Dr. Strangelove (w/ Matthew Cunningham-Cook)

On this week’s MVC, Rivka and Frank are joined by Lever reporter Matthew Cunningham-Cook for an educational (and terrifying) conversation about Stanley Kubrick’s satirical masterpiece Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Over the last year, tensions between the United States and Russia have risen to Cold War-era levels as the U.S. continues its proxy war with the world power over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While the Red Scare may be over, the U.S. has entered a new era of nuclear brinkmanship. Within this context, the MVC team unpacks the historical parallels between Dr. Strangelove and what actually transpired during the Cold War. Matthew explains how one of the film’s main characters, Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, was loosely based on eccentric anti-communist Air Force General Curtis LeMay.The team also explores the influence of the right-wing anti-communist John Birch Society on 1950s American politics, and the origins of the nefarious Operation Paperclip, in which the U.S. intelligence community recruited former Nazi military officials and scientists to help defeat the Soviet Union. For next week’s movie, MVC will be watching Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop.This podcast relies on listeners like you to keep the show going:

Go to MVCpod.com to become a supporter or leave us a tip. Supporters will also get access to The Lever’s premium content, including their exclusive newsletters, private podcast feed, e-books, and live events. MVC strives to practice its values as anti-capitalist media and will not be selling traditional advertisements. Instead, we will be donating our ad space to progressive or leftist causes. If you’re part of an advocacy organization, mutual-aid group, a worker co-op, a political campaign, or some other org, and you are interested in promoting your work on MVC, you can email us at moviesvscapitalism@gmail.com.Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.You can also watch our full episodes on YouTube.A rough transcript of the episode is available here.
Produced by The LeverArtwork by Rufus Paisley
You can buy tickets for the Hot Labor Summer Tour by visiting littlesecretla.org/hotlaborsummertour