research and insights into a fascinating Audible Original that will have you thinking deeper about all those shambling, brain-hungry corpses in pop culture—not to mention our everyday lives. Drawing on years of research on zombies and zombification, these six lessons offer a fun way to explore and understand the many forces that influence us.

America’s relationship with alcohol is a fraught and inconsistent one. While many other nations and cultures have stable attitudes toward drinking, the American perspective on alcohol has been volatile, vacillating wildly from the gallon-a-day beer rations on the Mayflower to nationwide prohibition and back again. Why are Americans so ambivalent about alcohol? What can we learn about the past and the American character through these extreme fluctuations between alcoholism and sobriety across the centuries?

Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum, and it has become synonymous with our era of angry debate. As the word has spread, what people mean by it has become less clear than ever. Award-winning journalist and author Matthew Syed is on a mission to uncover the roots of this social phenomenon and, in this series, he follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.

In July 1997, the first contestant voted off the first episode of the first ever reality TV elimination show took his own life. Expedition Robinson was the first show of its kind anywhere, and it was going to be remembered not for breaking the mold of television, but for a death, the first of at least 40 suicides linked globally to a reality TV show.

Some stories are too sensitive, painful or potentially damaging to share publicly - unless they can be shared anonymously. TED and Audible present, Sincerely, X, featuring speakers whose ideas deserve to be heard but whose identities must remain hidden.

Writer and director David Hare is one of England's leading political dramatists, celebrated for his many award-winning plays analysing the morality of contemporary Britain. This collection comprises some of his most acclaimed pieces, as well as a fascinating radio interview with Hare himself.

The News Quiz made its debut on Radio 4 in 1977, and decades later it's still playfully making and breaking the headlines of our daily news. If you enjoy your news humorously grilled, with a side order of biting wit, these 14 gems of vintage episodes will be exactly to your taste.

Veteran award-winning radio theater wizard Joe Bevilacqua interviews famous voice actors about their lives and craft. Interviewees include cartoon voice legend June Foray; Fred Frees, voice actor and son of the legendary Paul Frees; Bob Bergen, the current voice of Porky Pig; Phillip Proctor, actor, writer, comedian, and Firesign Theatre founding member; Joe Alaskey, the current voice Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Sylvester; and Noel Blanc, son of voice legend Mel Blanc.

From the political themes found throughout Fallout 4 and the sly references to author Ernest Hemingway and philosopher Descartes in Cyberpunk 2077, video games are deeper than you think. Listen in as Wisecrack breaks down the philosophy behind popular video game franchises like Fallout, Halo, and Final Fantasy, and more in this curated collection, available for the first time in audio.

Rick and Morty is an incredibly unique television show, with its remarkable characters, unforgettable episodes, and surprisingly profound subjects. Listen in as Wisecrack dives into the philosophy behind the characters, Szechuan sauce, get schwifty, and more in this curated collection, available for the first time in audio.

Comedy has evolved significantly over the past century from live shows, television, and the big screen, but what’s next? Is comedy deader than a bad yo-mama joke or totally alive and well? Listen in as Wisecrack dives into how comedy got depressed, what we can learn from greats like Key and Peele, and the future of comedy in this curated collection, available for the first time in audio.

Aliens and UFOs are visiting Earth as evidenced by recent military leaks, but what we don't know is what the extraterrestrials want and why they are here. Some believe they continue to keep a careful watch over the progress of mankind, others believe their intentions are truly sinister. With the recent military video leaks, it's clear the ultrasonic spacecraft exhibit mind-blowing abilities that defy our current laws of physics and current scientific paradigms.

For decades, world governments have lied to the people about the alien presence on Earth. Project Blue Book was reportedly closed down in 1969, but the discovery of the AATP program dispels any notion that the military and ruling powers of the US and other nations aren't interested in UFOs. Now with verified video of UFOs from military sources, it's time to explore the truth and why the ruling factions have been deceiving us since the early '40s, even before Roswell.

Brian Williams talks to Jonathan Tisch about journalism and politics and the future of America.

Mr Punch Presents: Rebecca, based upon the best-selling novel by Daphne du Maurier. Laurence Olivier plays Maxim de Winter, and Vivien Leigh is the shy and naïve ladies companion that he meets while holidaying in Monte Carlo. They fall in love, get married and return to Maxim's beloved Manderley in Cornwall, where the second Mrs de Winter now meets the mysterious Mrs Danvers and finds that Rebecca is not forgotten. The film was to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Mr Punch Presents: All About Eve, the Oscar-winning story of the self-effacing and ambitious actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) who cleverly manipulates her way into the life of ageing Broadway star Margo Channing (Bette Davis). This venomous depiction of show business and backstage life has become a classic story of ambition and betrayal and one of Hollywood's all-time masterpieces.

Toni Tennille: A Memoir is an okay title for the Alabama native’s life story, but once you read it to the end, you might agree with me that "Toni Tennille: Happy at Last" is more fitting. I cannot deny that I had low expectations as I began reading the autobiography of this singer who I always adored as a teen and held on to over the decades as a guilty pop pleasure. The glamour, the celebrity friends, parties, etc. - ho-hum, we’ve certainly heard it all before. But trust me, you haven’t heard this story.

If you’re going to write a book about the Rolling Stones at this point in their history, you damn well better have something unique to say - which brings us to former Rolling Stone magazine associate editor in London, Robert Greenfield. I am happy to report that the author has added several new colors to what we know of the band. If you love the Stones, you’ll find this tale irresistible. Hear more about it in this interview.

The story of Billy Hayes, an American tourist caught attempting to leave Turkey by plane in 1970 with bags of hashish taped to his stomach, for which he was subsequently jailed for five years - and, with only 42 days left to serve, resentenced to life in prison - was made into a major motion picture starring Brad Davis and written by Oliver Stone. But many key aspects of Midnight Express may have been invented by Stone.