As Depicted on Film

The Wire (2002-2008) is one of the most widely acclaimed and highly-rated series of all time, with its impact on TV storytelling, and on local and global politics far outstripping most other scripted shows. In this podcast episode, linguist Mallory Aler joins Gil Kidron to break down the different languages that are prominent in The Wire, from "street" slang to the police language, follo...

In our second instalment of Revolutions in Movies, we look at two of the most earth-shattering societal overturns history has ever seen, the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Communist Revolution. We analyze the Russian Revolution via the classic Doctor Zhivago (1965), and the turmoil in China that led the nation from imperial rule to Maoism via The Last Emperor (1987). Joining Gil and Rutger yet...

Revolutions are some of history's most dramatic events and have entered our collective psyche, and mostly - the story each collective is trying to tell about itself. These stories are also told through movies, and in this first instalment of Revolutions in Movies we are going to focus on the American Revolution (via The Patriot , 2000) and the French Revolution (via Les Miserables , 2012, which de...

We're changing our name to POD ACADEMY! We have a new website! And a new logo! Woohoo! Rutger and Gil are officially tying the knot in their partnership (well, our partnership), as the two halves of this podcast - Pod Academy. We're keeping the Academy brand name, and leaving the GoT to the YouTube channel. We also have a new website where we'll post all our new episodes, and in the future add a b...

Fauda is a hit Israeli television series about an Israeli undercover unit fighting Palestinian terrorism. It has been picked up by Netflix and turned into an international success, with season 4 being in the works. Abed El Rahman Natour is the Arabic translator for the show, taking the parts of the scripts that need to be translated into Arabic, either for the Arab-speaking characters, or the Jewi...

What do we know about schizophrenia? What do we know about the lived experience of those who suffer from it? Should we treat them as sick weak people, or as people with their own abilities and ways of viewing the world? We have a very special guest on this episode, David Israel Cohen, a schizophrenic who break down with Gil Kidron the movie A Beautiful Mind (2001) with Russel Crowe, depicting the...

Disney movies have a surprising number of characters who are coming out of some sort of lockdown, after going through voluntary or, more often, involuntary social isolation. In this episode, therapist Noga Ariel Galor and Gil Kidron explore the different kinds of exit strategies and challenges, as depicted in movies such as Frozen , Tangled , Moana , The Beauty and the Beast , Shrek , Up , The Lit...

We re-tell the story of 20th century Paris through four movies from different time periods that represent the evolution of the French capital in the 20th century. Moulin Rouge (1998) takes us back to the bohemian wave of 1900 (La Belle Epoque); Midnight in Paris (2012) hearkens back to the Roaring Twenties (Les Annes Folles) when post-WWI Paris was a Mecca for artists from around the world; we the...

Police brutality has been on display in the United States since George Floyd's murder became an international story, but the problem with policing is, unfortunately, a global phenomenon. In this episode, Gil Kidron and Dr Rutger Vos explore five movies (three Americans, one French and one Israeli) to better understand what kind of system has been put in place that produces the same result, over an...

Westworld has a lot of philosophical and psychological themes and elements, and in this episode therapist Noga Ariel Galor joins Gil Kidron to breakdown how Westworld season 3 addressed the relationship between our bodies and our minds, how separate or integral they are to each other, as well as the differences between free will and having a choice between options. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...

The Last Dance , the Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls Netflix documentary says a lot about the 1990s, as well as about today. Theo Gangi, Knicks fan extraordinaire joins Gil Kidron to talk about the political and social angle of the hit documentary series that chronicles the greatest basketball team of all time and the greatest basketball player of all time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Daenerys Targaryen used the only planes on her planet to conquer Westeros, much like her ancestors did some 300 years before her. Gil Kidron welcomes Dan Mosqueda, a retired Lt. Col. from the US Airforce to talk about how realistic was her use of airpower (i.e. dragons) compared to real-world use of it, by American forces in conflicts around the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

When you interact with someone else and you have to decide whether to cooperate with them or cheat them, the difference between the choices can sometimes be expressed in simple cost/benefit analyses. If we are generous with each other we might both reap the rewards. But maybe cheating is cheaper - unless you punish me for it. The mathematical analysis of these choices is called game theory. Extrap...

