Last year, we (like many people) were so overcome with the Netflix show Bridgerton that we recorded not one but two episodes about it. We weren’t the only ones. It was a runaway sensation. Well, it’s been a year and Bridgerton time has returned with slightly more fixed fanfare. Even this week’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has…
Category: Race and Class
Call For Comments: Why do we fill out Oscar ballots?
Dune, West Side Story, The Power of the Dog, and Belfast are all nominees for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Picture From Monica: The 2022 Oscars are upcoming on March 27th, so we’re doing a good old-fashioned predictions episode. But as I sat down to fill out my ballot, I also found myself in…
e205. Why Do We Love Batman?
If you’re a regular listener of this show then you no doubt are aware that the Batman was released in cinemas last week. At the current moment, it is in fact the number one movie at the box office worldwide. And of course, that was to be expected. Everyone knew that it would be a…
e203. Consumption, Capitalism, and the Culture of Luxury Fashion
Can you tell the difference between Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Gucci, and Versace? What about Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen and Jimmy Choo? Do you even know who these people are? In all likelihood you read that list and knew that those are some of the biggest brands in luxury fashion. Or, if you…
Call for Comments: Hey, Are Y’all Talking About Batman?
From Hannah: How have we gone over two hundred episodes without dedicating an episode to talking about Batman? (Indeed, the Eternals of all superheroes got their own episode before we decided to focus on Batman.) From Mav: I mean, we didn’t. Episode 54 was totally all talking about Batman! Just none of you were on…
e202. To Kill a Mockingbird… and a Maus — Censorship & Book Banning
Every once in a while the world of weekly pop culture and the world of literary academia collide so totally that the world notices even outside of our show. Last week was one of those weeks. A school board in Tennessee voted to remove Maus, the critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize winning Holocaust memoir graphic novel,…
e201. The Romance Show: (Hannah wouldn’t let us call) Love In The Time Of COVID
Despite the fact that it is perennially one of the best selling genres in literature, Romance is often looked down upon. Part of this is simple misogyny; as a culture we look down upon things that are seen as “for women.” However, not only are romance novels dominant best sellers, romance as a concept essentially…
CFC: Why Even Really Care About Banned Books Anyway?
From Mav: So, I guess we need to talk about “the Maus situation.” If you live in my world then it’s pretty impossible to escape the news from last week that Art Spiegelman’s Maus was “banned.” Between the fact that it’s a comic, that it was a politically motivated book banning, that there are issues…
Call For Comments: 🤔How do you use your Emojis?
From Monica: My co-hosts and I have a very active group chat in which we plan future episodes, we recommend content, we razz each other about the current Box Office Game leaderboard, etc etc., and part of our conversational style frequently includes the utilization of emojis. I’m partial to the upside-down smiley face for its…
CFC: Bechdel Tests, Fire Island, and the lack of nuance in pop culture criticism
June 10, 2022
From Mav: So I hate the Bechdel Test. I think it’s stupid. See what I’m doing here is saying something kind of outrageous to start an article and then going into a more nuanced discussion where I try to make a larger point but that will be ignored by a lot of people who just…