Unsinkable: The Titanic Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Coldest Frontier: Robert Ballard and the Discovery of the Wreck of Titanic Dec 20, 2021

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This episode has been in the works for many months, for there is a LOT of material out there about scientist and oceanographer Robert Ballard, one of the discoverers of the wreck of Titanic in 1985 and a veritable explorer of the deep. In this episode I present a biographical sketch of his astounding life and career but also historicize it, as well as try to take you as a listener back to that moment of discovery aboard the ship Knorr in 1985. The wreck is an integral part of the cultural history of Titanic, as is Ballard, who become known as a "submarine cowboy" for his work finding shipwrecks around the world.
For more information about Ballard's expeditions past and present: https://nautiluslive.org/expedition
Cheers, happy holidays, and all my best wishes in the new year! See you in late January for the return of Unsinkable, with a series of episodes on the 1997 film. A Patreon bonus episode will also post on December 31st. Join the Unsinkable VIP club here: https://www.patreon.com/unsinkablepod
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After the Flood: Don't Look Up and a Leonardo DiCaprio Retrospective Dec 16, 2021

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I've been training for this for 25 years, you guys! Today I shake up the Unsinkable feed with an experimental, rather spontaneous, rather improvised episode about Leonardo DiCaprio. He's our Jack Dawson, of course, but in many ways Jack Dawson has also been dead for a long, long time. Bear with me as I go off-script for the first time EVER on this podcast to share my thoughts on his filmography, his place in modern film history, and how we've landed at the metaphorical doorstep of his latest film, Don't Look Up, which tackles political and environmental issues head on. I've got a lot to say, this is a long one, this one was more improvised than anything I've ever recorded, so please forgive any editing or sound snafus. Also, if you're listening, Leo, please call me, I've got a lot of questions!
Cheers--
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Theme music courtesy my adorable husband, John Beadles

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Titanic on Film: A Night to Remember (1958) Dec 07, 2021

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I re-visited the 1958 classic A Night to Remember, the first and main British cinematic interpretation of the sinking; it was based, of course, on the book of the same name by Walter Lord and I speak to Lord’s work and influence as well. I really wanted to bring some true academic analyses to this film AND address the comparisons of it to James Cameron’s 1997 film. So there’s some of both. Let me know what you think!

The article I mention by Sarah Street is in a collection called The Titanic in Myth and Memory: Representations in Visual and Literary Culture : https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/titanic-in-myth-and-memory-9780857717382/
I also really appreciated Steven Biel's analysis of the film in his book Down with the Old Canoe: https://www.amazon.com/Down-Old-Canoe-Cultural-Disaster/dp/0393340805/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=down+with+the+old+canoe&qid=1638918281&sr=8-1
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The One, Not the Two: Helen Churchill Candee Nov 29, 2021

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Join me for an in-depth portrait of Titanic survivor Helen Churchill Candee, whose 90 years of life coincided an incredible number of times with rather huge historical moments and social developments in the twentieth century. Her story takes us down the road of women's suffrage and early feminism, of course to Titanic's decks, later even to the battlefields of World War I (where her fate intersects with a young Ernest Hemingway's) and then to the farthest corners of then-unexplored Asia. She's far from perfect, for no one is, but her endeavors as a writer, an activist, a traveler, they deserve a second and a third look. She deserves so much more than her historiographical reputation on Titanic as a gatherer of admirers. Cheers!
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Titanic on Film: Raise the Titanic (1980) Nov 22, 2021

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After touching on some analysis of Clive Cussler's 1976 bestseller Raise the Titanic in my last regular episode, I decided to watch its 1980 film adaptation (though I feared it, to be honest). I'm so glad I did. Buckle up, because there's a lot to unpack here, not least of which is the image of a rusticled and mangled (but triumphant) Titanic finally arriving in New York Harbor by tugboat tow 70 years after it was originally due. I unpack everything here, from Russian subplots and gendered dialogue to casting woes. Let me know what you think.
Contact me!
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Theme music by: John Beadles
Pod cover art by: Judith Cisneros

