Velvet Prisons: Russell Jacoby on American Academia (2019)

This provocative documentary arises from extensive interviews with maverick academic Russell Jacoby concerning the fate of public intellectuals, the neutering of radical work in the academy, the need for daring Utopian thought, the scourge of bad academic writing, the blight of pop psychology, the inspiring legacy of the C. Wright Mills, the impact of the 1960s, resurgent conformity since Reagan, and the 'planned obsolescence of thinking' in anti-intellectual American culture. Along the way we learn of the experiences and influences that formed Jacoby's heretical stances. This documentary enables viewers to visit one of the most interesting intellectual figures of our time, much like earlier films on Noam Chomsky, Slavoj Zizek, and Jacques Derrida.