This Netflix program is about the early days of studying serial killers at the FBI. We look at David Fincher's meticulous storytelling here, as well as the show's attempts to disrupt the glorification of murder and the methodological portrayal of criminal profiling.

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

• Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit
• By Reason of Insanity
• Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

Additional Resources:

• With film tax credits restored, city lands new drama from Netflix
• Defining deviancy: The clammy thrills of David Fincher’s “Mindhunter” on Netflix
• Mindhunter Modeled This Character On A Female Psychologist & Living Legend
• Mindhunter Probes America's Obsession With Serial Killers
• There was a lot more CGI in Mindhunter than you’d think
• Mindhunter is Netflix’s most binge-worthy show yet
• The Real FBI Agents and Serial Killers Who Inspired Netflix’s Mindhunter
• “Mindhunter” and the Presentation of the Serial Killer in Everyday Life
• Nielsen Aims to Level Playing Field With New Netflix Ratings
• Can Criminal Profilers Really Get Inside the Head of a Killer?

In this essay, one of America's most beloved storytellers provides advice on consuming media, thinking critically about it and applying it to your own work. We get real personal while trying to figure out who our respective "muses" are.

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

• Zen in the Art of Writing
• Grinderman
• The Art of Fiction
• The Courage to Create
• Danse Macabre
• Trilogy of Terror
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Moana
• Field Notes (not a sponsor, yet, we just like them so much)

Additional Resources:

• New Canaan
• Lost in the Stacks
• The Conversation of Civilization
• Ray Bradbury and Zen in the Art of Writing
• Researchers Study Effects of Social Media on Young Minds
• Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity

This 2007 thriller divides a lot of people over whether it's good or bad. We try to take a high road and instead explore what the film says about us. Is it about ordinary monsters? Addiction? Or America's guilt about its own dark side?

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

• Mr. Brooks
• Seven
• Millennium
• Hannibal
• Field Notes (the notebooks, not a movie)

Additional Resources:

• The Hunt For The Worst Movie Of All Time: Mr. Brooks
• Make It Stop: Mr. Brooks
• Bad Behavior
• Bruce A. Evans Dissects Mr. Brooks
• Mr. Brooks a Trilogy

David Byrne's self-titled album is a personal moment in his creative history, but do his lyrics have meaning? Or do they simply dredge up emotions for the listener? Also, how does an album that's this diverse have such a white, middle class identity associated with it? 

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

• David Byrne (1994) self-titled
• How Music Works 
• David Byrne & St. Vincent – Love This Giant 
• Owls
• The Lounge Lizards

Additional Resources:

• David Byrne Needs to Open Up Again
• 1994 - David Byrne (from the Talking Heads website)
• David Byrne's head is talking on his wry, dreamy new album

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's novel about the comedy of Armageddon seems to be the very definition of "twee." We try to unpack what that concept means and how it contributes to the authors' humanist message.

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

• Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
• Cat's Cradle
• Breakfast of Champions
• Galapagos
• Guards! Guards!

Additional Resources:

• The Twee Revolution
• Good Omens: How Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote a book
• Humorous Humanist Armageddon: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens
• What I'm Reading: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Grant Morrison says this 2002 comic book with Chris Weston, Gary Erskine and Matt Hollingsworth is an inoculation against the nasty horror of the world through depravity, pornography and depression. We interrogate whether that theme works in the end product and if the sexual violence within is problematic.

