The Haunted Screen Sun, 02 Aug 2026 21:16:05 -0400 https://www.hauntedscreenpod.com/ en-us © 2026 The Haunted Screen yes 239b9de0-0a24-5687-9a1e-8f33727aabf1 Travis Mushett episodic true The Haunted Screen is an antifascist project using film, history, and experimental storytelling to understand our authoritarian present. The first season—"From Caligari to Hitler"—investigates the chaotic, creative world of Weimar Germany. New episodes are tackling new topics.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) film, silent film, German film, Weimar, German history, European history, German Expressionism Travis Mushett https://storage.buzzsprout.com/aextreieshjkfqn38j7dhefa6c9l?.jpg The Haunted Screen https://www.hauntedscreenpod.com/ Travis Mushett Today's (Still) Fascist. Tomorrow Doesn't Gotta Be: The Paxton Mixtape, Pt. II Today's (Still) Fascist. Tomorrow Doesn't Gotta Be: The Paxton Mixtape, Pt. II The second and final installment of a series on why the country is indeed fascist, how we got that way, and what comes next. Listen to Part I first. (Or not. Whatever you want. Do I look like a fascist??) 

See you at the Great Hague Tailgate of 2029.

Appearances from a truckload of future history-book villains, a 17-minute Minneapolis montage, and an extended shark metaphor. Time to pick up the harpoons, y'all.

]]> The second and final installment of a series on why the country is indeed fascist, how we got that way, and what comes next. Listen to Part I first. (Or not. Whatever you want. Do I look like a fascist??) 

See you at the Great Hague Tailgate of 2029.

Appearances from a truckload of future history-book villains, a 17-minute Minneapolis montage, and an extended shark metaphor. Time to pick up the harpoons, y'all.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-19505448 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 18:00:00 -0400 9012 full true Making a Martyr, From Horst Wessel to Charlie Kirk Making a Martyr, From Horst Wessel to Charlie Kirk After the assassination of the right-wing organizer and influencer Charlie Kirk, MAGA has fallen all over itself to turn him into a movement martyr. But this isn't the first time fascists have sought to canonize a flawed man and use his memory for their own dark purposes. Meet Horst Wessel, a slain Nazi brownshirt who Joseph Goebbels elevated to national sainthood and cynically crafted into a Party marketing campaign.

]]> After the assassination of the right-wing organizer and influencer Charlie Kirk, MAGA has fallen all over itself to turn him into a movement martyr. But this isn't the first time fascists have sought to canonize a flawed man and use his memory for their own dark purposes. Meet Horst Wessel, a slain Nazi brownshirt who Joseph Goebbels elevated to national sainthood and cynically crafted into a Party marketing campaign.

]]> Buzzsprout-17908996 Fri, 26 Sep 2025 06:00:00 -0400 2359 full true Yeah, Y'all—This is Fascism: The Paxton Mixtape, Pt. I Yeah, Y'all—This is Fascism: The Paxton Mixtape, Pt. I We knew it would be bad, but holy shit.

With the collapse of the American project, it's been hard to focus on film history. So in this two-part series, we're switching things up. Using the five-stage framework that scholar Robert Paxton lays out in his Anatomy of Fascism, we try to make sense of how a slack-jawed game show host groped his way to autocracy. Part One covers fascism's first three stages, from the creation of a fascist movement through its seizure of power. The next episode will look at the fourth and fifth stages—where we're at and where we might be going if we don't get our shit together.

Appearances from Indiana Jones, Green Day, and a clown car of assholes. 

]]> We knew it would be bad, but holy shit.

With the collapse of the American project, it's been hard to focus on film history. So in this two-part series, we're switching things up. Using the five-stage framework that scholar Robert Paxton lays out in his Anatomy of Fascism, we try to make sense of how a slack-jawed game show host groped his way to autocracy. Part One covers fascism's first three stages, from the creation of a fascist movement through its seizure of power. The next episode will look at the fourth and fifth stages—where we're at and where we might be going if we don't get our shit together.

Appearances from Indiana Jones, Green Day, and a clown car of assholes. 

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-17644758 Mon, 11 Aug 2025 06:00:00 -0400 5358 full true Cinema Oblivion: Lost Films, Haunted Histories Cinema Oblivion: Lost Films, Haunted Histories As many as 90% of silent movies are lost to the ages, and many from later eras have vanished as well. How do these holes distort the story of film? This week: reel infernos, missing monsters, Jerry Lewis'... Auschwitz clown debacle, and a little hauntology as a treat.

]]> As many as 90% of silent movies are lost to the ages, and many from later eras have vanished as well. How do these holes distort the story of film? This week: reel infernos, missing monsters, Jerry Lewis'... Auschwitz clown debacle, and a little hauntology as a treat.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-16537823 Fri, 31 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0500 2370 full true A New Year, A New Orlok: Nosferatu vs. Nosferatu A New Year, A New Orlok: Nosferatu vs. Nosferatu Robert Eggers' new version of Nosferatu is an absolute horror show in the best way possible. With Orlok Fever sweeping the nation, we're taking the opportunity to repost a 2022 episode on F.W. Murnau's century-old original. 

Travis also offers his take on the Eggers adaptation. He promises not to read it as a political allegory, then promptly does so anyway.

]]> Robert Eggers' new version of Nosferatu is an absolute horror show in the best way possible. With Orlok Fever sweeping the nation, we're taking the opportunity to repost a 2022 episode on F.W. Murnau's century-old original. 

Travis also offers his take on the Eggers adaptation. He promises not to read it as a political allegory, then promptly does so anyway.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-16390699 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0500 4191 full true Folk Horror, Pt. II: The Haunted Screen Gets Hauntological Folk Horror, Pt. II: The Haunted Screen Gets Hauntological Folk horror is a past-haunted subgenre for our past-haunted times. Appearances from A-Ha, Christopher Lee, Jacques Derrida, Ronald Reagan, Mark Fisher, and creepy child laughter. 

