Arts Union Science

“Kangaroo!” After an unexpected delay in which we were off experiencing different portions of our life asynchronously, the Arts Union Science podcast is back with a look at the modern sci-fi classic: Arrival. Join our corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Kris E. Stephenson) as they piece together the intricate cinematic language of Denis Villeneuve’s story of ling...

“Some men just want the fight.” On Episode 5 of the Arts Union Science Interdisciplinary Volume, we take a gander at what total war looked like 100 years ago through comparison of the documentary They Shall Not Grow Old and the action-spectacle 1917. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s first author (Alistair Blinn) as they put their collective (but not balanced) know...

“Who would do that . . . to a friend?” The Interdisciplinary Volume of the Arts Union Science podcast is alive and well with our fourth episode, which spins around the central axis of the film I, Tonya. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s primary author/sibling extraordinaire (Emily L. Vance) as they attempt to relive the multiple versions of the Tony Harding story a...

“Must the duck be here?” On episode 3 of the Arts Union Science’s Interdisciplinary Volume, our authors take a look at the newest-to-date film from the idiosyncratic Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos: The Favourite. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week’s primary author (Aidan Paskinov) as the two discuss this strange period piece dramedy about three women’s fight for powe...

"I need . . . friends." Don't we all, Barry. Don't we all. The Snyder Cut of Justice League has been greatly anticipated by a large proportion of the Internet. This week, Arts Union Science gets in on the action. Join your increasingly blockbustered out corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and our resident DCEU correspondent and true Snyder Academic (Ishan M. Vadera), as they wade into the fra...

"I know I’m human. And if you were all these things, then you’d just attack me right now, so some of you are still human." This week on the Arts Union Science podcast, we begin our Interdisciplinary Volume by bringing in a first author that is only interested in talking science and talking John Carpenter . . . and he's all out of science. Join the intrepid duo of Corresponding Author (Tyler D. R....

The Arts Union Science podcast has a two-for-one announcement. Next week will be the start of Volume 3: The Interdisciplinary Volume, where we bring in First Authors that are not trained in science but are still tremendously qualified to squawk about movies for way too long. This Volume kicks off with a Double Feature of John Carpenter films: The Thing and They Live. Both are about aliens doing di...

"Let them fight!" Those rumbling sounds you're hearing? Yeah, those are coming from our enormous last episode of our Special Issue on applying protein solubilization strategies to bad movie-watching experiences. In this last episode, we look at how the films of a cinematic icon, i.e. Godzilla, can produce very different movie-watching experiences depending on the expression system that made them (...

In an ironic twist of fate, this week's episode talking about protein aggregation and the tentative ways that it connects to movie watching has - itself - aggregated out of solution into an unlistenable pile of puke. We'll regroup and get the episode to you next week! In the meantime, why don't you head on over to the Screening In Kingston podcast, where our corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance...

"Cat dead. Details later." In the second episode of our Special Issue on protein solubilization, our authors take on "The Re-Animator", a cult classic from the mid 1980s based off of an H. P. Lovecraft short story. While not an inheritably insoluble movie-watching experience, our dear corresponding author's lack of familiarity with the sub-genre of B movies calls for a preemptive strike in the for...

"Water, Earth, Fire, Air . . ." The first episode of our second Special Issue has arrived to thunderous applause (we presume). Today, Sean Phippen returns to tackle a terrifying foe from the early 2010s . . . M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender. This insoluble movie watching experience calls for desperate measures, and so the first Protein Solubilizing technique we'll explore is unfolding thro...

With Volume 2 over, it's time for another Special Issue! For the month of April, we will be looking at protein solubilization strategies and how readily they can be adapted to improve bad movie-watching experiences.  Not sure what that means? Well tune in every Monday this month to find out!

"It's the devil's candy boys; trust me."  The sixth and final episode of the Art Union Science podcast's second volume has come to a close, and what a finale! Flipping through the air with the greatest of ease, we have our episode on "Stick It", the early aughts gymnastics film about teen rebellion in the face of judgement. Join your corresponding author (Tyler D. R. Vance) and this week's fi...

