How the West Was 'Cast

On this side-splitting episode, co-hosts Andrew Patrick Nelson and Matthew Chernov look at six comedy Westerns made between 1925 and 1998. From a silent classic about the friendship between a man and a cow to the final film of a Saturday Night Live legend, this rollicking roundup of titles is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. It's the only podcast you'll ever hear that spends as much time talking about drag queen Divine as it does discussing John Wayne. 

Join us for an interview with award-winning writer-director Maggie Greenwald, whose superb movie "The Ballad of Little Jo" is one of the best Westerns of the '90s. We discuss Maggie's love of the genre, her early work as an indie filmmaker, and we get the inside story about the making of her acclaimed Western. It's a conversation you won't want to miss!

Film historian Andrew Patrick Nelson provides an illuminating look at the cinematic representation of Jesse James by examining six of the most successful and best-known Westerns about the legendary outlaw. From Henry King's 1939 classic "Jesse James" to Andrew Dominik's Oscar-nominated drama "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" from 2007, Nelson reveals the complex role that media played in shaping James' public persona.

On this episode, we're heading south of the border to discuss the influential 1954 classic "Vera Cruz." Joining us on the show is award-winning recording artist Sarah Vista, whose brand new album - Songs From the Silver Screen - is already a Western fan favorite. In addition to sharing her thoughts on the film, the incomparable Ms. Vista gives us an inside look at her latest release. It's a conversation you can't afford to miss!

John Wayne's beloved 1953 classic HONDO is arguably the greatest Western the actor made that *wasn't* directed by either John Ford or Howard Hawks. Join co-hosts Andrew Patrick Nelson and Matthew Chernov as they discuss a film that's part frontier adventure, part romantic love story, and part 3D extravaganza. If you're a fan of the Duke, you won't want to miss this super-sized episode!

Thirsty for a new episode? Then pour yourself a shot of whiskey and join Andrew Patrick Nelson and Matthew Chernov as they discuss their favorite saloon girls, bartenders, and bar fights. From the outrageously brutal barroom slugfest in John Wayne’s 1942 classic “The Spoilers” to Marilyn Monroe’s sultry performance as a saloon singer in the 1954 adventure “River of No Return,” we explore some of the greatest bar scenes in movie history. And as an added bonus, we've got a surprise interview at the very end of the show that you won't want to miss.

In celebration of the Halloween season, join Andrew Patrick Nelson and Matthew Chernov as they take a terrifying look at some of the weirdest, wildest, and just plain scariest Horror Westerns of the past six decades. From a zero-budget quickie released in 1958 to an obscure TV movie broadcast in 1971 to a fiendish anthology film made in 1990, these six Westerns are guaranteed to give you a nightmare or two. Listen at your own risk!

Hi-Yo, Silver! Join us as we discuss the 1981 box office flop "The Legend of the Lone Ranger." Is it the cinematic atrocity that critics claimed it was when it first premiered, or could there be more to this soft-focus homage to Hollywood's B-Westerns than was originally thought? Co-hosts Andrew Patrick Nelson and Matthew Chernov analyze everything from the film's magnificent score, to its spectacular stunt work, to its lackluster poster, to its controversial lead performance, plus so much more. If you're a fan of the Masked Rider of the Plains, you won't want to miss this episode!

An interview with acclaimed writer/director Jared Moshe about his two dynamic Westerns, "Dead Man's Burden" and "The Ballad of Lefty Brown." Among the many topics covered, Jared discusses his introduction to the Western genre, why he decided to shoot in Montana on 35mm, and what it was like to work with Bill Pullman, Peter Fonda, and Kathy Baker on his latest movie. He also provides a tantalizing hint about a potential third Western that he's hoping to write and direct in the future. Don't miss this episode!

On this bonus episode, Andrew Patrick Nelson delivers a lecture on the ways in which the makers of recent Westerns like MEEK'S CUTOFF (2010) and HOSTILES (2017) discuss their work in relation to classics like WAGON MASTER (1950) and THE SEARCHERS (1956). How their understanding of the genre influences the movies they make, and what it means for our understanding of the Western's rich history, are just two of the intriguing topics covered in this exploration of the current state of the Western movie.