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…

e87. Sentimentalism: Punching Them in the Feels

As we move toward the holiday season, there is one thing for certain that we will see: more and more cheesy Christmas movies. You know the type… they’re on Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, and Netflix. Romantic stories about someone giving something up but then discovering the true meaning of Christmas is family or love or something……

e83. 🙂Watching Watchmen😵

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen is one of the most popular comic books of all time. It’s been a best seller since 1987, has never been out of print, has been adapted into a movie, video games, role playing game, and now a TV show. It is the single comic book appearing on Time…

e74. Harry Potter and the Politics of Wizardry

At this point it’s pretty safe to say that the Harry Potter book series is one of the most defining pieces of literature in a generation. Love it or hate it (and if you actually hate it, what’s wrong with you?) you absolutely know what it is… especially if you’re a millennial. But like all…

Call for Comments: Harry Potter and the Strangeness of Wizarding Politics

From Hannah: Like a large majority of nineties kids, I have a fondness for Harry Potter. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read the original series because I’ve revisited them so many times (but I’ve only read Cursed Child once). Honestly, I prefer the Fantastic Beast movies to the Harry Potter series. The…

e69. So, let’s talk about Puerto Rico…

A couple of weeks ago, many Americans were surprised to turn on the news and learn that protests had seemingly suddenly erupted on the island of Puerto Rico demanding the resignation of the governor. This went on for several days until the governor relented and stepped down and then the story all but vanished from…

Call for Comments: On Puerto Rico

People take to the Las Americas Highway in San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 22, 2019 on day 9th of continuous protests demanding the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. – (Photo by Eric Rojas / AFP)ERIC ROJAS/AFP/Getty Images From Katya: We have another serious episode in the works. On July 18th, Puerto Ricans began protesting in…

e67. Social Justice Knitting

Back on June 23rd, a popular social network took a bold stance for 2019. It decided to pronounce all support of Donald Trump or his #MAGA campaign as hate speech and white supremacy and for the most part ban it from its network. Oddly enough the network that took this stance wasn’t Facebook or Twitter.…

e64. Mythologizing the Founders

If you live in the United States of America, then this week is Independence Day, the day when we patriotically celebrate the greatest of our heritage and the foresight of a bunch of men in breeches, wigs and stockings decided to create a perfect nation… or so we tell ourselves. If you live outside the…

Call for Comments: unRavelrying Social Justice Networks

Ravelry.com From Katya: So this one is off the beaten path for the podcast but very much in my wheelhouse. Regular listeners have heard me plug my instagram feed with the caveat that it’s mainly sewing and knitting-centric. One of the biggest parts of the online knitting world is a website called Ravelry. Ravelry is a…