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.
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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?
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As long-time listeners know, one of our hosts is moving across the country, and our production schedule has been disrupted.
To ease the transition, this week's Supercontext is a shortened, totally subjective chat about what media we have been consuming and enjoying.
If anything caught your interest, please consider buying through our Amazon links below to support the show!
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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.
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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.
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As long-time listeners know, one of our hosts is moving across the country, and our production schedule has been disrupted.
To ease the transition, this week's Supercontext is a shortened, totally subjective chat about what media we have been consuming and enjoying.
If anything caught your interest, please consider buying through our Amazon links below to support the show!
PROSE
COMICS
AUDIO
TV
MOVIES
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.
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Jen Kirkman is a prolific comedian, known for her acerbic, dry wit. We look at her 2015 Netflix special and wonder what it says about mainstream lifestyles and life after forty.
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This graphic novel, by one of the elder statesmen of comics, pushed the medium into new formats, genres and methods of distribution. We discuss how Eisner used a very personal tragedy to create it, as well as its unique representation of Jewish American identity.
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This animated adult comedy from Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon is on a mission to violate boundaries, while indulging in themes of nihilism and toxicity. We discuss how it's written and animated, along with its representation of women and its non-unionized production team.
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The first book in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy focuses on humanity's weird relationship with nature and how we react to the unknown. We look at how VanderMeer wrote the book, the unique publishing strategy behind it and his choice to strip the characters of their identities, while still representing an all female cast.
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This Marvel Comics storyline began in 2016 as a synergistic publishing scheme that led to the wildly successful Black Panther film. Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and artist Brian Stelfreeze tell a tale about monarchy, nationalism, revolution, diversity and the universal trope of power.
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This is Guided By Voices' 100th record (by some fuzzy math). We discuss how they create songs and what each band member contributes. We also debate the quantity over quality ethos of this prolific band... and wonder if for some listeners it's more like a religion.
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Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
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Was this 1990s serial killer television drama about the end of the world? Or was it about having empathy for our fellow humans? Chris Carter (X-Files) created it after watching Se7en, but over the course of its three seasons Millennium shifted and changed, until unfortunately it was cancelled.
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Michael Shea was a genre writer who combined fantasy, science fiction and horror into a unique blend of wonder and imagination. Together with our guest Robert Lamb (Stuff To Blow Your Mind), we discuss Shea's writing style and legacy.
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Based on a hard-boiled novel by Charles Willeford, this sweaty, sultry film has us questioning hedonism and the struggle between order and chaos. Between writer/director George Armitage, a very shirtless Alec Baldwin and killer performances by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Fred Ward... we've got plenty to talk about.
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Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:
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This band has been creating experimental music for 35 years. So we look at the moment when they doubled down by teaming up with musicians from Big Business. We confront our own subjectivity about music and examine how to make a living from something creative like this long-running doom machine.
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David Simon and George Pelecanos' show makes us uncomfortable about sex work. But it's to better understand capitalism. We discuss their exploration of community, corruption and the production of both this show and the labor that inspired it.
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We try to unpack what little is known about this author, while providing a "succinct" description of the book. Along the way we discuss the publishing industry, book awards, obscenity, themes and the mythical reputation this tome has garnered over the years.
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Does this film change the way we look at the world the same way its 1982 predecessor and Phillip K. Dick's original 1968 story did? We look at the aesthetics of this brutal dystopian vision and how it portrays women, fertility, power and agency... all while its financiers struggle with creative accounting to justify another sequel.
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It's our Christmas episode and as is our tradition, we're covering a ghost story. While Deadman's comics may seem to be about an acrobat solving his own murder... we find out that it's also about censorship in the 1960s and collusion in the media industry.
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How do we respond to a pop music auteur who's been described as the "patron saint" of her generation? We look at her DIY production work ethic to find out. Additionally, we get very upset about how some try to sexualize, infantilize or demean her with criticism and even death threats.
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