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About Lia Paradis and Brian Crim

Lia Paradis is a professor of history at Slippery Rock University. Brian Crim is a professor of history at the University of Lynchburg. For more on Lies Agreed Upon, go here.

NBN Episodes hosted by Lia Paradis and:

Lies Agreed Upon November 2, 2022

Shaken and Stirred

On "From Russia With Love" (1963), "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), "Goldeneye" (1995), and "Skyfall" (2012)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
We couldn’t do a season on the Cold War without talking about Bond . . . James Bond. He was there from the beginning and has of course survived into …
Lies Agreed Upon October 26, 2022

Shall We Play A Game?

On "War Games" (1983), "The Falcon and the Snowman" (1985), "The Last Starfighter" (1984), and "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off" (1986)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Remember Khrushchev-Nixon Kitchen Debate? America recognized its consumer culture was a Cold War weapon. By the early 80s, the home computer in the hands of teenagers further demonstrated American dominance …
Lies Agreed Upon October 19, 2022

Wolverines!

On "Taps" (1981) and "Red Dawn" (1984)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
This episode and the next look back at films that came out in the 1980s, a decade when Hollywood seemed to cater to teenage audiences like never before. So it …
Lies Agreed Upon October 12, 2022

"Lies Agreed Upon" Bonus Episode

A Conversation about Past Episodes and Current Events

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Lia and Brian revisit the first two seasons of Lies Agreed Upon for new listeners. Their conversation relates some specific episodes to current events in 2022. The first season traced …
Lies Agreed Upon October 5, 2022

The Two Russias

On White Nights (1985), The Hunt for Red October (1990), and The Russia House (1990)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In the late 1980s, Hollywood reflected the real world thaw in the Cold War by depicting the idea of two Russias: the cold bureaucratic state run by grey men intent …
Lies Agreed Upon September 28, 2022

Cold War Homefront

On The Deer Hunter (1978), Coming Home (1978), and Da Five Bloods (2020)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
We could do a whole season on Vietnam war films, but in this episode we chose three films that highlight the Cold War’s omnipresence in daily life. You wouldn’t associate …
Lies Agreed Upon September 21, 2022

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

On On the Beach (1959), The Day After (1983), and Threads (1984)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Last episode we discussed films about how a nuclear war would start, particularly the insane logic of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). In this episode we explore how American, British, and …
Lies Agreed Upon September 14, 2022

A MAD, MAD, World

On Dr. Strangelove (1964), and Failsafe (1964)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
The world lived under the shadow of the acronym MAD for forty years. Mutually Assured Destruction was no laughing matter, but Stanley Kubrick thought dark comedy was the only way …
Lies Agreed Upon September 7, 2022

Who Can You Trust?

On The Parallax View (1974), The Three Days of the Condor (1975), and All The President’s Men (1976)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Can you imagine living in a society that is ostensibly a democracy but secret forces are working behind the scenes to manipulate events? What if our intelligence agencies run amok …
Lies Agreed Upon August 31, 2022

He May Be a Communist!

On Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and The Way We Were (1973)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
We are back for a third season! The Russian invasion of Ukraine reminded us all that “everything old is new again” and that includes Cold War tensions, nuclear fears, and …
Lies Agreed Upon November 17, 2021

Back in the USSR

On "Dr. Zhivago" (1956) and "Reds" (1981)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Dr. Zhivago (1956) and Reds (1981) humanize and problematize the Bolshevik Revolution during periods when the Cold War was particularly intense. When and why these films were made are as …
Lies Agreed Upon November 3, 2021

Workers of the World Unite!

On "Matewan" (1987), "Norma Rae" (1979), and "Silkwood" (1983)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Continuing the theme of social revolution, this episode looks at cinematic depictions of the struggle for basic workers' rights and tolerable conditions. History is rarely the story of uninterrupted progress …
Lies Agreed Upon October 20, 2021

Votes for Women . . . And More!

On "Iron Jawed Angels" (2004), "Suffragette" (2015), and "Mrs. America" (2020)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Social revolutions may not always be bloody or prompt regime change, but they are vital to a healthy democracy. In this episode we cover popular representations of the women's suffrage …
Lies Agreed Upon October 6, 2021

"Westerners Do Not Have Answers Anymore"

On "The Year of Living Dangerously" (1982) and "The Killing Fields" (1984)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In this episode we cover Australian director Peter Weir’s The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) and the unforgettable docudrama The Killing Fields (1984), directed by Roland Joffe, which came out …
Lies Agreed Upon September 29, 2021

¡Viva La Revolucion!

On "Salvador" (1986) and "Under Fire" (1983)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
On the theme of “covering the revolution”, we first take on two films that drop us in the middle of Latin America at the beginning of a bloody new chapter …
Lies Agreed Upon September 15, 2021

Revolution! The Musical

On "1776" (1972) and "Hamilton" (2015)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In this third and final episode on the American Revolution, we look at the momentous events through an entirely different genre - the musical. You didn't think we could get …
Lies Agreed Upon September 8, 2021

History from Below

On "Turn: Washington's Spy" and "The Book of Negroes"

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In episode two we continue to examine the American Revolution, but we look at two series that focus less on the famous Founding Fathers and, instead, highlight the experiences of …
Lies Agreed Upon September 1, 2021

The Adams Family

On "John Adams" and "Sons of Liberty"

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
This season, we’re going to be looking at the general theme of rebels and rebellions, revolutionaries and revolts, insurrectionists and traitors, freedom fighters and patriots. All of these are terms …
Lies Agreed Upon February 17, 2021

SciFi and 9/11 (Part 2)

On "Battlestar Galactica," "Falling Skies," and "The Leftovers"

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In this second of two discussions about SciFi and 9/11, we look at 3 tv series: Battlestar Galactica, Falling Skies and The Leftovers. This is the last episode of Season …
Lies Agreed Upon February 10, 2021

SciFi and 9/11 (Part 1)

On "War of the Worlds" (2005) and "Cloverfield" (2008)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In our final 2 episodes of Season 1 we’re doing something a little different. Our focus has been on how historical events are portrayed on screen after 9/11 - from …
Lies Agreed Upon January 27, 2021

The Reckoning

On "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012) and "The Report" (2019)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Moments after the planes hit, dozens of CIA and FBI officials had their worst fears confirmed. They each knew separate pieces of the story, but enduring and vicious turf wars …
Lies Agreed Upon January 13, 2021

September 11th, 2001

On "World Trade Center" (2006) and "United 93" (2006)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In this episode of Lies Agreed Upon we examine the day everything changed, September 11, 2001. Until now we’ve talked about how the long cultural shadow of 9/11 influenced films …
Lies Agreed Upon January 6, 2021

When We Were Terrorists

On "Bloody Sunday" (2002), "The Alamo" (2004), and "12 Years A Slave" (2013)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
Our Lies Agreed Upon in this episode are: First, that a familiar, timeless story that reinforces who we think we are must be true. Second, that history is there to …
Lies Agreed Upon December 30, 2020

Fourth Estate Under Siege

On "Good Night and Good Luck" (2005), "Spotlight" (2015), and "The Post" (2017)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim
In the wake of Watergate, when Nixon flouted the Constitution and denigrated the press, Alan Pakula’s 1976 classic All the President’s Men made journalism sexy and heroic again (not surprising …