Sonny Bunch hosts The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, a new podcast featuring interviews with folks who have their finger on the pulse of the entertainment industry ...
I am pleased to be rejoined this week by Bobby Miller to discuss his new novel, Situation Nowhere. Imagine Brazil by way of Idiocracy but goopier: That’s Situation Nowhere. We talked about some of his influences, the state of our increasingly recursive culture, and why we need to bring back shaming folks for selling out. If you’re in Los Angeles, check out Bobby’s event on Saturday at The Redwood Bar! And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend. (And listen to last year’s episode with Bobby about the Blu-ray release of his film, The Cleanse.)
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34:57
The Low Culture That Brought Us to Trump
On this week’s episode I’m joined by Ross Benes, the author of the forthcoming book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. It comes out in a few weeks and I hope you take a gander at it; we spent most of our time discussing the ways in which professional wrestling and the Insane Clown Posse help explain the phenomenon that is Donald J. Trump and his ascent through the political landscape, but there’s more to the book than that. And if you enjoyed this episode, I hope you share it with a friend!
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36:07
The 2000 Election That Changed America (with Jonathan Gruber)
Sonny Bunch sits down with filmmaker Jonathan Gruber to discuss his new documentary, Centered, which explores the life and legacy of Joe Lieberman. As the first Jewish Vice Presidential candidate, Lieberman made history—only to later shake up politics by breaking with his own party. With the film releasing today, they dive into his career, key political battles, and the impact of centrism in modern politics.
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19:24
How to Build Your Own Movie Library
A weird question I sometimes get is this: “I want to get into buying movies on disc, Sonny, but I don’t know where to start.” I say it’s weird because the answer seems obvious to me: just buy movies you like to watch! But there are issues I take for granted like formats and resolutions, so I thought it would be useful to talk to Aidan Ryan of the Boston Globe about his recent piece in that newspaper’s magazine focused on the Gen Z/Young Millennial cohort that has gotten really into collecting movies on disc. From the dollar DVD bins to the high-quality UHD 4K collectors sets put out by the boutique labels, these younger collectors run the gamut. If you have questions of your own, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!
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38:25
The 2025 Stunt Awards!
On this week’s episode, I’m plesaed to be rejoined by Brandon Struessnig to discuss one of my favorite packages of the year, Vulture’s annual stunt awards. Who were the big winners? What were some of the surprises? Just how long did it take George Miller to shoot that war rig sequence in Furiosa anyway? All that and more on this week’s episode. Make sure to check out the winners before listening to us discuss them. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!
Sonny Bunch hosts The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, a new podcast featuring interviews with folks who have their finger on the pulse of the entertainment industry during this dynamic—and difficult—time.
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