In this episode, Prue and Gen review Season 4 of Stranger Things before turning to discuss the history of the Russian villain stereotype during the Cold War and its resurgence in the current political climate. 

We present our unsolicited takes on Stranger Things (with massive spoilers ahead!) asking all the important questions like: are the episodes too long? Is Eddie Munson sexy? Are you running up that hill? Have you made a deal with God? 

Given Jim Hopper spends the entire season in a Soviet prison, we then discuss American representations of Soviet and Russian villains and how the stereotype never faded from American consciousness after the Cold War. After a brief history and in light of the unfolding invasion of Ukraine, we ask: do these representations have renewed currency? How does the geopolitical landscape interact with media representations, and what constitutes propaganda? 

For some reviews and commentary on Stranger Things read:

'What the "Stranger Things" Finale Reveals' (The New Yorker)

'Stranger Things Won't Save Netflix' (The Atlantic)

Some interesting resources on the USSR, Russia and its relationship to American media are: 

'In Hollywood, the 'evil Russian' stereotype isn't back. It never left' (Los Angeles Times)

'Hollywood stereotypes: Why are Russians the bad guys?' (BBC)

'Russians are Hollywood's go-to film villains - that's unlikely to change' (Washington Post)

'American Nightmare: Images of Brainwashing, Thought Control, and Terror in Soviet Russia' (American Cultural Association Conference)

'Enough with the evil Russians!' (Blog)

'Security Threats and Public Perception: Digital Russia and Ukraine Crisis' by Elizaveta Gaufman

Also see here for Gen's paper 'The Hubris of Human Rights' on the decolonisation of international human rights, its Western origins and an analysis of the alternative Soviet conception of rights. 

This podcast was recorded on land of the Gadigal of the Eora Nation. We pay respects to their elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.