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

• The Filth
• Nameless
• The Invisibles Book One (or the Ominbus if you're freaky)
• The Soft Machine (The Cut-up Trilogy)
• Nova Express (The Cut-up Trilogy)
• The Ticket That Exploded (The Cut-up Trilogy)
• Black Kiss

Additional Resources:

• Duffy, D. (2017). The Filth. Salem Press Encyclopedia Of Literature
• We Don’t Need Another Hero; We Need Garbagemen In Grant Morrison’s The Filth
• The Function of the Filth
• WHAT IS THE FILTH ?
• FILTH PLUS
• FILTH PLUS - The Questions
• The Function of the Filth – Preview #1
• The Function of the Filth – Preview #2
• The Function of the Filth – Preview #3
• The Function of the Filth – Preview #4

David Simon and Ed Burns produced what is heralded as one of the most authentic depictions of the Iraq War, based on Evan Wright's embedded reporting. We look at how it navigates between journalism and drama to keep us from forgetting the story of soldiers on the ground.

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

• Generation Kill
• Sheriff of Babylon
• Pride of Baghdad
• The Short-Timers (crazy rare and way too expensive)

Additional Resources:

• 'Generation Kill' Captures War's Lulls and Horrors
• After Iraq, the Marines of 'Generation Kill' Regret Nothing
• Situation Normal
• The Men Behind Generation Kill

Writer/director Robin Hardy describes The Wicker Tree as a companion piece to 1973's The Wicker Man. We dig into just how this film got made. Was it a spiteful response to the American remake? Or a continuation for a deeper purpose?

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

• The Wicker Man
• The Wicker Tree
• The Sacrament
• The Leftovers

Additional Resources:

• The Lambton Worm, and the ‘Wicker Man’ Sequel That Almost Was
• Robin Hardy Starts Crowdfunding For The Wrath Of The Gods
• WICKER MAN DIRECTOR ROBIN HARDY ON THE WICKER TREE AND WHAT COMES NEXT
• The Wicker Man director Robin Hardy dies
• Wicker Man sequel revisits original's murky territory
• Interview With Robin Hardy, Director of The Wicker Man and The Wicker Tree

Killer Mike and El-P call their latest record the album of their careers. How does it straddle crass humor, transgression and political activism? And if you are "the jewel," how does their music fit into your community?

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

• Run the Jewels
• Run the Jewels 2
• Run the Jewels 3
• Meow the Jewels
• The New Pneumonia Blues

Additional Resources:

• Run the Jewels Announce RTJ3, Share New Song “Legend Has It”
• El-P on Run the Jewels 3 and That Apocalypse He’s Been Warning Us About
• Meet the Other Duo Behind Run the Jewels

We turn to David Harper (Off Panel, SKTCHD) and Augie De Blieck, Jr. (Pipeline Comics) for expertise on what's going on in comics news. Are the struggles of this niche industry indicative of something broader going on in our media? Is news a trustworthy advocate that can help us make informed decisions?

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

• Understanding Comics

Additional Resources:

• Off Panel
• Pipeline
• CBR
• Newsarama
• The Beat (Heidi MacDonald)
• Bleeding Cool
• The Comics Reporter (Tom Spurgeon)
• Den of Geek
• Gizmodo/io9
• Paste
• The Outhouse
• The Comics Journal
• Ars Technica

This comic book from two of Europe's most legendary creators both presents and parodies white male themes in the 20th century. So what makes it compelling today? Should we embrace or reject its existentialism?

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

• Madwoman of the Sacred Heart
• Sabbath's Theater
• Consider the Lobster and Other Essays

Additional Resources:

• Alejandro Jodorowsky's dance on the edge of meaning
• Publishers Weekly review
• Beguiling Books and Art review
• A Dude, Abiding review
• The Comics Journal review

With a provocative book title, Laura Jane Grace is reclaiming a slur and repurposing it for her story of struggling with gender dysphoria and self-destructive behavior. Guest Alyson McManus helps us unpack this experience into something universal, with which we can all identify.