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Titanic in Fiction, with Chelsea Pinkard Nov 15, 2021

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People have been writing about Titanic since almost the moment she sank, and this episode is my attempt to analyze how those authors have interpreted and fictionalized the sinking. Historical fiction is a strange and often beautiful beast of a niche, and I've got great help here in understanding from Chelsea Pinkard, The Titanic Girl, who has a Titanic fiction book blog that is just absolutely stellar. Enjoy!
Chelsea's blog: https://www.thetitanicgirl.com/blog
Find Chelsea on Instagram: thetitanicgirlblog
I HIGHLY recommend reading two of the main works discussed in this episode:
Allan Wolf -- The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic
Hazel Gaynor-- The Girl Who Came Home
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Titanic on Film: Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) Nov 07, 2021

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Here I put my cards on the table: Unsurprisingly, I'm a huge James Cameron fan and absolutely enamored of his deep sea exploration. In this episode I summarize, historicize, and review his 2003 documentary Ghosts of the Abyss, which took him and a team back down to Titanic in submarines fitted with 3-D cameras he'd designed alongside his brother. There's also a lot of Bill Paxton love here--he's the host of the film, in a way, and guides us through the wreck. Full disclosure I cry every time I watch this. I might have cried while recording this episode. I recommend reading Rebecca Keegan's book on Cameron--The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron (2009).
Contact me: unsinkablepod@gmail.com
On Instagram and Twitter: UnsinkablePod
Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/unsinkablepod
Website: https://www.unsinkablepod.com
Theme song composed by John Beadles
Pod cover art by Judith Cisneros

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The Six: Titanic's Chinese Survivors, with Steven Schwankert Oct 30, 2021

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I'm thrilled to bring you an interview with Steven Schwankert, co-creator of the new documentary The Six, which tells the story of the six Chinese survivors of Titanic. The film is directed by Arthur Jones and marks the very first academic attempt to track the lineage of these survivors; along the way the team of researchers uncover a trail of stories that illuminate so much about the immigrant experience, the Chinese experience, and the Chinese-American experience. See the links below for upcoming screenings!
The film's website: https://www.thesixdocumentary.com/screenings
Tickets available for the Philadelphia Asian-American Film Festival November 4-14th: https://tickets.paaff.org/2021/movies/the-six/
Contact me:
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https://www.unsinkablepod.com
Music: John Beadles
Podcast cover art: Judith Cisneros

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The Ship, in Dreams: Titanic and the Supernatural Oct 23, 2021

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An in-depth examination of paranormal phenomenon related to the ship: the omens and premonitions of passengers, accounts from fortune-tellers, and the life and writings of spiritualist and Titanic victim William Stead (whose floating, talking head so many people claim to have seen at seances just weeks after the sinking). Oh, and, of course...a few suspected hauntings. For more detail, I recommend George Behe's book Titanic: Psychic Forewarnings of a Tragedy.
Contact me:
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On Facebook: Lesley-Anne Reed Beadles
Music by: John Beadles
Pod Coverart: Judith Cisneros
https://www.unsinkablepod.com

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Titanic on Film: Titanic (1953) Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

I watched 1953's Titanic and it cracked open a wider discussion of class and gender than I even imagined. Join me as I examine Hollywood's Cinemascope imagining of the sinking, starring Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, and Robert Wagner. It's a wild ride!
For a fantastic in-depth look at the cultural and political history of Titanic and its interpretations on film, in literature, and in music, I highly recommend Steven Biel's Down with the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster.
Contact me!
unsinkablepod@gmail.com
https://www.unsinkablepod.com
on Insta: unsinkablepod
on Twitter: unsinkablepod
on Facebook: Lesley-Anne Reed-Beadles
Music by: John Beadles
Pod art by: Judith Cisneros (@psychedelic.mold on Insta)

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