Lanterns is a miniseries celebrating 10 years of Karyn Kusama's THE INVITATION (2015) with some of the brightest lights in contemporary film criticism and podcasting. Through a hybrid of personal essay and long form interview, host/creator Jim Penola weaves a narrative conversation around the persistent merits and prescient lessons of Kusama's cult masterpiece.

Episode #03 features guests Justin & Laura Khoo, co-hosts of Cows in the Field: a podcast about philosophical themes in popular films. Justin is professor of philosophy at MIT and Laura is an art historian turned fundraiser and teacher.

The Khoos' life experience as educators, parents, and prolific film podcasters facilitates a level of ease and depth within our talk that I both treasure and seek. Topics discussed include: Naomi Klein and doppelgängers ("what if Tom Hardy played David?"), how Logan Marshall-Green embodies Kusama's interest in complex gender roles, and what quantum superposition has to do with grief.

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Lanterns is written, produced, edited, mixed, and hosted by Jim Penola.

Original music by John Penola.

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Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: Invitation2Invitation@gmail.com•••

Lanterns is a miniseries celebrating 10 years of Karyn Kusama's THE INVITATION (2015) with some of the brightest lights in contemporary film criticism and podcasting. Through a hybrid of personal essay and long form interview, host/creator Jim Penola weaves a narrative conversation around the persistent merits and prescient lessons of Kusama's cult masterpiece.

Episode #02 features guests Dom Nero & Adam Volerich, co-hosts of Eye of the Duck. Eye of the Duck is a podcast about movies and the scenes that make them special—what David Lynch calls 'eye of the duck' scenes (a.k.a. the scenes that define the whole).

Dom is a writer and Webby award-winning video editor and Adam is a director and filmmaker.

As seasoned film scholars and storytellers, Dom & Adam bring tremendous insight to THE INVITATION and what it means in 2025. Topics discussed include: the anxiety of being a New Yorker in Los Angeles, the foundational influence of David Lynch on Karyn Kusama, and the relevant virtues of jettisoning politeness in times of strife.

🍷 🏮 🍷

Lanterns is written, produced, edited, mixed, and hosted by Jim Penola.

Original music by John Penola.

🍷 🏮 🍷

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: Invitation2Invitation@gmail.com•••

Lanterns is a miniseries celebrating 10 years of Karyn Kusama's THE INVITATION (2015) with some of the brightest lights in contemporary film criticism and podcasting. Through a hybrid of personal essay and long form interview, host/creator Jim Penola weaves a narrative conversation around the persistent merits and prescient lessons of Kusama's cult masterpiece.

Episode #01 features author, critic, filmmaker, and video essayist Scout Tafoya of RogerEbert.com–a brilliant mind who sheds considerable light on Kusama's cinematic verve, aesthetic fluency, and most critical influences.

Via a conversation that explores the dark humor, radical vulnerability, and deep catharsis of Kusama's film, Tafoya and host Jim Penola argue in favor of the ongoing merits that THE INVITATION still offers a decade later.

🍷 🏮 🍷

Lanterns is written, produced, edited, mixed, and hosted by Jim Penola.

Original music by John Penola.

🍷 🏮 🍷

Support the show

•••Shout-out to some of my lovely & amazing patrons: Rupa dasGupta, John Penola, Jane Penola, and Joseph Penola. ⚫ Get early access, extended episodes, and the Patreon-exclusive companion podcast "Ellipsis" only at Patreon.com/jimpenola ⚫ Follow us on Twitter: @AnInvitation and Instagram: @Invitation2Invitation ⚫ Email us: Invitation2Invitation@gmail.com•••