Additional Resources:

• Lead Singer of Punk Band 'Against Me' Comes Out as Transgender in Rolling Stone
• Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace to Release Memoir 'Tranny' Later This Year
• Laura Jane Grace's Brutally Honest 'Tranny' Memoir: 10 Things We Learned
• Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace explains why she decided to title her memoir 'TRANNY.'
• One Year and One Million Words with Laura Jane Grace
• Laura Jane Grace on New Memoir, Why She's Not a Trans Spokesperson
• Rock’s Not Dead, It’s Ruled by Women: The Round-Table Conversation
• Beyond XX and XY: The Extraordinary Complexity of Sex Determination

Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar has developed a warm, well thought out approach to family cartoons. We look at her goals, Cartoon Network's business plans and the fight in fandom over how this show represents diverse identities. 

Additional Resources

• ‘Steven Universe’ creator Rebecca Sugar is a Cartoon Network trailblazer
• Cartoon Network’s ‘Steven Universe’ Premieres As Its Most-Watched Series of 2013
• 'Steven Universe' creator on growing up, gender politics, her brother
• Steven Universe’s frustrating schedule is crucial to its success
• ‘Adventure Time’ Writer Rebecca Sugar on ‘Steven Universe,’ Being Cartoon Network’s First Female Show Creator And Why Pop Art Is ‘Offensive’
• ‘Leaked’ Steven Universe episodes weren’t leaked at all, Cartoon Network says
• Steven Universe Artist Quits Twitter Over Fan Harassment
• ‘Steven Universe’ fandom is melting down after bullied fanartist attempts suicide
• An Attempted Suicide Forced a Tumblr Community to Open Its Eyes About Bullying
• Why I Fell In Love With The Brilliant Steven Universe, And You Will Too
• 'Steven Universe's' Rebecca Sugar confirms Fluorite is a representation of a polyamorous relationship
• Superheroes, Steven Universe, and the Maternal Narrative

Past guest Swain Hunt (Sidebar, The Metronome) returns to discuss what makes movies hold up? We each tackle a film from the last 30 years of cinema and try to understand why they hold up for us: Bull Durham, Contact and V For Vendetta.

It's easy to connect with the symbol that is "Johnny Cash," whether you're a rebel, a wanderer, or even a Christian. But how do these contradictions come together as some kind of American identity? And how do these final recordings of a humble storyteller speak to our need for the man to come around?

Additional Resources:

• Johnny Cash’s American albums hit the heart and soul
• Why Johnny Cash's American Recordings Are The Perfect Epitaph To His Career
• Performing Songwriter – Rick Rubin
• How The ‘American Recordings’ Series Revitalized Johnny Cash’s Career
• 'American' Remembered: Rick Rubin On Johnny Cash

After viewing the blockbuster Disney princess film Frozen with actual little kids, we look at all the cooks in this corporate cartoon kitchen. With this many people involved, how did they pull it off? And is this cartoon whitewashed? Too feminist? Not feminist enough? How is this fairy tale defining gender and ethnicity for an entire generation?

Additional Resources:

• From the Heat of Royal Passion, Poof! It’s Permafrost Disney’s ‘Frozen,’ a Makeover of ‘The Snow Queen’
• Is 'Frozen' a New, Bona Fide Disney Classic?
• Boys Don’t Run Away From These Princesses
• Countdown to Disney "Frozen" : How one simple suggestion broke the ice on the "Snow Queen" 's decades-long story problems
• A spoiler-y, slightly nerdy interview about Disney's Frozen
• Unfreezing ‘Frozen:’ The making of the newest fairy tale in 3D by Disney
• Frozen: inside Disney's billion-dollar social media hit
• Michael, Peter, Chris and Jennifer Talk Frozen and It's Success
• Secret Phone Recording Helped Idina Menzel Land New Disney Role
• THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY OF FROZEN
• Disney's Frozen and the 'gay agenda'
• UNH degree played a part in Oscar-winning movie
• Immersed in Movies: First Look: Designing the Winter Wonderland of ‘Frozen’
• The tech of Disney’s Frozen and Get a Horse!
• The Scrambled Sexuality of 'Frozen's "Let It Go"
• Frozen lambasted as pro-gay propaganda by Christian pastor
• Frozen Director Now Apologizes to Parents for 'Let It Go'

In the second part of our series on Dischord Records, we look at the politics of Washington D.C.'s music scene going into the 1990s... when art met commerce. 

