Skip to content

Taking the ‘Vineland’ express to ‘One Battle After Another’

Political Theater, Episode 387

The movie “One Battle After Another” expands on issues from the novel it is based on, Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland.” Jason Dick discusses the book with Pynchon scholar Sean Carswell on the latest Political Theater podcast. (Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call)
The movie “One Battle After Another” expands on issues from the novel it is based on, Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland.” Jason Dick discusses the book with Pynchon scholar Sean Carswell on the latest Political Theater podcast. (Jason Dick/CQ Roll Call)

Jason Dick and Sean Carswell discuss Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland,” how it leads to Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie “One Battle After Another,” the conversation those two works have about American culture and politics, as well as the 1960s left, the Nixonian right, Reaganism, the drug war, Trumpism and, for good measure, Emerson’s concept of the level of divine justice.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

Negotiations on Senate stopgap spending bill drag

‘How do we get out of here?’ — Congressional Hits and Misses

Photos of the week | July 24-30, 2026

Trump defends ‘weaponization’ fund amid Blanche confirmation drama

It could be a very cloudy month in the Hart atrium

Senate Democrats continue staff diversity survey, despite Trump’s anti-DEI trend