This horror comic has achieved surprising success despite its gore and all the dead kids. We talk about the comic’s creation and promotion, and we ask “Is this all about trauma? Why aren’t people talking about that?” 

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

Something is Killing the Children

Sources

• https://youtu.be/-CpVx-BDBK0?si=by5gNx6RpKVKB4cF

• https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/comic-book-artist-james-tynion-iv-on-leaning-into-inspiration/

• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/something-is-killing-the-children-movie-blumhouse-1236409897/

• https://www.horrordna.com/features/james-tynion-iv-talks-something-is-killing-the-children-2

• https://aiptcomics.com/2019/10/10/nycc-james-tynion-iv-boom-studios-something-is-killing-the-children-interview/

• http://www.multiversitycomics.com/interviews/tynion-iv-harburn-something-is-killing-the-children/#google_vignette

• https://www.cbr.com/james-tynion-iv-on-the-horrors-of-something-is-killing-the-children/

• https://www.cbr.com/something-is-killing-the-children-horror-halloween-reading/

• https://sktchd.com/interview/sktchdxtinyonion-part-two-how-to-build-a-comic/

• https://bleedingcool.com/comics/james-tynion-iv-teases-a-something-is-killing-the-children-spin-off/

• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/boom-studios-penguin-random-house-1235945405/

• https://waywordsstudio.com/general/reviews/something-is-killing-the-children-v-1-3-by-james-tynion-iv/

• https://www.pages-and-panels.com/articles-and-interviews/werther-dell-edera

• https://www.businessinsider.com/comic-artist-drawing-process-something-is-killing-the-children-creator-2022-11?op=1

• https://www.howtolovecomics.com/2023/07/05/something-is-killing-the-children/

• Panel X Panel #32

This sketch show mixes surreal humor, cringe comedy, and an everyman lead performer to craft an exploration of anxiety, status, and societal fear that still manages to make its audience laugh with joy. We talk about how and why the show was created, and whether it quiets or riles up our own anxieties. 

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Find it here on Netflix:

I Think You Should Leave

Sources:

• https://www.cracked.com/article_40892_is-i-think-you-should-leave-the-best-representation-of-anxiety-on-tv.html

• "Is Tim Robinson the funniest man alive?" Independent [Online], 21 Oct. 2025. 

• "'I try to be repulsive': comedian Patti Harrison on why she likes to bait liberal audiences; The Ohio-raised star of movies and TV shows such as Shrill and I Think You Should Leave says comedy is a refuge from the impacts of being trans and that, right now, she's happy to be in the UK." Guardian [London, England], 16 Sept. 2022.

• Anderson, Sam. "The Virtuoso of Cringe." The New York Times Magazine, 11 June 2023, p. 20(L). Gale General OneFile,

• https://www.wired.com/story/i-think-you-should-leave-was-right/

• https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/i-think-you-should-leave-focus-group-oral-history.html

• https://collider.com/i-think-you-should-leave-tim-robinson-netflix-reddit-obsession/

•  

The novels VALIS, The Divine Invasion, and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by legendary science-fiction author Philip K. Dick comprise the unofficial VALIS trilogy. Published between 1978 and 1982, these books use psychedelic imagery, religious history, and psychological inquiry to create a portrait of American culture in the late 70s and early 80s. We try to unpack them against the backdrop of our contemporary situation to gain a little clarity on our middle age and growing paranoia.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

The VALIS Trilogy

Sources:

• https://philipdick.com/literary-criticism/interviews/horselover-fat-and-the-new-messiah/

• https://muse.jhu.edu/article/237538

• https://web.archive.org/web/20130528112644/http://www.philipkdick.com/media_twilightzone.html

• https://www.salon.com/2022/07/23/8-facts-about-philip-k-dick_partner/

• https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/just-because-you-re-paranoid-philip-k-dick-s-troubled-life-1.3243976

• Masculinity in the Novels of Philip K. Dick.

