Heather Ann Thompson is a historian and writer whose 2016 book  Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy won the Pulitzer Prize in 2017. In this conversation, she discusses how her upbringing in Detroit shaped her views on American politics and ignited her interest in tracking the history of mass incarceration. Thompson also talks about the 13-year process behind writing a book like Blood in the Water, a project that included intense research, wrenching oral histories, and a narrative that’s been intentionally distorted and covered up for decades. By putting Attica’s history in context, Thompson’s work considers the larger moral dimensions of America’s obsession with crime and punishment: “We have to explain not just why we get drug laws . . . what we really need to explain is: &nbsp;When did we become a country where it’s okay to have 400 children in Michigan serving life sentences? When did we as a society become okay with people spending 10 years in solitary confinement? And that was where I felt that the memory of Attica was so critically important. Somehow, we had been given this opportunity to do right by the folks that were serving time, and that is exactly what the men in Attica had hoped would happen. And yet, the exact opposite happens and we come out of Attica seeing prisoners like animals. How does that happen?” &nbsp;

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 100:  Writing Attica's History w/ Heather Ann Thompson

Justin and David were mere children in the 1990s, the hellish decade that spawned much of the political and cultural landscape we currently inhabit. In this episode we talk about pop-culture: from Friends to Seinfeld, Good Will Hunting to The Big Lebowski, Kurt Cobain to Tupac, we attempt to draw a historical line from the 60s to the 90s to the Trump era. What do some of our favorite (and not so favorite) cultural figures and products look like in the rearview? LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE:&nbsp;https://www.patreon.com/posts/24632188

Nostalgia Trap Ep 133 - The One About the 90s w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper BONUS EPISODE TEASER

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 221: You're Nobody Til Somebody Loves You w/ Danny Bessner (PREVIEW)

As we continue our series on 90s L.A. movies, we arrive at the 1995 high school classic Clueless (dir. Amy Heckerling), one of a number of Jane Austen adaptations that dominated 1990s pop culture. Danny Bessner and Courtney Rawlings join us for an exploration of this sunny, satirical vision of affluent teen culture, and we discover that Clueless is a more complicated take on feminism, consumerism, class, and politics than any of us had noticed on first watch. From the mansions of Beverly Hills to the lowland horror that is THE VALLEY, we explore how Clueless offers a vision of Los Angeles and youth culture that continues to resonate in the 21st century. For full episode, subscribe at .&nbsp;

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 223: Plaid to the Bone w/ Danny Bessner and Courtney Rawlings (PREVIEW)

On our first live podcast episode, Danny Bessner, Courtney Rawlings, and Bill Black join us for a detailed look at the 1985 pop culture nostalgia monster Back to the Future (dir. Robert Zemeckis). We take on the film’s weird political economy, sexual psychology, and engagement with 20th century American history, discovering a disturbing, often racist, conservative vision at the heart of Zemeckis’ insanely popular filmography. And of course, we find out if Back to the Future really did predict 9/11.

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 225: Trap to the Future w/ Danny Bessner, Courtney Rawlings, and Bill Black

Trevor Beaulieu of the Champagne Sharks podcast joins us on our journey through 90s Los Angeles, as we explore John Carpenter’s batshit 1996 action film Escape from L.A. Dismissed by critics and ignored by audiences, the film now seems like a strange kind of masterpiece, and a vibrant window on the confused cultural politics of 1990s Hollywood. Subscribe at  to listen to full episode.

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 226: Welcome to the Human Race w/ Danny Bessner and Trevor Beaulieu (PREVIEW)

Writer Rax King’s deservedly celebrated recent piece,  is both an incredible feat of writing and a compelling take on the unlikely charm and cultural power of the yellow-haired star of the Food Network’s flagship program, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (or, the “Triple D”). She joins David and Danny for a discussion of millennial food culture, the aesthetic evolution of food TV, the connections between cheeseburgers and climate change, the ethics of eating at restaurants during COVID, and of course, the complicated cultural legacy of Guy Fieri’s undeniably addictive tour of American foodlust. Visit  for full episode.

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 227: The Political Economy of Flavortown w/ Rax King and Danny Bessner (PREVIEW)

The Amazon series The Boys, based on the comic book series of the same name, is a hyper-violent and deeply cynical take on superhero culture and, ultimately, neoliberal capitalism. Danny Bessner joins us for a discussion of the show’s truly unhinged characters and plotlines, as we examine both the striking elements of The Boys’ dark vision of 21st century America (spoiler: it’s Nazis all the way down) and the limits of slickly-produced critiques of capitalism’s evils made by the very capitalist institutions responsible for them. Subscribe to listen to the whole episode: .

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 228: No Way Out w/ Danny Bessner (PREVIEW)

Well, there was an election. And there was a result of that election. But what does it MEAN? Trap oracle Justin Rogers-Cooper joins us this week for a conversation about the multiple stories being born before our eyes, as neoliberalism’s representative politics come roaring back to life with Biden’s electoral victory, the left wing of the Democratic Party plays defense against its centrist attackers and, all the while, Trump sits in the White House denying that he lost and promising to fight the alleged conspiracy against him. What are the possibilities currently on the table? How wild are the next ten weeks going to get? It’s time for some game theory. For full episode, go to .

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 229: Neoliberalism or Barbarism w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper (PREVIEW)

Justin Rogers-Cooper and Bill Black join us for our very first episode specifically dedicated to the JFK assassination, an event that connects a number of Nostalgia Trap obsessions, from deep state conspiracies and political violence to pop culture and generational division. To hear the full episode subscribe at .

Nostalgia Trap - Episode 234: Reality is Irrelevant w/ Justin Rogers-Cooper and Bill Black (PREVIEW)

I wanted to take the Thanksgiving holiday, when very few were likely to be watching, to try something new on the livestream...I hope you enjoy it. Since we've begun talking so much about movies on the podcast lately, I thought I would start reflecting on my own connection to cinema and pop culture more widely, as a way of exploring larger questions of politics, art, spirituality, drugs, and so many other Nostalgia Trap obsessions. In this first installment I describe my attachment to an HBO "Guide to Movies" book in 1990, and how it acted as a kind of Biblical text, and an entryway to a world of movies about which I knew very little. To listen, subscribe at .

Nostalgia Trap - Livestream 11.26.2020 (PREVIEW)

The 1990 Martin Scorsese-directed gangster saga Goodfellas remains one of the most rewatchable films of the 20th century, a kaleidoscopic ride through the ups and downs of mafia life that’s as exhausting as it is entertaining. For David and Danny, Goodfellas occupies a space of both personal and cultural connection–a nostalgia trap that functions on multiple levels. In this conversation, we explore the film’s unique power in the context of 20th century history, from the development of working class white ethnic gang culture to its long decline in the shadow of suburbanization and gentrification, from spaghetti and marinara to egg noodles and ketchup. What story is Goodfellas really telling us? Go to  to hear the full episode.

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