The Heist Film: Ocean's Eleven (2001) Artwork

Special Topics in Media

Special Topics in Media Studies is a lecture-based podcast that tackles media history one artifact at a time. Each season of the series we will investigate a different mass media theme, medium, or programming genre. While our focus is educational (it is an academic podcast after all), we tailor our conversations toward a broad audience of media enthusiasts.

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The Heist Film: Ocean's Eleven (2001)

November 25, 2025 • Garret Castleberry • Season 5 • Episode 2

What's old is new! Special Topics in Media kicks off another "vault" discussion (circa fall 2021) celebrating The Heist Film as a distinct (yet liminal) film genre. Host Garret Castleberry recruits Scott McMurry to uncover the roots of the heist genre and its connections to American social and cultural history. The dialogic duo kick off their conversation series with an examination of Steven Soderbergh's 2001 crew caper, Ocean's Eleven. Is Ocean's Eleven the "perfect" crime film? Let us know!

Host: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings to pair with Season 5 "The Heist Film":
Jim Leach & Jeannette Slowniowski (editors). The Best Laid Plans: Interrogating the Heist Film. Wayne State University Press, 2017.

Daryl Lee. The Heist Film: Stealing With Style. Wallflower Press, 2014.

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Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.