Skip to content
Enemy of the State episode artwork

Apr 15, 2025

Enemy of the State

from Unclear and Present Danger Hosted by Jamelle Bouie

On this week's (somewhat delayed) episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Matt Duss to discuss the 1998 conspiracy thriller Enemy of the State, directed by the late great Tony Scott and starring the late great Gene Hackman, as well as Will Smith, Jon Voight and Regina King. In their discussion, Jamelle, John and Matt talk the film's vision of the American surveillance state, its spiritual connection to The Conversation, Will Smith's superstar performance, and the ways the movie anticipated some of the political disputes of the post-9/11 era. The tagline for Enemy of the State was "It's not paranoia if they're really after you." You can find the film to rent or buy on Amazon. For the next episode of the podcast, Jamelle and John will watch The Peacemaker, a 1997 political thriller directed by Mimi Leder (of Pay It Forward and Deep Impact fame) and starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. And don’t forget about our Patreon! You can sign up at patreon.com/unclearpod. For just $5/month, you get two episodes on the films of the Cold War. Our next Patreon episode will be on The Conversation! Our producer is Connor Smith and our artwork is by Rachel Eck

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

On this week's (somewhat delayed) episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Matt Duss to discuss the 1998 conspiracy thriller Enemy of the State, directed by the late great Tony Scott and starring the late great Gene Hackman, as well as Will Smith, Jon Voight and Regina King. In their discussion, Jamelle, John and Matt talk the film's vision of the American surveillance state, its spiritual connection to The Conversation, Will Smith's superstar performance, and the ways the movie anticipated some of the political disputes of the post-9/11 era. The tagline for Enemy of the State was "It's not paranoia if they're really after you." You can find the film to rent or buy on Amazon.

Ready to play

Enemy of the State

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

When was this Unclear and Present Danger episode published?

This episode was published on April 15, 2025.

Can I download this Unclear and Present Danger episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.