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Space the Nation

Space the Nation

264 episodes

1 month ago

On Space the Nation, we take our love of science fiction (and fantasy and horror) and smash it together with our professional passions: international relations (as brought to the table by Tufts University professor and Washington Post columnist Dan Drezner) and cultural criticism (as brought to the table by political columnist Ana Marie Cox). It's a highly informed but hilarious conversation that starts with an examination of a particular text (everything from Ursula K. LeGuin to the MCU, Star Trek to Colson Whitehead) and veers into current events, mental health practices and imagined conversations between Ted Cruz and the Predator. For people who like white papers and graphic novels, Chapo Trap House and what Political Science Twitter used to be.

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Society & Culture,

All content for Space the Nation is the property of Space the Nation and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

On Space the Nation, we take our love of science fiction (and fantasy and horror) and smash it together with our professional passions: international relations (as brought to the table by Tufts University professor and Washington Post columnist Dan Drezner) and cultural criticism (as brought to the table by political columnist Ana Marie Cox). It's a highly informed but hilarious conversation that starts with an examination of a particular text (everything from Ursula K. LeGuin to the MCU, Star Trek to Colson Whitehead) and veers into current events, mental health practices and imagined conversations between Ted Cruz and the Predator. For people who like white papers and graphic novels, Chapo Trap House and what Political Science Twitter used to be.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show more...

Society & Culture,

Episodes (20/264)

Space the Nation

SPACEGIVING 2025

Ana and Dan set the table for some fine genre dining: Pluribus, Welcome to Derry, a book called "The Ministry of" something that's good, not bad! And many, many more. There is hardly any discussion of IR in this episode.

The video version of this podcast is available for free on our Patreon page, patreon.com/spacethenation

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1 month ago

45 minutes 52 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan would like to play a game. There is some IR in this movie.

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1 month ago

1 hour 35 minutes 3 seconds

Space the Nation

ALIEN: EARTH (Part 2)

Ana and Dan sort of forgot we recorded this episode about the last four episodes of the series.

We did have a few more thoughts on what is definitely in the top four or so products in the Alien franchise! Enjoy!

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1 month ago

49 minutes 33 seconds

Space the Nation

HOUSE OF DYNAMITE

Ana and Dan also have loved ones in Chicago, why do you ask?

Kathryn Bigelow's return to cinema gifts us a meticulously shot and expertly acted mess of a movie that's underwhelming in every respect. It is fun to think about President Stringer Bell, though. If I told you there was no IR in this movie, would you believe me?

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1 month ago

1 hour 25 minutes 18 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan de-res, but not before reviewing this latest and undoubtedly last entry into the Tronverse. It isn't very good and the ideas it raises aren't very interesting but Dan got to make a lot of Depeche Mode references in our script! Happy hunting!

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1 month ago

59 minutes 22 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan get the high scores on Galactic Narcissists and check out the middle entry in this middling franchise. There's some interesting stuff about non-attachment that gets promptly disregarded for Plot Reasons and also a hot program that who will later go on to direct Don't Worry Darling, a movie with exactly as much insight into video games as this one. Not much IR in this movie.

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2 months ago

1 hour 16 minutes 52 seconds

Space the Nation

EXTRA: THE ANDOR MOMENT

"I have friends everywhere." How does a quote from a Star Wars prequel wind up the unofficial slogan for a national movement? Indivisible's Ezra Levin joins Ana for a special Dan-less episode to talk about how Andor infiltrated anti-Trump protests and who he'll be cosplaying as on Halloween.

Find out about the No Kings protest near you here.

Remember this: Try.

There is IR in this podcast

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2 months ago

26 minutes 37 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan challenge each other to a round of Space Paranoids, the hit video game kids are into these days! It's the summer of Tron: Ares and so we're diving into the surprisingly light movie footprint of the franchise. It's the second-best Bruce Boxleitner movie you'll see all year! There's a bit of IR in this movie

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2 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes 44 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan look great in light-wash Levis and a varsity jacket. This well-loved movie is both an instructive artifact of a different era and a timeless classic, much like it's anchoring star. There's not much science fiction (besides Redford's magical charm) but lots of IR. RIP to a real one.

