You must remember This Podcast!

Monday is about movies. And sometimes TV. Today it's about my favourite film podcast!

My relationship with podcasts is changing. I sometimes wonder if I listened to dozens of podcasts, relentlessly, and so focussed on completing them from the first episode in order, because I was – for five years or so – pumping out episodes of my own podcast. It was constant research. I was doing my best to constantly learn.

Over the last couple of years my podcast has gone on the backburner (you can still find the episodes, there are nearly 300) and I’ve found my own listening to podcasts has dwindled. I only have a small handful that I try to keep up with, and currently I’m barely listening to any. I’ve rediscovered the joy of music for music’s sake, after feeling somewhat burnt-out from writing about it for far too long. I’m definitely trying to fit in more reading time too. And I have a new Big TV as well, which is an enormous novelty (in more ways than one).

Even the most regular of podcasts have gone on the backburner for me – and that’s fine. It’s good to have a break. It’s good to switch modes, and to bring new things in. It can be hard to find a time and place for everything, but it’s good to try, and it’s necessary to go with the flow of how you’re feeling. That’s been my experience.

I’m a little over the podcast medium now – in general. But the very best examples still shine.

And one of my favourite types of podcast is the movie-related one. From critics going deep, to directors peeling back the curtain, to superstars weighing in, it can be very exciting to feel that connected to films. To be learning new things…

My all-time favourite film podcast – and one of my absolute favourite podcasts of any kind – is You Must Remember This.

You get it where you get podcasts, as they say. It’s everywhere that it needs to be and free – and easy to find. The strapline – as explained in this excellent New Yorker article from a couple of years back is that it’s about the secret Hollywood. It has been dedicated to the old Hollywood, revealing stories of scandals and tricky projects, but it’s always about impressive research and wonderful storytelling, never just about gossip and speculation.

I first heard of it is in the best way to discover podcasts – someone was touting a single episode. It was the story of Frank Sinatra’s bonkers-but-brilliant Trilogy album. After that, I was hooked. Powering through as many of the episodes as I could, so much so that I was fully caught up for a time. Waiting for each new drop.

But then, life got in the way. And the other podcasts were all beckoning too. And suddenly I was behind.

The magic of You Must Remember This is the single vision of its host/performer Karina Longworth. She is an author and film critic that made the most of the blogging era, creating some strong work. She moved to podcasting and has kept You Must Remember This going as a vehicle for about eight or nine years now.

Essentially it feels the same – in that it’s Longworth bringing you the story. But somewhere along the way, she started making seasons, or mini-themes, grouping together stories, so there’s a multi-part examination of Charles Manson and his connection to Hollywood; this likely gets discovered by people coming back to the myth of Manson. And is probably a great business card for the podcast. There are also several little pockets of Hollywood that have been explored through this lens – from leading ladies in a different era, to specific producers and directors and then, most recently, The Erotic Eighties.

I haven’t listened to every single episode of the podcast, but I’m newly hooked again after that Erotic Eighties series. It had me rewatching classics (Body Heat) and catching up with a few films I had never ever seen (No Way Out).

So it was a treat to start this week seeing that the new series – Erotic Nineties – has started. Just one episode to tantalise, but it’s the start of no doubt another brilliant survey of recent history.

I am getting ready to revisit some brilliant thrillers from the 1990s. And maybe a few not-so-brilliant thrillers from the 1990s. That’s always part of it too.

You Must Remember This is my favourite film podcast because it has inspired me to check out so many films I’ve heard of but hadn’t found the time to see, it’s also sending me back to old classics for a more informed rewatch.

And Longworth gives it her all always. She is performing the hell out of these shows – as writer, researcher, narrator, editor – she is making her mark, leaving her legacy. All in service to the medium she loves so much. It’s worth mentioning that the show notes (and footnotes) are a film history alone, rich and rewarding, with more information than we’ll ever find the time for.

She recently appeared on Marc Maron’s long-running WTF podcast. So you might want to listen to that for essential background.

And it’s worth mentioning that she is married to film director Rian Johnson. Because: imagine the film-nerding in that house!

I’m busy moving back through the episodes of You Must Remember This that I missed over the last couple of years, perfectly fitting them in while I wait for new episodes.

The Erotic Nineties season will be brilliant. I’m sure of that.

And hey, I’d love to know what your favourite film podcasts are. I’m keen to start finding a bit of room for a few newer movie-focussed podcasts. So drop a recommendation in the comments below please.