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Monty Python's Life of Brian

Public domain via Flickr, http://bit.ly/2y4mWaB

Tuesday, we're talking about something completely different: The Monty Python troupe's comedic send up of ancient Jerusalem and 1970s England told through the story of a boy mistaken for a savior.

RadioWest divider.

Following their silly romp through Arthurian legend, Monty Python took on something completely different for their second film. The Pythons satirized the similarities between ancient Jerusalem and 1970s England: the terrorism, the authoritarians, the waning empires. They also told a “shadow” version of the Christ story. Monty Python’s Life of Brian was met with critical praise, commercial success, and outraged protest. Film scholar Darl Larsen joins us to unpack one of the greatest comedies of all time. (Rebroadcast)

Darl Larsen is a professor in both the Media Arts department and the Center for Animation at Brigham Young University, where he teaches film, animation, screenwriting and popular culture studies. He has written several books about Monty Python, including his newest A Book about the Film Monty Python's Life of Brian: All the References from Assyrians to Zeffirelli [Independent booksellers|Amazon], which will be published in February 2018.

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
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