Do you watch reality shows? No really. You can admit it. We won't tell. We want to let you in on a secret. We actually watch some. In fact, we watch a bunch of them. And like... we're smart! in fact, being smart is sort of the entire point of this show. And yet, we watch some of the admittedly most mindnumpingly dumbest TV shows possible. Regularly! On this episode Mav and Monica are joined by returning guest, psychologist Stephanie Siler to talk about reality shows and why anyone likes them anyway. Or at least why we do. We examine the manipulative nature of reality TV production, the psychology of why we might enjoy watching it even if we think it's bad, and the role of exhibitionism and voyeurism in...
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Episode 28: Slashers and Final Girls
What’s your favorite scary movie, listener? Well, chances are if the answer isn’t something super obvious and popular, Mav probably hasn’t seen it. That said, he’s fascinated with the basic concept of horror movies, especially slasher ones and since Halloween is fast approaching, it seemed like a good time to educate him on why the…
Call for Comments: Cat Ears and Lingerie?
From Mav: It’s October, and so we are continuing our string of Halloween themed, or at least Halloween adjacent shows. This week we want to explore something that I’ve actually used as a debate topic when I teach freshman comp. Sexiness and Halloween costumes. Or specifically, are Halloween costumes getting too sexy? Remember that part…
Call For Comments: Slashers and Final Girls
From Mav: Full disclosure. I watch a lot of movies, but I’m not much of a horror movie fan. I don’t hate them. I don’t get scared easily, so I’m not jumpy around them. I just don’t really care about them much at all one way or the other. The problem is usually that they just…
Technical Difficulties…
Due to a string of technical difficulties (we’re working on them!), we won’t have a new podcast this week. Sorry. In the meantime, please listen to our past episodes, comment on our newest Call for Comments on authorial intent and the death of the author, and leave us a review on the iTunes, Stitcher, Android…
Episode 26: The Secret Lives of Puppets
Last week David Reddish, a former writer for Sesame Street, announced that he’d always thought of Bert and Ernie as gay… and the internet exploded. Some people were happy… some people were sad… and some people just asked “why does anyone care?!?!?” Well, that’s what this show is for. Wayne and Mav are joined by Josie…
Episode 25: Sex and the Disney Princess
Just about any parent in American who has a five year old girl knows about the Disney Princesses. Between Frozen, Tangled, Moana, and the others, the “House of Mouse” has stumbled upon a multi-billion dollar industry from films and toy sales alone, and far more when adding in other merchandising sales. However, there may be…
Call For Comments: The Return of Monster X
October 25, 2018
From Wayne: (Deep resonant voiceover): ‟In a world where podcasts have virally assimilated human consciousness, an intrepid band of scholars attempt to dissect the Monster that we have all become.” In August we recorded an episode of VoxPopcast on the topic of “The Monster and The Monster Hunter” with our guests Michael Chemers and Heather Duda. The…