In this podcast Dr Ellen Wright talks with Pawlet Brooks of the social enterprise Serendipity, who facilitate and coordinate Leicester’s annual Black History Month provision.

https://archive.org/download/Here27s20looking20at20Black20History20Month/here%2527s%2520looking%2520at%2520Black%2520History%2520Month.mp3

The pair got together in the days immediately prior to the beginning of BHM so the mood was electric. They discuss Pawlet’s role at Serendipity, and the political function and the history of the BHM provision. Other topics broached include the politics of programming, the importance of giving a platform to minorities,  plugging the knowledge gap, learning from the past, BAME women’s tendency to be overlooked, how BHM is for everyone and some more precise details about the exciting 2018 BHM offering.

The podcast concludes with a Here’s Looking at You exclusive regarding future BHM themes in Leicester.

Music is by kind permission of The Shannon Reilly Trio. The full version of the song Trouble can be found along with its video here, and purchased on the Shannon Reilly Trio album also called Trouble.

The podcast was produced thanks to the post-production expertise of John Ashbrook of Radio Pictures.

Feel free to comment below on the podcast or the subjects it covers, ask questions, raise points or make suggestions for further podcasts and blogs. You can sign up to receive email notifications when subsequent podcasts and posts become available. Simply enter your email at the ‘Follow Blog’ notices at the foot or sidebar of the page. You can also access previous podcasts by clicking here or the ‘Podcast’ toggle at the top any page.

The opinions expressed on this blog are mine, and do not reflect the opinions of De Montfort University or any other employee thereof. Nor is De Montfort University responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied within this blog.

In this podcast, Dr Ellen Wright has a discussion with film programmer at the BFI Southbank, Anna Bogutskaya.

https://archive.org/download/HeresLookingAtYouPodcastBFICrawford/anna%20bfi.mp3

Other topics touched on include all-female expert panels at film events, speaking publicly, and he podcast concludes with a Here’s Looking at You exclusive regarding an upcoming BFI film star retrospective.

Music is by kind permission of The Shannon Reilly Trio. The full version of the song Trouble can be found along with its video here, and purchased on the Shannon Reilly Trio album also called Trouble.

The podcast was produced thanks to the post-production expertise of John Ashbrook of Radio Pictures.

As part of the Women in Hollywood symposium I talked with lawyer Jill Greenfield of FieldFisher solicitors, who is currently pursuing the civil case against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein for alleged sexual assaults.

https://archive.org/download/HeresLookingAtYouPodcast11/HeresLookinAtYouPodcast11.mp3

In our conversation Jill talks about herself and her motivations for being a lawyer and for taking on the civil case against Weinstein. We also talk about her part in the larger narrative around misogyny in the entertainment industry about inspiring young women, handing power on, calling out unacceptable behaviour.

Music is by kind permission of The Shannon Reilly Trio. The full version of the song Trouble can be found along with its video here, and purchased on the Shannon Reilly Trio album also called Trouble. The podcast was produced thanks to the post-production expertise of John Ashbrook of Radio Pictures.

Feel free to comment below on the podcast or the subjects it covers, ask questions, raise points or make suggestions for further podcasts and blogs. You can sign up to receive email notifications when subsequent podcasts and posts become available. Simply enter your email at the ‘Follow Blog’ notices at the foot or sidebar of the page. You can also access previous podcasts by clicking here or the ‘Podcast’ toggle at the top any page.

The opinions expressed on this blog are mine, and do not reflect the opinions of DeMontfort University or any other employee thereof. Nor is DeMontfort University responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied within this blog.

Inspired by the upcoming Women in Hollywood symposium and by broader current events in the US film industry, in this podcast I talk with American scholar and invited speaker at the symposium, Kerry McElroy. Kerry is an interdisciplinary scholar currently based at Concordia University in Montreal, who researches and writes on women’s exploitation in Hollywood. She has written on the casting couch, on ethnicity in Hollywood and much more.

