Show Notes
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle, John and special guest Laura Hudson (formerly of Wired and The Verge) watched the 1995 cyber-thriller “Hackers,” directed by Ian Softley and starring Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, Fisher Stevens and Lorraine Bracco, with supporting roles for Matthew Lillard, Penn Jillette, Wendell Pierce, Marc Anthony and Felicity Huffman. “Hackers” centers on Dade Murphy, alias “Zero Cool,” who made hacking history 7 years before the events of the film when he crashed 1,507 computer systems and was banned from owning or operating computers and touch-tone telephones until his 18th birthday. On his 18th birthday, he finds himself living in New York with his mother and attending a new high school, where he falls into a crowd of teen hacker. There’s Ramon, the Phantom Phreak. Emmanuel “Cereal Killer” Goldstein, Paul “Lord Nikon” Cook and Kate “Acid Burn” Libby, Dade’s hacking rival and romantic interest. One night, one of the youngest hackers in the group, Joey, breaks into a supercomputer owned by a large energy company. He is noticed and arrested by the US Secret Service, which is working with the company’s security officer. Unbeknownst to the Secret Service or anyone else for that matter, the security officer — Eugene “The Plague” Belford — has essentially orchestrated a scheme in which Joey and other hackers are to be blamed for a virus he created, whose purpose is to extort millions from the company into a private account. Thus begins a race: Belford is desperate to get the only evidence of the virus, downloaded by Joey before he was arrested, and our teen hacker heroes are trying to clear their names and get to the bottom of this conspiracy. The tagline for “Hackers” was, of course, “Hack the planet!” You can find “Hackers” to rent or buy on iTunes and Amazon. Our next film is the 1995 cyberpunk thriller, “Johnny Mnemonic.” Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck. Contact us! Follow us on Twitter! John Ganz Jamelle Bouie UnclearPod And join the Unclear and Present Patreon! For just $5 a month, patrons get access to a bonus show on the films of the Cold War, and much, much more. Our latest episode of the patreon is on the 1964 nuclear war farce, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”
More from Unclear and Present Danger
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks, Ed Burns, Matt Damon and Tom Sizemore, among many other notable actors. Set in 1944 during and after the D-Day landing, Saving Private Ryan follows a group of soldiers on a mission to locate Private James Francis Ryan and bring him home to safety after his three brothers were killed in action. Saving Private Ryan was released to wide acclaim. It was commercially successful and easily one of the most influential movies of the decade. We discuss that, and much more, in the episode. As always, remember to check out our Patreon, where we do episodes on the films of the Cold War and maintain a weekly politics podcast. You can find that at patreon.com/unclearpod. Next episode? John Frankenheimer’s Ronin.
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John discuss the 1998 X-Files movie, directed by Rob Bowman with a screenplay by X-Files creator Chris Carter. Starring, obviously, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, the X-Files movie tells a convoluted story of hidden aliens, government plots, a secret cabal of evil rich people and a global conspiracy. It is a perfect encapsulation of 1990s conspiracism and we had a great time discussing it. Episodes come out every two weeks, so check back then for an episode on Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg’s World War II action thriller. And over at the Patreon, we have an episode on Confirmation, the 2016 drama on the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. You can find that at patreon.com/unclearpod.
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle is joined by Nicole Hemmer, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University and co-host of the This Day in History podcast, to discuss the 1997 dystopian science-fiction film Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman. In Gattaca, Hawke plays Vincent Freeman, a natural-born human being in a world of people genetically-engineered for perfection. Freeman dreams of space travel but is barred from it because of a genetic defect — a heart condition. To circumvent the system, he assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a genetically superior but disabled man, using Jerome's blood and urine samples to pass as a “valid” for Gattaca, the elite space program. As Vincent gets closer to his mission launch, a murder investigation threatens to expose his deception, forcing him to navigate suspicion while proving that determination can triumph over genetic destiny. You can find Gattaca to rent on Apple TV and Amazon. Episodes come out every two weeks, so see us then when we discuss The X-Files Movie. Sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/unclearpod. We do two episodes every month on the political and military thrillers of the Cold War as well as a weekly show on politics.
On this week’s episode of the pod, Jamelle and John cover Michael Bay's 1998 asteroid movie Armageddon — the one where oil drillers, not astronauts, are sent to save the world. They discuss why it reads as the most right-wing film they've covered: a movie that valorizes blue-collar white masculinity and treats scientists and bureaucrats as obstacles, an opening sequence that prefigures 9/11, and a worldview that anticipates George W. Bush–era conservatism. Also covered: the Michael Bay auteur-versus-slop debate, "space dementia," the movie's cynicism about government, and how impossible the physics actually is. Plus listener feedback and a look at what's ahead. Next on the main feed (new episodes every two weeks): the other 1998 asteroid movie, Mimi Leder's Deep Impact, with Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Morgan Freeman, and Vanessa Redgrave. Support the show at patreon.com/unclearpod — $5/month for roughly six episodes a month, including a weekly politics show and discussions of the political and military thrillers of the Cold War. You can reach us for feedback at: [email protected].
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, we watched Roland Emmerich’s attempt to bring Godzilla to Hollywood in the appropriately titled Godzilla. Ostensibly a film about the dangers of nuclear testing, Godzilla is a total mess, a miserable failure that deserves its poor reputation. We talked about that deservedly poor reputation, as well as changing American perceptions of the military as the 1990s came to a close. Tune in! In our next episode, we tackle Michael Bay’s masterpiece Armageddon, one of two movies that year about an asteroid hitting earth. And our Patreon, we watched two movies about the Nuremburg trials — from 2000 and 2025 — and talked about them. Listen to that episode, and more, at patreon.com/unclearpod.