American Scene

Happy Valentine's Day! Actor and producer Hayley Palmaer returns to the show to discuss the Oscar-nominated 1967 comedy "Divorce, American Style [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061581/]," written by Norman Lear and starring Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds. What is an American-style divorce? We'll get into the movie's portrayal versus reality and what's changed (and what's stayed the same) socially and legally around relationships and the institution of marriage. References: Divorce, American Style [https://www.amazon.com/Divorce-American-Style-Citizenship-Neoliberal/dp/081225290X] by Suzanne Kahn

Schedule the installation of that in-ground pool because your Christmas bonus has finally arrived! Friend of the pod and feature film producer Lorenzo Nardini [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5770940/] has worked on over 20 Christmas movies, and he joins us to talk about his work at MPCA [https://www.mpcafilm.com], the "NCU" (Netflix Christmas Universe), what he has coming up in 2024, and his own thoughts on All American Christmas Carol [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2110388/]. References: The Knight Before Christmas [https://open.spotify.com/episode/6oiVpBfsh9Fgdt3jdm1U50?si=izKQc1kNQUOknWw0Hofe2Q] Hotel for the Holidays [https://www.amazon.com/Hotel-Holidays-Madelaine-Petsch/dp/B0B8TMLPFW] ⁠Best. Christmas. Ever!⁠ [https://www.netflix.com/title/81416268] ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Alum Sasha Pieterse To Topline MPCA Thriller ‘The Image Of You’ [https://deadline.com/2023/07/sasha-pieterse-nestor-carbonell-mira-sorvino-the-image-of-you-1235433351/] Jenna Ortega & Her ‘Wednesday’ Co-Star Percy Hynes White Reunite On Tiffany Paulsen’s Directorial Debut ‘Winter Spring Summer Or Fall’ [https://deadline.com/2022/12/jenna-ortega-tiffany-paulsen-winter-spring-summer-or-fall-1235200623/]

At long last! Run, don't walk to see American Fiction [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0MbLCpYJPA] in theaters now! This is a spoiler-free episode gushing about how much I loved Cord Jefferson's new movie. But first, a recap of a handful of other movies I loved and that I thought were a lot of in 2023 and what I'm looking forward to doing on this show in 2024. References: THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGICAL NEGROES - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters March 22 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gizIbhk5Eu4] It doesn't suck: Showgirls - by Adam Nayman [https://www.amazon.com/Doesnt-Suck-Showgirls-Pop-Classics/dp/1770414401/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3V73O48BB7YKF&keywords=it+doesn%27t+suck+showgirls&qid=1704590557&sprefix=it+doesn%27t+suck+showg%2Caps%2C351&sr=8-1]

Ho ho holy moly, is it Christmas already? On this episode, Ben talks about why there hasn't been a certified classic holiday movie since "Elf" and "Love Actually" came out TWENTY YEARS AGO, and then he provides a recap of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" before diving into two (of four!) American Christmas stories. "American Christmas [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9104384/]" and "All American Christmas Carol [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2110388/]" take different approaches in adapting Dickens' enduring tale and end up sending very different messages... References: Are ‘Elf’ and ‘Love Actually’ the Last Holiday Classics We’ll Ever Get? [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/04/movies/elf-love-actually.html] Sorry To Bring This Up, But Is The Holiday Really A Christmas Movie? [https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/12/10212476/is-the-holiday-a-christmas-movie] Why There Haven't Been Any Modern Christmas Classics in the 2020s [https://movieweb.com/why-there-havent-been-any-modern-christmas-classics-in-the-2020s/] The Time Zack Morris Gave Himself A Homeless Girl For Christmas [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nAALRqh6TE] Working Homeless: More Than Half of Unhoused People Have Jobs [https://invisiblepeople.tv/working-homeless-more-than-half-of-unhoused-people-have-jobs/] California Program Giving $500 No-Strings-Attached Stipends Pays Off, Study Finds [https://www.npr.org/2021/03/04/973653719/california-program-giving-500-no-strings-attached-stipends-pays-off-study-finds] How $750 a month changed the lives of a group of homeless people in California [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/20/homelessness-california-750-stipend-food-shelter/71973178007/] 'It’s a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness [https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle-helsinkis-radical-solution-to-homelessness] Child labor violations soared in fiscal 2023 [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/19/child-labor-violations-2023/]

Box office juggernaut Oppenheimer is expected to dominate awards season this year, but while the US government had the Manhattan Project team hard at work at Los Alamos, it was also incarcerating over 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps from eastern California to Arkansas. Desmond Nakano's American Pastime takes place at the Topaz camp and centers on a family and community coming together to find strength, hope, and dignity. Author and professor Susan Kamei [https://www.susanhkamei.com/] ("When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during WWII") joins us to discuss her ongoing work in the Van Hunnick history department of USC's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, the resonant elements of the film's story and characters, the importance of baseball in the camps, and why it's so important to understand this part of our history. Trailer: American Pastime [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5rkcIl0LEA] References: When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during WWII https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-Can-We-Go-Back-to-America/Susan-H-Kamei/9781481401456 [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-Can-We-Go-Back-to-America/Susan-H-Kamei/9781481401456] Lyrical Paintings of Life Inside a WWII Internment Camp https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/09/paintings-by-estelle-ishigo-of-life-inside-the-heart-mountain-relocation-center-during-world-war-ii.html [https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/09/paintings-by-estelle-ishigo-of-life-inside-the-heart-mountain-relocation-center-during-world-war-ii.html]