In this conversation we cover a range of topics around women’s autonomy (or lack thereof) in the American film industry and the intersecting factors that frequently work against them.

https://archive.org/download/CastingCouch1stDRAFT/casting%20couch%201st%20DRAFT.mp3

Feel free to comment below on the podcast or the subjects it covers, ask questions, raise points or make suggestions for further podcasts and blogs. You can sign up to receive email notifications when subsequent podcasts and posts become available. Simply enter your email at the ‘Follow Blog’ notices at the foot or sidebar of the page. You can also access previous podcasts by clicking here or the ‘Podcast’ toggle at the top any page.

Music is by kind permission of The Shannon Reilly Trio, the full version of the song Trouble can be found along with it’s video here, and purchased on the Shannon Reilly Band album also called  Trouble.  The podcast was produced with post-production assistance from John Ashbrook at Radio Pictures.

The opinions expressed on this blog are mine, and do not reflect the opinions of the De Montfort University or any other employee thereof. Nor is De Montfort University responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied within this blog.

In this podcast I follow up on my recent blog post You can laugh, you can cry, you can do whatever you like, express yourself, just don’t hurt yourself’: Performance, Pedagogy and The Room by talking with The Room aficionado, audience researcher and Film and Culture lecturer Dr Richard McCulloch about the ‘best worst film ever’, cult phenomenon The Room.

We discuss what makes this film so bad it’s good, its director, Tommy Wiseau, The Disaster Artist and the Golden Globe winning performance by James Franco but most importantly we talk about the unique fandom around The Room.

https://archive.org/download/EllenPodcastJanuary18V2DIGITAL/ellen%20podcast%20january%2018%20v2%20DIGITAL.mp3

Other topics we cover include fan communities and bonding via film, participatory cinema more generally, authenticity, performance and the nature of exclusivity in cult.

If you are interested in learning more about Richard’s work, his article in Participations, on the fan communities around The Room can be found via this link:

http://www.participations.org/Volume%208/Issue%202/2d%20McCulloch.pdf

and his article in that same journal, on audiences at The Prince Charles Cinema in London can be found via this link:

http://www.participations.org/Volume%2013/Issue%201/S1/4.pdf

Feel free to comment below on the podcast or the subjects it covers, ask questions, raise points or make suggestions for further podcasts and blogs. You can sign up to receive email notifications when subsequent podcasts and posts become available. Simply enter your email at the ‘Follow Blog’ notices at the foot or sidebar of the page. You can also access previous podcasts by clicking here or the ‘Podcast’ toggle at the top any page.

Music is by kind permission of The Shannon Reilly Trio, the full version of the song Trouble can be found along with it’s video here, and purchased on the Shannon Reilly Band album also called  Trouble.  The podcast was produced with post-production assistance from John Ashbrook at Radio Pictures.

The opinions expressed on this blog are mine, and do not reflect the opinions of the De Montfort University or any other employee thereof. Nor is De Montfort University responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied within this blog.

In this podcast I talk with PhD candidate Emma Purce about her research into the British seaside freak show in 20th century Britain. Whilst a lot has already been written on the freak show in the 19th century and particularly in America, Emma is really helping to shape our understanding of the 20th century freak show.

https://archive.org/download/EllenPodcastNovemberPurce/ellen%20podcast%20november%20purce.mp3

We discuss the notion of liminal, permissive working class spaces and the history, the legacy and the politics of the freak show and of the curious, scrutinising gaze employed when attending such an entertainment

Emma also discusses the fascinating phenomenon of the starving bride and its social context, the midget village and the paying public (assuming they are of average height) who attended this particular exhibit therefore became the ‘freaks.’ She also discusses sex hygiene exhibits and moral panics around these entertainments, current freak show representations in the media, as well as describing the actual experience of attending a freak show in the first half of the 20th century.

Feel free to comment below on the podcast or the subjects it covers, ask questions, raise points or make suggestions for further podcasts and blogs. You can sign up to receive email notifications when subsequent podcasts and posts become available. Simply enter your email at the ‘Follow Blog’ notices at the foot or sidebar of the page. You can also access previous podcasts by clicking here  or the ‘Podcast’ toggle at the top any page.

Some of the pleasures on offer at Blackpool in 1947.