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3 months ago

1 hour 12 minutes 26 seconds

Space the Nation

ALIEN: COVENANT

Ana and Dan land on an Earth-like planet and don't think it's suspicious at all. Touch things! Don't wear masks! What could go wrong? Part of our comprehensive coverage of the Alien franchise (by which I mean, I made Dan watch it), Alien: Covenant is notable mainly for Ridley Scott's surface-level capitulation to audience wishes (more xenomorph, less God stuff!) while still engineering a sizeable "f--- you" into the subtext. Also, Michael Fassbender fingers his flute. There is some IR in this movie.

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3 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes 26 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan prefer the prison planet, thank you. Ana coaxed Dan into watching the Alien franchise entry once praised by Vox as "far from the worst Alien movie!" Now, I owe him a "Buckaroo Banzai" or something. There is not much international relations in this movie, but Weyland-Yutani ordered the inclusion of a critique of capitalism.

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3 months ago

1 hour 12 minutes 14 seconds

Space the Nation

Dan and Ana tear the slicer off a paper-cutter (which are still necessary in the year 2120) and enter into battle with a newly speedy xenomorph. There are many other creepy crawlies and just as many unwise corporate decisions. Cats beware.

Ana is just making it out of Covid.

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4 months ago

1 hour 53 seconds

Space the Nation

WE KNOW WHAT WE DID LAST SUMMER (2025)

Dan and Ana take you on a trip through their summer media consumption, including The Last of Us second season, Blindsight, Murderbot, Foundation, Strange New Worlds and many more! Just in time for a week past Labor Day!

(Ana had Covid.)

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4 months ago

1 hour 4 minutes 57 seconds

Space the Nation

WAR OF THE WORLDS (2025)

Ana and Dan settle into their computer screens for this time capsule of 2020 cinema, a "screenlife" take on H.G. Wells' public-domain IP. Gen X viewers will appreciate Ice Cube's Big Dad Energy and... it's very GIF-able? Watch the GIFs, not the movie. There's shockingly little IR in this movie.

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4 months ago

1 hour 12 minutes 25 seconds

Space the Nation

FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS

Dan and Ana are back! Perhaps you've heard a little something about the (latest) movie intended to relaunch the Marvel brand. It's worked out so well that three weeks after its release, you may have already decided not to see it! (As many people have.)

Apologies for the delay—late capitalism, travel, heat death of the universe, etc.

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4 months ago

1 hour 24 minutes 33 seconds

Space the Nation

ENCORE ENCORE: EVENT HORIZON

We've released this a couple of times; it's one of our favorite episodes about one of our favorite movies. It is now not just old enough to drink, but also to have regrets about their first serious relationship and realize they'll never be able to buy a house. Welcome to hell!

(Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Isaacs, and one of the wildest deleted scene stories you will hear your entire life.)

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4 months ago

45 minutes 52 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan are into Peak Mid-Aughts: Spoon, the early seasons of the Office, books that are histories of a single consumer product, political blogs, and this version of the Fantastic Four. This single movie proves that history is not over, culture keeps changing, Chris's keep evolving.

There is IR in this movie and no critique of capitalism.

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5 months ago

1 hour 18 minutes 33 seconds

Space the Nation

SUPERMAN (2025)

Ana and Dan are the real punk rock. We talk Space Lex mugs, corporate hero squads, the carceral logic of pocket universes, and why showing people evacuating with their pets could be James Gunn's greatest contribution to the genre. There is IR in this movie.

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5 months ago

1 hour 12 minutes 18 seconds

Space the Nation

SUPERMAN (1978)

Ana and Dan will never ask you to guess what color underwear they have on. They talk about Marlon Brando’s floating green bagel, the moral clarity of a Kansas upbringing, Lex Luthor as the über–rentier class supervillain, and why 1970s journalism might’ve been the last honest institution in cinema. Also: Is Superman the least traumatized superhero in the American metahuman pantheon? There is IR in this movie.

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5 months ago

1 hour 15 minutes 43 seconds

Space the Nation

Ana and Dan will not rescue you if you're not back by high tide. This is not the economical, revolutionary filmmaking of 28 Days Later; it is also not the clumsy genre exercise of 28 Weeks Later. Unlike 28 Months Later, it does exist. The politics are a little confused, the performances are excellent, and we disagreed about the overall quality. There's most definitely IR in this movie.

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6 months ago

1 hour 28 minutes 31 seconds