DYSTOPIA — all episodes — Fantasy/Animation

Episode 176 - Digger (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2026)

Chris and Alex disrupt their normal programming schedule to bring you this recently recorded (and very last minute) podcast episode on Digger (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2026), the divisive political satire and black comedy still playing in cinemas. The film plots the trials and tribulations of boorish Digger Rockwell, a billionaire oil tycoon whose Arctic drilling triggers a global catastrophe in Greenland. Yet its narrative tells only part of its story - Digger’s poor box office return and growing reputation as a big-budget misfire reflects the many polarised opinions that it has generated, which both target its self-indulgence and heavy-handed political commentary while praising its ambition and screen performances.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantOctober 19, 2026POLITICS, REFLEXIVITY, HOLLYWOOD, STARDOM, DYSTOPIA, COMEDYComment

Episode 54 - Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009) (with Drew Morton)

In an alternate 1985, Chris and Alex sit down to watch the recent comic book feature film Watchmen (Zach Snyder, 2009), a neo-noir/superhero blockbuster that adapts the popular DC Comics series for the big screen. They are joined in this Cold War-era tale of Soviet Union-United States relations by Dr Drew Morton, Associate Professor of Mass Communication at Texas A&M University, Texarkana, and author of Panel to the Screen: Style, American Film, and Comic Books During the Blockbuster Era (University Press of Mississippi, 2016), as well as a number of articles and chapters on motion comics, media convergence and comic book adaptation.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantAugust 17, 2020ADAPTATION, COMICS, DIGITAL, DYSTOPIA, IDENTITYComment

Episode 41 - Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985) (with Hope Dickson Leach)

Events take a turn for the dystopian in Episode 41, as Chris and Alex venture to Brazil (1985), Terry Gilliam’s nightmarish and absurdist satire of bureaucratic totalitarianism and governmental red tape. They are joined for this latest instalment by very special guest, filmmaker Hope Dickson Leach, whose work includes drama The Levelling (2015), which premiered internationally at the Toronto International Film Festival, and a number of successful short films such as Morning Echo (2010) and Silly Girl (2016).