Pop DNA: Recent Episodes
Rhonda Watts and Erin O'Loughlin
Pop DNA traces the roots of your favorite pop culture works.
We're Erin and Rhonda, and we are big old nerds. We love dissecting our favorite movies, TV shows, and more, and we're really into how literature, history, and culture have impacted the works we consume. We explore connections across mediums, from the classic novels we see reflected in our favorite horror movies, to the politics in superhero franchises, to the influence of Shakespeare in, like, literally everything. There are also bad jokes. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!
Welcome to our 2024 Summer Series! This summer we decided to read some classic American novels with recent film adaptations, and we're starting with Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
We talk about our personal experiences with the novel, how we see this work in the context of American literature, and how the 1994 and 2019 film adaptations explore the book's themes. We also answer the age-old question: are you a Meg, Jo, Beth, or Amy?
Join us next time for a discussion of Alice Walker's The Color Purple! Follow us on Instagram for very infrequent and halfhearted posts.
Theme song: Swings and Roundabouts by Hey Pluto
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For Rhonda's Birthday Bonus we're talking COWBOY CARTER and THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Why are both of these albums' titles styled in all caps?
Our conversation explores our initial reactions to and top five tracks from each album, as well as some interesting parallels between these two bodies of work. How does Beyoncé break genre boundaries on COWBOY CARTER? How does Taylor explore her relationship with art and fame on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT? And how do both albums further the cultural discussion of women driving their own narratives?
We also talk about the bigger picture of women in pop music beyond Tay and Bey, and the current pop moment embodied in artists like Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Miley Cyrus.
Oh, and we also definitely talk about Kendrick and Drake.
Listen to our Women in Pop playlist here.
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If you thought we were going to let it slide that Depression Barbie's comfort show is the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice, you thought wrong.
We're digging in to some possible literary inspirations and parallels for the Barbie movie, looking specifically at Christian/Catholic creation theology and how much Greta Gerwig may have been influenced by the work of Jane Austen. We also talk about who we would choose if we could recast Ken, and follow up with a coda to our discussion of gender dynamics in Barbie Land from last week.
Further Reading:
Barbie Land as Garden of Eden
Rolling Stone Greta Gerwig Interview
For updates on Rhonda's book, follow here
Pop DNA is taking a brief break, and we will be back in early May with a Bonus Episode! Stay tuned!
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We are back from a long, semi-unplanned hiatus, but don't worry, there's still plenty more Barbie to talk about! This week we look at how both Barbie Land and Stereotypical Barbie's perspective in the film explore gender and femininity.
How does Barbie Land fit into the context of women-dominated societies in other fictional works?
How does Barbie as a film both defy and uphold patriarchal beauty standards?
And how does Barbie as a character help us as women and feminine people explore how we can define femininity and identity for ourselves?
Further Reading:
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Ritual of Proof by Dara Joy
Sci-Fi Movies About All-Female Planets Have a Hidden Agenda -- video essay from Slate
Barbietopia and Feminist Futures: Next Steps on the Heroine’s Journey -- essay by Ivana Milojević
What ‘Barbie’ teaches us about the beauty of growing old -- article by Steve Lopez
Justice for Weird Barbie -- article by Natalie Michie
Books to Read After Watching Barbie -- post by Rhonda
Does anyone want to run our Instagram account? lmk
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Hi Barbies! We have sooooo much to talk about in this three-parter, so we squished some background discussion of fashion dolls and the cultural mythos of Barbie into this first episode. We also have some thoughts on the Barbenheimer phenomenon, the Barbie movie as a capitalist product, and our own experiences playing with Barbies as children. Then we give a brief overview of some other topics we want to dive into in our next two episodes and take a quiz to find out which Barbies we are (but, as happens quite often, the quiz was wrong).
This month we're talking about:
- Feminist Utopias, Matriarchies, and Inverted Patriarchies in Fiction
- Aging, Gender, and Sexuality as Explored in Barbie
- Weird Barbie and Queerness
- Parallels with the Works of Jane Austen, Because You Didn't Think Rhonda Was Just Going to Ignore that Depression Barbie's Comfort Show is the 1995 Pride and Prejudice Miniseries, Did You???
- and more
Follow us on Instagram I guess but don't expect too much.
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What was supposed to be a fun and light chat about video games this week turned into a philosophical discussion of free will as a player of video games, and how this illusion of choice translates into the choices (or lack thereof) of characters in the TV series of The Last Of Us, especially in terms of gendered actions and decision-making. It's still fun, though, we promise!
Further Exploration:
GamerGate coverage by Aja Romano
Tropes vs. Women in Video Games video series by Anita Sarkeesian
Playing As/Against Violent Women paper by Stefan Schubert
Our episode on femininity and power in fantasy media
Our episode on The Chronicles of Narnia where we discuss Susan and Lucy not fighting in the battle
Vulture piece on patriarchy in the world of TLOU
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This week we are getting apocalyptic! We talk about why we as humans seem to be fascinated with the fall of civilization or even of humanity itself. From the ancient epic of Gilgamesh to several separate HBO shows, our literature and culture are full of stories about humans at the end of the world.
How does The Last of Us explore the human significance of the apocalypse? And what other works of apocalyptic and zombie fiction can we discuss to contextualize what TLOU might be trying to say about humanity? Works we discuss include:
- The Epic of Gilgamesh
- Revenant myths and legends
- The Last Man by Mary Shelley
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (and the HBO series)
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (and the Hulu series)
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
- The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey
- Severance by Ling Ma
Follow us on Instagram for more about the literature and commentary we reference.
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Welcome to our first regular episode of 2024! We're kicking the year off with a discussion of the (maybe?) zombie show that everyone was talking about in early 2023.
This week we talk about our first experiences with the world of The Last of Us, discuss the question of whether or not this is in fact a zombie show, and take a quiz to find out which character we are. Then we introduce the ideas we want to explore more in-depth in the next two episodes, such as:
- Adapting video games for other media
- Gender and the male gaze in video games
- Why we love apocalyptic stories
- How other works have explored zombies (or zombie-like creatures)
- ... and more
Take the quiz here.
