Call for Comments: Movie Franchising and Cinematic Universes

Don’t worry, there are no Avengers: Infinity War spoilers in this post. That said,  I’m pretty sure that international podcasting law requires that all shows talk about the movie next week in some way shape or form. Somehow podcasts devoted to knitting are going to have to come up with a way of discussing patterns…

Episode 3: Violence in Video Games

Do video games make you violent? Probably not, but if so why is there so much controversy surrounding them? This week, Mav is joined by Katya and Abby — both of whom are far more knowledgeable than him on the subject — to discuss video games, mass shooters, psychology, the military industrial complex, headshots, zombies…

Call For Comments: Pop Culture and Religiosity

One of the fun things about doing a dissertation on comic books is that I get to spend some time lurking in random forums on the internet (Facebook groups, Redit, Tumblr, that sort of thing) just observing subcultural behavior in fan culture. Anyway, one particular group I monitor had a very odd interaction about a week ago…

Episode 2: Do You Remember Nostalgia?

Today we talk about nostalgia porn. No… not that kind of porn… though I guess it might be interesting to do a whole episode devoted to talking about vintage pornography (“This one’s a talkie!”). This is a whole episode about media that references the past as a key feature of the media. Your Stranger Things.…

Call for Comments: Virtual Violence

From Mav: First of all, if you haven’t seen it, the first episode of the podcast is up, so come check it out. And we will be recording the second one tomorrow, so there’s still time to add your comments on pop culture nostalgia. Now with all of that out of the way, I’d like…

Episode 1: Origin Stories

At long last, it is finally here. Welcome to the first episode of the VoxPopcast, “Origin Stories.” Here, Wayne and Mav, joined by special guest John Darowski, explain the concept Vox Populorum and then debate the usefulness, purpose and significance of origin stories in comic books, movies and TV shows. Let us know what you think.…

Call for Comments: Do you remember nostalgia?

From Mav: This weekend I got a chance to see the film Ready Player One. As I said when I wrote my review of it (if you don’t read my movie reviews on my personal blog site, you absolutely should) I had not actually read the book before, though I’ve been meaning to and i’m sure I’ll get…

Update: Just Recorded Episode One

Wayne and Mav just recorded the first episode of the podcast on Origin Stories. Not quite sure when we’re going to post it yet, but we wanted everyone to know that we are certainly working on it. Thank you to everyone who commented on the first blog and gave us ideas to address in the…