Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath of war that is one of the central movies of the 1940s, and a key text in America's understanding of itself. This is a film that remains relevant to our own anxieties and yearnings, to all the contradictions of o ... Show More
Apr 16
Jerry West and Jonathan Coleman, "West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life" (Little, Brown and Co, 2011)
He is one of basketball's towering figures: "Mr. Clutch," who mesmerized his opponents and fans. The coach who began the Lakers' resurgence in the 1970s. The general manager who helped bring "Showtime" to Los Angeles, creating a championship-winning force that continues to this d ... Show More
1h 40m
Apr 15
Kate Crane, "Whatever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and an Investigation" (Hanover Square Press, 2026)
Kate Crane's new memoir, Whatever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and an Investigation" (Hanover Square Press, 2026) starts when Crane was in eighth grade and her father, a truck mechanic in an industrial neighborhood of Baltimore, left for work and didn't come home. City detec ... Show More
43m 38s
Dec 2025
Michael Newton, "It's a Wonderful Life" (British Film Institute, 2023)
Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath of war that is one of the central movies of the 1940s, and a key text in America's understanding of itself. This is a film that rem ... Show More
1h 5m
Nov 2024
Leonardo da Vinci with Ken Burns
<p>Leonardo da Vinci was a man like no other. A restless visionary and polymath, his paintings are some of the best known of all works of art.</p><br><p>To talk about Leonardo, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Ken Burns, the multi-award winning American filmmaker who has ... Show More
39m 26s
Oct 2016
Elizabeth Reich, “Militant Visions: Black Soldiers, Internationalism, and the Transformation of American Cinema” (Rutgers UP, 2016)
Elizabeth Reich is an assistant professor of film studies at Connecticut College in New London. Militant Visions: Black Soldiers, Internationalism, and the Transformation of American Cinema (Rutgers University Press, 2016) examines how, from the 1940s to the 1970s, the cinematic ... Show More
34m 1s
Sep 2019
From The Usual Suspects to Bohemian Rhapsody: Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel
<p>Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel has no style. No singular aesthetic, mood, or technique. Rather, his focus is on storytelling. From being the first to capture the Contras on film in Nicaragua to photographing the X-Men series and Superman Returns (2006), Sigel has worn man ... Show More
1h 7m
Sep 2021
Bernard F. Dick, "Engulfed: The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood" (U Kentucky Press, 2021)
From Double Indemnity to The Godfather, the stories behind some of the greatest films ever made pale beside the story of the studio that made them. In the golden age of Hollywood, Paramount was one of the Big Five studios. Gulf + Western's 1966 takeover of the studio signaled the ... Show More
1h 2m
Mar 2025
Lights, camera, connection: how film shapes our world
How does film shape global narratives and foster understanding? And how can filmmakers navigate the challenges of representation?Whether it’s an iconic sci-fi opening that transports us to a galaxy far, far away or a documentary that reshapes the way we see the world, storytellin ... Show More
33m 28s