Follow us on Instagram if that's the sort of thing you like to do.
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It's a new year, which means it's time for us to talk about our favorite movies and TV (plus a little theater and music) of 2023!
We also discuss how the Hollywood strikes affected how we view media, and how the theme of girlhood seemed to be a throughline in a lot of the media we loved this past year. We talk about a few of our disappointments as well, and then look ahead to what we're excited for in 2024.
2023 Stuff We Talk About:
Barbie
M3GAN
The Little Mermaid
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
Succession
The Bear
Ted Lasso
The Last of Us
Shrinking
Theatre Camp
Polite Society
Quiz Lady
The Buccaneers
Somebody I Used to Know
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
You People
The Artful Dodger
Merrily We Roll Along
Lessons in Chemistry
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Mandalorian
Ahsoka
Renfield
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
A Haunting in Venice
Follow us on Instagram for sporadic memes and book recs, and join us next time for our first regular episode of the year!
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The Wizard of Oz is a quintessentially American story, and over the 120+ years since the novel's release, the tale and its subsequent iterations have reflected the political climate of particular moments in our culture.
From its inception as an alleged allegory for the late 19th century Populist movement, to the imagery of early women's suffrage in the witches of Oz, to the echoes of FDR's New Deal and the Great Depression in "Over the Rainbow," to The Wiz's positioning within the Black American experience in the 1970s, and even to how the musical Wicked reflects the flawed third-wave feminism of the 1990s.
Further reading:
Populist symbolism in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Matriarch Behind the Curtain
The American dream of "Over the Rainbow"
The Wiz as a Black American journey
Wicked as a feminist work
Follow on Instagram for sporadic and tangentially relevant content.
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We're wrapping up 2023 with a look at the beloved 1939 classic musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz, and its 1900 source novel by L. Frank Baum.
This week we give you a wizard's-eye view of the topics we plan to dig into deeper in the next couple episodes. We'll look at the popular theory of the original novel as an allegory for U.S. politics and economics at the turn of the 20th century, as well as the significance of the song "Over the Rainbow" for Americans during the Great Depression. We'll also talk about Judy Garland's experience making the film and in Hollywood in general, as well as both the movie and book's long-lasting and far-reaching impact on American culture as we know it.
If we appeared in your Spotify Wrapped this year, we'd like to say thank you, thank you, thank you, sincerely, for all your support. We hope you're having as much fun as we are.
Follow us on Instagram for occasional memes, book recs, and cat pics.
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Following up on our conversation from last time, this installment in our discussion of The Hunger Games looks at the vulnerability of children in both Panem and the ongoing attacks on Palestine, the troubling parallel between the Capitol citizens of Panem and we in the privileged Western world in our parasocial relationships with those respective children, and how these traumatic events will affect the human psyche and our ways of dealing with vulnerabilities.
This is another hard discussion, so again, listen with that in mind, and please continue to call your elected leaders, protest, share and post, and take care of yourselves.
Further Reading:
Intro to the Palestinian journalists in Gaza
More about parentification and vulnerability cycles
Helpful guide to calling your members of Congress
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With a new installment of The Hunger Games film franchise hitting theaters this month, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to revisit the series, and we brought a friend!
Jac Frost (known as @jacfrostisreal on TikTok) joins us for an intro to the deep-dive discussions we're planning on the books by Suzanne Collins and their film adaptations.
Our conversation focuses on the ways our current world is reflective of Panem, from the ever-growing class and economic divides in our society, to the level of surveillance and control the state already has access to into our everyday lives, to the happening-as-we-speak genocide of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government and military. This does get pretty heavy, so if you're not in a place to hear it, please take care of yourself, but also contact your elected officials to call for a ceasefire.
Find Jac on TikTok and Pop DNA on Instagram.
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Happy Halloween!
As a coda to our Wednesday series, we decided to watch an iconic movie from our childhoods and talk over it!
Tangents include the research Rhonda did about the house in Practical Magic before we visited the town where it was filmed for Galentine's Day, the summer camp Erin worked at one summer that reminded her of Wednesday's summer camp in really uncomfortable ways, and the prolific career of Joan Cusack, among other things.
The commentary starts at around 8:50.
We've been making this show for five years now and we're so grateful to everyone who has tuned in!
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We wrap up our Wednesday series with a deep dive into the character's emotional landscape. The therapy sessions that Wednesday is compelled to attend are not a healthy depiction of mental health care, so let's talk about that! Let's also talk about whether or not romance was really necessary to Wednesday's story (it wasn't), and whether romance storylines in media in general are underappreciated (they are).
Come back next week for a spooky Addams Family-themed bonus episode!
Further reading:
Busting some therapy myths perpetuated by media
Therapist reacts to Wednesday's therapist (video)
Actors on Actors: Jenna Ortega and Elle Fanning transcript and video
Everyone is Beautiful and No One is Horny
Follow on Instagram for extra content and memes
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This week we're talking about the ways the titular Wednesday explores her identity throughout the series, from finding other weird kids at Nevermore Academy, to differentiating from the Addams Family ethos.
Further Reading:
Nevermore Academy website
Nevermore filming locations
The All Ghouls School on TV Tropes
Children's author Chris Priestly on the appeal of the special school in fiction
Introduction to Bowen Theory in family therapy
Check our Instagram for images we discuss, extra content, memes, and occasional cat photos
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Wednesday is both a piece of Addams Family media and a Tim Burton work, so we're looking at the intersection of those two origins.
We take a trip down memory lane to look at how Wednesday and the rest of her family have been portrayed in various media over the decades, from the original 1930s comics by Charles Addams, all the way up to its current iteration in the Wednesday Netflix series.
Then we talk about Tim Burton's aesthetic influences, distinct style of storytelling, and how he brought those things to Wednesday.
Further Reading:
The Smithsonian Mag's Cultural History of the Addams Family (from 2019, so pre-Wednesday)
More about the Addams Family Musical
Vox piece on Tim Burton's distinct visual style and influences
Hollywood Reporter article on Tim Burton's bringing his vision to Wednesday
Find images we discussed, plus the occasional meme, on Instagram
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It's full-on Spooky Season at Pop DNA and we're celebrating with a discussion of our favorite spooky teen, Wednesday Addams!
