• 1 hour 14 minutes
    Complete Total Final Annihilating Artistic Control

    Stanley experiences a career low when his newest movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, has mass walkouts during its premiere. But 2001 quickly builds an audience, and Stanley becomes a god among filmmakers. His next film is even riskier: a violent, perverse look at the future called A Clockwork Orange, which ignites a firestorm of rage from Stanley's British neighbors.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    5 November 2026, 8:01 am
  • 55 minutes 25 seconds
    That Unbearable Feeling

    Channeling his own growing anxiety, Stanley realizes that the only way to make a movie about nuclear war is to make it a comedy. Calling it Dr. Strangelove, Stanley pushes his talented cast and world-class crew to their limits, resulting in a riotous, polarizing satire that became a counterculture classic.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    29 October 2026, 7:01 am
  • 53 minutes 24 seconds
    How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Lolita?

    Stanley adapts the most shocking book of its time, a purported love story between a middle-aged man and a 12 year-old girl named Lolita.  To escape censors, Stanley shoots the movie in England.  But it still ends up stirring plenty of controversy, which propels it to become a major hit.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    22 October 2026, 7:01 am
  • 55 minutes 1 second
    A Talented Shit

    Kirk Douglas offers Stanley a massive paycheck to take over directing a historical epic called Spartacus.  Against his better judgment, Stanley agrees, and gets roped into one of the most difficult productions of his career. Despite the film's success, Stanley regrets his involvement and learns a painful lesson about Hollywood hierarchies.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    15 October 2026, 7:01 am
  • 54 minutes 11 seconds
    The Breakout

    Stanley heads to Hollywood to direct The Killing, a crime caper with a famous cast and a confusing storyline.  The film tanks at the box office but attracts the attention of movie star Kirk Douglas, who agrees to star in Stanley's next project.  Stanley decides to adapt the antiwar novel Paths of Glory, which he films in Germany and unexpectedly meets the love of his life.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    8 October 2026, 7:01 am
  • 45 minutes 54 seconds
    The Opening Gambit

    Stanley takes his first crack at filmmaking, starting with shorts and moving up to low-budget independent features.  His family bankrolls his productions and his friends act as cast and crew, but his efforts fail to turn a profit.  As his first marriage begins to crumble, Stanley plays chess for quarters, until a new friend gives him a shot at the big time.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1 October 2026, 7:01 am
  • 50 minutes 5 seconds
    The Bronx Kid

    Stanley Kubrick grows up rooting for the Yankees, playing drums, and watching World War II newsreels at the local movie theater. At age 13, his father gifts him his first camera, which leads to a prestigious job at a famous magazine... and the opportunity to watch a film being made on the streets of New York.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    24 September 2026, 7:01 am
  • 1 minute 51 seconds
    Season 7 Trailer 3: Stanley

    Actor Sterling Hayden details the worst day of his life, which occurred on the set of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

    Stanley, from Turner Classic Movies and Criterion, starts September 24.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    17 September 2026, 7:01 am
  • 1 minute 50 seconds
    Season 7 Trailer 2: Stanley

    Katharina Kubrick recalls life at home with her famous father, where music was a constant presence.

    Stanley, the new season of The Plot Thickens, starts September 24.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    10 September 2026, 7:01 am
  • 2 minutes 21 seconds
    Season 7 Trailer: Stanley

    Steven Spielberg tells Ben Mankiewicz about the deal he struck with Stanley Kubrick for information about a famous cut scene from Dr. Strangelove.

    Stanley, an eleven-episode limited series, begins September 24.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    3 September 2026, 7:01 am
  • 40 minutes 44 seconds
    Ben Answers Your Cleopatra Questions

    Ben Mankiewicz received hundreds of voicemails about Cleopatra, and now he's answering them! Well, as many of them as he can. In this special bonus episode, Ben weighs in on the six-hour cut of Cleopatra, what Richard Burton thought of the movie, Judy Garland's love for Joe Mankiewicz... and much more!

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    18 September 2025, 7:01 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App