PODCAST · arts
Upper Middlebrow
by Upper Middlebrow
A podcast in which we discuss high-craft works of popular culture
Episodes
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Episode 104: ‘Everything but the Squeal,’ or Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle
Upton Sinclair spent about seven months in the Chicago stockyards, dressed as worker, making notes about poor working conditions, corrupt bosses, unsanitary conditions, and inhumane slaughter. And in his debut novel, he tried to include nearly everything he saw. Sinclair’s 1906 novel contains a...
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Episode 104: “Get Me The Graduate II!” or Larry Peerce’s 1969 Film Goodbye, Columbus
The lads follow up Phillip Roth's 1959 eponymous novel with Larry Peerce's 1969 film version. The film was the 10th highest grossing film of 1969, which is quite an achievement, given the other films that surfaced that year, and Peerce deploys his significant powers in delivering a commercial...
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Episode 103: “A Pleasurable Disgust,” or Philip Roth’s Goodbye Columbus
Roth's 1959 novella begins with an account of the protagonist, Neil Klugman watching the lovely Brenda swim while he holds her glasses. Immediately, we're transported to the poolside, and into Klugman's brain. But, is Klugman's brain worth visiting? Klugman is charming and manipulative, funny and...
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Episode 102: “The Biggest Iceberg in Film,” or Claire Denis’ Beau Travail
Chris and Jesse watch one of Chris' favorite films: Claire Denis' 1999 masterpiece Beau Travail, starring Denis Lavant and Colin Gregoire. The film is plot-light but significance-heavy, and the lads agree that it is beautiful and poetic and uncondescending. Can the power of imagery, sound, and...
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Episode 101: ‘What Thrums Below,’ or Herman Melville’s Billy Budd
Herman Melville's Novella Billy Budd, Sailor was not published until 1924, thirty-three years after his death. The literary world was in the midst of the Melville revival, suggesting that his themes of existential dread, guilt and innocence, right and wrong, and the conflict between what is good...
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Episode 100: “Dutiful Dreams,” or Project Hail Mary 2026 Film
Chris and Jesse are BACK! And the lads return with the first episode in Chris' series called "This Came From That?" where we consider both a piece of source material and its later adaptation. For our return we go back to one of our favorite works way back in Season One: Andy Weir's fantastic…
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Project Hail Mary Part I (REPOST)
We go all the way back to episode 17, in honor of the release of the major motion picture, starring Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace. Our part 1 was originally titled Bromancing the Stone Carapace, perhaps the single greatest podcast title in history. Many many many many writers take on “hard”…
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Episode 99: More Robot Friends!: Isaac Asimov’s ‘Robot Visions’ Part 1 with Justin Reich.
Isaac Asimov doesn’t PERFECTLY predict today’s era of anxiety and excitement around AI. But he does pretty well for somebody writing eighty years ago. In this 1990 collection of Asimov’s classic robot stories, we see corporations trying to make money while navigating human anxiety around robots,...
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Episode 98: ‘Minor League Stew,’ or John Feinstein’s Where Nobody Knows Your Name, Part II
The second half of Feinstein’s book of minor league baseball stories and characters feels very much like the first half. The reporting is extensive, and Feinstein has a knack for the well described scene, brief characterization, and finding the drama in the everyday. In spite of those virtues…
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Episode 97: “Baseball’s Ballast,” or John Feinstein’s Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in The Minor Leagues of Baseball
John Feinstein’s baseball writing is as sharp as ever, the anecdotes of Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball portraying a desperate but determined subculture of professional baseball. The many characters of Feinstein’s book hunger to make it to the bigs, whether…
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Episode 96: “The Clustercus,” or David Halberstam’s The Amateurs, Part II
In the second half of Halberstam's nonfiction account of the 1984 sculling Olympic trials, we go to the Olympics, to see how Biglow, Lewis, Wood, et al fare at the world's most famous sports event. 5 major characters each have big stakes, and while the actual events cluster together, Halberstam...
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Episode 95: “Don’t Catch Crabs,” or David Halbertstam’s The Amateurs, Part I
We continue Bagg’s “Revenge of the Jock-Nerds” series (the last series of Season Three!), with David Halberstam’s The Amateurs, which tells the story of four men competing for the single solo sculling spot on the 1984 Olympic team. Halberstam, who usually worked on more popular sports and in…
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October 6th: Live Draft Coming Soon!
