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Evil Literature: languages of censorship

Season 7

The pro-censorship lobby produced a rich and often hilarious polemic. Dr Lloyd (Maedhbh) Houston joins me to talk effluent, tainted minds and ‘race suicide’. We also debate whether censorship was more of a moral panic than a conspiracy theory.


  • Alongside the priests, there are a lot of politicians in these debates where they use rhetoric of censorship to express profound and disturbed Anglophobia. Aoife Bhreatnach
  • D.P. Moran would have thrived in today’s internet culture, he would have been the king of Twitter. Lloyd (Maedhbh) Houston
  • If you are looking for filth in everything you read, you will find filth. Lloyd (Maedhbh) Houston
  • Watching Irish politicians figure out who to blame for venereal disease after the British garrison has gone is so funny. Lloyd (Maedhbh) Houston


Browse censorship debates online https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/find/?debateType=dail

You can support the show here: https://www.patreon.com/censoredpod

And buy stickers here: https://censoredpod.bigcartel.com/

More episodes

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  • 4. The Full Gere: American Gigolo (1980)

    38:47
    Ties, suits and sex - Paul Schrader's exploration of consumerism and Richard Gere's hotness was pruned of bad language and "sex scenes" by the Irish censor.American Gigolo (1980, dir. Paul Schrader) starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Bill Duke, Hector ElizondoYou Must Remember This on American Gigolo More on Aoife's Gere-athon for Patreon supportersMerch!
  • 3. Video Nasties (Part Two)

    31:59
    What’s the worst celluloid crime committed in The Evil Dead: excessive violence or Bruce Campbell’s fringe? Lloyd Meadhbh (a fan) tries to persuade Aoife (a sceptic) to embrace this video-nasty classic. Also, listener correspondence on The Rocky Road to Dublin.The Evil Dead (dir. Sam Rami, 1981) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520deadEvil Dead II (dir. Sam Rami, 1987) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520dead%2520Weird Studies Podcast on ‘Evil Dead II’ https://www.weirdstudies.com/136Support us, if you can
  • 2. Video Nasties (Part One)

    35:23
    Lloyd Meadhbh rewinds the tape back to the 1980s, when a new film medium caused a new (ish) moral panic. Support usMerch
  • 1. The Rocky Road to Dublin (1967)

    41:34
    How revolutionary was Ireland anyway? Journalist and director Peter Lennon asked how a nation birthed by rebels seemed to be run by Catholic priests. His caustic script allied to Raoul Coutard's captivating cinematography made for a unique documentary. We discuss odd accents, cheeky children and creepy priests.The Rocky Road to Dublin (1967, re-released by IFI in 2004) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66JpC_T3wFMMerchPatreon
  • 10. Censorship by Sharpie

    32:06
    Did you know DIY censorship was practiced by those outside the film censor’s office. Even after official censors vetted publicity material, some film posters showed too much skin, especially male arms and legs.  Liam O’Leary collected this material  Kevin Rockett Irish Film Censorship: a cultural journey from silent cinema to internet pornography (2004) Doctored film posters can be seen here Original, undoctored film posters:The Virgin Soldiers (1969) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065182/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 The Hustler (1961) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_q_the%2520hust Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066016/ From Here to Eternity (1953) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045793/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_from%2520here The Chastity Belt/On My Way To The Crusades I Met A Girl Who (1967) https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0064167/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_4_nm_4_q_chastity%2520belt A Cold Wind in August (1961) https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0054755/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 MerchSupport us on Patreon if you are 18 or over. Yes, we have been censored.
  • 9. The Devils is not a film for everyone

    46:56
    Ken Russell's The Devils is definitely a film for us. Satanism, orgies, exorcisms - what's not to love? And it's a complicated censorship story of different cuts for different censors.
  • 8. Are you trying to censor me, Mrs Robinson?

    37:30
    Banned, appealed, cut eleven times: The Graduate (1967) had a torrid time in Ireland. What narrative were Irish audiences allowed to see? And, Mrs Robinson, we stan.
  • 7. (Un) Willkommen to the Cabaret

    36:05
    A film beloved by our hosts that proved too much for the Irish censor. Was it Liza Minnelli's (as Sally Bowles) legs or men fancying other men? The answer is quite surprising. But then, so is writing a musical about genocide.Cabaret (dir. Bob Fosse, 1972)Merch!Help keep the show on the road (Over 18s only because 'smut' is censored)
  • 6. Ulster Says No, Absolutely Not

    50:17
    Lloyd Meadhbh explains Northern Ireland’s special censorship sauce to Aoife. There’s cross-border agreement, even more censors than usual and a bit of flogging. Films:Ulster the Garden of Eden (1930), tourist authority of NI Frankenstein (1931, dir James Whale) Ourselves Alone (1936, dir Brian Desmond Hurst, Walter Summers) Released in the US as Rivers of Unrest https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028071/  The Informer (1935, dir John Ford) Merch!Support us