Call For Comments: The PCA/ACA Preview Special

From Mav: We’re doing something a little different on the next show. One of the reasons we started VoxPop was because as academics we end up doing a lot of academic conferences… and we had the idea that the kinds of discussion we have at them would make for an interesting show, especially since my…

Episode 15: Cinematic Violence & the Impossible Body

Remember that one fight in the Matrix that kicked ass? Wait, those all kicked ass. What about that fight in Kill Bill that kicked ass? Actually those all kicked ass too. Well what about that one time that Bruce Lee… Ok so I guess when you think about it, a lot of movie fights kick…

Call for Comments: Impossible Bodies and the Spectacle of Violence

From Mav: We often watch action movies and talk about how realistic or unrealistic the fights are. Everyone always says “oh, I love John Wick. The action is so realistic!” No it’s not! In real life, fights are really kind of boring. At least most people would probably think they are. In real life a bar…

Episode 6: Sex & Drugs & Riverdale

When we started this podcast, one of our first goals was to make sure we did and episode about the CW reboot of Archie comics, Riverdale. The show reimagines the classic Archie characters in a adolescent soap opera world of mixed genres: hardboiled detective, film noir, goth horror, teen romance, erotic thriller. To us it is…

Episode 3: Violence in Video Games

Do video games make you violent? Probably not, but if so why is there so much controversy surrounding them? This week, Mav is joined by Katya and Abby — both of whom are far more knowledgeable than him on the subject — to discuss video games, mass shooters, psychology, the military industrial complex, headshots, zombies…

Call For Comments: Pop Culture and Religiosity

One of the fun things about doing a dissertation on comic books is that I get to spend some time lurking in random forums on the internet (Facebook groups, Redit, Tumblr, that sort of thing) just observing subcultural behavior in fan culture. Anyway, one particular group I monitor had a very odd interaction about a week ago…

Call for Comments: Virtual Violence

From Mav: First of all, if you haven’t seen it, the first episode of the podcast is up, so come check it out. And we will be recording the second one tomorrow, so there’s still time to add your comments on pop culture nostalgia. Now with all of that out of the way, I’d like…