For some reason Netflix, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the proper way for everyone in the world to spend their winter Holidays of American Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Years was to focus on concluding the — wow... ten year — Stranger Things saga. And somehow, even with all of our various holiday things going on, we did manage to catch it. Maybe we're devoted... or maybe we're just lame, who's to say. So on today's episode, join Mav, Hannah, Wayne and returning guest Josh Stroud to break down the final season of Stranger Things, how it related to the rest of series and overall cultural power of the show and what it says about a dying vestige of both 1980s and 2020's popular culture., Citations and Links: Our...
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Excalibur #28: “The Night They Tore Down the Gilded Lady”
Excalibur #28 “The Night They Tore Down the Gilded Lady” Writer: Terry Austin Pencils: Colleen Doran Inks: Bret Blevins Colours: Brad Vancata Letters: Phil Felix Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: September 1990 There’s a reason they say you can’t go home again—because sometimes, the crowd at your old college bar doesn’t remember you, and…
e178. Pop History vs. Public History
How do we learn history? The easy answer is to say we learn it from history books, but is that true? How many of us ever read a history book after 10th grade? It’s more likely that we get the majority of our history either from museums or from historic entertainment… things like Hamilton… or,…
CFC: Improv in the Living Room
From Mav: Way back in April — which granted, wasn’t actually that long ago, but in the world of COVID, feels like a lifetime — we did a show about how stand-up comedy works in a world where everyone’s socialization is socially distant. Since that time, the world got a little better and then a…
Excalibur #27: “Reel People”
Excalibur #27 “Reel People” Writer: Chris Claremont Pencils: Barry Windsor-Smith Inks: Bill Sienkiewicz Colors: Glynis Oliver Letters: Tom Ozechowski Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: September 1990 In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by Connor Goldsmith, literary agent and host of the Cerebro podcast, to talk films inside comic books inside famous film studios…
Excalibur #26: “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
Excalibur #26 “The Times They Are A-Changin’” Writer: Michael Higgins Pencils: Ron Lim Inks: Joe Rubenstein Colours: Glynis Oliver Letters: Agustin Mas Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: August 1990 In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew recruit author Darby Harn to help them make sense of some less-than-stellar storytelling in Excalibur #26, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” It’s…
Excalibur #25: “Guess Who’s Coming for Phoenix?”
Excalibur #25 “Guess Who’s Coming for Phoenix?” Writer: Chris Claremont Pencils: Chris Wozniak Inks: Al Milgrom Colours: Paty Cockrum Letters: Rick Parker Editor: Terry Kavanagh Original publication date: August 1990 The Cross-Time Caper is still over… or is it? Resolution careens into crisis into conversations about both as Anna, Mav, and Andrew welcome author and critic Steve Sellers of Omen…
e175. Game Studies: Ludology vs. Narratology
We don’t talk about games as much as we should on this show, but arguably they’re one of the most enduring mediums of popular culture. They’re certainly one of the most popular. There’s much comparison of modern video games to movies. This makes sense… if we want people to consider games to be a legitimate…