Pods Against Tomorrow: Reinvestigating Film Noir
Abehugh Productions
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 29, 2026 • 1h 46min
Coma (1978) with Jon Quinn
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Jon Quinn, a Clark University graduate and a former film, photography, and music teacher. Currently based in Portland, OR, he is working on webcomics and writing projects when not watching and logging movies. Jon is particularly fond of 70s and 80s era films, and joins us for the first time to discuss Michael Crichton's paranoid 1978 medical thriller, COMA!Theme music by so.lxis.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Mar 3, 2026 • 1h 43min
Blood Simple (1984) with Robert McDonald
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Robert McDonald. Robert is Associate Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Kansas. He researches at the intersection of rhetoric, economics, and the unconscious; and teaches psychoanalytic approaches to film in his seminar entitled: "Sex, Fate, and Death". He's also the author of the book "Works like a Charm: Incentive Rhetoric and the Economization of Everyday Life". Robert joins us to discuss the Coen Brothers fishy neo-noir debut, BLOOD SIMPLE.Theme music by so.lxis.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Feb 13, 2026 • 1h 36min
TRAP (2024) with Max Hooley
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Max Hooley, a Clark alum with a double major in Screen Studies and Psychology; now he works in Malden, MA, as a staff attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Max returns to the pod to dive into M. Night Shyamalan's nepo-noir, TRAP (2024).Theme music by so.lxis.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Jan 17, 2026 • 1h 32min
Tension (1949) with Catherine Leuverink
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Catherine Leuverink. Catherine got hooked on noir 22 years ago with the 1945 film DETOUR; she has a medicinal relationship with film, collects mid-century modern, and appreciates a cityscape noir. Catherine joins us to talk TENSION, John Berry's cuckold cinema classic, featuring Audrey Totter as an all-time femme fatale.Check out Catherine's excellent instagram feed, @anoiraday!Theme music by so.lxis.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Dec 26, 2025 • 1h 33min
No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) with Alice Bellette
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Alice Bellette, a writer, researcher, and Palawa descendent based in Naarm, Australia. Alice has a PhD in Australian literature focused on Aboriginal women’s writing, and she is currently undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Melbourne. Alice joins us (her second time on the pod!) to discuss the bizarrely British, annoyingly-titled NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH.Theme music by autumn_bray.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Dec 1, 2025 • 1h 33min
Heatwave (1982) with Laurent Shervington
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Laurent Shervington, a film theorist and musician from Perth, Australia. Laurent currently lectures at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Western Australia. His first encounter with film noir came from an honors class screening of Alfred Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS (1946), and he has recently become interested in how the genre is reconfigured in an Australian context. Laurent joins us to discuss Phillip Noyce's Aussie noir, HEATWAVE (1982)!Theme music by autumn_bray.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Nov 3, 2025 • 1h 27min
Out of the Past (1947) with Todd McGowan
Todd McGowan, a film scholar and professor from the University of Vermont, dives deep into Jacques Tourneur's noir classic, Out of the Past. He discusses how the film embodies the essence of noir through themes of fatalism and the femme fatale. The conversation touches on intriguing elements like the influence of newspaper headlines, the blend of melodrama and gangster themes, and the unique quirks in dialogue. They also debate the film's place among other noirs, like Double Indemnity, while sharing behind-the-scenes trivia that adds to its mystique.
Oct 16, 2025 • 1h 25min
The Fall Guy (2024) with Andi Graceson
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Andi Graceson. Andi studied film and computer science at Clark University and began their career at MTV. They are a lifelong genre fanatic, in particular sci-fi and horror narratives, and their work at the Concord Free Public Library's makerspace allowed them to instruct patrons on everything from 3D-printing spooky props, to writing code that will hopefully not gain sentience. Andi joins us to discuss David Leitch's love letter to stunt work, the genre-bending THE FALL GUY.Theme music by autumn_bray.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Oct 1, 2025 • 1h 35min
Decision to Leave (2022) with Daniel Cho
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Daniel Cho, professor of education at Otterbein University in Columbus, Ohio. Daniel returns to the pod to discuss Park Chan-wook's elevated neo-noir thriller, DECISION TO LEAVE.Theme music by so.lxis.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
Sep 13, 2025 • 1h 25min
Scarlet Street (1945) with Catherine Leuverink
Pods Against Tomorrow reinvestigates the noir genre one film at a time. Join our hosts, Hugh Manon and Abe Doubleday-Bush, along with a rotating guest — our "Ace in the Hole" — as they delve into an analysis of classic, neo-, and pastiche film noirs. Each episode explores the timeless themes that shaped the film noir genre and changed American pop culture forever.This week's Ace in the Hole is Catherine Leuverink. Catherine got hooked on noir 22 years ago with the 1945 film DETOUR; she has a medicinal relationship with film, collects mid-century modern, and appreciates a cityscape noir. Catherine joins us to discuss Fritz Lang's controversial (once-banned!) classic, SCARLET STREET.Check out Catherine's excellent instagram feed, @anoiraday!Theme music by so.lxis.Follow Pods Against Tomorrow on social media:InstagramTwitterLetterboxdSoundcloudemail: PodsAgainstTmrw@Gmail.com
