It's big, it's weird, it's sci-fi and Zoe and Tom fell utterly under its spell. They discuss its political and religious overtones as well as its place in contemporary cinema.
An unlikely pairing? Or an obvious one. Zoe and Tom consider the big ole Macbeth at Doc X with Monsieur Fiennes in the title role, alongside Succession, a contemporary take on a Shakespearean theme - which Zoe finally got round to watching. And.. well, hated.
Tom and Zoe discuss two very different propositions about women. Or is that "women"? One is a cartoonish pastiche starring a Mattel doll; the other a Frankenstein's monster. Guess which Zoe and Tom preferred?
Tom is literally a historian of Napoleon, and Zoe knew shockingly little about the short and angry man. Both squirmed their way through for different reasons: listen to why on this jaunty exploration of Tom's passion area - and the plague of filmic disappointment.
Tom and Zoe got last-minute tickets; Tom was ecstatic, Zoe was skeptical. But the show blew both of their minds. Even so, this is Hyped! Join Zoe and Tom as they debate some of the messaging – but also the mixed messaging – of Queen Bey.
Zoe wants to hate Wagner. Tom has always loved him. They discuss a recent performance at the ENO, in which Zoe, against her will and expectation, finds herself charmed and amused. But is it ok to like Wagner operas? Does it make you a sort of bad person? Or, as Tom reckons, is Wagner the pinnacle of modern culture - deserving of being adored by all, always and forever? Join them as they make their way through an analysis of this splendid, budget performance.
Lydia Tár is a world-famous conductor who gets embroiled in a number of messes both internal and external; professional and private. She's weird. She's amoral. She's refined and unrelenting and unstinting. And boy is she good at conducting classical music. Todd Field's much-buzzed film goes off the deep end more than once, stylistically and every other way. Join Zoe and Tom as they work out whether this is a work of pure genius, or a totally pretentious disaster. Or a bit of both.
"This is the best TV I have ever seen!" – Zoe on the Taormina-based second season of the smash hit written by Mike White for HBO. Join her and Tom as they pick apart something for which the hype is truly deserved, peeling back the layers of subterfuge, sexual economies, powerplay, irony, mystery, danger and, of course, Sicilianness. There are a few spoilers, so ideally if you're gonna watch, watch first.
It promised to be one of the weirdest and most politically contentious tournaments in football history. Human rights abuses, Fifa corruption, the last-minute banning of booze and kosher food... issues like these dominated coverage until the knockouts got into full swing. By the end this was being called a blinder by pundits, with, apparently, the best World Cup final of all time between Argentina and France. But what happened to the politics? Were they always destined to fall away in the face of the football? Was there ever really a place for sustained criticism of Qatar – and Fifa – in the melee? And finally, was this boozeless tournament really better for women? Join Zoe and Tom as they pick their way across the pitch.
Zoe and Tom return to the royal theme, only this time it's the latest instalment of the Sussex psychodrama. They discuss the couple's manipulation of and addiction to media - the very entity they hate so much – and ask, who was filming them, and why? They contemplate their "love", a huge, agapic, almost Christian entity with the power to save the world. Or... to bore it to death. And is California still the promised land? It is if you can get yourself a big garden and a mansion by the sea, perhaps.
Zoe and Tom discuss – and debate – the reasons for the precipitous drop in excellence, and narrowing of dramatic ambition, of once-great London theatre. Is it a simple case of woke killed creativity? What other forces are at play? And how can the cultural great pride of Britain and envy of the world be saved; is it showing signs of coming back to life already? Join us for this lively discussion.
How do you know if someone did the queue to see the Queen lying in state? They'll tell you about it. And that's exactly what Zoe and Tom are going to do in this episode. But fear not, queue chat is nestled within wider analysis of this extraordinary- and yet minutely planned- moment in British history and the British present. Tom brings to bear his extensive knowledge of monarchical history, Zoe brings to bear her... strong reactions to queues.
Zoe and Tom do NOT, as a rule, watch football. In fact, until three weeks ago, neither of them even knew that the Women's European Championships were under way. Flash forward to the mesmerising final on 31 July, and a win of national, indeed international, importance. Join Tom and Zoe as they discuss what this means for women, the women's game... and their own feelings about the beautiful game.
Zoe and Tom discuss the latest and most intensely political outing in recent memory of the campest competition in the world. May 2022 was a spectacle of European unity, in which Britain, the runner up and winner of the jury vote, was shown surprising quantities of love. Join us as we talk post-sexual absurdity, the unpopularity of male crooners, and Eurovision in historical context.
Zoe and Tom consider the Maxwell story as told in the BBC documentary – and beyond – with particular consideration of Maxwell's Jewish background
Zoe and Tom have seen a few things recently, and decided to take a kitchen-sink approach to discussing them. Much of what is under review here was pretty disappointing, with the exception, in Tom's view, of the West Side Story remake - find out why. Three out of four of the things under review are remakes, and one is a sequel, prompting the duo to talk about genre, and why we're feeling... so let down by it at the moment.
Did the government manipulate us through fear to shore up its power during Covid? Are we dupes of a mass conspiracy between media, state and private enterprise? Was the threat of Covid amped up just to make us compliant because...well, why? Here Zoe and Tom pick apart Dodsworth's scary and silly Sunday Times bestseller, worth our time mainly as it encapsulates quite a big vein of anti-lockdown sentiment and Covid suspicion. We talk about her use of stats, her own manipulation of fear, and the way she lumps things together, from the War on Terror to the closure of nonessential businesses in the height of Covid uncertainty.
Tickets were not to be had for love nor money - not even for Tom and Zoe. So they watched it via remote streaming link from Tom's sofa, beadily looking out for what made this the most-hyped Shakespeare in years. Here they discuss where the magic and the weaknesses lay, and how much of both came down to the starry leading cast: Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn, Little Women, etc etc) and James McArdle (Mare of Easttown). They also discuss the odd status of Macbeth in the pantheon of Shakespeare tragedies, and whether having stars on the stage is a good or bad thing.
Zoe and Tom try to connect the appeal of three recent blockbusters, considering (briefly) Squid Game's emptiness, Bond's cosy moral universe and Dune's weird and sexy intergalactic or 'hieratic' appeal (at more length).
The New Republic called Netflix's hit 2021 academic satire 'A elegy for the life of the mind'. Fair? Actually, Zoe thinks it's an elegy for the West full stop. Join Zoe and Tom – both of whom work at UK universities – as they dissect the hit series about a chaotic moment in campus life at a small US liberal arts college. How accurate, or even clever, a skewering of identitarian campus politics is this? Patchy to say the least, but one thing it does reveal is the secret of academic life: try never, ever to be Chair of your department.