Good friend Pearse Redmond invited Matt and I on his radio show to talk about our new book National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood.
Pearse Redmond joins us to discuss the TV series Billions, which mixes elements of legal thrillers, human drama, sexual fetishes, 9/11 insider trading and deep politics. We examine the characters in the film and how they are metaphors for the philosophical conflict at the heart of American politics between individual free will and the need for government as a restricting force. In short, Axe represents Ayn Rand and Chuck represents James Madison.
Winston the police horse was named after Winston Churchill, having joined the Met in the 1940s. He featured in numerous royal events, ridden by both King George and princess and then Queen Elizabeth during the Trooping the Colour ceremonies in the 40s and early 50s. Winston was also the subject of a BBC teleview, which involved getting the Met Police to review and make changes to the script.(Read more...)
In our final analysis and review for Homeland season 6 Pearse and I dissect the last two episodes, looking at the shifting loyalties and role reversals around the attempted assassination of the president-elect. We look at how Homeland has latched onto a number of ideas that have become popular in recent months, most obviously the notions of Fake News and the Deep State, and portrayed these ideas in a subtle and complex light.
In this month's subscriber-only podcast Pearse and I discuss the 1986 TV movie Under Siege. Co-written by former Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward on the surface this is a liberal take on the Reagan White House, but underneath is a profoundly neoconservative film. When terrorists attack the US on a large scale the CIA and the military want to immediately take revenge on Iran, but the FBI director wants to hold back until they know who was responsible.
In 1980 the BBC's documentary series Panorama began developing an episode on British intelligence. This was the first of its kind, at least by such a prominent and respected series, but both the central government and the intelligence agencies were not happy. Over a period of several months they put pressure on the BBC, trying to stop the programme from being broadcast.
In the summer of 1980 the BBC's flagship documentary series Panorama was developing a TV special about British intelligence. This was the first film of its kind, and perhaps unsurprisingly Thatcher's government was not happy about it. Downing Street put pressure on the film-makers via BBC Director-General Ian Threthowan, and an MI5 lawyer previewed the film and provided detailed feedback on what to remove.
The CIA'>In 1969 the CIA obtained a copy of The CIA, a screenplay being developed at Universal Studios, written by William Woodfield and Allan Balter. Woodfield and Balter were perhaps best known for writing the TV series of Mission: Impossible, until they had a well-publicised falling out with series creator Bruce Geller.
On the face of it former CIA officer, Watergate burglar and confessed JFK assassin E Howard Hunt shouldn't have had much to do with former MPAA president Jack Valenti. They both served in WW2 (Hunt in the OSS, Valenti in the Army Air Forces) and both died in 2007. They may both have been present at the John Kennedy assassination.
