Contamination in 1970s Science Fiction Films with Matthew Thompson

About this episode

The episode features a discussion with Matthew Thompson about his book on eco-dystopian cinema in the 1970s.

We sat down with Matthew Thompson to discuss his forthcoming book: On Life Support: Eco-Dystopian Cinema in the Long 1970s. The book charts various environmentalisms in 1970s films, containment vs. contamination, that evolved out of the environmentalist work of the 1960s typified by Rachel Carson and Paul Ehrlich. Thompson's idea of "contamination" jockeys with the conceptual north star of recent ecocriticism: interconnectivity. This connects to an earlier episode we had with Steven Swarbrick and Jean-Thomas Tremblay on Negative Life: The Cinema of Extinction. For more of Thompson: Website: https://matthewithompson.com ASLE EcoCast: If you have an idea for an episode, please submit your proposal here: https://forms.gle/Y1S1eP9yXxcNkgWHA Twitter: @ASLE_EcoCast Lindsay Jolivette: @lin_jolivette Alex Tischer: @ak_tischer If you’re enjoying the show, please consider subscribing, sharing, and writing reviews on your favorite podcast platform(s)! Episode recorded February 4, 2026 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

People in this episode

Host: ASLE EcoCast

Guest: Matthew Thompson

Topics covered

• 1970s science fiction films
• environmentalism
• eco-dystopian cinema
• interconnectivity
• contamination
• ecocriticism

Keywords

• eco-dystopian cinema
• 1970s films
• environmentalism
• contamination
• interconnectivity
• ecocriticism

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