Cold War Cinema

About Cold War Cinema

Cold War Cinema is a podcast about movies made during the first few decades of the Cold War (1947–1991). Each episode primarily focuses on one film, and the hosts, Jason Christian and Anthony Ballas, discuss the director's life and work, the historical context of the film, and examine its themes that relate to the turbulent politics of the era. Theme music and editing on the first 14 episodes by Tim Jones; theme music from then on by DYAD (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt), and editing by Jason Christian. Logo by Jason Christian

Publisher

Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas, & Paul T. Klein

Category

tv & film · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Jan 2024

Latest episode

16 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

41 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Oct 2026

   The Manchurian Candidate (1962, John Frankenheimer) w/ guest Andrew Scahill

   In this episode, our season finale, Jason Christian, Anthony Ballas and Paul T. Klein are joined by guest Andrew Scahill to discuss John Frankenheimer's 1962 thriller The Manchurian Candidate. Andrew Scahill is a film professor at the University of Colorado Denver and author of The Revolting Child in Horror Cinema. He specializes in horror, gender, and sexuality. In this episode we discuss: The historical context of the film, which was released during the Cuban Missile Crisis, on October 24, 1962 The "paranoid style" exhibited in the film, which relates to the 1964 essay "The Paranoid Style in American Politics," by Richard Hofstadter How the film offers both a critique of McCarthyism and the Communism, and ultimately endorses Kennedy liberalism How masculinity is explored in the film How genre operates, and how the horror genre in particular reflects social and political anxieties The limits and possibilies of Hollywood cinema _____________________ We love to give recommendations, so here are ours for this episode: Andy recommends Brandon Cronenberg's 2020 film Possessor Tony recommends Thomas Elsaesser's essay "Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama" and F. Gary Gray's 1996 film Set it Off Paul recommends John Frankenheimer's 1964 film Seven Days in May, and check out Paul discussing the film on the Front Row Classics Podcast Jason recommends Nicole Rafter's book Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society and Ernst Lubitsch's 1932 film Trouble in Paradise _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don't forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at coldwarcinema.com (http://coldwarcinema.com/), or find us online on Bluesky @coldwarcinema.com or on X at @Cold_War_Cinema. For more from your hosts: Check out Andy's Substack newsletter, Andy Might, on horror cinema and much more. Follow Jason on Bluesky at @JasonChristian.bsky.social, on X at @JasonAChristian, or on Letterboxed at @exilemagic. Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @tonyjballas.bsky.social, on X at @tonyjballas (https://x.com/tonyjballas). Follow Paul on Bluesky at @ptklein.com, or on Letterboxed at @ptklein. Paul also writes about movies at www.howotreadmovies.com _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by DYAD (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening!

2. 

   30 Aug 2026

   S2 Ep. 15: I Am Cuba (1964, Mikhail Kalatozov)

   In this episode, Jason Christian and Anthony Ballas are joined by guest Silas Nathan to discuss Mikhail Kalatozov's iconic film, I Am Cuba (1964), a Soviet-Cuban collaboration about the years just before and during the revolution. Silas Nathan is a Latin Americanist, translator, and photographer whose work focuses on US-Latin America relations. He wrote his undergraduate thesis about Cuban cinema. He has a BA in Spanish Studies and a master's degree in teaching, both from Bard College. In this episode we discuss: The recent US State Department Cuba report, its implications for political organizing, and its connection to Cold War history. The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, or ICAIC (https://www.cubacine.icaic.cu), the state-funded filmmaking organization established in March of 1959, just three months after the Revolutionary victory. The organization is still making films to this day. The historical and political context of I Am Cuba Kalatov's dialectical aesthetic vision The incredible production and cinematography of I Am Cuba The misunderstood legacy of I Am Cuba and its orginal reception in Cuba. _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Silas's recommendations: the books Cuban Cinema by Michael Chanan and Cuba: A New History by Richard Gott; the news organization Belly of the Beast; and the 1968 film Memories of Underdevelopment, directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. Tony's recommendations: the 1944 Haitian novel Gouverneurs de la rosée, by Jacques Roumain, and the 1968 Soviet novel The Foundation Pit, by Andrei Platonov. Jason's recommendations: the Cuba Analysis podcast, especially the recent episode with Prof. Isaac Saney; the book We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World by Helen Yaffe; and the 1977 film De cierta manera (One Way or Another), directed by Sara Gómez. _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don't forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at coldwarcinema.com (http://coldwarcinema.com/), or find us online on Bluesky @coldwarcinema.com or on X at @Cold_War_Cinema. For more from your hosts: Follow Silas on X (Twitter) here: @jsnathan03, and check out Concrete Conditions, Silas's Substack on history and culture. Follow Jason on Bluesky at @JasonChristian.bsky.social, on X at @JasonAChristian, or on Letterboxed at @exilemagic. Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @tonyjballas.bsky.social, on X at @tonyjballas (https://x.com/tonyjballas). Follow Paul on Bluesky at @ptklein.com, or on Letterboxed at @ptklein. Paul also writes about movies at www.howotreadmovies.com _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by DYAD (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening!

3. 

   1 Aug 2026

   Bonus: Getting to Know Your Hosts

   In this bonus episode we thought we'd do something different and chat about our personal backgrounds, our early cinema memories, and our scholarly interests today. We had fun with this conversation and we hope you enjoy it! _____________________ We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: Jason Christian recommends the book-length essay The Devil Finds Work by James Baldwin Tony Ballas recommends the book The Antinomies of Realism by Fredric Jameson and the movie Toy Story 5 (2026) Paul T. Klein recommends the books The Monster Show by David J. Skal and Anatomy of a Robot: Literature, Cinema, and the Cultural Work of Artificial People by Despina Kakoudaki, as well as the film Intruder in the Dust (1949) _____________________ Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don't forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at coldwarcinemapod@gmail.com. To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at coldwarcinema.com, or find us online on Bluesky @coldwarcinema.com or on X at @Cold_War_Cinema. For more from your hosts: Follow Taylor uses the handle @trgenovese on X, Instagram, and Letterboxd. Information on his scholarship and visual art can be found on his website at taylorgenovese.com. Follow Jason on Bluesky at @JasonChristian.bsky.social, on X at @JasonAChristian, or on Letterboxed at @exilemagic. Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @tonyjballas.bsky.social, on X at @tonyjballas (https://x.com/tonyjballas). Follow Paul on Bluesky at @ptklein.com, or on Letterboxed at @ptklein. Paul also writes about movies at www.howotreadmovies.com _____________________ Logo by Jason Christian Theme music by DYAD (https://dyad3.bandcamp.com/) (Charles Ballas and Jeremy Averitt). Happy listening!

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

14 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

15 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 52 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

75

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

71

Contact Cold War Cinema

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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