Fight the Power - B-side

Explicit content warning

08/31/20 • 78 min

1 Listener

We're pleased to present our very first bonus episode, in which we talk a bit about making "Fight the Power," expand on some of the themes within it, preview our next installment, and share our full, one-hour interview with author Brandon Harris ("Making Rent in Bed-Stuy").

These bonus episodes will only be available to Patreon subscribers starting next month, but we decided to drop one on the main feed so you get a sense of what's coming down the line.

On that note, we tease our September bonus episode. You see, this spring, when Jason interviewed Martin Scorsese for the book, the filmmaker shared a sacred document: his list of 60+ essential New York movies. This is (as far as we can tell!) a Fun City Cinema exclusive.

So we're going to walk through that list with you next month, with the help of film critic and historian Glenn Kenny, author of Made Men: The Story of 'Goodfellas,' - which is also out next month, coincidentally enough (not coincidentally).

So that's what's on the horizon. Here's the bonus episode. Hope you enjoy it.

These bonus episodes will only be available to Patreon subscribers starting next month, but we decided to drop one on the main feed so you get a sense of what's coming down the line.

So that's what's on the horizon. Here's the bonus episode. Hope you enjoy it.

Previous Episode

Fight The Power

Spike Lee’s 1989 film “Do the Right Thing,” shot on location in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, is now considered not only a classic of modern cinema, but a clarion call to social justice, frequently connected with current acts of racist violence.

But “Do the Right Thing” is inspired by specific historical events in New York City in the years before its release – and a general atmosphere of racial tension and police brutality, much of it empowered by the casual racism of Mayor Ed Koch. This episode connects the film to those incidents and to that atmosphere, and looks back at its initial (and fraught) reception. We also connect Lee’s iconic work to current events, and ask how we can carry its lessons into the current struggle.

Our guests are “New York Times” culture / op-ed editor Aisha Harris, “Making Rent in Bed-Stuy” author Brandon Harris, indie film guru (and “Spike, Mike, Slackers, and Dykes” author) John Pierson, and “Rolling Stone” senior writer Jamil Smith.

Check out our website for more information.

Thanks for listening!

Next Episode

Starring the NYPD

1 Recommendations

How the New York cop movies of the 1970s sculpted (and whitewashed) the public perception of the NYPD

The New York movie and the New York cop movie are inextricably intertwined – so much so that the first major studio picture of the talking era to be shot in New York, The Naked City, was a cop movie. But in the years following the protests and policing reforms of the 1960s, Gotham cop movies like The French Connection and The Seven-Ups focused on a specific kind of New York cop, who could only clean up the mean streets if he bent those pesky rules. This episode contrasts the NYPD of film and television to the real department – one that was, in the same era, rife with graft, corruption, and worse – and reexamines that messaging within the current national conversation about policing.

Our guests are MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, The Undefeated’s Soraya Nadia McDonald, and film writer Zach Vasquez, with a special appearance by Karina Longworth.