
The Dark Knight
From The Broad Perspective by Megan Cruz
March 11, 2026 · 1h 51m · Season 2 · Episode 31
About this episode
This episode discusses the impact of The Dark Knight on the Academy Awards and the film industry.
At the 81st Academy Awards in 2009, Heath Ledger posthumously won a best supporting actor for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. But did the film get enough accolades? The year before the Academy would expand the best picture category from just 5 films nominated to 10, a great debate was sparked by a super hero movie. We get into it on this week's episode, touch on the actual best picture winner of 2009, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, and do our best Alfred impersonations.
People in this episode
Host: Megan Cruz
Topics covered
- Academy Awards
- Heath Ledger
- The Dark Knight
- film accolades
- best picture debate
- Slumdog Millionaire
Keywords
- Heath Ledger
- The Dark Knight
- Academy Awards
- Slumdog Millionaire
- best picture
- film accolades
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire
More episodes of The Broad Perspective
- Moonlight · April 1, 2026 · 1h 33m
- Toy Story 3 · March 25, 2026 · 1h 30m
- The Hurt Locker · March 18, 2026 · 1h 27m
- Brokeback Mountain · March 4, 2026 · 2h 1m
- 71st Academey Awards - Shakespeare in Love · February 25, 2026 · 1h 51m
- Scream (1996) · February 18, 2026 · 1h 31m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Broad Perspective podcast page.