In part 1 of this series, we talk about some of our initial thoughts on the Netflix show Wednesday, our relationships with the Addams Family franchise, and how we feel Wednesday fits into this 85-year legacy.
We also take the quiz to find out which character we are, which you can take here, and then get into a quick overview of other topics we're planning to deep-dive this month.
We'll look at previous iterations of the Addams characters, from the original comic strips, to the 1960s TV series, to the 1990s movies we Millennials grew up watching. We'll also discuss Wednesday as a Tim Burton work, framing the show as a whole through his signature aesthetic and directorial style. Plus much more!
Follow on Instagram for supplementary content, memes, and cat photos.
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We wrap up our series on Abbott Elementary with some thoughts on how the show pays homage and stands out from older network sitcoms, Quinta Brunson's inspirations for the series, and a more lighthearted look at teaching and the veteran teachers who have shaped all of our lives.
Further Reading:
Abbott's "Revitalization" of the network sitcom
Quinta Brunson on Abbott's "cool factor"
The real teachers that inspired Abbott
Report on penalties for teachers who break contracts
Study on why teachers leave, and why they stay
Mr. Reed music video - "Welcome to the 4th Grade"
Come back next week for part 1 of our series on the Netflix show Wednesday!
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This week we're digging into some of our favorite characters on Abbott Elementary!
We take a look at our favorite terrible boss Ava, with a psychological analysis of supervisor-employee relationship patterns, and how Ava's management style stacks up to other fictional bosses like Michael Scott or Don Draper.
Then we explore Janine and Barbara's unique found family mother-daughter dynamic, a type of relationship we don't often see in media, despite the many "reluctant father figure/teen girl daughter figure" duos that seem to be everywhere in pop culture.
Further Reading:
10 Terrible Bosses from Movies and TV
Psychologist breaks down boss-employee relationships in media
The dubious Milgram Shock Experiment
The equally sus Stanford Prison Experiment
7 Times Barbara was a Mom to Janine
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This week we look at how Abbott Elementary reflects popular opinions on the public education system, and how it portrays the experience of teaching as a profession. We also dip into the hot-button issue of charter schools, looking at a more nuanced discussion of this debate than we see presented on the show.
Further Reading:
Social media creators Honest Teacher Vibes, Mrs. Call's Campers, and Teacher Tales of Miss Smith give firsthand accounts of teaching in public schools
Real Seattle area teachers give their thoughts on Abbott Elementary
The New Yorker article on Abbott's charter school storyline
Last Week Tonight episode on charter schools
Documentary The Lottery
Podcast episode by Dr. Nadia Lopez on the charter school debate
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Happy Season 6 to Pop DNA! To kick off September we're going back to school to talk about Abbott Elementary!
To set the stage for this four-part series, and the whole podcast for the foreseeable future, we discuss the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, how they affect Abbott Elementary, and why we should all be aware of the issues involved.
We also take a quiz to find out which characters we are, which you can take here, and give a brief preview of the other topics we plan to explore in this series. We'll look at how the show discusses public education from a few different angles, Abbott's origin story and unique success as a network sitcom in a streaming world, and deep dives into our favorite characters and relationships.
Further Reading:
The latest news we have (as of the time of recording) on negotiations for WGA
Vox article breaking down the issues at stake in the strikes
Interview with writer/producer Brittani Nichols
Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter striking in Philadelphia
Join us on Instagram for sporadic memes and book and cat content.
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To celebrate Erin's (slightly belated) birthday we're deep diving into the most perfect television show ever created that also has a character named Bus Rat.
Questions we discuss:
What does the character of the camera represent within the narrative?
What does the final scene of the series tell us about Fleabag's relationships with her loved ones, herself, and whatever the camera represents?
Why don't any of Fleabag's boyfriends have actual names?
Are we in our Fleabag era?
We also tell you about our favorite things we recently watched, including two screenings of Barbie, and take a quiz to find out which Fleabag characters we are. Take the quiz here.
Further reading:
The Female Gaze in Fleabag
Phoebe Waller-Bridge interview
Fleabag and Insecure video essay
We're taking it easy for August and this will be the only episode we release this month. We'll be back in September to go back to school and discuss Abbott Elementary!
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ICYMI, we presented at Virtual JaneCon! Here's the audio from our talk, "Jane Austen: Queen of Comedy."
We dive into Austen's influence in modern TV comedy, from parody and satire on shows like Succession and Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, to the striking comedic parallels between Sense and Sensibility and Schitt's Creek!
View our slide deck here.
Watch this in video format on our YouTube channel here.
Learn more about Virtual JaneCon here.
Thanks to the organizers of Virtual JaneCon for including us in this year's program!
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We're wrapping up our Summer "Camp" series with a loving look at two science fiction/space opera movies that are really historical romances in space!
Topics of discussion include Eddie Redmayne's love of character voices (and also how he auditioned for the role of Kylo Ren!); the fact that Star Wars has always been a little bit stupid, which is part of its charm; and how the lavish costumes in both movies really accentuate the fact that they are both historical romances in space, because if there's one thing about a historical romance, it's gonna have gowns.
Further Reading:
Eddie Redmayne on his weird voice in Jupiter Ascending and his audition for Kylo Ren
Reviews and discussions of Jupiter Ascending from Vogue, RogerEbert.com, and Decider
Reviews and discussions of Attack of the Clones from the LA Times (2002 review), StarWars.com (behind the scenes look at costumes), and Tor.com (discussing the romance)
Follow us on Instagram for more content, including a costume comparison and sci-fi romance book recs!
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In this meta horror commentary edition of Summer "Camp" we are talking about The Blackening and The Cabin in the Woods!
Discussion points include how The Cabin in the Woods has aged over the past decade-plus and how we feel about its messaging now, The Blackening's unexpected hopefulness and positioning within both the meta-horror and the Black film spaces, and how both films take a classic, even cliched, horror premise and turn it on its head.
