Episode 105: Ghosts of the Cold War
In This Island Earth, two Earthlings journey to Metaluna, a planet trapped in an apocalyptic war that is destroying their environment.
Paranoia’s back, baby. We talk about two Cold War obsessions — space combat and brainwashing — and how they’ve returned in a big way. Cold War tropes are haunting our science fiction and dominating political discourse in the United States. Why now?
Notes, citations, & etc.
Forbidden Planet (1956), dir. Fred M. Wilcox
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), dir. Robert Wise
Samuel Delany
Robert Heinlein
Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
This Island Earth (1955), dir. Joseph Newman and Jack Arnold
Astounding, by Alec Nevala-Lee
Ringworld, by Larry Niven
Jerry Pournelle
Pandora’s Box documentary (1992), created by Adam Curtis
Strategic Defense Initiative (AKA Star Wars defense system)
The Ultimate Weapon (1962), dir. Robert Cashy, narrated by Ronald Reagan
Brainwashing: The Story of the Men Who Defied It, by Edward Hunter (Note: This book does contain anti-communist propaganda, especially in the first section. But it also has factual interviews with POWs in their own words, which is what Annalee was referring to in the episode.)
A Scanner Darkly, by Philip K. Dick
Severance (2022), created by Dan Erickson
The Organization Man (1956), by William Whyte
Loki TV series (2021), created by Michael Waldron
Venom (2018), dir. Ruben Fleischer
Moon Knight TV series (2022), created by Jeremy Slater
J. Edgar Hoover’s obsession with “thought control” crops up in his book Masters of Deceit
The Expanse, created by James S.A. Corey
Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
James Bond