On October 6th, Dukes and Bagg invite you to join us for the Season 4 Live Draft. We will tape an episode live on a video call, and you can join as our loyal live audience. Drafts are where we choose the next fifteen or so books or movies we'll discuss (nearly a year's worth of episodes). Dukes…
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Episode 94: “Chewing Glass” or Tim Krabbe’s The Rider
Tim Krabbe's novel is barely a novel. It is a thinly veiled autobiogrpahical essay, with fictional details and composite characters, allowing the author to navigate his story just to one side of the fiction/nonfiction divide. The lads ponder why it does not fall into the "bike porn" genre, and…
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Episode 94: “A Swiftly Flattening Universe,” or Cixin Liu’s Death’s End, Part II
The lads wrap up Cixin Liu’s sprawling and massive Three Body Trilogy, building something that somehow seems to transcend traditional literary structures and devices. We look back at how far this particular plot has wandered from whence it came, and both Jesse and Chris are impressed at Liu’s...
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Episode 93: “Post Humanity Blues,” or Cixin Liu’s Death’s End Part I
The final installment in Cixin Liu’s trilogy is long. And strong. We begin in the “deterrence” era, in which humans and Trisolarans enjoy a truce enforced by mutually ensured destruction. But all things must pass, and when the truce breaks, humanity gazes at the possibility of its own…
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Episode 92: “It’s So Dark,” or Cixin Liu’s The Dark Forest, Part II
The boys carve through the second half of Cixin Liu’s sprawling, imaginative, and haunting The Dark Forest. Bagg has questions about how much we can trust our author and the characters he uses to make his plot work, while Dukes identifies the fact that the most important “character” in this novel...
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Episode 91: “All Chess Pieces, No Chess,” or Cixin Liu’s The Dark Forest, Part I
The premise of the Dark Forest, that Humanity must make a secret plan stored in our hidden thoughts to defeat an enemy that can spy on our every move, is wonderful. But the lads find the action in the first half a bit tepid, as Cixin Liu builds sets up the chess pieces we expect he’ll start...
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Episode 90: “An Egg Slicer Through a Supertanker,” or Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem, Part II
The lads host their first UMB Official Sports Update as Jesse manages to survive a weekend of ultimate frisbee before getting into the second half of Cixin Liu’s sprawling and ambitious The Three Body Problem. The UMBers revisit some of our old friends, like Neal Stephenson’s habit of setting up...
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Review: John Scalzi’s “When the Moon Hits Your Eye”
Jesse Dukes offers a quick review of popular science fiction writer John Scalzi's newest novel, "When the Moon Hits Your Eye". While he initially put the book down after reading the first chapter, due to frustration with the absurd premise, on a second read, Dukes found that the book has its charms.
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Episode 89: “A Creeping Awareness” or Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem, Part I
The Three Body Problem begins with an inexplicable series of tragic mysteries, most notably, that physics as we know it has stopped working. Slowly, the reader is given enough clues to start to suspect various causes, although halfway through, we still don’t really know what’s going on. Dukes has...
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Episode 88: “Creation’s Folly,” or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Part II
The boys wrap up their discussion of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and come away somewhat ambivalent: this is clearly a work of importance, imagination, and invention, but it feels…unfocused. We posit that the undeserved press and social pressure clouds what is otherwise an incredible meditation…
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Digression: Solo Canoe Sailing on Long Lake
Friend of the show Justin shares another update, as well as his foray into what he terms Contemporary Victorian Episolary Short Travel Non-Fiction. Justin is paddling a solo canoe (and often carrying the canoe) along the 700 Mile Northern Forest canoe trail, and we are digressing from our regular...
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Digression, From the North Woods with Justin Reich
We reach Upper Middlebrow education expert Justin Reich on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, at the edge of mobile phone reception. He gives us a dispatch, mid journey, from a rather literary setting. Justin is finishing his sabbatical with nothing but a canoe, a backpack, a couple of paddles, and...
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Episode 87: “A Dude who Made a Dude,” or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Part I
Mary Shelley was 18 when she started writing Frankenstein, which many consider the first science fiction novel. Over the next twenty years, she revised the book several times, and the version she left behind remains a remarkable work of imagination. Shelley is amazingly inventive and talented…
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Episode 86: “A Study in Structure,” or Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet
The lads go bananas over Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes mystery, "A Study in Scarlet," published in 1887. We meet the mercurial Sherlock Holmes and his by turns skeptical then credulous biographer, Dr. John H. Watson, late of Afghanistan. The short novella or long short story wastes…
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Ep 85, “Science vs. Evil” or Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, Part II
Bram Stoker arrays his crew of brave companions against what they've finally realized is an ancient un-dead evil. And the author seems to be elling us something about the nature of the human capacity for scientific inquiry, and love. The lads detect a bit of the old "chessboard problem", the name...
