Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
Superhero franchises have spent a decade carefully laying plans for big, expanded universes. But we look at “Veronica Mars” and “Breaking Bad,” two TV shows that have broadened their universes in their own ways.
This year’s Academy Awards have been a series of mistakes, from suggesting a Best Popular Film award to the plan to award from of the evening’s awards during commercial breaks.
From Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Hook to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, pirates have a real foothold in our culture. But their history is anything but a fairy tale. Historian Eric Jay Dolin joins the show to discuss some of the most notorious real-life pirates to ever life.
Throughout history, stories have been told but sometimes preserving them for future generations has proven difficult. We examine the ways stories have been passed down, and the role the written word has played in shaping our civilizations.
There is so much new TV content being made that it can be easy to fall behind or forget to check out a show you meant to watch. We look at a few of these overlooked gems, like Showtime’s There is so much new TV content being made that it can be easy to fall behind or forget to check out a show you meant to watch. We look at a few of these overlooked gems, …
Every year, there is some outrage over Oscar snubs. This year, many of us wish Ethan Hawke had been nominated for First Reformed. We look at why.
For a decade now, it seemed like comic book movies had settled in to an existence based on these larger cinematic universes. Now, Spider-Man and The Joker are proving comic stories can have their cake and eat it, too.
With a new year always comes new things to look forward to, so let’s take a look at some of the movies people are anticipating the most in 2019. As a warning, there are a lot of them.
Tonight marks the long-awaited, sometimes excitedly and sometimes with dread, but long-awaited, return of True Detective. The TV phenomenon of 2014 and possibly the biggest letdown of 2015 is back for its third season, and the early reviews suggest this should be more like the incredible first season and not like the dud of a season two.
Minding the Gap tells the story of Liu himself, and of his closest friends from his childhood in Rockford, Illinois. Each came from something of a broken home, and turned to each other, and to skateboarding for an escape from their personal demons. What begins as a movie about kids skateboarding and hanging out becomes a searing look at childhood trauma, the …
As the year draws to a close, it’s the time on the calendar when we take a look back at who we lost this year. One such cultural giant was Anthony Bourdain, the famed chef and author turned travel documentarian.
You may have noticed a new movie on your Netflix homepage called Roma. It’s Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón’s most personal film yet and an absolute masterpiece.
Awards season is officially upon us. The Golden Globes have already announced their nominees, which are as questionable as always. Year-end lists are being finalized, and Oscar buzz is reaching a roar for some contenders. But now is also the time when many of these movies are being released in the first place. So, here’s a guide of what to keep an eye out …
Investigative journalism is a necessity in a democracy. Independent journalists putting in long hours to serve as watch-dogs for our government can have long-lasting ramifications, just look at the impact Woodward and Bernstein made with their Watergate investigations. We talk to one expert about the current state of investigative journalism in America and …
It’s getting cold outside, which means it’s time to cuddle up with some good books to pass the time. Or maybe you’re just on the prowl for some holiday gifts for the reader in your life. Either way, we have some options for what to read this winter.
Last month, JK Rowling’s Wizarding World saw its latest installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald be met with a low score on Rotten Tomatoes and countless disappointed Harry Potter fans across the globe.
It used to be that when you were watching sports, you were only watching with the people in the same room as you. Now, sports have become the gold-standard for entertainment that demands a second-screen.
It can easy to get the blues, especially with all of the division and turmoil in the world. But author Kate Davies has a different way of look at the world: one that can make us more hopeful, positive, and willing to pitch in and help. She calls it intrinsic hope, and it may be just what we all need this holiday season.
Director Sam Esmail has taken Gimlet’s hit podcast Homecoming and infused it with a whole lot of cinematic flair in his new Amazon Prime series that serves as a throwback to classic thrillers and a trailblazer for the brave new world of 30-minute dramas.
For decades, choosing what beer to drink was really just a decision between a few big players. Now, there are thousands of breweries across the country. We talk to two experts about how and why craft beer came to the forefront and how they recommend novices jump into the world of beer.
In the build-up to Halloween, many of us get in the spooky mood by watching horror movies like Nightmare on Elm Street or, naturally, Halloween. Before Christmas, seasonal cheer leads people to dig out their old copies of It’s a Wonderful Life or Elf. But there aren’t many Thanksgiving movies.
Ann Hood was a Beatles fan all her life. Then, tragedy struck and she found herself unable to listen to the band at all. She tells the true story of how she re-gained her love for the iconic group, and how she channeled her story into a work of fiction pleasing multiple generations of readers.
Throughout his career, Eggers has pushed the boundaries of writing, and no book better illustrates his desire to innovate than his 2014 novel, Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? It’s a book that consists only of dialogue. Each line is introduced with a single dash, and while it sounds complicated, the form actually makes it …
There are all sorts of myths about how we can avoid dementia or how to best brainstorm a new idea. We talk to a psychologist and author to get the inside scoop on how our minds really work, and why we just can’t resist the urge to watch cute animal videos online.
Subscribe to get the latest from Viewpoints Radio directly in your inbox.
