On this week’s not exactly Halloween special episode, Mav, Wayne and Monica are joined by returning guests Dr. Michael Chemers and Dr. Samantha Langsdale, two experts in the field of monster studies to talk about their recent conference at the Center for Monster Studies at the University of California Santa Cruz. Sam and Mike share…
Category: Sex and Gender
e286. The Legend of Harley Quinn
On last week’s episode, we delved into the world of classic literary character Hercule Poirot and his cultural significance across multiple iterations. This week, we go in the exact opposite direction. Recorded at the exact same time as last week’s show, Wayne and Mav are joined by returning guest Andrew Deman and first time guest,…
e281. Saying Goodbye to Riverdale, the Best Show on Television
Riverdale has been a constant for this podcast since almost the very beginning. We devoted our sixth episode to talking about it. Calling it “the best show on television” has become a long running joke in the DNA of our show. However, last week, the CW aired the final episode of Riverdale, closing the door…
e279. Is Sucker Punch a Bad Movie?
So the truth is, when we do our “is ____ a bad movie?” episodes, we expect that the listeners are going to be predisposed to say “yes, obviously it sucks. No one cares about that garbage movie” and we are attempting to do kind of a reparative reading of it. That’s what we were expecting…
Call for Comments: Is Sucker Punch really a bad movie?
“To be frank, the people I’ve run across who’ve come to me and said ‘Sucker Punch is my favorite movie’ are normally angsty teenage girls.” -Zack Snyder, 2023 From Monica: In 2011, I was a deeply depressed femme goth who was assaulted by a man, subsequently realized I was gay, tried coming out, and was…
e274. Indiana Jones and the Legacy of Pulp
Last week the fifth (and supposedly final) Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, finally hit theaters to substantially mixed reviews and audience reaction. Some have complained that it isn’t really giving them the vibe they were looking for out of an Indiana Jones movie while others have said it was a…
Call for Comments: Indiana Jones and the Limits of the Adventure Fiction
From Hannah: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premiered in theaters this past weekend to, shall we say, mixed results both critically and commercially. (And, in fact, from what I can gather some of this podcast’s hosts have differing opinions on this film. But isn’t that the starting point for some of our best…
e268. Fasterer and Furiouserer
Two years ago, when Monica first joined the show, we celebrated the release of the ninth Fast & Furious movie by devoting a whole episode to discussing the the cultural appeal of the Fast franchise and explaining how it made an important cultural statement about the breakdown of the distinction of high and low culture.…
e263. We Gotta Talk About MILF Manor! We Just Do…
Every once in a while a TV Show comes along that is just so bizarre that we feel like it deserves a deep dive examination just in and of itself. That was the case with MILF Manor! If you’ve not heard of MILF Manor, it is a reality dating show on TLC, The Learning Channel,…