Space the Nation
Space the Nation
On Space the Nation, we take our love of science fiction (and fantasy and horror) and smash it together with our professional passions: international relations (as brought to the table by Tufts University professor and Washington Post columnist Dan Drezner) and cultural criticism (as brought to the table by political columnist Ana Marie Cox). It's a highly informed but hilarious conversation that starts with an examination of a particular text (everything from Ursula K. LeGuin to the MCU, Star Trek to Colson Whitehead) and veers into current events, mental health practices and imagined conversations between Ted Cruz and the Predator. For people who like white papers and graphic novels, Chapo Trap House and what Political Science Twitter used to be. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 2, 2021 • 1h 8min
E40: THE END OF OCTOBER (UNLOCKED)
Ana and Dan don their positive pressure personnel suits and enter Lawrence Wright's surprisingly textured pandemic novel. There's LOTS of IR in this novel! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 25, 2021 • 1h 16min
E39: FANTASY ISLAND (2021)
Ana and Dan dust the sand off their feet and settle in to have a least wild dream come true: FX's re-imagining of Fantasy Island has all the (unexplained) sumptuous luxury of the original and none of the menace -- unless you consider the "mommy trap" menacing, which, you know...true. Content warning for eating disorders and also Ana getting really ranty about this particular portrayal of eating disorders. There is IR in this series. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 17, 2021 • 1h 4min
E38: REMINISCIENCE
Ana and Dan hunker down during the hot daylight hours to contemplate the missed opportunities of a movie that can't commit to the cynicism of "noir." Memory is a river but there are so few twists! There is IR in this movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 10, 2021 • 1h
E37: DAVID LYNCH'S DUNE
Dan and Ana grab their pugs and venture into David Lynch's least weird film about fucked up families. Dune is a movie in which lots of interesting things are gestured at but nothing quite completed, including the script. (Interior voice: There's lots of interior voices.) There is IR in this movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 27, 2021 • 44min
E103: SUICIDE SQUAD
No one in this film is good at their job. There is hamfisted criticism of American imperialism in this movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 20, 2021 • 56min
E36: REIGN OF FIRE
Ana and Dan settle in for a nice meal of scenery and ash with two of modern cinema's most gonzo actors, going gonzo in completely different directions. Can a news magazine publish issues when the world is about to end? Is there a reason for the kids to be wearing matching blue nighties? Could a sperm-whale-sized species produce thousands of offspring with a single male? Dragons! How do they work? There is IR in this movie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 14, 2021 • 1h 4min
E35: THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET
Ana and Dan break out the jam cakes and settle in for a picaresque tour of the Galactic Commons. Chamber's buoyant tale dips into multiple spaceports, species, and coupling practices on the way to a disastrous end for Infrastructure Tenday. There's a lot of IR in this novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 7, 2021 • 51min
E34: THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION
Dan and Ana discover that they are there, wherever they are. So many questions! What government agency approved this experiment? How is it that Jeff Goldblum wears fuzzy chaps and still comes off as the most normally dressed person in the movie? When does appreciation become appropriation? Why *is* there a watermelon there? How come you can't get lithium on credit anymore? And, at what point does the movie go from "incomprehensible" to "cult classic"? There is IR in this movie! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 5, 2021 • 50min
E102: INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE JANE ANDERS
We talked to the author of Victories Greater Than Death and she's awesome Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 30, 2021 • 57min
E33: VICTORIES GREATER THAN DEATH
Ana and Dan answer a beacon and board the spaceship Indomitable to join a ragtag team of rejects who rise to the occasion of subverting how you thought that sentence was going to end. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
