Space the Nation
Space the Nation
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 30, 2023 • 1h 16min
S3E4: THE GONE WORLD
Ana and Dan bundle up for Cold Sci-Fi Winter and venture past the Yardogger tree only to find themselves staring at the sky, their mouths filled with silver. The Gone World's plot is twisty enough that it broke Dan, people, it broke Dan. (Here's a diagram.) Thus it is with a slightly different pod structure that we discuss this beautifully written if ultimately somewhat frustrating sci-fi noir set in the past, the present, and at least two different futures. IR: 🇺🇸 Capitalism: ꩜ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 23, 2023 • 1h 5min
S3E3: THE THING
Ana and Dan pour their drinks on the special chess-playing computer that was supposed to keep them entertained all through COLD SCIFI WINTER and thus have to make do with John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic, The Thing. Too gory for its time, the movie is somehow both dated and timeless, like the patriarchy. It also features one of the great animal actor performances of all time. IR: 🇳🇴 Critique of capitalism: 🛸 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 16, 2023 • 59min
S3E2: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE
COLD SCI-FI WINTER CONTINUES! Ana and Dan shrug into some old greatcoats and stomp into this children's literature classic where the beavers have thumbs and the lion dies for your sins. C.S. Lewis's cleverly-told yarn has spawned a whole genre of "kids-fall-into-another-world-and-turn-out-to-be-very-important" book series, from His Dark Materials to Harry Potter. Should we have done this for Canon Fodder? Maybe! International relations: 🧙🏻 Critique of capitalism? 🍬 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 9, 2023 • 1h 10min
S3E1: SNOWPIERCER
Ana and Dan inspect the special arm-freezing-off portal and decide to wait for the next train. Capitan America gets filthy in this snappy, economical thriller from Bong Joon-ho. International relations? ✅ Critique of capitalism? 🪲 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 2, 2023 • 1h 11min
ENCORE: DON'T WORRY DARLING
Lusting for more STN content? Tide yourself over by watching"Don't Worry Darling" now on HBOMax and then listen to this encore presentation of our talk about it, which gets way more into HOT HOLLYWOOD GOSS and the female orgasm than we usually do. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 23, 2022 • 1h 4min
ENCORE: ALIEN
Ana and Dan are taking some time off. Please enjoy this encore presentation of Alien, an almost perfect movie! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 19, 2022 • 1h 6min
S2E46: HAPPY SPACEMAS
Ana and Dan revisit their ghosts of genre past and talk about the various pop-culture offerings they're grateful for this year. Discussed: Severance, Sea of Tranquility, Shining Girls, Stephen King, Lower Decks, and Everything Everywhere All at Once. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 11, 2022 • 54min
S2E45: WAKANDA FOREVER
Ana and Dan haplessly fumble with technology they don't understand and, what do you know, the CIA bugged us! A more informal episode to usher in our Christmas slowdown (December: Winter's August!). We liked this movie, but we really miss Chadwick Boseman and the movie does, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 5, 2022 • 1h 17min
S2E44: ANDOR (EPISODES 7-12)
Ana and Dan make some ancestor bricks and break them over the heads of fascists! Is Andor the best Star Wars property? The best science fiction show on TV? The best show on TV in general? You will have time to debate this next year, when we begin to cover Andor episode-by-episode! That's right, Andor has entered the STN canon alongside The Expanse as worthy of a weekly breakdown. So much IR. So much critique of capitalism! (Though I was kind of downbeat on the success of that critique in this episode.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 5, 2022 • 52min
NOVEMBER AUA
It's the rough-and-ready unedited audio from the November AUA! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