• Endopsychic Allegories

• John Boonstra: “Horselover Fat and The New Messiah” (Hartford Advocate April 22, 1981, p. 24

• THE PSYCHEDELIC REINTERPRETATION OF CORPUS CHRISTI BY PHILIP K. DICK, Bogdan Trocha Dr. hab., Professor, University of Zielona Góra, Poland, Zielona Góra

This 1979 instrumental record is considered the beginning of ambient music by many of its listeners. We unpack Eno’s intentions behind the function of such music, while considering his goal of provoking his listeners to contemplate their own death. We also do our best to define Ambient Music for ourselves and resist the pull of academic dissection of artistic experimentation.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

Ambient 1: Music For Airports

Sources: 

• https://reverbmachine.com/blog/deconstructing-brian-eno-music-for-airports/

• https://www.3ammagazine.com/litarchives/oct2001/interview_judy_nylon.html

• https://inmotionmagazine.com/eno1.html

• https://www.loudersound.com/features/mad-as-tits-but-successful-a-brief-history-of-eg-records

• http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/unk-78b.html

• http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/MFA-txt.html

• https://pitchfork.com/features/podcast/brian-eno-music-for-airports-review/

• http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/musn79.html

• Lysaker, J. T. (2018). Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for airports. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190497293.001.0001

• Cox C., Warner D., . (2004). Audio culture. New York: Continuum.

• Albiez, S., & Pattie, D. (Eds.). (2016). Brian Eno: Oblique Music. Bloomsbury Academic.

• Sheppard, David. On Some Faraway Beach : The Life and Times of Brian Eno, Chicago Review Press, Incorporated, 2009.

This 1981 horror/comedy film has achieved cult status within the film buff community, built the mold for horror comedies, and completely traumatized Charlie in his youth. Despite the controversies around its creator, it has become ripe for personal interpretations.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

An American Werewolf in London

Sources

• https://davidmvining.wordpress.com/2024/07/24/an-american-werewolf-in-london/

• https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/Interview_John-Landis.pdf

• https://itcamefromblog.com/2018/01/17/famous-monsters-aliens-a-chat-with-rick-baker-monster-maker/

• https://www.sfsite.com/10a/dn233.htm

• https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/an-american-werewolf-in-london-is-still-the-best-horror-reimagining/?pubDate=20250804

• https://kevingoetz360.com/george-folsey-jr-film-editing-art-of-the-fix/

• https://www.northernsoul.me.uk/griffin-dunne/

• https://jennyagutter.net/

• https://www.avid.wiki/PolyGram_Pictures

• https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/aug/21/an-american-werewolf-in-london-1981-john-landis

• https://jewishhorrorreview.com/tag/john-landis/

• https://reellifemonsters.wordpress.com/2024/10/23/american-werewolf-in-london-queer-or-camp/

• Elder, R. K. (2011). The film that changed my life : 30 directors on their epiphanies in the dark /. Chicago Review Press.

• Dietz, F., Bennett, J., Woodward, F. H., Weitz, S., & Maynard, R. (2021). Damn Dirty Geeks Talk Among Us!: Reflections on the classic films that make us geek out. Independently published.

• Curran, A. (2003). Aristotelian Reflections on Horror and Tragedy in An American Werewolf in London and The Sixth Sense. Dark Thoughts. Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror. Lanham, Maryland & Oxford: The Scarecrow Press inc, 47-64.

• 'AMERICAN WEREWOLF,' HORROR PLUS LAUGHS Aug. 21, 1981 The New York Times Archives

• “A Meditation on ‘An American Werewolf in London’ The Old Horror Film from John Landis: A Queer Look,” Walter Holland, April 5, 2023

• “An American Werewolf in London at 40: John Landis’s crafty creative peak,” The Guardian, Guy Lodge. 

