Unclear and Present Danger

Episode 25 — The FirmIn this episode of Unclear and Present Danger, John and Jamelle discuss the 1993 John Grisham film adaptation “The Firm.” They use the genre of the legal thriller to discuss the legalization of American life in the 1990s and the turn from politics in crucible of history to management at its putative end. They also talk about Wilford Brimley, so there’s that too.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieUnclearPodLinks from the episode!New York Times front-page for June 30, 1993Barack Obama’s lost manuscript“Two Cheers for Politics: Why Democracy is Flawed, Frightening—and Our Best Hope”Next time on Unclear and Present Danger…Jamelle and John return to “The Hunt for Red October.”

In this episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Amanda Smith of the Disaster Girls podcast to discuss the Wesley Snipes vehicle “Passenger 57,” which features an extremely charismatic Snipes facing off against an off-band Hannibal Lecter and also, casual racism.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!• UnclearPod • John Ganz • Jamelle Bouie • Amanda SmithLinks from the episode!• New York Times front-page for November 6, 1992 • Interview with Stewart Raffill, one of the writers for Passenger 57 • Disaster Girls podcast

Somehow, a crime thriller starring Willem Dafoe, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Mickey Rourke set in the New Mexico desert isn’t especially good. Still, the 1992 film “White Sands” gave Jamelle and John a little bit to discuss for this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!New York Times front-page for April 24, 1992

Jamelle, John and special guest Adam Serwer of The Atlantic watch one of the great crime movies of the 1990s — Bill Duke’s “Deep Cover” — and talk about post-Cold War anxiety over the drug trade, Black “tough on crime” politics, and the war on drugs.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!New York Times front-page for April 15, 1992James Forman’s book on the Black politics of the early 1990s, “Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America.”“THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Candidates' Records; Four Years of Bush’s Drug War: New Funds but an Old Strategy”

Welcome to episode 22 of Unclear and Present Danger. This week, we watched “Die Hard 2: Die Harder,” the sequel — of course — to “Die Hard.” In this conversation, Jamelle and John talk the 1990s panic over violence in pop culture, the working-class qualities of John McClane, and the lost days of American suspicion of, even hostility to, the military.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!The New York Times front page for July 4, 1990

On episode 21 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John discuss the horrifically problematic 1993 thriller “Rising Sun” starring Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery. It’s lurid, salacious and incredibly racist, which makes it fertile ground for a discussion of the anti-Japanese panic of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Additional topics include Wesley Snipes' career, Michael Crighton’s whole deal, and the question of whether it is even possible to forge a unifying national narrative.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!The Washington Post on the protests against the release of “Rising Sun.”Hobart Rowen on Japan-bashing in the 1980s.Roger Ebert’s review of “Gung Ho.”New York Times front page for July 30, 1993

In this, our twentieth episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched the hit 1993 thriller “In the Line of Fire,” directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, Rene Russo and John Malkovich. They discuss Eastwood’s career and star persona, the anti-political apathy of the 1990s, and the “end of history” vibes of Eastwood and Malkovich’s characters.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!New York Times front-page for July 9, 1993A 2010 Guardian profile of Clint Eastwood.New York Times review of “The Defiant Ones.”

For episode 19 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watch “In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco,” a ripped-from-the-headlines-style movie about the siege at Waco. They use the movie as an occasion to discuss right-wing extremism, abuse and overreach among federal law enforcement, and how both played themselves out in American culture.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!New York Times front-page for May 23, 1993“Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America” by Kathleen BelewAmerican Experience: Ruby Ridge“Waco: The Rules of Engagement,” a 1997 documentary on the siege and its fallout.

Jamelle, for one, has been very excited about this episode, an analysis of Joel Schumacher’s 1993 film “Falling Down.” In the conversation, Jamelle and John discuss the populist moment of the early 1990s, the discourse around the “angry white man,” the class politics (or lack thereof) of the film, and the erosion of the post-war anti-fascist consensus.Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!New York Times front-page for February 26, 1993Carol Clover on “Falling Down” in Sight and Sound magazine.A New York Time story on the “race to win over the angry white male” from 1995.

In this episode of Unclear and President Danger, Jamelle and John discuss “Sniper,” a delightful piece of genre trash that also happens to speak to some of the paranoias and prejudices of the era. To that point, their conversation veers from the anti-Bill Clinton conspiracy theories of the early 1990s to the militia aesthetic that emerged later in the decade.Contact us!Follow us on Twitter!John GanzJamelle BouieLinks from the episode!New York Times front page for January 29, 1993“The Panama Deception” documentaryWikipedia page for “Soldier of Fortune” magazine.