e47. Milkshake Ducks & Problematic Artists

It seems like it happens every day lately. Your favorite writer, comedian, singer, actor, sports star, politician or whatever suddenly hits the news because it turns out he’s a racist, rapist, sexist, homophobe, murderer or otherwise deplorable person. Particularly in the #MeToo era, we’re seeing this more and more with the likes of Bill Cosby,…

e46. Black Superheroes and Representation

(Note: This episode initially contained a corrupted audio file. It has been cleaned up and reuploaded. The current uploaded version should have better sound. Sorry for the inconvenience) As we close out February and Black History month, we thought that it would be a fun idea to talk about the importance of representation, diversity and…

Episode 22: Monuments and Memories

A couple of weeks ago, a protest at the University of North Carolina resulted in the toppling of “Silent Sam” a statue that stands at the university to commemorate Civil War era Confederate soldiers. A week later, another protest at the site resulted in police using mass pepper spray on the student population. Confederate monuments…

Call For Comments: Monuments to Racism

[caption id="attachment_857" align="alignright" width="300"] Police stand guard after the confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Aug. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)[/caption] From Mav: Once again, we’re in a situation where fortune calls upon us and I am presented…

Call for Comments: Sports and Social Justice

From Mav: Football season is nearly upon us. If you know me, then you know that’s a big deal for me. Even if you’re not a football fan, assuming you live on the planet Earth, chances are you are also aware of the current battle over the rights of the football players to kneel in protest,…

Call for Comments: Cosplayers of Color

From Mav: Usually we try to mix topics on our show up from week to week; one week generally has very little to do with whatever happened the week before. This week is a little different, but only slightly. Last week, while I was prepping the Call for Comments for the She-Ra and Male Gaze/Superheroine…

Episode 11: Toxic Offenders & the Dark Side of Fandom

As great as internet is for creating a safe place for people to enjoy all manner of geeky hobbies, there’s a dark side of fandom. From Gamergate to 4chan, there are some segments of geek culture that have a reputation for being toxic. A reputation hat sadly threatens to tarnish the public perception fo geek…

Episode 8: Academia & Viral Social Justice

Earlier this month Duke University appeared in the news amid a minor controversy where a school administrator was offended by the rap music playing in a campus coffee shop and complained resulting in the employees (an African American woman and a Caucasian man) on duty getting fired. Later in the same month an African American…

Call for Comments: Hegemony, Gatekeeping and Ivory Towers

From Katya: On May 4th, the Vice President of Student Affairs at Duke University, Larry Moneta, walked into a coffee shop. Unfortunately, this is not the beginning of a mediocre joke but a chain of unacceptable decisions resulting in the mistreatment of campus workers. [caption id="attachment_428" align="alignright" width="300"] Young Dolph[/caption] Inside the shop, Joe Van…