Volume 2 of the Arts Union Science podcast is drawing to a close. Having focused heavily on animated fair and horror films throughout, we decided to shake things up a bit with our final entry. So, we'll be looking at the 2006 gymnastics movie, Stick It. Is it a sports movie? Is it a raunchy teen comedy? Is it a soul-searchy-and-weird coming of age story? Is it a movie where Jeff Bridges gets to be...

"Dude, is he going to kill me?" Yes, Mark. Yes he is. Episode 5 of the Arts Union Science podcast's second volume has arrived in all its floral glory, providing an in-depth analysis of the Ari Aster flick: Midsommar. Join our corresponding author, Tyler D. R. Vance, and this week's first author, Kathleen Xu, as they slowly realize that they have been indoctrinated into a straight-up cult. Along th...

Interested in taking a little tour of the Swedish countryside? You may not be once you get a look at Ari Aster's day-time horror film from 2019. Filled with gore and graphic sexual content, it may be hard to imagine that Midsommar is also a deeply moving film with things to say on grief, male toxicity, and the darkside of academic rigor. Episode 5 of the Arts Union Science journal's second volume...

"I use antlers in all of my DECORATING!" And so it was that in a shower of meteoric light Episode 4 of the Arts Union Science's second volume was transformed from a raw-recording beast into a beautifully edited prince, leaving everyone to say, "Huh. It kinda has a weird nose, doesn't it".  Join your corresponding author, Tyler D. R. Vance, and this week's first author, Tova Pinsky, as they pe...

"Where will the child go?" This week on the Arts Union Science podcast, a comparative analysis between two versions of Ghost in the Shell is in order. Join your corresponding author, Tyler D. R. Vance, and this week's primary author, Jonathan Côté, as they dive deep into both the 1995 anime film Ghost in the Shell and the Hollywood remake of the same name. Along the way, they will discuss everythi...

Ghost in the Shell is a cyberpunk anime film from 1995 that deals with the interplay between humanity and technology. Ghost in the Shell is also a cyberpunk Hollywood blockbuster gone bust from 2017. How did the West do with its live-action adaptation of such a beloved source material?  Look out Volume 2: Episode 3 of the Art Union Science podcast (release date February 15th) for an in-depth...

"Once upon a time . . ." Episode 2 of Volume 2 has dragged itself up by its boot straps out of the mysterious miles of tunnels beneath the American surface, and is now creepily dancing its way onto your device. Join your corresponding author, Tyler D. R. Vance, and this week's first author, Ilinca Georgescu, as they try and assemble the thematic puzzle that is Jordan Peele's "Us". Along the way, t...

In the second outing of our second outing, the Arts Union Science journal is publishing our findings on "Us" - the horror/social commentary film directed by Jordan Peele. The episode will release on February 1st to the amusement of at least half of the population; we'll see you then!

"Honour died on that beach." Aaaaaaand, we're back for Volume 2! This week, the Arts Union Science journal opens its second volume with an in silico analysis of a video game: Ghost of Tsushima. Join our friendly, neighbourhood Corresponding author - Tyler D. R. Vance - and this week's first author - Byron T. Hunter - as they wade through 50+ hours of Open-World-Stealth-Archer-Somersault-Stab-Loot-...

With the dawning of a new Volume for AUS, we decided to shake things up and discuss something a little different. Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020 video game about samurai facing off against a Mongol invasion in the latter half of the 13th century. While not a movie, it relies heavily on cinematic tools to tell its story, providing a more in silico version of samurai cinema. Episode 1 of Volume 2 will...

With 2020 in the rearview mirror, Volume 1 of the Arts Union Science podcast has come to a close. It left us with 6 solid episodes, plus three bonus Christmas episodes, all of which remain ripe and ready for your listening pleasure.  But the desperate need for the novel carries on! And so, we announce Volume 2 of the Arts Union Science podcast, to begin releasing episodes on January 18th. We'...

"There are more important things than comfort: SELF RESPECT!" 2020 is coming to an end, and with it ends our December Special Issue of the Arts Union Science podcast. As such, we felt that there was no better Fat Lady to coerce into singing than the Rankin 'n Bass stop-motion animated shorts. These awkward little gems have become a perennial pass time for every Christmas-observing human being in t...