After being serialized in Heavy Metal magazine, this dystopian bio-punk comic was published as a beautiful book in 2010... and hardly anyone is talking about it now. We discuss the creators' intentions and hopes for the story, along with Heavy Metal's history, and Christian's youthful memories of Singapore.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Track it down from here:

Fluorescent Black

Sources

• https://www.zonanegativa.com/fluorescent-black-an-interview-with-m-f-wilson-and-nathan-fox/

• https://variety.com/2007/film/news/imagi-plotting-fluorescent-black-1117975671/?jwsource=cl

• https://comicattack.net/ddwddnf/

• https://livefromthedmz-blog.tumblr.com/post/18558447254/nathan-fox-interview

• https://vimeo.com/mfwilson

• https://www.comicbox.com/index.php/news-english/fluorescent-black-the-graphic-novel/ (review with full Heavy Metal press release text)

• https://readrant.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/review-fluorescent-black/

• “A Challenge to Gene Theory, a Tougher Look at Biotech,” New York Times, July 1, 2007

• Waldby, C. (2009). Singapore Biopolis: Bare Life in the City-State. East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal, 3(2–3), 367–383. https://doi.org/10.1215/s12280-009-9089-2

• https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-history-of-cyberpunk-comics/

• Transhumanism - Francis Fukuyama

This television show, created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, ran from 2021 to 2023, taking on themes like grief and indigenous identity with humor, inventive storytelling, and touching reminders of coming of age within a compassionate community.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Track it down from here:

Reservation Dogs

Sources:

• https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/reservation-dogs-the-real-story-of-okern-oklahoma/

• https://deadline.com/2024/08/reservation-dogs-dpharaoh-woon-a-tai-interview-emmys-1236033993/

• https://variety.com/2024/tv/awards/reservation-dogs-producer-migizi-pensoneau-indigenous-storytelling-1236044429/

• https://screenrant.com/reservation-dogs-original-5-season-plan-details/

• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/reservation-dogs-sterlin-harjo-series-finale-interview-1235607021/

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reservation-dogs-authentic-native-moments_n_64c5771fe4b03ad2b898c325

• https://www.npr.org/2023/08/02/1191671833/the-unassumingly-brilliant-reservation-dogs-is-back-for-its-third-and-final-seas

• https://variety.com/2023/tv/features/reservation-dogs-creator-sterlin-harjo-why-ending-season-3-1235686188/

• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/reservation-dogs-season-3-tv-review-fx-hulu-1235547845/

• https://www.npr.org/2022/08/08/1115613218/reservation-dogs-indian-native-american-hulu

• https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/01/why-reservation-dogs-is-the-funniest-and-most-groundbreaking-new-tv-show

• https://www.salon.com/2021/08/09/reservation-dogs-fx-hulu-taika-waititi-sterlin-harjo/

• https://www.cbr.com/reservation-dogs-hot-chip-metaphor/

• https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/reservation-dogs-finale-sterlin-harjo-interview-1234910461/

• https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1489-taika-waititi

This 2020 novel by Native American author Stephen Graham Jones mixes literary explorations of indigenous peoples' identity with slasher-film tropes, making it his first novel with mainstream success. Did Jones change something about his writing to get there, or did the literary world catch up to him? We discuss how history, symbols, and context fit into his project while asking, "Why did the literary establishment like this so much?"

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

The Only Good Indians

Sources:

• https://blackfeetnation.com/

• https://blog.nativehope.org/native-american-animals-the-elk-a-protector-and-relative

• https://academic.oup.com/isle/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/isle/isad056/7255951?redirectedFrom=fulltext

• https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/stephen-graham-jones-the-only-good-indians-interview/

• https://ew.com/books/2019/08/08/only-good-indians-preview/

• https://www.npr.org/2020/07/29/896840079/in-his-new-book-stephen-graham-jones-explores-the-idea-of-good-indians

• https://www.npr.org/2020/07/16/891433693/grief-and-guilt-spawn-horrors-in-the-only-good-indians

• https://www.jstor.org/stable/541345

• https://journals.kent.ac.uk/index.php/transmotion/article/view/266/900

• https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-07-15/the-only-good-indians-by-stephen-graham-jones-review

• https://blog.nativehope.org/native-american-animals-the-elk-a-protector-and-relative

• https://filmobsessive.com/film/film-news/film-interviews/interview-stephen-graham-jones-a-discussion-on-lost-highway-and-mapping-the-interior/

• ERIC GARY ANDERSON, et al. “Demon Theory for Beginners, or The Intertextual Badlands of Stephen Graham Jones.” Postindian Aesthetics, University of Arizona Press, 2022, pp. 165-, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2c3k193.24.

