Upper Middlebrow
@uppermiddlebrow.bsky.social
"My new favorite podcast." -Jonathen Lethem.
Now: Dracula | Bram Stoker
Next: A Study in Scarlet | Doyle
A podcast about great books and movies. Hosted by Chris Bagg + Jesse Dukes.
Now: Dracula | Bram Stoker
Next: A Study in Scarlet | Doyle
A podcast about great books and movies. Hosted by Chris Bagg + Jesse Dukes.
Live Draft coming next Monday October 6th 8pm.
October 6th Live Draft! #shorts #podcast #bookanalysis #film #bookreview #movie
YouTube video by Upper Middlebrow
www.youtube.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Live Draft coming next Monday October 6th 8pm.
Save the Date! Live draft, October 6th.
October 6th: Live Draft Coming Soon!
On October 6th, Dukes and Bagg invite you to join us for the Season 4 Live Draft. We will tape an episode live on a video call, and you can join as our loyal live audience. Drafts are where we choo…
uppermiddlebrow.com
October 1, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Save the Date! Live draft, October 6th.
"Faced with so much gore and blood, many fainted. As Sophon walked forward, people hurried to back away. An invisible force field seemed to surround her, repelling the mob and keeping the space around her clear. She stopped after a few steps and the crowd froze.
'Form a line,' Sophon said.."
'Form a line,' Sophon said.."
Cixin Liu's Death's End, Part I
Chris and Jesse talk about the first half of Cixin Liu's sprawling masterpiece "Death's End," discussing good and evil and what it means to be human.
uppermiddlebrow.com
August 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
"Faced with so much gore and blood, many fainted. As Sophon walked forward, people hurried to back away. An invisible force field seemed to surround her, repelling the mob and keeping the space around her clear. She stopped after a few steps and the crowd froze.
'Form a line,' Sophon said.."
'Form a line,' Sophon said.."
We love the Criterion Channel's great idea to feature all the #Ripley films. In fact, we love it so much, that we did the same thing last year.
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/03/10/e...
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/03/10/e...
Episode 79: “A Creeping Tom,” or René Clement’s Plein Soleil
Chris and Jesse charge into our next group of works, Ripley en Filmes, beginning with René Clement’s visually stunning 1960 film Plein Soleil, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The …
uppermiddlebrow.com
July 10, 2025 at 1:39 AM
We love the Criterion Channel's great idea to feature all the #Ripley films. In fact, we love it so much, that we did the same thing last year.
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/03/10/e...
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/03/10/e...
THE TITLE OF THE EP IS KIND OF A SPOILER DON'T LOOK! If you haven't finished #TheThreeBodyProblem
Episode 90: “An Egg Slicer Through a Supertanker,” or Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem, Part II
The lads host their first UMB Official Sports Update as Jesse manages to survive a weekend of ultimate frisbee before getting into the second half of Cixin Liu’s sprawling and ambitious The Three B…
uppermiddlebrow.com
June 27, 2025 at 12:40 AM
THE TITLE OF THE EP IS KIND OF A SPOILER DON'T LOOK! If you haven't finished #TheThreeBodyProblem
The UMBers espie a similarity to Neal Stephenson’s habit of "chessboard building" before letting the game unfold, examining if Liu’s narrative setups have plausible payoffs. They also identify some of the “hapless protagonist” effect they’ve seen before in The Diamond Age and The Arrest.
Episode 90: “An Egg Slicer Through a Supertanker,” or Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem, Part II
The lads host their first UMB Official Sports Update as Jesse manages to survive a weekend of ultimate frisbee before getting into the second half of Cixin Liu’s sprawling and ambitious The Three B…
uppermiddlebrow.com
June 26, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The UMBers espie a similarity to Neal Stephenson’s habit of "chessboard building" before letting the game unfold, examining if Liu’s narrative setups have plausible payoffs. They also identify some of the “hapless protagonist” effect they’ve seen before in The Diamond Age and The Arrest.
For a non "character driven" novel, The Three Body Problem is full of memorable characters, with Da Shi rising above.
Da Shi is an Amusingly Manipulative Old Bastard #shorts #threebodyproblem #cixinliu #scifi
YouTube video by Upper Middlebrow
www.youtube.com
June 25, 2025 at 6:52 PM
For a non "character driven" novel, The Three Body Problem is full of memorable characters, with Da Shi rising above.
Reposted by Upper Middlebrow
June 23, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Upper Middlebrow
Join Skunk Cabbage Books and Chicago BIPOC Birders for a bird walk through Humboldt Park. We'll look for birds (and any other more-than-human neighbors!) while discussing the importance of migration in nature and the ways that birds connect us all across borders.
June 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Join Skunk Cabbage Books and Chicago BIPOC Birders for a bird walk through Humboldt Park. We'll look for birds (and any other more-than-human neighbors!) while discussing the importance of migration in nature and the ways that birds connect us all across borders.
As far as we can tell, Frankenstein's chief complaint with his creation is ugliness.
