Shows
Performance AnxietyS03E01// Why the Oscars still matterEveryone is wrong – the Oscars are still relevant. Maren and Alex are back and kicking off season 3 in style! In this episode they explain why the Oscars, as a celebration of a populist art form, are the only game in town. They also ask why, in spite of everything, the Academy keeps rewarding films no-one has seen. 2024-04-1525 min
Performance AnxietyS02E12// Emma Stone & Poor ThingsMaren and Alex ask why everyone is raving about Emma Stone's performance as Bella Baxter in Yorgos Lanthimos's new film Poor Things and why its success is so hard to pin down. What does Emma Stone stand for as a performer? The team use Freud and Žižek to explain Stone's unique quality and appeal, and why her performance is bigger than the film itself. 2024-01-2923 min
Performance AnxietyS02E11// Vibe Check with Jacob ElordiIn this episode, Maren and Alex analyse why vibes are gaining such prominence when it comes to understanding culture. Is story is getting lost as a casualty in a culture war over meaning? Maybe, but sensation and emotional affect still exist and still make for artistic experiences.
The duo then look at the performances of up-and-coming vibe exemplar Jacob Elordi to see how vibes work on screen, and how an actor's persona are affected by – and help create – vibes. 2024-01-1621 min
Performance AnxietyS2E10// Ridley Scott's NapoleonIn this episode, Maren and Alex ask why so many historians are upset with Ridley Scott's Napoleon, explore the different requirements of artistic and historical representations, and ask what the film Napoleon call tell us about Ridley Scott's film-making and preoccupations. Why did Scott chose to dramatise Napoleon's story, and why is Napoleon the archetypal Ridley Scott film? Why cast Joaquin Phoenix? Listen and find out! 2023-12-0518 min
Performance AnxietyS2E09// Maestro, Live! from the Battle of Ideas, ft Timandra HarknessA very special episode, live from the Battle of Ideas, discussing the meaning of performance and "cultural cosplay"!
In this first ever live episode of Performance Anxiety, Maren and Alex are delighted to welcome their first ever guest host and interlocutor, writer and broadcaster Timandra Harkness.
Timandra helps the team explain why they started the podcast and why they chose to analyse performance in particular.
The team then use their particular set of skills to analyse the Bradley Cooper film Maestro, looking especially at whether or not Cooper's prosthetic nose is "cultural cosplay". 2023-11-2041 min
Performance AnxietyS2E08// Unhappy Christmas from Marks and SpencerIn this episode, Maren and Alex analyse why so many people hated the Marks and Spencer Christmas advert by examining the meaning of each performer, look at why Christmas adverts are such a phenomenon in the first place, and use Kant to explain the clash of values in the culture war arguments around the ad. Warning: this episode contains two bad impressions. 2023-11-0628 min
Performance AnxietyS2E07// How creative is The Creator?In this episode, which ranges from Stanislavsky to Futurama, Maren and Alex ask: how creative is the Creator? What do actors inherit as part of an acting dynasty? What do the central performances reveal about humanity and AI? And will this film encourage Hollywood to be more original? 2023-10-0926 min
Performance AnxietyS2E06// What kind of film is Oppenheimer?Maren and Alex ask if Oppenheimer is a biopic or something more complicated? Why does Christopher Nolan want to tell this story, and how does he do it? Why was Cillian Murphy the best choice to play Oppenheimer? Does it matter if he is Jewish or not? And why did he eat only one almond a day to get into character?2023-08-2928 min
Performance AnxietyS2E05// Is the Barbie movie really about Ken?Is the Barbie movie about a culture war? Is it feminist? Or is Barbie actually about Ken? And what is Kenergy anyway? In this episode Maren and Alex discuss the Barbie movie and pay particular attention to Margot Robbie’s and Ryan Gosling’s performances as a way of understanding how the film does and doesn’t work.2023-08-1431 min