• Washuta, Elissa and Warburton, Theresa. Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers, Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2019.

• Schaak, Hogan D. "Bleeding All over the Shelves and Tracking It Out into the World: Theorizing Horror in the Indigenous North American Novels The Only Good Indians and Empire of Wild." Studies in the Fantastic, vol. 15, 2023, p. 94-126.

Fugazi, the legendary post-punk band, released Repeater, their first full-length record in 1990, and it still feels relevant today. We talk about the DIY ethic of the band and its label, and how they recorded a thematically unified collection of songs that is still interpreted in deeply personal ways by listeners who weren't alive when it came out.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store [if you're not getting it direct from Dischord or your local record store]:

Repeater

Sources:

• https://www.allmusic.com/album/repeater-mw0000086712
• https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/fugazi-repeater-review/
• https://consequence.net/2020/04/fugazi-repeater-album-anniversary/
• https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5840-fugazi/
• https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/421596/nothing-but-a-number-a-live-history-of-fugazis-song-repeater/
• https://alchetron.com/Guy-Picciotto
• Azerrad, M. (2001). Our band could be your life : scenes from the American indie underground, 1981-1991. Little, Brown and Company.
• Brace, E. (1993, Aug 01). PUNK LIVES!: WASHINGTON'S FUGAZI CLAIMS IT'S JUST A BAND. SO WHY DO SO MANY KIDS THINK IT'S GOD? The Washington Post (1974-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/punk-lives/docview/140829838/se-2
• https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/27/fugazi-sang-an-anti-rape-message-to-their-male-audience-30-years-ago-whats-changed
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Fugazi/comments/1hcsv2o/is_fugazi_problematic_in_any_way_possible/?sort=new
• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/end-on-end/id1500702253?i=1000544525911

Christian and Charlie have a couple things to say.

This podcast ran independently from 2016 to 2020. We reflect on our goals in creating it and how successful those were while trying to be transparent about the ins and outs of podcast production, marketing, and monetization.

This graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell came out between 1989 and 1998, 100 years after the Jack the Ripper murders it's based on. We look at the meticulous research they put into this to try to understand how this story manages to be about true crime while indulging in deep themes like English identity, psychogeography, and the nature of time.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• From Hell

Additional Resources:

• A Look Back at ‘From Hell’ by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
• Delivering the Twentieth Century, Part 1: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell
• Delivering the 20th Century, Part 2: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell
• The Great Alan Moore Reread: From Hell, Part 1
• The Great Alan Moore Reread: From Hell, Part 2
• Eddie Campbell explains why he's coloring From Hell for the first time
• Michael J. Prince (2017) The magic of patriarchal oppression in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 8:3, 252-263
• Vollmar, R. (2017). Northampton Calling. World Literature Today, 91(1), 28–34.
• The House That Jack Built – An Interview with Alan Moore (2002)
• From Hell And Back: The Eddie Campbell Interview
• Superhuman Cognitions, Fourth Dimension and Speculative Comics Narrative: Panel Repetition in Watchmen and From Hell
• Postimperial Landscapes "Psychogeography" and Englishness in Alan Moore's Graphic Novel"From Hell: A Melodrama in Sixteen Parts" Author(s): Elizabeth Ho Source: Cultural Critique, No. 63 (Spring, 2006), pp. 99-121 Published by: University of Minnesota Press