Frankenstein's Creationg is Really [deleted] Ugly #shorts
YouTube video by Upper Middlebrow
youtube.com
May 28, 2025 at 6:21 PM
As far as we can tell, Frankenstein's chief complaint with his creation is ugliness.
Friend of the Show Justin Reich called us from the North Woods, to give us an update on his 700 mile canoe trip. Bald eagles, river otters, and rustic hotels.
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/05/22/d...
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/05/22/d...
Digression, From the North Woods with Justin Reich
We reach Upper Middlebrow education expert Justin Reich on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, at the edge of mobile phone reception. He gives us a dispatch, mid journey, from a rather literary settin…
uppermiddlebrow.com
May 22, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Friend of the Show Justin Reich called us from the North Woods, to give us an update on his 700 mile canoe trip. Bald eagles, river otters, and rustic hotels.
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/05/22/d...
uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/05/22/d...
Wanna hang out with us and Jeph from @bigcampaignpodcast.bsky.social tonight? Join us for a live watch party of the Talented Mr. Ripley.
4pm PT
7pm ET
On our Discord: discord.gg/h734EZ3hBU
4pm PT
7pm ET
On our Discord: discord.gg/h734EZ3hBU
May 19, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Wanna hang out with us and Jeph from @bigcampaignpodcast.bsky.social tonight? Join us for a live watch party of the Talented Mr. Ripley.
4pm PT
7pm ET
On our Discord: discord.gg/h734EZ3hBU
4pm PT
7pm ET
On our Discord: discord.gg/h734EZ3hBU
OG cinematic universe continues, with a story about a wounded soldier getting a new roommate.
Episode 86: “A Study in Structure,” or Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet
The lads go bananas over Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes mystery, “A Study in Scarlet,” published in 1887. We meet the mercurial Sherlock Holmes and his by turns skepti…
uppermiddlebrow.com
May 10, 2025 at 11:26 PM
OG cinematic universe continues, with a story about a wounded soldier getting a new roommate.
Reposted by Upper Middlebrow
Edward Hopper's sketchbook.
May 10, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Edward Hopper's sketchbook.
The fellowship of the stake travels to the Carpathians armed with science, Catholicism, and friendship.
Ep 85, “Science vs. Evil” or Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, Part II
Bram Stoker arrays his crew of brave companions against what they’ve finally realized is an ancient un-dead evil. And the author seems to be elling us something about the nature of the human …
uppermiddlebrow.com
April 28, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The fellowship of the stake travels to the Carpathians armed with science, Catholicism, and friendship.
Save the date!
Ripley watch party, May 19th.
Ripley watch party, May 19th.
Save the Date: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Live Taping, with Jeph Wilkinson.
Join us Thursday, May 19th at 4pm PDT / 7 PM EDT for a live viewing and taping of Anthony Minghella’s 1999 masterpiece, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Dukes and Bagg think of this as the BEST of th…
uppermiddlebrow.com
April 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Save the date!
Ripley watch party, May 19th.
Ripley watch party, May 19th.
"I'm so overwhelmed by the horrific horror of the horrorness of the horriciness"
Dukes' exxagerated take on 19th century Gothic horror melodramatic prose.
Dukes' exxagerated take on 19th century Gothic horror melodramatic prose.
Horrified by the Horrific Horrorness of Dracula #shorts #podcast #dracula #bramstoker #Gothic
YouTube video by Upper Middlebrow
www.youtube.com
April 20, 2025 at 5:03 AM
"I'm so overwhelmed by the horrific horror of the horrorness of the horriciness"
Dukes' exxagerated take on 19th century Gothic horror melodramatic prose.
Dukes' exxagerated take on 19th century Gothic horror melodramatic prose.
Now playing, Dracula. Not a movie, the 1897 book.
Episode 84: “Unnatural Intimacy,” or Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Part I
Neither of the lads had read Stoker’s classic gothic novel, published in 1897, and they suspect that many readers are in the same boat. Over 100 years of vampiric pop culture have made Stoker’s mas…
uppermiddlebrow.com
April 17, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Now playing, Dracula. Not a movie, the 1897 book.
New ep: I Made a Friend and Now He's Dead
Liliana Calvani's Ripley's Game
Liliana Calvani's Ripley's Game
Episode 83: “I Made a Friend, and Now He’s Dead” or Liliana Calvani’s Ripley’s Game
Chris and Jesse watched this movie together nearly 20 years ago, and it made an impression, due to John Malkovich’s memorable, creepy, and charming take on Tom Ripley. Director Calvani seems …
uppermiddlebrow.com
April 7, 2025 at 2:35 PM
New ep: I Made a Friend and Now He's Dead
Liliana Calvani's Ripley's Game
Liliana Calvani's Ripley's Game
Coming soon:
Ripley's Game (2002).
We don't think Breaking Bad would exist without this film.
Ripley's Game (2002).
We don't think Breaking Bad would exist without this film.
April 6, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Coming soon:
Ripley's Game (2002).
We don't think Breaking Bad would exist without this film.
Ripley's Game (2002).
We don't think Breaking Bad would exist without this film.