This episode we speak with Joan Neuberger, author of the new book, This Thing of Darkness: Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible in Stalin’s Russia. Joan Neuberger is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. She has written extensively in print and online about Eisenstein, film, and modern Russian cultural history.

We spoke to Joan about what makes Ivan the Terrible one of the greatest films of all time, what Eisenstein’s unpublished diaries and manuscripts tell us about his true intentions with the film, and what specific political messages he wanted to convey the audience.

Watch Ivan the Terrible on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJmsV10MTJEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5g-Ss9BDR4

As a loyal listener to the podcast we’d like to offer you a special 30% discount on Joan’s book. To receive your discount please go to cornellpress.cornell.edu and use the promo code 09POD. If you live in the UK use the discount code CSANNOUNCE and visit the website combinedacademic.co.uk.