About Daniel Moran

Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O’Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics.

A juror for the Hollywood Reporter's 2023 list of the 100 Greatest Film Books, his interests include Film, Literary Studies, Music, History, Biography, and the American West.

Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O’Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen Minute Film Fanatics.

NBN Episodes hosted by Daniel:

Defending Your Life

March 18, 2024

Defending Your Life

Hosted by Daniel Moran

We are supposed to get smarter as we get older. Do we? If the meaning of your life had to be found in nine representative days, which days would you …

John O’Connor, "The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster" (Sourcebooks, 2024)

March 16, 2024

The Secret History of Bigfoot

John O’Connor
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Bigfoot is an instantly recognizable figure. Through the decades, this elusive primate has been featured in movies and books, on coffee mugs, beer koo…

Jessica Hooten Wilson, "Flannery O'Connor's 'Why Do the Heathen Rage?' A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress" (Brazos Press, 2024)

March 5, 2024

Flannery O'Connor's 'Why Do the Heathen Rage?'

Jessica Hooten Wilson
Hosted by Daniel Moran

When celebrated American novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor died at the age of thirty-nine in 1964, she left behind an unfinished thi…

Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, "Kubrick: An Odyssey" (Pegasus Books, 2024)

February 6, 2024

Kubrick

Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams
Hosted by Daniel Moran

The definitive biography of the creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange, presenting the most in-depth portrait yet of th…

William L. Bird, "In the Arms of Saguaros: Iconography of the Giant Cactus" (U Arizona Press, 2023)

February 3, 2024

In the Arms of Saguaros

William L. Bird
Hosted by Daniel Moran

An essential—and monumental—member of the Sonoran Desert ecosystem, the saguaro cactus has become the quintessential icon of the American West. In th…

Matt Singer, "Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2023)

January 13, 2024

Opposable Thumbs

Matt Singer
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Once upon a time, if you wanted to know if a movie was worth seeing, you didn’t check out Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB. You asked whether Siskel & Ebert h…

Matthew Kennedy, "On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide" (Oxford UP, 2024)

January 10, 2024

On Elizabeth Taylor

Matthew Kennedy
Hosted by Daniel Moran

In the oceans of ink devoted to the monumental movie star/businesswoman/political activist Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (1932-2011), her beauty and not-s…

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

December 11, 2023

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

A Film by John Ford
Hosted by Daniel Moran

How should one deal with evil? What are people capable of doing when they are given unconstrained liberty? Why does democracy work when people run t…

Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel, "Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine" (Callaway, 2023)

December 9, 2023

Bob Dylan

Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Several years ago, a treasure trove containing some 6,000 original Bob Dylan manuscripts was revealed to exist. Their destination? Tulsa, Oklahoma. T…

Michael Newton, "It's a Wonderful Life" (British Film Institute, 2023)

November 8, 2023

It's a Wonderful Life

Michael Newton
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath o…

Michael Kaler, "Get Shown the Light: Improvisation and Transcendence in the Music of the Grateful Dead" (Duke UP, 2023)

November 6, 2023

Get Shown the Light

Michael Kaler
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

Of all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music’s structure and listening experience: the in…

Scott Eyman, "Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided" (Simon & Schuster, 2023)

October 31, 2023

Charlie Chaplin vs. America

Scott Eyman
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

The remarkable, must-read story of Charlie Chaplin’s years of exile from the United States during the postwar Red Scare, and how it ruined his film ca…

Jeff Kosseff, "Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2023)

October 24, 2023

Liar in a Crowded Theater

Jeff Kosseff
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Thanks to the First Amendment, Americans enjoy a rare privilege: the constitutional right to lie. And although controversial, they should continue to …

Eric G. Wilson, "Point Blank" (British Film Institute, 2023)

October 24, 2023

Point Blank

Eric G. Wilson
Hosted by Daniel Moran

John Boorman's Point Blank (1967) has long been recognized as one of the seminal films of the sixties, with its revisionary mix of genres including ne…

Scott Feinberg, “The Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Greatest Film Books of All Time” (2023)

October 21, 2023

The Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Greatest Film Books of All Time

Scott Feinberg
Hosted by Daniel Moran

In the October 12, 2023 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg offered an annotated list of the 100 greatest film books of all time. Drawing…

Jeffrey Angles, ed., "Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again: The Original Novellas by Shigeru Kayama" (U Minnesota Press, 2023)

September 21, 2023

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again

Shigeru Kayama
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

Godzilla emerged from the sea to devastate Tokyo in the now-classic 1954 film, produced by Tōhō Studios and directed by Ishirō Honda, creating a globa…

John Brackett, "Live Dead: The Grateful Dead, Live Recordings, and the Ideology of Liveness" (Duke UP, 2023)

August 30, 2023

Live Dead

John Brackett
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

The Grateful Dead were one of the most successful live acts of the rock era. Performing over 2300 shows between 1965 and 1995, the Grateful Dead’s rep…

William J. Mann, "Bogie and Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood's Greatest Love Affair" (Harper, 2023)

August 9, 2023

Bogie and Bacall

William J. Mann
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

From the noted Hollywood biographer comes this celebration of the great American love story—the romance between Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart—capt…

William Wei, "Becoming Colorado: The Centennial State in 100 Objects" (UP of Colorado, 2021)

July 20, 2023

Becoming Colorado

William Wei
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

In Becoming Colorado: The Centennial State in 100 Objects (UP of Colorado, 2021), historian William Wei paints a vivid portrait of Colorado history us…

Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik, "Blood in the Tracks: The Minnesota Musicians Behind Dylan's Masterpiece" (U Minnesota Press, 2023)

June 11, 2023

Blood in the Tracks

Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik
Hosted by Daniel Moran
Listen:

The story of the Minneapolis musicians who were unexpectedly summoned to re-record half of the songs on Bob Dylan's most acclaimed album. When Bob Dy…

Catherine Russell, "The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck: Twenty-Six Short Essays on a Working Star" (U Illinois Press, 2023)

May 17, 2023

The Cinema of Barbara Stanwyck

Catherine Russell
Hosted by Daniel Moran

From The Lady Eve, to The Big Valley, Barbara Stanwyck played parts that showcased her multidimensional talents but also illustrated the limits impose…

Dwayne Epstein, "Killin' Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen, the Most Iconic WW II Movie of All Time" (Citadel Press, 2023)

April 18, 2023

Killin' Generals

Dwayne Epstein
Hosted by Daniel Moran

An explosive inside look at The Dirty Dozen, the star-studded war film that broke the rules, shocked the critics, thrilled audiences, and became an al…

Ethan Warren, "The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha" (Columbia UP, 2023)

March 29, 2023

The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson

Ethan Warren
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Paul Thomas Anderson’s evolution from a brash, self-anointed “Indiewood” auteur to one of his generation’s most distinctive voices has been one of the…

Tom Zoellner, "Rim to River: Looking Into the Heart of Arizona" (U Arizona Press, 2023)

March 22, 2023

Rim to River

Tom Zoellner
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Tom Zoellner walked across the length of Arizona to come to terms with his home state. But the trip revealed more mountains behind the mountains. Rim…