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Save the Date: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Live Taping, with Jeph Wilkinson.
Join us Thursday, May 19th at 4pm PDT / 7 PM EDT for a live viewing and taping of Anthony Minghella's 1999 masterpiece, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Dukes and Bagg think of this as the BEST of the many excellent Tom Ripley films. It stars Matt Damon Tom Ripley, and the amazing cast includes Gwyneth...
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Episode 84: “Unnatural Intimacy,” or Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Part I
Neither of the lads had read Stoker’s classic gothic novel, published in 1897, and they suspect that many readers are in the same boat. Over 100 years of vampiric pop culture have made Stoker’s masterful compiling of folklore fade into the background, but the book that launched a thousand bites…
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Episode 83: “I Made a Friend, and Now He’s Dead” or Liliana Calvani’s Ripley’s Game
Chris and Jesse watched this movie together nearly 20 years ago, and it made an impression, due to John Malkovich's memorable, creepy, and charming take on Tom Ripley. Director Calvani seems to enjoy making this Ripley seductive, so that the viewer realizes with horror that we kind of like him…
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Episode 82: “Cocaine was Invented for Times Like These,” or Roger Spotiswoode’s Ripley, Underground
The lads get all aughty with Roger Spotiswoode’s charming and unthreatening Ripley, Underground, where Tom Ripley is a glib opportunist instead of the darker, unpredictable Ripleys. The result is an entertaining romp that feels a little like going to a Bare Naked Ladies show: you probably won’t…
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Episode 81: “LA Light, LA Darkness,” or Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye w/Professor Peter Lunenfeld
UCLA professor Peter Lunenfeld joins us to talk about Robert Altman's neo-noir based on Raymond Chandler's novel. Some reviewers call the film "satirical" but we argue, it's more a riff than a satire. It treats the source material lovingly, even as it updates it to match the 70's zeitgeist. Our...
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Episode 80: “Frames, Trains, and Burning Automobiles” or Wim Wenders The American Friend
The American Friend is loosely based on Patricia Highsmith’s third Tom Ripley novel Ripley’s Game. But Wim Wenders plays fast and loose with the source material, borrowing elements of another novel Ripley Underground and referencing Easy Rider, Rebel Without a Cause, and other cinematic…
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Episode 79: “A Creeping Tom,” or René Clement’s Plein Soleil
Chris and Jesse charge into our next group of works, Ripley en Filmes, beginning with René Clement's visually stunning 1960 film Plein Soleil, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. Clement casts Alain Dumont as Tom Ripley, Maurice Ronet as Philippe (a renamed Dickie...
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Episode 78: “Our Robot Friends, Part II,” or Ted Chiang’s Exhalation
Our favorite education researcher joins us to talk about Ted Chiang’s collection Exhalation, which includes the story “The Life Cycle of Software Objects” which Chris read from in our earlier Robot Friends show. We discuss several stories in the collection, and marvel at Chiang’s ability to…
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Episode 77: “A Soup of Dreams,” or James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes, Part II
The Lads finish out James S.A. Corey's 2011 novel Leviathan Wakes, a huge success that powered The Expanse, the SyFy and then Amazon Prime space opera. Bagg and Dukes talk about whether or not you can marry noir and space opera effectively, how important the first sentence of a book can be, and...
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Episode 76: Philip Marlow in Space or James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes Part 1
Leviathan Wakes is cracking good solar system space opera, combined with very strong elements of noir. The lads think that at moments, the prose is reminiscent of Raymond Chandler’s lyrical voice, but wonder if there’s a little too much action for the noir themes to land. Show Notes We have a...