Episode artwork by DALL-E. Yeah, I know.

]]> Folk horror is a past-haunted subgenre for our past-haunted times. Appearances from A-Ha, Christopher Lee, Jacques Derrida, Ronald Reagan, Mark Fisher, and creepy child laughter. 

Episode artwork by DALL-E. Yeah, I know.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-16179777 Wed, 27 Nov 2024 06:00:00 -0500 3143 full true The Happy Halloween We're So Back Folk Horror Extravaganza, Pt. I The Happy Halloween We're So Back Folk Horror Extravaganza, Pt. I Midsommar! 
Witchfinder General! 
The Blood on Satan's Claw! 
The Wicker Man! '73! And a lil '06 as a treat! 

No Derrida, though. Gonna have to wait for Derrida.

]]> Midsommar! 
Witchfinder General! 
The Blood on Satan's Claw! 
The Wicker Man! '73! And a lil '06 as a treat! 

No Derrida, though. Gonna have to wait for Derrida.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-16024512 Thu, 31 Oct 2024 03:00:00 -0400 2415 full true 1.6 — The End: The Blue Angel and the Twilight of the Weimar Republic 1.6 — The End: The Blue Angel and the Twilight of the Weimar Republic Nazi, dissident, victim…

Josef von Sternberg’s cabaret classic The Blue Angel had three stars: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, and Kurt Gerron. As the Weimar Era ended and the Third Reich began, fate brought them—and all of Germany—to a crossroads. What would they choose, and what choices would be taken from them?

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Nazi, dissident, victim…

Josef von Sternberg’s cabaret classic The Blue Angel had three stars: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, and Kurt Gerron. As the Weimar Era ended and the Third Reich began, fate brought them—and all of Germany—to a crossroads. What would they choose, and what choices would be taken from them?

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-11357961 Wed, 21 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0400 4467 full true 1.5 — Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou, Pt. II: A Marriage—and a Country—on the Brink 1.5 — Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou, Pt. II: A Marriage—and a Country—on the Brink As the 1920s became the 1930s, both the Lang-von Harbou marriage and German democracy itself teetered on the edge of collapse. In this moment of personal and political chaos, the couple made movies—and choices—that would define their legacies.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> As the 1920s became the 1930s, both the Lang-von Harbou marriage and German democracy itself teetered on the edge of collapse. In this moment of personal and political chaos, the couple made movies—and choices—that would define their legacies.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-11279063 Wed, 07 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0400 4209 full true 1.4 — G.W. Pabst & the German Left: When Pictures Got Political 1.4 — G.W. Pabst & the German Left: When Pictures Got Political In a political environment as combustible as the Weimar Republic, it was only a matter of time before the country’s Kinos became venues for ideological warfare. G.W. Pabst was on the frontlines, firing broadsides against nationalism (Kameradschaft), capitalism (The Threepenny Opera), and the patriarchy (Pandora’s Box). But even in the face of a rising fascism, the German left threatened to tear itself apart.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> In a political environment as combustible as the Weimar Republic, it was only a matter of time before the country’s Kinos became venues for ideological warfare. G.W. Pabst was on the frontlines, firing broadsides against nationalism (Kameradschaft), capitalism (The Threepenny Opera), and the patriarchy (Pandora’s Box). But even in the face of a rising fascism, the German left threatened to tear itself apart.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-11230215 Wed, 31 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400 4536 full true 1.3 — Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou, Pt. I: Seduction, Spectacle, and the Birth of Nazism 1.3 — Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou, Pt. I: Seduction, Spectacle, and the Birth of Nazism Through movies like Destiny, Die Nibelungen, and Metropolis, the husband/wife team of director Fritz Lang and screenwriter Thea von Harbou helped establish Berlin as Hollywood’s one true rival. But their emergence as international celebrities paralleled the rise of a certain failed artist storming through the beer halls of Munich.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Through movies like Destiny, Die Nibelungen, and Metropolis, the husband/wife team of director Fritz Lang and screenwriter Thea von Harbou helped establish Berlin as Hollywood’s one true rival. But their emergence as international celebrities paralleled the rise of a certain failed artist storming through the beer halls of Munich.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-11166906 Wed, 24 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400 5134 full true 1.2 — Villains: Nosferatu, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, and the Timeliness of Terror 1.2 — Villains: Nosferatu, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, and the Timeliness of Terror In 1922, a pair of diabolical creatures arrived on German movie screens. What can the vampire Count Orlok and the supercriminal Dr. Mabuse teach us about the fears and fantasies lurking in the Weimar imagination?

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> In 1922, a pair of diabolical creatures arrived on German movie screens. What can the vampire Count Orlok and the supercriminal Dr. Mabuse teach us about the fears and fantasies lurking in the Weimar imagination?

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-11147914 Wed, 17 Aug 2022 06:00:00 -0400 3527 full true 1.1 — Beginnings: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the Rise of Expressionism, and the Long Shadow of World War I 1.1 — Beginnings: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the Rise of Expressionism, and the Long Shadow of World War I A world war lost. An economy in tatters. A country riven by political violence. Germany’s Weimar Era had a tumultuous birth, and with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, its filmmakers began to channel that mayhem into sinister celluloid fantasies.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> A world war lost. An economy in tatters. A country riven by political violence. Germany’s Weimar Era had a tumultuous birth, and with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, its filmmakers began to channel that mayhem into sinister celluloid fantasies.

For show notes and other supporting information, click here.

]]> Travis Mushett Buzzsprout-11147675 Wed, 17 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0400 5075 full true