Peace Comrades!

For this episode I have with me Alice Lovejoy to discuss her book Tales of Militant Chemistry: The Film Factory in a Century of War. The book is “the untold story of film as a chemical cousin to poison gas and nuclear weapons, shaped by centuries of violent extraction. Following scientists, soldiers, prisoners, and spies through Kodak’s and Agfa’s global empires, Alice Lovejoy links the golden age of cinema and photography to colonialism, the military-industrial complex, radioactive dust, and toxic waste. Revelatory and chilling,Tales of Militant Chemistry shows how film became a weapon whose chemistry irrevocably shaped the world we live in today.” We have a great conversation getting into many of the details of her book, and how it helps aid in analysis on imperialism, the social totality and how cultural production can’t be ignored when situating global capitalism and its destructive nature.

Hope you enjoy!

Alice Lovejoy is a film and media historian and critic. She is Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature and Moving Image, Media, and Sound at the University of Minnesota, where she also directs the Center for Austrian Studies. Born on the North Shore of Boston, she earned a B.A. in Documentary Studies from Brown University, and a Ph.D. in Film Studies and Comparative Literature from Yale University.

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Additionally, check out my new colaboration The Imperial 80’s, a series I co-hosted with Jared Ware of Millenials are Killing Capitalism. We take a dive into the wild world of 80’s Hollywood and uncover what it has to say about this imperial project called The United States. You can find us on Patreon and make sure to follow the channel if you want to catch the livestreams

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