Sean explains why many film critics and scholars think that the 1980s were one of the worst decades for movies and why this may or may not be true. From there, Sean is joined by Fraser and Matty as they discuss their favorite films from the decade of big hair, big money, and big fun. If you enjoy the Post Empire Podcast, please Like, Share, Subscribe, and leave a FIVE STAR review.  THANK YOU.

Sean discusses the 1994 anthology, The Gen-X Reader, and argues why Gen-X was the most progressive generation in American history through the lens of both their lived experiences, and the pop culture they consumed.

Sean argues the value of aesthetics over ideology by discussing Antebellum, The Hunt, and Promising Young Woman, as well as the literary works of Ayn Rand and William Faulkner.  From there, Sean gives a boots-on-the-ground, eyewitness account of what it was like to be at Woodstock ’99 and puts the now infamous music festival into a larger historical and cultural perspective.  Sean is joined once again by Fraser, who also reflects on Woodstock ’99 twenty years later and helps confirm some of the truths and dispel some of the myths.  Was Limp Bizkit responsible for the riots?  Was the price-gouging at Woodstock ’99 really that egregious?  Were the living conditions really that bad?  Why hasn’t there been another Woodstock since 1999? 

In this episode of the Post Empire Podcast, Sean considers the artistic value of privilege and authenticity in terms of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Maritta Wolff’s posthumous novel, Sudden Rain.  From there, Fraser and Gorman discuss Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and Nirvana, and the iconic albums these bands released in the fall of 1991.  Gorman and Fraser recount their adolescent disdain for grunge music and what Metallica breaking through to the mainstream was like for old-school metalheads.  Other topics include the decline of rock music’s popularity as well as the pros and cons of the 20th century monoculture. 

In this short, debut episode of the Post Empire Podcast, Sean puts the turbulent madness currently happening in the United States into a larger historical perspective and outlines the future of both the country and the podcast.  “So, I guess this is what we’re doing now…”