Kiki onstage. Image courtesy of Joust Photography, taken at the Hebden Bridge Burlesque Festival, 2017

In this episode of Here’s Looking at You I chat with burlesque emcee, singer, teacher and former contestant in BBC’s The Voice, Kiki Deville. Kiki is a charismatic and hugely talented performer who is renowned for her big voice, big personality and big boobs and this has led her to be considered an unruly woman.

Inspired by Anne Helen Peterson’s recent book ‘Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of The Unruly Woman,’ we got together to talk about Kiki’s experience of The Voice and subsequent attempts by the popular media at bullying and body shaming her, about being ‘fair game,’ picking your arguments, the pleasures and pitfalls of celebrity culture, appropriate online behaviour, and grief.

https://archive.org/download/OCTOBERPODCASTKIKIV2/OCTOBER%20PODCAST%20KIKI%20v2.mp3

Feel free to comment below on the podcast or the subjects it covers, ask questions, raise points or make suggestions for further podcasts and blogs. You can sign up to receive email notifications when subsequent podcasts and posts become available. Simply enter your email at the ‘Follow Blog’ notices at the foot or sidebar of the page. You can also access previous podcasts by clicking here  or the ‘Podcast’ toggle at the top any page.

Music in the podcast is by kind permission of The Shannon Reilly Trio www.shannonreillytrio.co.uk The full version of the song Trouble can be found along with it’s video here, and purchased on the Shannon Reilly Band album also called  Trouble.

 The podcast was produced with post-production assistance from John Ashbrook at Radio Pictures.

Kiki performing live in her inimitable, unruly style.

The opinions expressed on this blog are mine, and do not reflect the opinions of the De Montfort University or any other employee thereof. Nor is De Montfort University responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied within this blog. 

Following its success at the Emmy Awards, where it won best TV drama, best actress and best supporting actress, it is probably time to release my podcast about the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale.

In this podcast I talk with poet, teacher, writer, musician and community activist Josie Moon, about the Margaret Atwood source novel and its recent, television incarnation.

https://archive.org/download/HeresLookingatYouPodcast6HandmaidsTale/HeresLookingatYouPodcast6-HandmaidsTale.mp3

As you’ll hear, as is always the case when Josie and I get together, this conversation is quick fire and there are no holds barred. Josie is a very political creature and it’s one of the many things I respect about her. Her current project, A Fish Tale, is a poetry and jazz collaboration about Grimsby’s troubled fishing heritage and future and the legacy of neoliberalism and it’s doing some really relevant, potent stuff.

We became friends initially because I sought advice from her in her capacity as a skilled writer. Ever since she has taken an interest in my work and been incredibly supportive of my research. She’s been a real ally to me as a writer and an individual and is known for her various collaborations with women, so it made sense to discuss this deeply feminist source material, which I know she’s taught to many students over the years, with her.

In case you are interested, the scholar I refer to in our conversation, who discusses the notion of star activists, is Frank Kelleter and the ideas I mention can be found in his book Serial Agencies: The Wire and It’s Fans

Feel free to comment below on the podcast or the subjects it covers, ask questions, raise points or make suggestions for further podcasts and blogs. You can sign up to receive email notifications when subsequent podcasts and posts become available. Simply enter your email at the ‘Follow Blog’ notices at the foot or sidebar of the page. You can also access previous podcasts by clicking here  or the ‘Podcast’ toggle at the top any page.

Music in the podcast is by kind permission of The Shannon Reilly Trio www.shannonreillytrio.co.uk The full version of the song Trouble can be found along with it’s video here, and purchased on the Shannon Reilly Band album also called  Trouble.

 The podcast was produced with post-production assistance from John Ashbrook at Radio Pictures.

The opinions expressed on this blog are mine, and do not reflect the opinions of the De Montfort University or any other employee thereof. Nor is De Montfort University responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied within this blog. 

Congratulations @reedmorano for winning Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series for Hulu Original The #HandmaidsTale. #Emmys2017 pic.twitter.com/Z26NCNrAQC

— Hulu (@hulu) September 18, 2017