e57. You Kant Like That!

If you’ve listened to the show before you know that Hannah and Mav have an ongoing argument about how Riverdale is the best show on television and Hannah is incorrect in thinking that The Good Place is instead (and you can probably tell which one of us wrote the copy for this episode from that).…

Call for Comments: You Kant Like That!

From Hannah: If you follow our show at all, you probably know that several of the main hosts (including myself) keep having a reoccuring argument about what the best show on television is: Riverdale or The Good Place (the clear winner). And you may think we’re all wrong — especially since the last season of…

e54. The Unbearable Whiteness of being Batman

Do you remember all of those great Batman supporting characters of color. You know… Batman’s black, latinx, asian and other ethnic sidekicks and villains like… errr… uh… you know… yeah… ummm…. It’s actually hard to come up with some, isn’t it? Well, there’s probably a reason for that. There are actually several, and have been…

e49. Cinema vs. Streaming

Recently Steven Spielberg allegedly implored the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to make it harder for films distributed primarily through streaming platforms to win Oscars. Or maybe he didn’t. The details are actually kind of fuzzy. But moreover, we’re not sure it really matters whether he did or not. The very idea of…

Call For Comments: The (super)Power of Fashion and Symbols

From Mav: In one of my favorite recent comics, Batman #37 by Tom King, Batman and Superman are discussing the crests on their shirts. Superman tells Batman that S on his isn’t really an S. It’s a Kryptonian symbol and it stands for hope. Batman responds that “the bat stands for a bat.” I love…

e48. Political TV and Nostalgia

In the current age of Trump, we’ve noticed a peculiar trend. People yearning for the days of an earlier president… a great orator… a wise statesmen with decorum… a calming presence on television. Not Barack Obama (well, maybe he too). We’re talking about Jed Bartlet, fictional president on television’s The West Wing. Of course, he…

Call for Comments: Streaming and the Death of Cinema?

From Mav: Back on our Oscars show, we talked a little bit about the movie Roma and what it would mean for the film industry if they allowed it to win best picture (they didn’t). Last week rumors surfaced that Steven Spielberg is petitioning the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to change the…

e47. Milkshake Ducks & Problematic Artists

It seems like it happens every day lately. Your favorite writer, comedian, singer, actor, sports star, politician or whatever suddenly hits the news because it turns out he’s a racist, rapist, sexist, homophobe, murderer or otherwise deplorable person. Particularly in the #MeToo era, we’re seeing this more and more with the likes of Bill Cosby,…

Call for Comments: Bartlet for America 2020?

From Hannah: Since the 2016 election, I’ve participated in (and noticed) a trend: turning to optimistic, liberal leaning television shows to escape the reality of our current political system. Shows like The West Wing, Parks and Recreation, and Madam Secretary allow us to imagine that the people running our government take the term public servant…

e46. Black Superheroes and Representation

(Note: This episode initially contained a corrupted audio file. It has been cleaned up and reuploaded. The current uploaded version should have better sound. Sorry for the inconvenience) As we close out February and Black History month, we thought that it would be a fun idea to talk about the importance of representation, diversity and…