Call For Comments: Consumer vs. Experience Culture

From Wayne: Awhile back I read an article called Millennials: Fueling the Experience Economy, and it got me thinking about a number of things. Let me say up front that while do think there are distinct generational distinctions I’m not one of those old guys who are decrying youth. It’s the different perspectives and experiences,…

e96. Mask Theory

In the 21st century, when we think of masks, we think of superheroes. But the idea of superheroes as a concept is only about a century old. Masks have been around forever. They have a long history in theatre, professional wrestling and costume balls. Beyond that they have a cultural tradition that dates back to…

Call For Comments: Mask Theory

From Mav: Back when we started the podcast we made a list of stuff we thought we might want to talk about one day. One of the things that was on both my list and Wayne’s was doing a show on “mask theory.” It’s a topic that we both have an interest in because of……

e94. Why Do Award Shows Suck?

After being disappointed by last year’s Oscars, Hannah swore that we would never do another show about them. But then she started thinking about it and wanted to take a different approach. It seems like every year during Oscar season, from the announcements all the way through the picks, more people are upset than happy.…

Call For Comments: Why are award shows dumb?

From Mav: Last year, after our Oscars prediction show — and the actual Oscars — Hannah vowed that she never wanted to do another Oscars show again. So I was kinda surprised when she asked me about doing one this year. However, she did have a different direction she wanted to go. Instead of predicting…

e92: 2010s Decade in Review

Somehow it’s 2020. I don’t get how that happened. 2020 isn’t a year… 2020 is what you make up if you’re setting some science fiction story in the future and you’re too lazy to pick an interesting sound year like 2027 or something. But somehow it actually is 2020, which means the start of a…

Call for Comments: Out with the Old, In with the New, A Decade in Review

From Hannah: In our long line of special episodes, I wanted to look back over the last decade of popular culture. On this show, we’ve talked about some of the big ones in terms of franchises (Marvel pulled off The Avengers! Four times! Disney brought back Star Wars!), but clearly a lot more has happened…

e88. Yes, Internet, There is a Santa Claus

Christmas time is nearly upon us and that means… well, actually it means a lot of things. Maybe to you Christmas is about family, or love, or religion, or presents. Maybe you don’t celebrate Christmas at all. But one thing is for sure this time of year… you can’t escape Santa Claus. He’s everywhere. Santa…

e86. Good Things We Hate

(Repost! This is a repost of an earlier posted blog that was lost in a server crash and upgrade) Taste is a funny thing. Whether it’s books, movies, tv shows, music, sports teams, food… whatever. We take our tastes personally. When we enjoy something we want other people to enjoy it too. We try to…

Call For Comments: Hey Virginia, is there still a Santa Claus?

(Repost! This is a repost of an earlier posted blog that was lost in a server crash and upgrade) From Mav: Back when we asked for suggestions for future episodes, one of the ones that came up (suggested by John Darowski) was to talk about Santa Claus in Popular Culture. As we get closer to the…