We made a glaring omission in our Native Americans in Movies podcast and we'd like to set the record straight and mention the movie 1492 , and this guy Christopher Columbus. We also need your help for a new name for the podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To support the podcast, go to our Patreon page

Over the course of 400 years, from 1500 to 1900, the interaction between Europeans and Native Americans changed enormously. Initially, the new arrivals stepped off of their boats into a maelstrom of local events. By the end, events would be entirely dominated by European settlement, with native cultures fighting for their survival on the margins. In this review, Rutger and Gil look at three snapsh...

The HBO series, The Plot Against America , whose last episode aired on Monday, April 20th, depicts the political rise of a Trump-like figure in the US during the early stages of WWII. In this episode, Gil and Rutger discuss why this series hit us so hard. Family stories, our worries about the present, and the fragility of democratic systems come together in this review.  Hosted on Acast. See acast...

Hollywood's disaster movie industry has created the sub-genre of biological apocalypse movies, which are now more relevant than ever. In this episode, Gil Kidron and Dr Rutger Vos talk about movies that depict scenarios that were once farfetched but are now mostly just exaggerated. In 12 Monkeys (1997) a deadly virus wipes out 5 billion people, 28 Days Later (2002) follows a "rage virus"...

Both nature and computing are at certain levels digital. Code organized in discrete symbols (DNA bases, bits) can be understood, decoded, and manipulated. But do we understand these systems well enough to meddle with them? In this episode, Dr Rutger Vos explores this question in a review of three movies: The Imitation Game (2014), Jurassic Park (1993), and Independence Day (1996). And, how will ou...

As 3 billion people find themselves in isolation, quarantine or lockdown, our lives might seem unrecognizable. So we go to classic movies who feature isolation, alone or with families, to see what we can learn or derive from them: Cast Away (2000), The Martian (2015) and The Shining (1980). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To support the podcast, go to our Patreon page

Scientists from all over the world are working tirelessly on three fronts: 1. testing 2. treatment 3. vaccine. In this podcast, Dr Rutger Vos joins Gil Kidron and details where we're at now, how does it work and what is being done in order to get to the Holy Grail that will save humanity from the virus that has upended civilization and will win the Nobel prize. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

In this podcast, we welcome patron Omri Goldshtrom to discuss political change according to the epic story George R R Martin is still writing. What can we glean from the political processes that are occurring and from Martin's views on government, reform and history? This was recorded pre-Corona, but is made all the more relevant and pertinent now that the entire world has changed and political in...

As the world changes so rapidly because of the spread of the Coronavirus, it is a time for us humans to take stock of the society we have created for ourselves and make decisions about the world we want to live in moving forward. After this historical ongoing event, some conventional wisdoms and ideological dogmas will have to be cast aside. Dr Rutger Vos joins Gil Kidron for a conversation about...

The Israeli elections of January 2020 were heading towards a victory for acting prime minister Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu, who needs 61 seats in parliament to avoid standing trial for corruption. As of the time of this taping, he has 59 seats and has fallen short. Sadly, his rivals have proven themselves incapable of mounting a serious charge and make their case to the public. At the same time, the J...

The Australian fires have already affected the global climate crisis and will also impact the local (and global?) economy. How did Australia get to where it got in January, where venturing outside was as dangerous as smoking 37 cigarettes in one day? Gil Kidron welcomes patron and Australian environmentalist Alex Rooke to break it all down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

The jungle has long been a very attractive topic in movies and books, with its unstoppable nature teeming with mysterious and dramatic creatures and plants. In this episode, Dr. Rutger Vos joins Gil Kidron to talk about the jungle from a scientific perspective, as well as about how it is perceived in the human imagination. We explore the topic through five movies: Apocalypse Now (1979), Avatar (20...