[Episode theme]

Loud Murmurs is finally boarding the Dune train. We invited interpreter William White and our listener and ecology PhD Luojun Yang to join the four hosts. 

We dive into a couple of themes, like the significance of imagining a feudalistic society in the far far future, the technological developments of a post-Butlerian Jihad world, the socio-historical background of Frank Hubert’s novel, spice harvesting and our relationship with natural resources, the white savior complex and colonialism embedded in the book and movie, and last but not least, why we want to see more characters like Jessica. 

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[Timecode]

• 4:53 First impressions of Dune: “I’m one with the music”, “isn’t this just a trailer?”, “this is just the beginning”
• 11:05 Denis Villeneuve versus David Lynch’s version 
• 13:05 The World of Dune: feudalism in a futuristic world, the Butlerian Jihad and why there aren’t smart phones in this world
• 15:52 soft versus hard Sci-Fi
• 16:45 if this story didn’t include aliens, would we still think it’s Sci-Fi? 
• 18:10 Counter culture movement — socio-historical background of Frank Hubert’s Dune 
• 20:56 the dual meaning of spice: hallucinogen and valuable resource (not unlike fossil fuel 
• 22:26 harvesting spice and how it relates to environmental crises stemmed from exploitation of resources 
• 24:51 we want to see more narratives that explore the human-nature relationship as climate change is becoming more urgent 
• 27:34 the course of resources and how Hubert’s approach to ecology is very human-centered 
• 31:08 AD TIME: our four hosts talk about our experiences with NEIWAI products and how “one size fits all” reduces body/cup size anxiety. Use LMM20 for 20% off your purchase or shop via this link.  
• 37:34 white savior complex, colonialism, and cultural appropriation in Dune 
• 42:52 culture adaptation in the original novel
• 45:15 how the movie treated the Fremens, Lawrence of Arabia, and Paul’s fate as a white savior 
• 48:28 William White sharing his personal experience growing up in a pop culture they glorified the white savior narrative 
• 51:32 strong female characters in Dune — Jessica, and how her portrayal differs in the David Lynch version
• 55:44 David Lynch’s Dune and it’s homophobic elements 
• 57:10 the portrayal of the Baron in the two versions
• 59:02 strong female characters in Dune: Chani 
• 1:02:17 what’s the value of Dune being made into a movie in 2021  

[Host]

Diaodiao
Ina
Afra
Juan

[Guests]

白威廉 (William White)

Luojun Yang

[Audio editor]

Josh Ogden-Davis

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