We also talk about this particular type of horror setting and why it's so pervasive in the genre, as well as our favorite types of horror settings.
And of course, we spend way too long talking about the things we've been watching, but this time we have two weeks to catch you up on!
Further Reading:
Postmodern nihilism in The Cabin in the Woods
Varietyinterview with DeWayne Perkins
The Blackening review
Horror references in The Cabin in the Woods
Join us for our final Summer "Camp" episode on Jupiter Ascending and Attack of the Clones! Follow us on Instagram if you dare.
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CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains discussions, though NOT graphic descriptions, of sexual assault and violence against women, rape and rape culture, trauma, and women’s loss of bodily autonomy as portrayed and commented upon in these films. If these topics will not be a good experience for you to hear about, please take care of yourself and skip this episode. We'll see you next time!
We're calling this the "feminist body horror" edition of Summer "Camp" and looking at two modern classics within this subgenre: 2009's Jennifer's Body and 2007's Teeth. We look at the parallels between these two films, both in their commentary on women's bodily and sexual agency within patriarchal culture in the movies themselves, and in how the films were received and perceived by pop culture audiences. We also looked into the mythos of the "vagina dentata," the archetype explored in Teeth, and into how Jennifer's Body star Megan Fox was treated by the media and culture at large in the years surrounding the release of the film, and we are here to talk all about these topics and more!
Further Reading:
Reassessing Jennifer's Body in the wake of #MeToo (article from 2018)
Video + transcript of the 2019 conversation with Megan Fox and Diablo Cody
Academic article on the cultural context of Teeth (PDF)
Exploring "vagina dentata" mythos around the world
Queer Movie Night podcast episode on Jennifer's Body
The Whorrors podcast episode on Teeth
Follow on Instagram for some occasional supplementary content and memes.
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Welcome "camp"ers to Pop DNA Summer "Camp"! To kick off our summer series all about our favorite campy movies, we first give a brief explainer of what we mean by "camp." We quote Susan Sontag and it's very professional. Then we look at two movies that portray creepy sentient dolls that turn murderous, the original 1988 classic Child's Play and the instant classic that sparked a million memes, M3GAN.
Further Reading:
Sontag's original essay "Notes on 'Camp'"
M3GAN director on the comparisons between the two films
Why M3GAN is a queer icon
Discussion of Child's Play in context of 1980s horror films
Follow us on Instagram to find out what our next double feature will be, and join us all June and July for more Summer "Camp"!
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Wrapping up our Taylor Swift series, we decided to look at Swift's relationship with her fame and her fandom, and how both fit into the broader context of how we talk about famous women.
From the way our society likes to mock teen girls and young women and the art they like, to the cycles of public opinion we see around female pop singers like Lizzo, Britney Spears, Beyonce, and Swift herself, we've got a lot of internalized misogyny to unpack. We also look into the psychology of parasocial relationships and the Taylor Swift conspiracy theories that fans were right about. And, yes, we do talk about the Matty Healy thing (briefly).
Further Reading:
Stop Indiscriminately Hating Things Teenage Girls Like
Why Are Teen Girls in Crisis? It’s Not Just Social Media
Why do we Hate Women’s Voices and How I Reclaimed Mine
Demographics of Taylor Swift Fandom
Psychology of Parasocial Relationships
The Karma Album Conspiracy Theory
Next week we'll start our summer series, Summer "Camp," with discussions of some of our favorite campy horror films! Follow on Instagram for more.
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Did you know that we're kinda theater kids? And also huge literature nerds? And that Taylor Swift is both of those things, too?
This week we look at the theatricality of Swift's tour shows, specifically with the set and costume design of the Eras Tour, and how those elements help tell the story. Then we dive into the literary sensibilities of the albums Folklore and Evermore, viewing these works as collections of short stories about, in Swift's own words, a "mythological American town."
We also acknowledge the deeply upsetting news of Swift's publicized connection with a certain problematic person, leaving space for how we as fans and consumers of her art can feel about that news and the real harm done to specific communities. We will discuss this further next week.
Further Reading:
The article we reference at the top of the show
Architectural Digest breakdown of Eras Tour set design
Swift's interview with Apple Music about writing Folklore
Quote about Swift watching Sense and Sensibility while writing Evermore
Follow along on Instagram as we attempt to stick with a consistent posting schedule.
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This week we're diving in to the evolution of Taylor Swift, and we've got graphs!
Over the course of her 17-year career, Swift has evolved as an artist and as a public figure, with distinct "eras" emerging in her music and aesthetic. We take a look at her early career as a teen country music artist, her transition to pop, and her deepening explorations and fine-tuning within both genres to find her current adult artistic voice.
Find the timeline and word cloud images we discussed on our Instagram, and maybe hang out a bit.
Further reading:
Data + statistics on the evolution of Taylor Swift
Taylor's code-switching
Breakdown of style aesthetics for each era
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We're doing something totally new this month--discussing the works of a musical artist! And who better or more newsworthy to be our inaugural artist but Miss Americana herself, Taylor Swift.
In part 1, we talk about the very recent announcement of Speak Now (Taylor's Version), look briefly at our personal connections with Swift's music, and take a very scientific BuzzFeed quiz to find out which Taylor Swift Era we are (but then we both self-identify as different ones).
We also give an overview of topics we want to explore in more depth in coming episodes, including:
- the Swiftie fandom and fan theories
- the evolution of Taylor's storytelling and performance
- the literary references of Folklore and Evermore
- our culture's fraught and complicated relationship with female artists like Swift, Lizzo, and Britney Spears
- and more...
Watch this video from The Take for a great primer on the Taylor Cinematic Universe. Follow us on Instagram for sporadic and sometimes relevant content.
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It's Rhonda's Birthday Bonus, so she roped Erin into talking about Twilight! As long-time listeners know, Rhonda is contractually obligated to bring up Twilight at regular intervals, and after this episode her quota will be met for quite some time.
In our scholarly and insightful discussion, we talk about every Twilight consumer's burning question: Team Edward or Team Jacob? We also talk about our personal experiences with the books and movies, theorize about what makes the series so compelling to so many, and even (casually) dip into the literary history connected to Twilight.
