The Heist Film "Live Recap Special" - Inception (2010) Artwork

Special Topics in Media

Special Topics in Media Studies is a lecture-based podcast that tackles media history one artifact at a time. Each season of the series we will investigate a different mass media theme, medium, or programming genre. While our focus is educational (it is an academic podcast after all), we tailor our conversations toward a broad audience of media enthusiasts.

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Special Topics in Media

The Heist Film "Live Recap Special" - Inception (2010)

February 03, 2026 • Garret Castleberry • Season 5 • Episode 7

0:00 | 36:24

Special Topics in Media is getting the crew together again for a LIVE reaction special. Host Garret Castleberry recruits the Special Topics in Media Studies class for a post-screening response to Christopher Nolan's brainy blockbuster, Inception (2010). Can we add Nolan to heist film auteur canon? Students clutch their respective totems and pick their collective jaw off the proverbial ground to grapple with the film's key themes.

Host: Garret Castleberry,

Guests: Mia Haynes, Adia Reid, Peyton Towery, Brady Allen, Christian Soto, Abel Houston, Jasie Eischen, Sapraise Counsellor

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings to pair with Season 5 "The Heist Film":
Jim Leach & Jeannette Slowniowski (editors). The Best Laid Plans: Interrogating the Heist Film. Wayne State University Press, 2017.

Daryl Lee. The Heist Film: Stealing With Style. Wallflower Press, 2014.

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Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.