Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today announced the next season of its acclaimed podcast The Plot Thickens, titled “Stanley”, an 11-episode exploration of Stanley Kubrick created in partnership with Criterion, premiering September 24. “Stanley” features excerpts from a never-before-heard audio interview with Kubrick himself, giving listeners the rare opportunity to hear the legendary filmmaker in his own words. The new season will be available on all major podcast apps and platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, with new episodes released every Thursday.
Buy Kubrick: An OdysseyHosted by TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz, The Plot Thickens “Stanley”, traces Kubrick’s journey from a curious Bronx teenager, first inspired by a camera gifted to him by his father at age 13, to a visionary filmmaker who redefined the art of filmmaking. Across his career, Kubrick pushed boundaries, challenged censorship, and pursued an uncompromising level of creative control that shaped landmark films including Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut.
Among the season’s most extraordinary discoveries is a never-before-heard audio interview with Kubrick himself. Recorded in 1972 by Newsday film critic Joseph Gelmis during the release of A Clockwork Orange, the excerpted conversation gives listeners the rare opportunity to hear Kubrick’s own voice as he discusses directing actors, independent filmmaking, football, and even his beloved pets, offering an intimate, firsthand portrait of one of cinema’s most influential and famously private filmmakers.
The podcast also features original interviews conducted by Mankiewicz with leading voices in film and culture, including Katharina Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Sofia Coppola, Matthew Modine, Josh Safdie, George Miller, Phil Rosenthal, Michael Bauman, Lee Unkrich and longtime Kubrick collaborator James Harris, alongside critics, historians, and authors including Claire Dederer and Jon Ronson.
“The Plot Thickens podcast has become one of the most ambitious and rewarding ways we explore the stories behind the people who shape filmmaking, and this season on Stanley Kubrick is a perfect example of that,” said Charlie Tabesh, SVP Programming and Content Strategy at TCM. “The discovery of this previously unheard conversation with Kubrick is truly extraordinary, and alongside new interviews and other archival recordings, it helps create the most complete portrait of the filmmaker possible. As a network dedicated to preserving and celebrating film history, TCM is the ideal home to share a recording like this, pairing Kubrick’s own voice with thoughtful storytelling and the insights of those who knew and studied his work.”
In conjunction with the new season of The Plot Thickens, TCM will also present Completely Kubrick, a four-night September programming event celebrating the entirety of Kubrick’s feature filmography. The event will showcase every feature directed by Kubrick—from early works including Fear and Desire, Killer’s Kiss, and The Killing to enduring classics such as Paths of Glory, Spartacus, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut. The programming event will also include Kubrick’s early short films Day of the Fight and Flying Padre.
As part of it’s broader mission around film restoration and preservation, Criterion has focused on sharing the Kubrick’s films and stories for almost four decades. Later this year, they will be releasing Criterion’s Complete Kubrick box set.
“Criterion has been celebrating the work of Stanley Kubrick for more than 35 years,” said Peter Becker, President of The Criterion Collection. “From our early Laserdisc releases of The Killing and Paths of Glory to the newly announced Complete Kubrick special edition box set coming this October. We’re delighted to be continuing the tradition by partnering with our friends at TCM on this epic journey through Kubrick’s life and work.”
With its signature storytelling and deep research drawing on more than 200 newly uncovered and previously unheard archival interviews, The Plot Thickens “Stanley” brings listeners behind the scenes of Kubrick’s creative process, capturing the obsessive precision, artistic ambition, and unforgettable imagery that cemented his legacy as one of the most influential filmmakers in history.
TCM PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE BELOW:
COMPLETELY KUBRICK
Final dates and times subject to change
SEPTEMBER 3
- 8:00PM – KILLER’S KISS (1955)
- 9:15PM – DAY OF THE FIGHT (1951)
- 9:45PM – THE KILLING (1956) [review]
- 11:15PM – FLYING PADRE (1951)
- 11:30PM – PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
- 1:15AM – FEAR AND DESIRE (1952) [review]
SEPTEMBER 10
- 8:00PM – SPARTACUS (1960) [review]
- 11:30PM – LOLITA (1962) [review]
- 2:15AM – DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) [review]
SEPTEMBER 17
- 8:00PM – 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
- 10:30PM – A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) [review]
- 1:00AM– BARRY LYNDON (1975) [review]
SEPTEMBER 24
- 8:00PM – THE SHINING (1980) [review]
- 10:45PM – FULL METAL JACKET (1987)
- 1:00AM – EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)
