Michael Newton, "It's a Wonderful Life" (British Film Institute, 2023)

Michael Newton, "It's a Wonderful Life" (Brit...

Up next

David I. Waddington, "The Hidden Curriculum of Video Games" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2026)

Despite decades of inflammatory rhetoric, the real risk of video games lies not in their violent imagery but in the ethical and political sensibilities they normalize. Video games reward speed, efficiency, control, and meritocratic mastery, training players to align with a techno ...  Show more

David Denby, "Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer" (Henry Holt, 2025)

What made a generation of Jewish artists and intellectuals transform American culture? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with acclaimed cultural critic David Denby to discuss his book Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer (Henry Holt, 2025), a vibrant portrait ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

Michael Newton, "It's a Wonderful Life" (British Film Institute, 2023)
New Books in Film

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath of war that is one of the central movies of the 1940s, and a key text in America's understanding of itself. This is a film that rem ...  Show more

Novara FM: It’s A Wonderful Life w/ James Butler
Novara Media

Released in 1946, Frank Capra’s fable of Christmas despair in small town America has become – rather improbably – a staple of festive television. Starring Jimmy Stewart as virtuous everyman George Bailey, It’s A Wonderful Life is not just a feelgood tale of moral redemption, but ...  Show more

It’s A Wonderful Premiere
Today In History with The Retrospectors

Festive favourite 'It’s a Wonderful Life' originated as a short story transcribed into Christmas cards by its author Philip Van Doren Stern. But it received disappointing box office returns following its premiere on 20th December, 1946 - and was not considered ‘a classic’ for dec ...  Show more

It's a Wonderful Life
Witness History

In December 1946, the classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life" had its premiere in Hollywood. Starring Jimmy Stewart, the movie's message of hope and redemption is loved by millions. Simon Watts talks to former child star, Karolyn Grimes, who played six-year-old Zuzu Bailey ...  Show more