We also acknowledge the problems with the series, including racism against Indigenous people and internalized misogyny, and talk about whether we think the recently-announced TV adaptation will be able to sufficiently address those issues.
Further Reading:
Hollywood Reporter article announcing the new TV series
Rhonda's blog post from 2020 reflecting on the series (links to other posts)
A Case Study from Evergreen State College analyzing the Twilight series' portrayal of Indigenous people
Post from the Burke Museum at the University of Washington on cultural theft in Twilight
The Quileute Nation's official website
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We wrap up our series on A League of Their Own this week by discussing romance!
Erin gives us a rundown on the documentary A Secret Love, which chronicles the real-life love story of Rockford Peach Terry Donahue and her lifelong partner Patricia Henschel. Then Rhonda deep-dives into the reference made to Pride and Prejudice in the first episode of the show, and how this reference foreshadows or contextualizes the romance storylines.
Further Reading:
We also found this article on parallels with another literary reference, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Follow on Insta and join us next week for Rhonda's Birthday Bonus!
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We're continuing our discussion of A League of Their Own with a look inside the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) and a few of the real women who played in the league over its 12 seasons. We also analyze how accurately the movie and TV series portrayed the realities of the league.
Check out our recommended reading list below for our sources and further background on the history.
Recommended Reading:
This 2018 Chicago Tribune article offers lots of valuable background
The Hidden Queer History Behind A League of Their Own
Official League profileof the Rockford Peaches
Rockford Peaches official website
LA Times profile of Maybelle Blair
Follow us on Instagram for our current read-and-watch recommendations.
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It's officially baseball season and we're celebrating with a deep dive into the 2022 Amazon original series A League of Their Own, and the 1992 movie that inspired it! We open it up with a look at our first experiences with both the film and the series, and then do an overview of what we plan to explore in more depth this month.
Topics include the true history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and the real Rockford Peaches, as well as the real-life queer love stories that may have inspired the TV show's romance, plus how references to literary classics like Pride and Prejudice and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn offer parallels to the story, and more.
We also take the quiz to find out which character we are, which you can take here.
Follow along this month and join us on Instagram for some sporadic bonus content.
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This week we're very excited to welcome our guest Natania Barron, author of the Arthurian-based Queens of Fate trilogy, to talk about the film The Green Knight, the character of Gawain and his many iterations, nerdy medievalist Easter eggs, the enduring and transcending relevance of Arthuriana, and so much more!
Find Natania and her books on her website and follow her on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Her book Queen of None is still available from some sources, but it will be re-released along with its sequel, Queen of Fury, early next year.
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This week in our discussion of The Green Knight, we look into readership and audience reception of the source text, the film, and other recent fantasy fiction. Medieval readers (or listeners) of Sir Gawain's story would have understood references and symbols in the text that many modern readers and viewers miss--what are some of these references?
We also talk about the persistent myth that everyone in Medieval Europe was white, and how this racist myth has affected modern audiences' perceptions of the film's casting choices. This leads into current broader popular culture discussions around the casting of actors of color in other fantasy media, such as House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power.
Further Reading:
Crash course on the source text
L.A. Times reviews of the film
How Gawain's race affects the film
An interviewwith "Medieval POC"
Race and Worldbuilding in Fantasy
And follow us on Instagram.
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We're very excited to be diving in to the 2021 film The Green Knight this month, as well as the 14th century English epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight on which the film is based. As an introduction to this series, we discuss our overview thoughts on the movie, plus our experiences with the source text, as well as Arthurian legends in general.
We also do our usual "table of contents," giving you a taste of the topics we plan to talk about this month. Things like:
- the positioning of the text among its medieval contemporaries vs. how we view the text and film as a modern audience
- attitudes toward sex and sexuality in both medieval and modern contexts
- current pop culture works of fantasy fiction in which we see echoes of the same medievalist themes, like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and, yes, Star Wars
- how beautiful Dev Patel is
Plus, we are going to have a guest this month, and it's a good one! You'll definitely want to tune in for that. Or maybe not, I don't know, I don't know your life.
Go follow us on Instagram if you want very sporadic updates and random thoughts.
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Wrapping up our series on To All The Boys, we look at how psychology and long distances affect the relationships in the films as well as in real life. Erin of course dips into her psychology expertise to talk about the vulnerability cycle in relationships, and how we see this play out especially in Lara Jean and Peter's story. And Rhonda breaks down some of the locations used in the films, from the Pacific Northwest, to Seoul, to NYC, looking at how setting informs the characters and story.
Further Reading:
The Vulnerability Cycle in human relationships
Filming locations in the movies
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This week in our To All the Boys discussion, we look at how ideas and themes in the films are reflected in the real world. We research some other works and the life of Jenny Han, author of the books the films are based on, as well as how the idea of "soulmates" is expressed in literature and pop culture, especially teen romcoms. How have Han's experiences shaped her stories, and her role in the adaptations of her stories, and how has the idea of one perfect soul mate for everyone impacted how we view romance and romantic stories?
Further reading:
Interview with Jenny Han about her role as showrunner on The Summer I Turned Pretty
A Brief History of Soul Mates in literature and culture
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Love letters and romance novels are two of the most prominent genres of writing that inform our cultural ideas about love and romance, and both feature prominently in To All the Boys. Lara Jean is an avid romance reader, and even has fantasies inspired by common romance novel tropes, and of course the entire premise of the first book and movie revolves around Lara Jean's love letters.
This week we dive into both of these forms of writing, the history behind them, how society has viewed them (and those who read and write these genres), and how we see these attitudes reflected and subverted in To All the Boys. It's a perfect discussion for Valentine's (or Galentine's) Day!
Further reading:
History of Love Letters
Why we love the fake dating trope
Follow us on Instagram for some very well-planned and relevant content.
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All February long we're talking about our favorite Netflix teen romcom movie series, To All the Boys I've Loved Before (sorry, Kissing Booth)! In part one we talk about our initial experiences with the movies, the source of comfort they were during quarantine, and get into the topics we plan to discuss in more depth throughout the month. Themes include:
- the history of love letters
- romance novels and romance readers
- self-efficacy in teen romance
- and more!
