Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This fantasy/horror novel about prep school boys and magical authority came in the middle of the genre paperback boom. We talk about Straub's concerns when writing it and how he walked the line between horror and "literature," while responding to the market pressures on his publisher.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This comic book about a private moon mission gone wrong is now lauded for launching the career of Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard. But, it was also responsible for Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim's publishing house AiT/PlanetLar. So we discuss their approach to balancing commerce with art, and medium with story.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This dystopian television series presents a horrifying, totalitarian society that forces women to bear children as slaves. We discuss its streaming based production and reception, and then turn to multiple articles on representation, politics, religion and intersectionality to try to provide a perspective the two of us might not normally find.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This crime novel follows a wandering problem-solver who always wins. We discuss why these books are so immensely popular and the vicarious consolation we get out of the hero, his nobility and his alienation.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This 1958 Orson Welles' picture has been called the last of the classic film noir era. We discuss Welles' approach to filmmaking, his conflicts with the movie studio and the thematic tensions displayed by the genre at the time. Oh, and Charlton Heston's makeup. That gets a good 10 minutes.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This independent comedy/fantasy comic book series wasn't intended to be for kids necessarily, but because of how savvily Jeff Smith marketed his self-publishing business, it became a hit for all-ages. We discuss Bone's impact on the library market, as well as its struggles with female representation and censorship.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This mainstream television series may be about the afterlife, but it also serves as a platform for defining our morality here in the real world. We discuss the team behind its creation and how they crafted a narrative that avoids political correctness, while teaching us about ethics and positivity in a time of political trauma.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This 2011 award-winning work of literary fiction has been celebrated by everyone from academics to Rolling Stone. But we look at it in light of its cultural expectations, from a "high brow" publisher, to its timidity about engaging with ethnically diverse characters.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This 1967 movie was called "the death of cinema" by its creator, and operated as a critique of both capitalism and mainstream films. We try to understand how a man as notoriously malicious as Godard was to his cast and crew, could also use this platform to argue for a better world.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This debut EP from a legendary Boston punk band has been held in critical reverence for over 30 years. We look to how the songs were written, recorded and distributed to try to unpack what it all does (or doesn't) mean.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This comic about archaeologists uncovering the secret history of pop culture took Warren Ellis and John Cassaday 10 years to complete. We discuss its interrogation of genre, intellectual property and history, in light of the cyclical nature of the comics industry some 20 years after the project started.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This Amazon television show is about comedian Tig Notaro dealing with tragedy in her Mississippi hometown. But we discuss how its theme of demystifying the South was partially derailed by the corporate pivoting of its distributor and the sexual misconduct of some of its producers.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This first part in the Jerry Cornelius saga is literary science-fiction that challenges the politics of its time through transgression. But we find eerie parallels to our current zeitgeist and wonder if Cornelius is the perfect device to question our thoughts about subversion and morality.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This deconstruction of the superhero genre was mired in legal debacles and intellectual property battles for decades before we could get a chance to read it. We look at that convoluted history, in light of Alan Moore's attempt to reimagine and criticize the themes of superhero comics.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This eighteen-hour continuation of a beloved twenty-five year old television series evokes emotions of both love and hate. So we discuss how Mark Frost, David Lynch and Showtime made and distributed this project while adhering to the original themes of good-versus-evil and unconventional storytelling.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This treatise on climate change argues that we should just accept that our civilization is going to die. We might survive however, by remembering our cultural heritage. We discuss Scranton's experience at war, as well as the variety of reactions to his claim that we should just confront our own mortality, even when we're posting to social media.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
We discuss the history of this influential record in light of the band's breakup and subsequent reformation. We also examine their rhetoric of anti-capitalism in relation to the production and distribution of this album.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This 2008 military film claims to be about realism and a soldier's addiction to war. But we learn that despite writer Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow's best intentions, it doesn't accurately reflect the experience of veterans.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This controversial comic series about terrorism and identity politics predicts a dystopia that not everyone is willing to agree with. We look at the angry arguments from both Howard Chaykin and his detractors about whether this is artistic expression or just shock value. And... we ask what no one else seems to address. Does Chaykin's story successfully meet its intended goal?
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
We look into the story behind-the-scenes of this surprisingly profound comic: from Ferris' struggle with West Nile virus, to the book's seizure en route through the Panama Canal. In addition, we discuss Ferris' theme of "personal monster dilemmas" and how the process of creating this was like melting valuable dross from gold.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This memoir by a music icon was expected to be a tell-all about scandal and betrayal. But we discuss how it's actually about defense mechanisms that give the illusion of cool confidence.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources:
This 2017 film, written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, is trying to be a respectful crime drama set on a Native American reservation. We discuss Sheridan's mission and choices, as well as the criticism and praise it received for its depiction.
Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
Additional Resources: