Feb 25, 2021
It's time to talk about the politics of kaiju. With the new Godzilla vs. Kong movie stomping our way soon, we're discussing the long history of giant monsters in pop culture, and the truly strange cinematic backstory of the original King Kong vs. Godzilla flick. What do kaiju represent, and why are they connected to...
Jan 14, 2021
JK Rowling has become an anti-trans activist on social media. This news has sent Harry Potter fandom -- always full of queers and trans people -- into mourning. We talk to author/publisher (and longtime Slytherin) Cecilia Tan about how to ignore Rowling and take back Harry Potter.
Shownotes here:...
Dec 17, 2020
Suddenly, everything is cute again. Animation, pop music, and the internet are packed with adorable sparklefest feelings. What is behind the new wave of cute aesthetics? We talk about why hard times drive us to comfort content -- and whether the cuteocracy is a protest against dystopia. Plus, can things get TOO...
Nov 5, 2020
What happens when you bring real history into fantastical stories about monsters and magic? We talk about movies, books, and TV where the result is a more compelling, emotional -- and even truthful -- representation than literal history can provide. Plus, we talk to author and historian P. Djèlí Clark about his...
Oct 8, 2020
Fires. Floods. Heat waves. Zoonotic disease. The climate is changing. But are we going to change with it and survive? And how can storytelling help us understand our impact on the planet? We're talking about the disaster movie that is our lives with environmental journalist Maddie Stone.
Shownotes:...