We also decided to take our customary quiz early, and this one tells us which To All the Boys boy is our soulmate. You can take it along with us here.
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We wrap up our Stranger Things discussion with a look at some of the literary inspirations for the show, such as the work of Stephen King and the Choose Your Own Adventure children's book series, as well as the interweaving of Dungeons and Dragons-style narrative storytelling with the ability for players to choose their own path.
We also take the quiz to find out which characters we are, and you can take it here.
Links:
Fandom Wiki page on all the influences and references in Stranger Things
Article on the literary sensibility of the show
Exploring the agency of women in Dungeons and Dragons
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Part 2 of our Stranger Things discussion dives into the DND lore, especially the monsters (because that's Erin's brand), from which the show draws inspiration (or even straight-up copies, it's a little murky). We also look at Stranger Things as a piece of nostalgia media, and discuss why viewing the past through such a rosy lens can be dangerous, especially when considering how the political and social messaging reads to a modern audience.
For further reading:
Every Dungeons and Dragons Monster Referenced
More about theDemogorgon
The Parks and Rec clip we referenced
More about Retromarketing and Pseudo-Nostalgia
Stranger Things is Copaganda
“Stranger Things and the Danger of Nostalgia” video essay by James Somerton
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We are launching a three-part series dissecting your favorite 1980s-nostalgia-bait Netflix series (that Erin loves and Rhonda... doesn't love), Stranger Things!
In this first part, we look at the unique placement of Stranger Things and its fandom within main stream pop culture. From the show's homages to DND and sci-fi/horror fans, to the recent evolution in the online fandom through social media platforms like TikTok. Yes, we're talking about the "Chrissy, Wake Up" TikTok remix song.
We also give a very brief snapshot of other topics we want to explore in this series, like culture and politics of the 1980s, the dangers of nostalgia, and the fantasy creatures and magical powers depicted in the show.
Follow us on Instagram, I guess.
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Happy New Year! In this bonus episode we discuss trends we noticed in the media of 2022, as well as themes and through lines that emerged in our favorite works. From the more abstract like exploring characters' vulnerability as a strength, to themes that are almost genres in themselves, like Rich People Nonsense™. We also look ahead to things we're excited to watch in 2023, and give a quick peek at what's on the itinerary for Pop DNA this year!
Erin's Best of 2022:
- A League of their Own
- The Woman in the House…
- Couples Therapy
- Along for the Ride
- Reboot
- Paper Girls
- NOPE
- The Lost City
- Marry Me
- Bob's Burgers
- Better Call Saul
Rhonda's Best of 2022:
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
- The Invitation
- The Batman
- Catherine, Called Birdy
- Glass Onion
- Fire Island
- The Menu
- Andor
- House of the Dragon
- Severance
- Abbott Elementary
Books:
- Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne
- Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
- B*tch: On the Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke
- The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages by Katherine Harvey
Anticipated 2023 movies according to Rotten Tomatoes, and TV according to Entertainment Weekly
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As we wrap up our final Narnia episode we're asking the big questions: Was C. S. Lewis sexist? Or can we draw any feminist or female-empowerment messages from his work? What does feminism even look like in the context of a fantasy world where children go into battle with talking animals?
We also look specifically at The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a World War 2 story, exploring the story an as allegory for what was happening in the "real" world at the time it takes place.
And of course we took a quiz to find out which Pevensie kids we are, and you can take it here.
Check out The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia by Monika Hilder.
Follow us on Instagram, and join us in early January for our Best of 2022 Bonus!
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This week on our Narnia journey we are diving in to all things magic. We discuss the differences between hard and soft magic systems, how magic is expressed in the world of Narnia, and how it compares to the magic in other fictional worlds. We also look at Narnia as a touchstone of fantasy fiction, its relationship with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and its influence on modern fantasy works like Star Wars and Lev Grossman's book series The Magicians.
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This month we are talking about the best children's fantasy book series, The Chronicles of Narnia (and you can fight us on that). For our first glimpse into the wardrobe we share our first experiences with the series, favorite fan theories, and thoughts on various adaptations. We also definitively decide which order the books should be read, and preview the topics we plan to explore in the next two weeks of the series. Get your hot cocoa and your Turkish Delight, kick back, and get ready to go to Narnia with us!
Recommended Reading:
Clarification on Lewis' "official" reading order
Everything we know about the upcoming Netflix adaptations
Captain Hook fan theory
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One of our favorite things about The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window is that its long, ridiculous title is a perfect encapsulation of the genre it parodies, right down to the use of the words "girl" and "woman." The genre of course is the domestic noir thriller made popular in the past decade which we discussed last episode.
But why is this genre so gender-coded? Why all the girls? What relationship does the genre have with other female-dominated literary movements, such as the mid-century gothic romance? And how do male-authored entries in the thriller genre, such as the works of Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King, differ from this newest iteration?
Recommended reading:
Works Parodied by The Woman in the House...
Why do so many bestsellers have "girl" in the title?
The Domestic Noir and the Gothic Romance
Take the (non-BuzzFeed) quiz
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This week we get into the history of parody, satire, and pastiche and how The Woman in the House... uses all three to comedic effect. We also look at the early thriller films that may share some DNA with the works The Woman in the House... parodies, and that have perhaps become parodies themselves.
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We found the Netflix limited series The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window (which we will hereafter abbreviate as The Woman in the House...) to be utterly delightful. So we are diving in to this series with an overview of some fun topics we plan to discuss, like the nature of parody as commentary, the evolution of the thriller and suspense genres, and of course Rhonda is going to bring in Jane Austen somehow...
It's going to be a fun time!
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For our Podiversary/Spooky Season bonus episode, and as a coda on our discussion of Lovecraft Country as a work of Black horror, we decided to watch Jordan Peele's 2017 masterpiece Get Out and talk through it! Please enjoy this brilliant film with our (less) brilliant commentary. And Happy Halloween!