This 1995 film by Michael Mann is considered a quintessential cops-and-robbers epic. We look at Mann's attention to detail and his attempt at authenticity in light of the movie's influence on audiences, filmmakers, and real-life criminals.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Heat

Additional Resources:

• Interview w/ Eliot Goldenthanl
• Michael Mann Launches Book Imprint; ‘Heat’ Prequel Novel A Priority
• Life imitates art in Colombia robbery
• The long warm-up to Heat
• Heat
• Crime in the emptiness of Los Angeles
• Why Is Heat So Great? Let’s Ask Michael Mann.
• What Michael Mann Changed, and What He Didn’t, for the Anniversary Edition of Heat
• Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’: A Complex, Stylistically Supreme Candidate for One of the Most Impressive Films of the Nineties
• The Loneliness Of Los Angeles In Michael Mann's 'Heat'
• 10 Intense Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Heat
• Michael Mann eyes 'Heat 2' film as book nears completion
• Decades Later, Viewers Still Feel The 'Heat' For Michael Mann's 1995 LA Crime Saga
• REVISITING THE L.A. OF ‘HEAT’ 24 YEARS LATER WITH THE ICONIC CRIME DRAMA’S LOCATION MANAGER
• La Story: The Making of Michael Mann’s “Heat” – by Tom Ambrose [Empire]
• Michael Mann on ‘Heat,’ 22 Years Later: What We’ve Learned from His Recent Interviews

This 1985 concept album by Kate Bush is split into pop songs and a suite of music about someone drowning. We look at Bush's career arc leading up to this record and how the support she received from those around her allowed to experiment and create this wholly unique music.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Hounds of Love

Additional Resources:

• Kate Bush
• Kate Bush rules, OK?
• Hounds of Love
• Landmark Productions: Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
• Classic Album: Hounds Of Love – Kate Bush
• Cowley, J. (2005). The Wow factor. New Statesman, 134(4726), 38–39.
• Sinclair, D. (1994). Dear diary: The secret world of Kate Bush. Rolling Stone, 676, 13.
• Moy, R. (2007). Kate Bush and Hounds of Love. Ashgate.

Dan Simmon's 1989 science-fiction novel is acclaimed for its unique structure, references, and style. We take a closer look at how it interrogates our expectations of genre to explore a complex host of themes. Thank you to Chris Marlton for coproducing this episode.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Hyperion

Additional Resources:

• Throwback Thursday: The Mind-Altering Scope of Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos
• Better to travel hopefully: Dan Simmons’s Hyperion
• Dan Simmons World-class maker of worlds
• Dan Simmons. By: Shindler, Dorman T., Writer (Kalmbach Publishing Co.), 00439517, Feb2001, Vol. 114, Issue 2
• THRALL, J. H. (2014). Authoring the Sacred: Humanism and Invented Scripture in Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut and Dan Simmons. Implicit Religion, 17(4), 509.
• Shea, B. (2015). Evolution and Neuroethics in the Hyperion Cantos. Journal of Cognition & Neuroethics, 3(3), 139.
• The one huge problem with Dan Simmons’ sci-fi mystery Hyperion
• Eschatology and Pain in Dan Simmons’ Hyperion
• Senior, W. (2012). Dan Simmons's Hyperion Cantos: The Fantasy Within. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), 18(1/2), 213-226.

This 1987 film is celebrated as a cult classic for its depiction of self-destructive young Englishmen at the end of the 1960s. We discuss how creator Bruce Robinson got it made, and whether it congratulates its characters for their alcoholism or criticizes their generation and the end of that era of British culture.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Withnail & I

Additional Resources:

• How "Withnail & I" Became a Cult
• Withnail and I
• BRUCE ROBINSON Interviewed by Peter Murphy
• The World According To Grant
• 13 Loaded Facts About Withnail and I
• Withnail & I Comes Of Age This Year - If Only The Fans Would Too
• Withnail and I Facts and Trivia
• The Cult of Richard E. Grant’s Withnail and I Is Finally Having Its Moment
• We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful: “Withnail & I”
• Withnail and Brexit: Why the cult classic is the perfect movie for our troubled times
• https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2020/03/09/withnail-and-i-fans-prepare-for-lakeland-alfresco-screening-of-cult-film

