Special Topics in Media

What's old is new! Special Topics in Media kicks off another "vault" discussion (circa fall 2021) celebrating The Heist Film as a distinct (yet liminal) film genre. Host Garret Castleberry recruits Scott McMurry to uncover the roots of the heist genre and its connections to American social and cultural history. The dialogic duo kick off their conversation series with an examination of Steven Soderbergh's 2001 cr...

A new season, and an old season, are here! Join us as we peek into the past and present for a season built around the heist movie genre. The Dialogic Duo is up to no good! Host Garret Castleberry convinces Scott McMurry to "get the gang back together" to pull off one last job. That job? To expand the discourse around heist films as a way of better understanding film as a distinctly artistic yet commercial expression of ma...

Finally...the 2025 Summer Movie Season concludes. 

Host Garret Castleberry is joined by Kyle Hammonds to discuss key releases in August. Was August 2025 the best August in summer movie history? These rhetors debate the successes and failures of the doldrum summer month.

Listen to hear which mainstream movies had their ticket stubs torn, and reach out to connect and let us know which August releases topped your radar in 2025. 

Hosts: G...

Somehow...the 2025 Summer Movie Season returned. 

Host Garret Castleberry is joined by Kyle Hammonds to discuss key releases in July, a month rich is blockbuster discourse 

Listen to hear which mainstream movies had their ticket stubs torn, and reach out to connect and let us know which July releases topped your radar in 2025. 

Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Kyle Hammonds

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Enginee...

The 2025 Summer Movie Season interruption CONTINUES with a second reflection on Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. 2025). How does PTA's latest film rate as a Border Western, and what character themes resonate with contemporary tensions in America? 

Host Garret Castleberry provides an armchair rhetorician second screening review of PTA's latest masterwork now in cinemas. 

Hosts: Garret C...

We interrupt this 2025 Summer Movie Season programming with a report from the FUTURE! Or, at least the present. Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another has arrived in theaters to immense pre-release critical acclaim. But will that film buzz translate to a wide audience reception? 

Host Garret Castleberry provides an armchair rhetorician response to screening PTA's latest masterwork on its opening day in cinemas. 

Summer is a time to celebrate a great many things, and we are seasonally framing our favorite "cool down" treats for a hot sunny day at the movies . Host Garret Castleberry grabs his wallet, swipes his card, and collects enough goodies to count down a "Top 5 Summer Movie Snacks". It's a Top 5 Countdown to get the mouth watering.

Email us your rainy day theater visits at specialtopicsinmedia@gmail.com, or tag...

We're BACK! After a minor hiatus to update the power converters and reset the flux capacitor (movie logic excuses only), the 2025 Summer Movie Season resumes with an enriched look into the month of June. Host Garret Castleberry is joined by Kyle Hammonds to discuss key releases in June, a month full of genre surprises. 

Listen to hear which mainstream movies had their ticket stubs torn, and reach out to connect and let us know ...

It's a mid-season interlude ripe with nostalgia! Helping transition from early to mid-summer focus, Special Topics in Media offers a "2025 Summer Movie Season" side story. Host Garret Castleberry sits down with scholarly cinephile Kyle Hammonds to unpack the phenomenon of retro film screenings. The duo examine a partial sample of recent rewatches while theorizing about how the phenomenon aids versus ails the in-flux ...

It's an early fall celebration! The rainy season arrived unexpectedly this August, and to commemorate the cool down, Special Topics in Media offers a "2025 Summer Movie Season" reprieve. Host Garret Castleberry dims the lights, curls up with a remote mic, and let's the thunder roll while recollecting a "Top 5 Rainy Day Movie Theater Drop-Ins". It's a Top 5 Countdown to help listeners stay dry. 

Ema...

The Special Topics in Media event "2025 Summer Movie Season" expands with a deep dive into the major releases of May! Kyle Hammonds joins host Garret Castleberry to assess the technical start to summer. The rhetorical reviewers chart their May moviegoing, and make the ultimate case for what went horribly wrong with Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.


Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Kyle Hammonds

P...

In this early interlude within our Special Topics in Media "2025 Summer Movie Season", host Garret Castleberry accesses sentimental bias to recall his "Top 5 First-Run Summertime In-Theater Heart-Pounding Experiences". It's a Top 5 Countdown to help listeners cool off during the dog days of summer.

Hosts: Garret Castleberry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), All...

The extended "2025 Summer Movie Season" wrap-up conversation starts here! Host Garret Castleberry is joined by media scholar Kyle Hammonds to list, rate, and respond to the films that ushered in the summer movie season back in April.


Hosts: Garret Castleberry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended Screenings (Garret): ...

As we get set to premiere our "2025 Summer Movie Season", host Garret Castleberry ushers in a secondary moviegoing conversation that strikes at the heart of memories, movies, and personal preferences. It's a Top 5 Brainstorm to coincide with the dog days of summer. 

Hosts: Garret Castleberry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)<...

The cinema harvest is nearly here! Tune in to our "2025 Summer Movie Season" preview event. Host Garret Castleberry and Kyle Hammonds dart under the velvet rope, cut through the concession lines, and sneak into their local theaters to dive in and dissect which movies are making waves in summer 2025.


Hosts: Garret Castleberry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner ...

This week we wind down our "Talking Mass Communication Perspectives" season of Special Topics in Media. Garret Castleberry and Season 13 guest host Annabeth Fehrle reflect on how technologies challenge traditional educational systems, spring-boarding conversation out of Brian Gilchrist's essay, "The Smartphone as Permanent Substitute Teacher," which is featured in the academic anthology Communication Theory...

Welcome to the "Talking Mass Communication Perspectives" season of Special Topics in Media. Once again Garret Castleberry is joined by Season 13 guest host Annabeth Fehrle  to discuss Multistep Flow Theory and how it functions as a part of #Hashtag Advertising strategies.

Reading Reference: Andrew Sharma & Chrys Egan. "Hashtag Television Advertising--The Multistep Flow of Millennial TV Usage, Commercial Viewings, ...

Welcome to the "Talking Mass Communication Perspectives" season of Special Topics in Media. This week Garret Castleberry and Season 13 guest cohost Annabeth Fehrle  discuss Muted Group Theory and how it can be interpreted within the narrative framework of a trio of Disney-Pixar animated feature films: Brave (2012), WALL-E (2008) and The Incredibles (2004). 

Reading Reference: Bruce W. Finklea & Sally Bennett Hardig. &q...

In this summer interlude, host Garret Castleberry looks back at the past year's programming themes, while setting the stage for ongoing programming to come. 

Host: Garret Castleberry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Ways to Connect with us online:
Follow and engage with Special Topics in Media on Twitter at @podcast_topics.

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