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We wrap up our discussion of Lovecraft Country with a deep dive into the Lovecraftian monsters portrayed in the series and the journey the show creators took in portraying them. We also discuss the literary criticism theory of "death of the author," and how it applies--and doesn't--to readers' enjoyment and transformation of the works of Lovecraft and other problematic artists.
We also take a quiz to find out which Cthulhu Mythos deities we are.
I suppose if one wanted one could follow us on Instagram?
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In part 3 of our Lovecraft Country series we look at the real-world realities at play within this narrative, from the historical setting of the 1950s to very recent discoveries in the psychology of fear and terror.
Read this interview with Atticus actor Jonathan Majors about his thoughts on the series premiering in the midst of the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests.
Read this article on very new developments in how we understand how our brains process fear and memory.
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TW this week for discussions of racism and racialized trauma
Lovecraft Country sets out to give us a transformed or reclaimed vision of the horrors invented by the racist author H. P. Lovecraft, centering the very people that Lovecraft himself would have marginalized. How successful is the series at achieving this goal?
We explore different perspectives on how horror as a genre has been used to comment on societal issues like class, economics, and especially race, and how Lovecraft Country and other works of Black horror fit into this discussion.
Follow us on Instagram, it will be like we're not even there!
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Happy October and welcome to our Spooky Season discussion of the HBO series Lovecraft Country, based on the novel of the same name. In part 1, as usual, we give you an overview of the topics we plan to explore in-depth in the coming weeks. A few of those topics are:
- The psychology of fear and why we like horror
- The horror genre as a medium to comment on race and racism
- "Death of the Author," and how we can reconcile and transform the artistic works of terrible people
We also want to bring a little levity so Erin will definitely be geeking out over the creature effects as Rhonda fangirls over the historical costuming. We hope this will be a great time!
Follow us on Instagram for some sporadic supplementary content.
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We wrap up our Gilmore Girls Revisited series this week with look at the pop culture sensibility of the show, from ASP's reference-laced writing style and her approach to character and story, to the show's impact on subsequent pop culture and references in other media.
Like, remember when Mindy watched Gilmore Girls with Danny's mom on The Mindy Project and described seemingly alt-universe storylines? Just one of the many ways the show has worked its way into the cultural zeitgeist.
We also reveal the results of our "Which Character Are You" quiz; Erin is a Paris sun, Lorelai moon, Kirk rising and Rhonda is a Rory sun, Sookie moon, Lane rising. We don't actually know how astrology works, but that sounds right.
Follow us on Instagram I guess.
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This week we dig in to Gilmore Girls' relationship with politics, identity, privilege, and morality. We explore the parallels in the American political climate between the original run of the show and the premiere of A Year in the Life, look at some of our favorite moments when the characters discuss politics, and wonder how Rory feels about Hilary Clinton now...
We also take a deeper look at the choices both Rory and Lorelai make that may cause viewers to stop rooting for them, as well as the show's shortcomings in failing to acknowledge their place of privilege, and the complexity in the idea of the "unlikable female character." (Also, Rhonda admits her most toxic trait is liking Rory throughout the whole series, even when she's horrible.)
Watch the YouTube video Why everybody hates Rory Gilmore by Kierra Loves TV.
Follow us on Instagram and we'll never bother you!
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Jane Austen once referred to small towns as "a neighborhood of voluntary spies," and she easily could have been talking about Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
This week we're diving in to the similarities between the writing of Jane Austen and Amy Sherman Palladino, from their explorations of class conflict, to their portrayals of the interior lives of women, to, of course, their small town settings and how these microcosms of society inform their characters' stories.
We also look at the element of both Austen and ASP's work that seems to get the most attention: the romantic relationships. How does Gilmore Girls use the romances to develop its characters? And is there really a healthy romantic relationship on the show? (Spoiler: not really)
Follow us on Instagram if you dare!!!!
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We're kicking off Season 5 with a return to the town of Stars Hollow!
Long time listeners may already know that our second episode EVER was about Gilmore Girls (though we don't recommend listening to it, it sounds pretty terrible). So we thought it was long past time to return and talk about everything we missed!
In part 1, we talk about some general thoughts about the original run of the series and A Year in the Life, how our relationship with the show has changed over the years, and some favorite episodes and moments.
We also give an overview of the other topics we plan to delve into in this series, from pop culture connections and creator Amy Sherman Palladino's other works, to a psychological look at how the show portrays various romantic relationships, to its positioning as a literary successor to the works of Jane Austen, plus more! It's gonna be a great month!
Follow us on Instagram. We're trying, we really are!
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It's Erin's birthday! For her Birthday Bonus she has brought us a selection of women's stories in media that all take place in New York City in the first few decades of the 20th century, from Funny Girl, to Brooklyn, to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
What throughlines do we find in these women's journeys? How does the setting of New York City become an integral part of these stories? What can these media works tell us about the era in which they portray, and what can they tell us about our current time?
Follow us on Instagram, where we try, we really, really try!
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Today's international film pick is both the first film ever shot in Saudi Arabia and the first ever film made by a Saudi woman, director Haifaa al-Mansour's Wadjda. We talk about the film's symbolism and imagery, its genius use of American pop culture, and the big feelings we felt watching this story of a young girl fighting to express herself in a place that wants her to stay quiet.
Read the Hollywood Reporter article we referenced, and this great review from Bitch Media.
Join us all summer for the international films we've been meaning to see! And follow on Instagram for more content and our Summer Book Club picks!
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We're back with another international film pick, this time with the Japanese classic My Neighbor Totoro! We discuss our previous experience with Miyazaki films, how we feel this movie compares and contrasts with American children's cinema, and how to claim Catbus plushies as a tax write-off.
Join us all summer for the international films we've been meaning to see! And follow onInstagram for more content and our Summer Book Club picks!
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We're kicking off our Summer International Film Festival with a visit to a whimsical, fantasy version of Paris with our friend Amélie. We discuss our cultural awareness of the 2001 film prior to us watching it just this past week, our thoughts on the aesthetics, themes, and storytelling of the movie, and even get in a few jabs at Emily in Paris, as one does.
Join us all summer for the international films we've been meaning to see! And follow on Instagram for more content and our Summer Book Club picks!
