Frontier Films for America250: On the Western Genre and Beyond with Matthew J. Franck

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Dr. Matthew J. Franck discussing the significance of American frontier films in relation to the country's 250th anniversary and the western genre's impact on culture and history.

Here in Episode 7 of Season 5, I interview Dr. Matthew J. Franck. A senior contributing fellow at Public Discourse, a visiting lecturer in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, as well as a senior fellow at the Witherspoon Institute and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Radford University, he has written, edited, and contributed to many books, including Against the Imperial Judiciary (1996). Drawing on his Public Discourse column, “The Bookshelf,” which often veers into film history and criticism, we discuss American frontier films broadly construed in light of our country’s 250th anniversary and the successful Artemis II rocket mission. Using Frederick Jackson Turner’s essay, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893), we look at why the western is the most prolific genre in film history and how it offers viewers a vicarious lens into its pioneer heroic ethos, from literary works like those of James Fenimore Cooper and Mark Twain, to cinema, whether the westerns of John Ford or science and space exploration movies today. Although the western frontier may have closed, Americans still keep making new ones. Hosted by Ryan Shinkel, Madison’s…

People in this episode

Host: Ryan Shinkel

Guest: Matthew J. Franck

Topics covered

• American frontier films
• Western genre
• Film history
• Cultural analysis
• Pioneer ethos
• American history
• Space exploration

Keywords

• frontier films
• western genre
• film criticism
• American history
• cultural significance
• pioneer ethos
• space exploration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Public Discourse, Princeton University, Witherspoon Institute, Radford University

Books & works: Against the Imperial Judiciary, The Significance of the Frontier in American History, western, westerns of John Ford

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