Welcome to the podcast, pal.
A new 8-part series examining the best American action film of all time: Die Hard. This podcast may center around the original 1988 film, but it explores more than just what happened inside Nakatomi Tower that fateful Christmas Eve – everything from action movies to film production to the evolution of the American hero. Die Hard is at once a product of its time, and the start of a new kind of moviegoing experience. Get ready for a fun ride through film history… and yippee-kai-yay, motherfuckers.
Listen on…
Latest Episodes and Notes
Episode 6 – It’s a Christmas movie. Why do we care?
If you’re going to talk Die Hard, you cannot avoid the meme/debate over whether or not it’s a Christmas movie. We discuss why it is (and okay, a few reasons why not), but more importantly, WHY we care about the question in the first place.
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Episode 5 – Roderick Thorp’s Nothing Lasts Forever
Almost a decade before there was Die Hard, there was Nothing Lasts Forever. We discuss the life of author Roderick Thorp, the origins of the novel Nothing Lasts Forever, and how the movie aligns with – and deviates from – the book that inspired it.
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Episode 4 – Holly Gennaro (and Holly McClane)
Holly Gennaro McClane: portrayed in Die Hard by Bonnie Bedelia, John McClane’s estranged wife reflects the conflicts and contradictions facing women at the time the film was made – and even still today.
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Episode 3 – John McClane: Analyzing a Barefoot Hero
To many, the secret ingredient to Die Hard’s success was Bruce Willis and his portrayal of John McClane, an everyman police officer from New York, in the wrong place at the wrong time – and without even shoes on his feet. The McClane character has stuck in audiences’ memories ever since; we find out what makes John McClane so special.
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DHWAP on Lewton Bus
Die Hard With a Podcast gets a shout-out from recent guest Shannon Hubbell on film site Lewton Bus.
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Drunk essay: Die Hard is a Christmas movie
Let’s get right to it: Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Read the essay that started Die Hard With a Podcast.
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