The Golden Silent Films - A Silent Movie Podcast

Stewart Lee has carved out a niche that almost no one else in podcasting is covering: the silent film era. The Golden Silent Films goes back before talkies, before the studio system fully crystallized, to explore a period of filmmaking that most people only know through a handful of famous names like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. The show alternates between detailed breakdowns of specific silent films and full-length biographies of figures like Rudolph Valentino and Barbara La Marr, giving equal weight to the art and the artists. Season 6 is currently dedicated to Valentino's centennial, which gives you a sense of how deep and sustained the research goes on any given subject. With 88 episodes, a 4.8-star rating from 22 reviews, and a bimonthly release schedule, this is clearly a labor of love from someone with genuine expertise. Lee brings on guests like author Sherri Snyder and covers genuinely unexpected angles — a recent episode examined Delaware's silent film history, which is exactly the kind of thing you never knew you wanted to hear about until someone lays it out for you. The show fills a real gap in the podcast world where almost everyone else starts their coverage in the 1930s. If you have ever been curious about pre-Hollywood cinema or the true origins of the movie star, this is where to begin.