This 1962 novel is being reappraised by critics and fans as a creeping meditation on 1950s housewives, agoraphobia, and good old-fashioned New England persecution.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Additional Resources:

• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – a house of ordinary horror
• The Witchcraft of Shirley Jackson
• Flavorwire Author Club: Shirley Jackson’s Haunting Final Novel, ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’
• SILVER, M. (2013). Is It Real? On Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Southern Review, 49(4), 665–667.
• Savoy, E. (2017). Between as if and is : On Shirley Jackson. Women’s Studies, 46(8), 827.
• BOYD TONKIN. (2015, July 29). Her dark materials: how Shirley Jackson became the ‘sorceress at the sink.’ Independent (UK).
• Shirley Jackson. (2020). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1.
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle: A Prelude to a Myth
• How 'We Have Always Lived In The Castle' By Shirley Jackson Novel Made Me Love Horror — Even Though I Hate Being Scared
• The Haunted Mind of Shirley Jackson

This 1945 children’s book by Tove Jansson began a publishing empire in Finland that is worth millions of dollars. We look at Jansson’s beloved allegory about a world where a family survives turmoil and everyone is accepted for who they are.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• The Moomins and the Great Flood

Additional Resources:

• Tove Jansson: Love, war and the Moomins
• Brown, Ulla (November 2004). "A Quest for What Lies Hidden" (PDF). Outwrite. 7: 8–12.
• 'It is a religion': how the world went mad for Moomins
• THE HANDS THAT MADE THE MOOMINS
• How Tove Jansson's Moomins conquered readers' hearts
• My search for the real Moominland
• How Tove Jansson and the Moomins continue to inspire
• The Evocative Powers of Tove Jansson – Moomin Museum – Tampere Finland – Jude Cowan Montague
• The dark side of the Moomins

This 2001 record is praised as being metal for the thinking man. We peel back the lyrics and the time signatures to understand why this band inspires an almost-religious devotion in its fans.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Lateralus

Additional Resources:

• 10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT TOOL'S 'LATERALUS'
• Lateralus
• Publication: Modern Drummer Date: June, 2001
• Fibonacci in Tool's Lateralus
• Spiral Out: Practical Wisdom in Tool’s Lateralus
• Looking Back at Tool’s “Lateralus”
• THE OUTWARD SPIRAL: HOW LATERALUS GALVANISED TOOL’S CUTTING EDGE
• ‘Hammer of the Gods’

This comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and artist Cliff Chiang started in 2015 as a story about four preteen girls coming of age in the 80s. We look into how the creators produced the comic while examining their skepticism of nostalgia in a post-Stranger-Things world.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Paper Girls

Additional Resources:

• Brian K. Vaughan Talks Saga, Paper Girls, and Why We’ll Never Get That Lying Cat Series
• Meet Brian K. Vaughan: The Comic Book Visionary Behind ‘Y: The Last Man’
• You all should be reading Brian K. Vaughan’s ‘Paper Girls’ comic series now
• Paper Girls Is the Perfect Comic for Your '80s Nostalgia Trip
• ‘Paper Girls’ Graphic Novel Adaptation From Legendary TV & Plan B Gets Amazon Series Commitment
• The Paper Girls and the Alien Invaders
• Asian American Creatives Behind 3 Top-Selling Graphic Novels Of 2018
• Kids On Bikes: The Sci-Fi Nostalgia Of 'Stranger Things', 'Paper Girls' & 'Super 8'
• Paper Girls' Vaughan & Chiang On the Series' Past, Present and Future
• “It’s Not A Slam-Bang-Action-So-Quiet”: An Interview with Cliff Chiang and Brian K. Vaughan
• NYCC ’19: PAPER GIRLS creators take victory lap, discuss series

This 2019 series of Gizmodo articles and videos by Kashmir Hill look into how difficult it actually is to stop using The Stacks: Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. We place Hill’s research within our larger understanding of Big Tech and media literacy while listening to arguments for tech regulation or simply scaling back.