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Episode 75: “It Was Capitalism All Along!” or China Miéville’s The City and The City, Part II
The lads continue to admire China Miéville's genius premise for this novel, but will the second half of the book escape the issues we've seen in the noir and noir-adjacent works the UMBers have read? As Inspector Borlu closes in on the answer to this spiraling whodunit, the boys discuss the…
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Episode 74: “Our Robot Friends (and Enemies),” with Leah Jones
We invite podcast buddy Leah Jones from Finding Favorites to follow up on a recommendation she made to Dukes last year: to watch the film M3gan. We thought it would be fun to talk about films and books with robot friends (and enemies) more broadly, and we each make a recommendation. Since we…
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Episode 73: “Crosshatched,” or China Mieville’s The City and the City Part I
The City and the City has a wholly original premise, and the pleasure of the book comes from the dawning realization of exactly what is going on between the two adjacent cities, Besźel and Ul Quma. China Mieville dribbles out occasional hints and clues, raising the question of whether the book is…
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Episode 72: “Red Herringfest?” or Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest
The boys hop to it, chum, and talk about Dashiell Hammett's 1929 debut novel Red Harvest. While the socialist connotations of the title never truly materialize ("Communism was a red herring"), leaving the lads scratching their heads, Hammett definitely crafted a new sound and a new genre. Jesse…
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Episode # 71 The Night of a Thousand Crimes, or Raymond Chandler’s “The Long Goodbye” Part II.
Dukes and Bagg were both a little disappointed with how LONG the second half of The Long Goodbye is, with a rather Byzantine and confusing series of plot machinations that only slightly support the ending. But, as Bagg says, “the craft creeps in” as Chandler continues to write lyrical and...
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Episode 69: “A Surfeit of Injustice,” or Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, Part I
The lads kick off this series of Chris' called "Relativistic Noir" with Raymond Chandler's remarkable 1959 The Long Goodbye. Both Chris and Jesse are rendered somewhat slack-jawed at the sheer audacity—and skill—of the prose and of Chandler's ability to build a world so stylized while still...
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Episode 68: “From Fiends to Friends,” or Gary Shteyngart’s Our Country Friends, Part II
Gary Shteyngart’s overtly Chekhovian novel ends in a distinctly non–Chekhovian manner, with hope. However, the hope is dearly earned, as one of the country friends sadly does not survive the second half of the book. The lads wonder if Act Four is a bit padded, and sort out the layers of satire in...
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Episode 67: Revenge of the Jock-Nerds (Season 3 DRAFT)
With a small but loyal Zoom audience, Dukes and Bagg propose TWELVE new series, and pick five, including a LISTENER'S CHOICE series. Throughout, they kibbitz, lobby, and respond to chatted questions from the audience. (For people who don't like drama, you can find the list of future works here.)...
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Episode 66: “Russia With Love (Nesting Dolls),” or Gary Shteyngart’s Our Country Friends Part I
Gary Schteyngart’s 2021 pandemic novel is overtly Chekhovian, and the lads love it. A group of friends and family gather in the Hudson valley during the 2020 pandemic leading to betrayals, love triangles, secrets, lies, but also some joy and camaraderie. We discuss how Schteyngart’s precise...
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Episode 65: “Our Play with Louis,” or Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street
Bagg and Dukes watch Louis Malle's wild 1994 film that takes, as its subject, a rehearsal of Andre Gregory's..."performance" of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. If that sounds convoluted, it is. Gregory and an amazing cast (Julianne Moore, Wallace Shawn, Larry Pine and more) rehearsed the play in a...
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Episode 64: “A Cloud on a String,” or Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya
Anton Chekhov's 1897 play is in many ways even more minimalistic and sad than The Cherry Orchard. Dukes once again struggles to imagine the three dimensions of the story, while recognizing the almost documentary realism of the drama. Bagg finds the pathos of characters struggling for…
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Uncle Baggya Previews the Live Draft
UMB Theater presents Dr. Dukesimov and his old friend Baggya, commiserating about dreary life, and looking forward to the Upper Middlebrow LIVE Draft. That's coming October 10th, at 5pm PDT, and there will be door prizes and a chance to vote on a new Upper Middlebrow series. Watch this space!
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Episode 63: “Cherries, Anyone?” or The National Theatre’s Production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard
The National Theatre production glimmers with an excellent cast, including Zoe Wanamaker and Conleth Hill. Dukes finds that the performances and the direction/translation choices help raise the stakes and steepen the conflict. He wonders if there’s a kind of “oral history” or collective…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Upper Middlebrow have?
Upper Middlebrow currently has 117 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Upper Middlebrow about?
A podcast in which we discuss high-craft works of popular culture
How often does Upper Middlebrow release new episodes?
Upper Middlebrow publishes regularly with 117 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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