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The Extended Universe: How Disney Killed The Movies And Took Over The World -- Vicky Osterweil In Conversation With Carrie Miller
From the venue:
The Extended Universe: How Disney Killed the Movies and Took Over the World — Vicky Osterweil in conversation with Carrie Miller
This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. Charis welcomes Vicky Osterweil in conversation with Carrie Miller in celebration of The Extended Universe: How Disney Killed the Movies and Took Over the World, a provocative history of Disney's rise to cultural dominance.
In The Extended Universe, Vicky Osterweil takes us on a quest to discover how Disney's "imagineers" have made it impossible to reflect on the wonders of growing up without thinking of Disney's movies, amusement parks, and merchandising. Drawing on extensive interviews with filmmakers, screenwriters, union organizers, and Disney "adults" alike, Osterweil unearths reactionary political commitments and maleficent legal maneuvers so cartoonishly evil they would make one of Walt's own animated villains blush.Along the way, Osterweil braids together corporate skullduggery with a not entirely unsympathetic analysis of some of Disney's most famous movies. The result is an entertaining and convincing case that Disney's entire business model has been built upon a ruthless and fanatical insistence on intellectual property rights--from Steamboat Willie to Avengers: Infinity War and beyond
About the Author
Vicky Osterweil is a Philadelphia-based writer, agitator, and worker whose first book, In Defense of Looting, described historical struggles for liberation in the US. She is a member of the anarchist journal CAW and has written about the intersections of film, politics, and culture for publications such as The Paris Review, Art in America, Al Jazeera America, The Baffler, Dissent, Lux Magazine, and The New Inquiry, where she was also a culture editor for many years.
About the Conversation Partner
Carrie Miller is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist focused on telling queer stories through film, art, and history. Their work explores queerness as both identity and action—pushing boundaries and creating space for underrepresented voices. They founded Lavender Lens and collaborate with LGBTQ+ organizations like Out on Film, Queer Film Alliance, The Bakery Atlanta, Charis Books & More, and Touching Up Our Roots to build community through storytelling.
The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.
Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. In-person event guidelines:
All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.
We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.
This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually.
As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.
If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304.Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.
By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
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The Extended Universe: How Disney Killed The ... | 04/28/2026 7:30 PM