• I Cut The Big Five Tech Giants From My Life: It Was Hell

Additional Resources:

• https://muckrack.com/kashhill
• I Cut the Big Five Tech Giants From My Life. It Was Hell.
• I Tried to Block Amazon From My Life. It Was Impossible.
• I Cut Facebook Out of My Life. Surprisingly, I Missed It
• I Cut Google Out of My Life. It Screwed Up Everything.
• I Cut Microsoft Out of My Life –– Or So I Thought
• I Cut Apple Out of My Life. It Was Devastating.
• Unplugging From Big Tech is Harder Than You Think
• It’s almost impossible to function without the big five tech giants
• How to block Big Tech with Kashmir Hill: podcast and transcript
• https://www.nytimes.com/by/kashmir-hill

This epic 1970s manga series is celebrated for its influence on other stories. We look at the conditions that produced it and how the comic represents Japanese history, revenge, gender, and the irredeemable hero on the road to Hell.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Lone Wolf and Cub: Volume 1, The Assassin's Road

Additional Resources:

• 'Lone Wolf and Cub': Japan's greatest samurai manga?
• The untold truth of Lone Wolf and Cub Read More
• Lone Wolf and Cub Part 1: History and Influences
• Lone Wolf and Cub Part 2: Revenge in the Epic Narrative Tradition
• Lone Wolf and Cub Part 3: Artwork and Swordplay
• Lone Wolf and Cub Part 4: Ogami Itto and the Rejection of Bushido
• Lone Wolf and Cub Part 6: Cloud Dragon, Wind Tiger
• If You Are Patient Like a Samurai, Kazuo Koike's 'Lone Wolf and Cub' Will Reward You
• Transcultural Reinterpretation of the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' Narrative
• Kazuo Koike, 1936-2019
• An Expanded Look at Lone Wolf and Cub: The First arc – Meifumado

This 1975 rock album began to define Rush’s identity after the late Neil Peart joined the band on drums and lyrics. We look at how they treated their band as a business to try to understand the particular blend of instrument solos and libertarian ideology that later defined them.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• Fly By Night

Additional Resources:

• Rush Dedicates Newest Album To Rod Serling
• Rush: The Complete Album-by-Album Guide
• The History Of Rush by Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson: The Early Years
• Men At Work By Paul Elliott
• Rush-BTO's Heavy Metal Challengers
• Success Under Pressure
• https://rush.fandom.com/wiki/Fly_by_Night_(Album)
• Rush: ‘You have no freedom. You do what you’re told to do. By the socialists’
• Flohil, R. (1975.) Rush: living the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. The Canadian Composer (97).

This 2013 novel generated a cantankerous debate in the world of literary criticism over the quality of fiction and how we define it. We look at Tartt's writing process and themes to try to understand whether this book deserved the praise and awards it received.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• The Goldfinch

Additional Resources:

• It’s Tartt—But Is It Art?
• The Goldfinch is a bad movie because it is based on a deeply flawed book
• Donna Tartt on The Goldfinch, Inspiration, and the Perils of Literary Fame
• Why the backlash against Donna Tartt's 'The Goldfinch' was so extreme (2014 Year in Review)
• I HEART DONNA TARTT: 10 FACTS ABOUT MYSTERIOUS AUTHOR OF ‘THE GOLDFINCH’
• Pulitzer Prize–Winner Donna Tartt on Writing The Goldfinch
• Donna Tartt shares The Goldfinch’s secret history
• Donna Tartt's multicultural fantasy: How "The Goldfinch" got away with its disgraceful racial politics
• https://newrepublic.com/article/156282/not-write-book-review