Unclear and Present Danger

By Jamelle Bouie and John GanzTV & Film Society & Culture History

Unclear and Present Danger episodes

November 18, 2022 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (PATREON PREVIEW)
We have another Patreon episode for you and this week, it’s a John favorite: the 1979 BBC adaptation of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” We go deep into the character of George Smiley, John le Carre’s critique of the British ruling class, and the idea of national “decadence.” Jamelle also spends a little time talking about the American constitutional system, so it’s basically an episode where everyone is on brand.
Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.
To hear the full episode, subscribe to the Unclear and Present Patreon and get access to our show on the films (and television) of the Cold War, as well special mailbag episodes, monthly entry into a movie raffle, and whatever else we can think of.
12 min
November 11, 2022 The Fugitive (feat. Michael Liroff)
Jamelle and John are joined by Michael Liroff of the Five Four podcast to discuss “The Fugitive,” a masterpiece of Dad cinema. They talk the liberal politics of the 1990s, the surprisingly nuanced racial politics of the film, and complain, as always, that they just don’t make them like this anymore.
Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.
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Links from the episode!
The New York Times front-page for August 6, 1993
Toni Morrison on Bill Clinton
Wikipedia entry on Harold Washington, the 51st mayor of Chicago
Also, a quick note: Jamelle said this was the 27th episode of the podcast, ti is actually the 28th! Our apologies for the mistake.
1 hr 11 min
October 30, 2022 The Hunt for Red October (Take Two)
Episode 26 — The Hunt for Red October (Take Two)
In this one year anniversary episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John return to the film that started it all, “The Hunt for Red October.” They discuss the film as an elegy for the Cold War era, and further explore the dilemma of American power and identity in the post-Soviet world.
Next week’s episode…”The Fugitive.”
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Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.
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Links from the episode!
New York Times front-page for March 2, 1990
1 hr 6 min
October 16, 2022 The Firm
Episode 25 — The Firm
In 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.
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Links from the episode!
New York Times front-page for June 30, 1993
Barack 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.”
1 hr 10 min
October 03, 2022 Passenger 57 (feat. Amanda Smith)
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.
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• Amanda Smith
Links 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
1 hr 15 min
September 21, 2022 White Sands
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.
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Links from the episode!
New York Times front-page for April 24, 1992
1 hr 5 min
September 02, 2022 Deep Cover (feat. Adam Serwer)
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.
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Links from the episode!
New York Times front-page for April 15, 1992
James 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”
1 hr 10 min
August 21, 2022 Die Hard 2: Die Harder
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.
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Links from the episode!
The New York Times front page for July 4, 1990
58 min
August 06, 2022 Rising Sun
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.
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Links 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
1 hr 11 min
July 24, 2022 In the Line of Fire
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.
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Links from the episode!
New York Times front-page for July 9, 1993
A 2010 Guardian profile of Clint Eastwood.
New York Times review of “The Defiant Ones.”
55 min

About Unclear and Present Danger

From the publisher's feed

New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie and freelance writer John Ganz delve into the world of 90s post-Cold War thrillers with Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast that explores America in an age…