Performance AnxietyS2E04// A24 and Beau is AfraidAlex and Maren ask why A24 are so popular with critics, taste makers and Hollywood, and discuss how Beau’s nightmare in Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid is the nightmare our thought leaders are living though.2023-06-2031 min
Performance AnxietyS2E03// Guardians of the Galaxy and the MCUMaren and Alex describe the phenomenon of the MCU, use Immanuel Kant to show why Guardians of the Galaxy is the most popular gang, and explain why some MCU roles are impossible to play.2023-05-3038 min
Performance AnxietyS2E02// Queen CleopatraIn this especially deep episode, Maren and Alex discuss a performance that transcends its political constraints, what art can and can’t do, and ask if Cleopatra is a Kween.2023-05-1525 min
Performance AnxietyS2E01// Daddy Issues with Pedro PascalWe’re back with our second season! Maren and Alex analyse the phenomenal popularity of Pedro Pascal, ask how he is and isn’t a leading man, and nearly revive the term lumbersexual.2023-05-0121 min
Performance AnxietyPerformance Anxiety (Trailer)2023-04-3000 min
Performance Anxiety10// 2023 OSCARS, BUMPER EDITION!In this special bumper edition, Alex and Maren discuss the Academy Awards; where they came from, what the 2023 ceremony represents today, and what kind of films the Academy may nurture in future. They also establish what Brendan Fraser’s best film really is.2023-03-2133 min
Performance Anxiety09// Bond ... Which Bond?Now pay attention. Alex and Maren analyse the Bond films as a genre, speculate how Bond “will return” and ask What Would Barbara Broccoli Do?2023-02-2726 min
Performance Anxiety08// All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)Maren and Alex discuss what puts a film in the anti-war genre, gorgeously confusing cinematography and why Timothée Chalamet couldn’t have been in this film.2023-02-1328 min
Performance Anxiety07// TárAlex and Maren discuss what makes a performance Oscar-worthy, what it means to be cancelled, and why Cate Blanchett is an alien queen. 2023-01-3123 min
Performance Anxiety06// Minisode -M3ganIn this special taster minisode Maren and Alex discuss Freud, the uncanny and comedians as actors - all within 6 minutes.2023-01-2305 min
Performance Anxiety05// I Wanna Dance with SomebodyMaren and Alex talk about biopics, analyse the difference between screen presence and a performer’s real life qualities, and show why only Whitney Houston should sing One Moment in Time.2023-01-1918 min
Bungacast/314/ Shallow & Wrongheaded Filmic Squabbles ft. Maren Thom & Alex DaleOn aesthetic criticism & performance.
The hosts of a new podcast on film, Performance Anxiety, join us to talk about how a focus on performance can break through endless squabbles over wokeness and representation in film.
We also discuss our best and worst films of 2022.
Part two of this episode is at patreon.com/bungacast
Links:
Performance Anxiety podcast
The Greatest Films of All Time, Sight & Sound, BFI
The Radicalization of the Film Canon, Adrian Nguyen, Quillette
2023-01-1753 min
Performance Anxiety04// Avatar: The Way of WaterAlex and Maren discuss James Cameron’s love of hubris, the need for humanity in a performance and Kate Winslet’s mouth.2023-01-0517 min
Performance Anxiety03// Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022)Maren and Alex discuss Emma Corrin's performance as a non-binary person in the new Netflix adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022), and wonder "why is the past so cold?". 2022-12-1320 min
Performance Anxiety02// BROSWhy did Billy Eichner's gay romcom Bros (2022) underperform at the box office? Should gay roles only be played by gay actors? And what's all this got to do with performance? Maren and Alex talk about the nitty gritty of acting, the relationship between performance and identity, and share their love of Luke Macfarlane. 2022-11-0820 min
Performance Anxiety00 // Introductions / Black AdamMaren Thom and Alex Dale introduce themselves and the podcast before analysing Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson's performance in Black Adam.2022-10-3023 min