Additional Resources:

• Andersen, M. and Jenkins, M. (2009). Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk In The Nation's Capital, Akashic Books.
• Dischord on Bandcamp (Free Streaming)

In the first of our two episodes on Dischord Records we look at the punk community of Washington D.C. in the 1980s and its conflicting ethics of politics, violence and drug abuse. Follow along with the story of Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson's label until its redefining summer of 1985.

Additional Resources:

• Dischord Records – History
• Thompson, S. (2001). Market Failure: Punk Economics, Early and Late. College Literature, 28(2), 48.
• Cuffman, T. (2015). Idle musical community: Dischord Records and anarchic DIY practice. Contemporary Justice Review, 18(1), 4. doi:10.1080/10282580.2015.1005502
• Goshert, J. C. (2000). 'Punk' after the Pistols: American Music, Economics, and Politics in the 1980s and 1990s. Popular Music & Society, 24(1), 85.
• Doherty, B. (1997). The embarrassment of riches. (cover story). Reason, 29(4), 21.
• Dischord Records: Out of Step With The World
• Dischord Records: Doing It Wrong
• Andersen, M. and Jenkins, M. (2009). Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk In The Nation's Capital, Akashic Books.

Hellboy's a charming, working class hero, despite being a demon's spawn. We look at how creator Mike Mignola taps into the mythic simplicity of folk tales and how Hellboy itself has become a commodified franchise.

For our first coverage of a reality television show we go from beauty to camp, to joy and grief. This show simultaneously sells branded content that somehow doesn't feel sleazy, while also providing an extraordinary platform for LGBTQ culture.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: To come.

A novel that took Stephen King 12.5 years to write is now a major franchise. But what was it like when fans (and retailers) were rabid for more? Did King have a "responsibility" to them? And why didn't he plot his fantasy world... instead of writing it by the seat of his pants? 

Additional Resources:

• Bev Vincent, The Road To The Dark Tower
• Rereading Stephen King week 13: The Gunslinger
• So, what’s the deal with The Dark Tower?

All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is a film (and record) by Tim Rutili of the band Califone. We interview Tim about his experience creating a project like this in multiple media and how that changed his process going forward.

Additional Resources:

• All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (Vimeo)
• All My Friends Are Funeral Singers -- Film Review
• IndiePix Films Launches Subscription-Streaming Service with 400-Plus International Movies
• Califone frontman Tim Rutili gets an on-set lesson in filmmaking
• Music Is Important in 'All My Friends are Funeral Singers' and One of Its Few Redeeming Qualities
• ‘All My Friends Are Funeral Singers’: Califone’s life beyond Sundance
• Team Spirits: 'All My Friends Are Funeral Singers'

By becoming a more vulnerable frontman, Nick Cave has transformed after a major tragedy. To understand this better, we cover his latest album Skeleton Tree, the companion film One More Time With Feeling and the Bad Seeds' latest North American tour.

Additional Resources:

• The Love and Terror of Nick Cave
• Nick Cave Finally Tells His Most Painful Story
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds x Hingston Studio – Skeleton Tree
• All Songs +1: A Devastating New Film About Nick Cave
• Nick Cave Talks About Living and Writing Through Grief
• Nick Cave Will Never Be Forgotten
• THE IMMENSE GRIEF OF NICK CAVE’S ‘SKELETON TREE’
• Nick Cave financed the documentary One More Time with Feeling so that he would not have to speak with journalists about the death of his son

As part of the big four bands breaking out of the Seattle "grunge" scene in the early 1990s, Soundgarden was a combination that was not quite metal or punk. We look at why their record Badmotorfinger acts like such a strong signifier of meaning in the wake of Chris Cornell's death.