About Nathan Abrams

I trained as a historian of Modern US History but have branched out into Jewish Studies and Film Studies. I'm currently a professor of film studies at Bangor University in north Wales. I broadcast and write regularly on transatlantic Jewish culture. I've written a biography of Norman Podhoretz and since 2012 have been focussing on Stanley Kubrick with a bio of him forthcoming in 2023. I'm also interested in food.

Nathan Abrams is a professor of film at Bangor University in Wales. His most recent work is on film director Stanley Kubrick. To discuss and propose a book for interview you can reach him at n.abrams@bangor.ac.uk. Twitter: @ndabrams

NBN Episodes hosted by Nathan:

Andrew Hesketh, "Escape to Gwrych Castle: A Jewish Refugee Story" (U of Wales Press, 2023)

September 4, 2023

Escape to Gwrych Castle

Andrew Hesketh
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

In 1939, a number of German Jewish refugee children, brought over on the Kindertransport, found themselves in Abergele, North Wales. Their temporary n…

Heike Bauer et al., "Jewish Women in Comics: Bodies and Borders" (Syracuse UP, 2022)

September 2, 2023

Jewish Women in Comics

Heike Bauer, Andrea Greenbaum, and Sarah Lightman
Hosted by Nathan Abrams
Listen:

In Jewish Women in Comics: Bodies and Borders (Syracuse UP, 2022), contributors draw upon a rich treasure trove of Jewish women’s comics to explore th…

Andrea Hammel, "Finding Refuge: Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Fled to Wales to Escape the Nazis" (Honno Press, 2022)

April 4, 2023

Finding Refuge

Andrea Hammel
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

A popular history telling the stories of people who found refuge in Wales from Nazism in the 1930s and 1940s. Finding Refuge will resonate with those…

J. W. Rinzler and Lee Unkrich, "Stanley Kubrick's The Shining" (Taschen, 2023)

February 6, 2023

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining

J. W. Rinzler and Lee Unkrich
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

In 1966 Stanley Kubrick told a friend that he wanted to make “the world’s scariest movie.” A decade later Stephen King’s The Shining landed on the dir…

Craig Oldham, "The Shining: A Visual and Cultural Haunting" (Rough Trade Books, 2022)

December 3, 2022

The Shining

Craig Oldham
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

The Shining: A Visual and Cultural Haunting (Rough Trade Books, 2022) is an immersive, multi-dimensional examination of one of the most famous films i…

Joseph McBride, "The Whole Durn Human Comedy: Life According to the Coen Brothers" (Anthem Press, 2022)

October 28, 2022

The Whole Durn Human Comedy

Joseph McBride
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

The Coen Bros. have attracted a wide following and have been rewarded with Oscars and other honors. Some of their films such as Fargo, The Big Lebowsk…

Tony Shaw and Giora Goodman, "Hollywood and Israel: A History" (Columbia UP, 2022)

April 8, 2022

Hollywood and Israel

Tony Shaw and Giora Goodman
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

From Frank Sinatra’s early pro-Zionist rallying to Steven Spielberg’s present-day peacemaking, Hollywood has long enjoyed a “special relationship” wit…

Lester D. Friedman, "Citizen Spielberg" (U Illinois Press, 2022)

April 6, 2022

Citizen Spielberg

Lester D. Friedman
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

Steven Spielberg's extraordinary career redefined Hollywood, but his achievement goes far beyond shattered box office records. Rejecting the view of S…

Robert P. Kolker, "Triumph Over Containment: American Film in the 1950s" (Rutgers UP, 2021)

March 25, 2022

Triumph Over Containment

Robert P. Kolker
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

The long 1950s, which extend back to the early postwar period and forward into the early 1960s, were a period of “containment culture” in America, as …

Helene Meyers, "Movie-Made Jews: An American Tradition" (Rutgers UP, 2021)

March 11, 2022

Movie-Made Jews

Helene Meyers
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

Movie-Made Jews: An American Tradition (Rutgers University Press, 2021) focuses on a rich, usable American Jewish cinematic tradition. This tradition …

David Schwartz, "David Cronenberg: Interviews" (UP of Mississippi, 2021)

February 24, 2022

David Cronenberg

David Schwartz
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

From his early horror movies, including Scanners, Videodrome, Rabid, and The Fly—with their exploding heads, mutating sex organs, rampaging parasites,…

Rich Brownstein, "Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide" (McFarland, 2021)

February 1, 2022

Holocaust Cinema Complete

Rich Brownstein
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

Holocaust movies have become an important segment of world cinema and the de-facto Holocaust education for many. One quarter of all American-produced …

Keith Kahn-Harris, "The Babel Message: A Love Letter to Language" (Icon Books, 2021)

January 7, 2022

The Babel Message

Keith Kahn-Harris
Hosted by Nathan Abrams

A thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point. Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemi…