Podcast / The Time of Monsters / Oct 13, 2024

Francis Ford Coppola’s Contentious Utopia

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Kate Wagner on the polarizing politics of Megalopolis.

The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Contentious Utopia w/ Kate Wagner
byThe Nation Company LLC

More than forty years in the making, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is the most divisive movie of our time. Some critics have hailed it as a major work while others dismiss it as a stinker. The film tells the story of Cesar Catilina (played by Adam Driver), a visionary architect who fights for his utopian urban plans against the entrenched forces of the status quo. Whether you like the movie or not, the uncontestable fact is it is rich in ideas and offers much to talk about.

To talk about the movie I spoke with The Nation’s architectural critic Kate Wagner. We discuss the movie’s relationship to early 20th century modernism as well as earlier movies such as Metropolis and the fiction of Ayn Rand. A major topic of conversation is the film’s reactionary gender politics.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

(Courtesy of Lionsgate)

More than forty years in the making, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is the most divisive movie of our time. Some critics have hailed it as a major work while others dismiss it as a stinker. The film tells the story of Cesar Catilina (played by Adam Driver), a visionary architect who fights for his utopian urban plans against the entrenched forces of the status quo. Whether you like the movie or not, the uncontestable fact is it is rich in ideas and offers much to talk about.

To talk about the movie I spoke with The Nation’s architectural critic Kate Wagner. We discuss the movie’s relationship to early 20th century modernism as well as earlier movies such as Metropolis and the fiction of Ayn Rand. A major topic of conversation is the film’s reactionary gender politics.

The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms.” The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The GuardianThe New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

More from The Nation

The US Resumes the Iran War, the Ebola Outbreak Surges in the DRC, Andy Burnham Becomes the UK’s PM

The US Resumes the Iran War, the Ebola Outbreak Surges in the DRC, Andy Burnham Becomes the UK’s PM The US Resumes the Iran War, the Ebola Outbreak Surges in the DRC, Andy Burnham Becomes the UK’s PM

Danny and Derek round up the week’s global news, from Iran, Gaza, and Yemen to Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, the ICC, and shifting US-China influence.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

A demonstrator holds a placard during a march against the implementation of digital ID cards, in central London on October 18, 2025.

Tech Refusal Has a Very Long History—With Thomas Dekeyser Tech Refusal Has a Very Long History—With Thomas Dekeyser

Paris Marx is joined by Thomas Dekeyser to explore how past movements that resisted technological change can reshape how we think about technology and progress today.

Paris Marx

Demonstrators rally during a protest against artificial intelligence outside Anthropic headquarters in San Francisco, California, on July 11, 2026.

The Need for Responsible AI—With Robert Wright The Need for Responsible AI—With Robert Wright

Robert Wright joins the show to examine AI’s promise and perils, from machine intelligence and automation to capitalism, climate, and global regulation.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

Protesters attend a vigil for a man that was killed in a shooting involving ICE, on July 13, 2026, in Biddeford, Maine.

Trump’s Renewed War, More ICE Killings, and Teaching American History Trump’s Renewed War, More ICE Killings, and Teaching American History

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Harold Meyerson analyzes the week’s politics, and Beverly Gage explains Trump’s attacks on the Smithsonian.

Jon Wiener

Pope Leo XIV during a visit at the Maqam Echahid Martyrs' Monument in El Madania, near Algiers, on April 13, 2026.

Dope Popes—With Matt Sitman Dope Popes—With Matt Sitman

Matthew Sitman joins Fighting Fascism to discuss Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, the Catholic critique of Big Tech and inequality, and faith in contemporary politics.

Graham Platner, Democratic US Senate candidate for Maine, during a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Maine on June 9, 2026.

Maine After Platner Maine After Platner

Eoin Higgins on finding a new candidate after a scandal.

Jeet Heer

x