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We saw the Bob's Burgers movie! And we're gonna tawk abowt it!
We dive into our initial thoughts on the movie, favorite moments, and the nods and in-jokes of the series we noticed. Then we get into some interesting (and some not so interesting) fan theories about the show. To top it off, we reveal the characters BuzzFeed says we are, but BuzzFeed is incorrect.
Follow us on Instagram and stay tuned for our Summer International Film Series!
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Butts, Butts, Butts!
This week we're talking about how Bob's Burgers explores the experiences of puberty through Tina's stories, and how we as adult viewers decompress about our own adolescent experiences through this show and other media, like Pen15, Mean Girls, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding (no, it's not puberty, but it is coming-of-age!).
We also look a little bit into the ways Bob's Burgers explores and expresses gender and sexuality through a few characters, and talk about how the show can do better at portraying people of marginalized genders.
Mashable article about the show's portrayal of its only Black trans character, Marshmallow.
Follow us on Instagram for news about our summer programming!
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This week we look at how Bob's Burgers explores the classic coming of age story through each of the Belcher kids. We also get literary with a dive into the episode "The Gayle Tales," discussing the show's and the characters' relationships with literature.
Blog post on the four stages of coming of age. Article on the literary-ness of Bob's Burgers.
Follow us on Instagram for bonus content and news about our upcoming summer series!
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In anticipation of the new movie coming out at the end of this month, we're discussing our favorite animated family, the Belchers of Bob's Burgers! This week we give a rundown of all the different topics we want to dive into. From the show's literary sensibilities, to its explorations of adolescence and coming-of-age stories, to the interesting meta-commentary on fandoms and fan theories.
We also talk about our favorite guest stars on the show, and which Belchers we personally identify with most. Grab a stool at the counter and join us for Bob's Burgers!
Check out this list of notable guest stars.
Follow us on Instagram, I guess.
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It's Rhonda's Birthday Bonus, and we are talking Superheroes, Sorceresses, Space Wizards, and other powerful women in fantasy media!
We explore the relationship between power (like literal superpower/magic/the Force/etc.) and femininity in the narratives of some of our favorite fantasy and sci-fi heroines, from Alina in Shadow and Bone, to Katniss in The Hunger Games, to Diana in the Wonder Woman films, to Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and more.
How does media portray these powerful women and their relationship with femininity? And what does this portrayal say about how our society views powerful women?
Works cited:
The Violence Binary [Video Essay] by Wit and Folly
The Violent Woman: Femininity, Narrative, and Violence in Contemporary American Cinema by Hilary Neroni
Works discussed:
Black Widow, Avengers Age of Ultron, and Avengers Endgame
Game of Thrones
The Hunger Games
Jupiter Ascending
Shadow and Bone trilogy
Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII, and IX
The Twilight Saga
WandaVision
The Wheel of Time
The Winternight Trilogy
The Witcher
Wonder Woman and WW84
Follow us on Instagram and come back next week for our May topic, which we totally know what it's going to be and have definitely planned...
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Our New Girl series wraps up with a look at the show's predecessors and contemporaries in women-centered sitcoms. We look at favorites from I Love Lucy, to Murphy Brown, to The Mindy Project, to Insecure, and how each of these shares common threads with New Girl.
We also discuss the "quirky" persona of Zooey Deschanel that prevailed in the late 2000s/early 2010s. We talk about how this public perception informed our reading of the Jess Day character, and how it may have (read: definitely did) lead to unfair public judgement of Deschanel and her work.
Follow us on Instagram! And come back next week for Rhonda's Birthday Bonus!
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Theory: New Girl is actually a show about breakups.
This week we dive in to all the relationships, breakups, and make-ups that the storylines of New Girl were often built around. We mostly focus on Jess + Nick and Cece + Schmidt, plus the other relationships of all four characters, and Erin pulls out her marriage and family therapist education to look at these relationships from a psychological standpoint.
We also wonder if Jess and Nick were intended to be end game from the beginning, and if Liz Meriwether would ever want to be a guest on our show.
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This week we're talking teachers and tech startups. We look at the other work of New Girl series creator Elizabeth Meriwether, including the the romcom No Strings Attached and the critically-acclaimed Hulu series The Dropout. We also discuss the character archetype of the teacher as seen in media, from Ms. Frizzle to Jess Day to our new favorite, Ms. Teagues on Abbott Elementary. What common threads and through lines do we find in both of these explorations?
This New Republic profile of Liz Meriwether draws out interesting parallels between her work and that of Lena Dunham. This Mental Floss list of memorable TV teachers includes Jessica Day.
Follow us on Instagram for random, sporadic content!
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The month of April we are talking all things New Girl! This week we start out mixing things up a little by taking the "Which Character Are You?" quiz first (one of us got a surprising result, the other not so much), and then give an overview of the topics we're planning to dive into this month.
New Girl gives us plenty of material to explore in terms of DNA, from women as sitcom protagonists throughout TV history, the portrayal of teachers in media, the psychology of breakups, and commentary on geek and pop culture spaces and media. Those are a few of the avenues we plan to go down in our discussion, so we hope you'll join us!
If you want to find out which New Girl character you are, take this quiz.
Follow us on Instagram if you want to occasionally find something mildly amusing!
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You didn't think we'd end our Matrix discussion without talking about a little movie called Jupiter Ascending, did you?
We wrap up this month with a look at the Matrix films in interaction with the science fiction genre, from classics like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the 1927 film Metropolis, to sci-fi blockbusters like Blade Runner, The Terminator, and Star Wars.
We also look at some newer works that have drawn inspiration from the Matrix films, and how the Wachowski sisters' work has explored gender and society in ways that only science fiction can.
And, yes, we talk about Jupiter Ascending.
Here are a couple of articles about the science fiction films that influenced The Matrix; the interview where Lilly Wachowski confirmed the trans metaphor in the original film, and a blog post about Jupiter Ascending as gender-bent re-reading of the Matrix.
Follow us on Instagram for occasional memes and book recs.
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This week our discussion of The Matrix veers into those topics you're not supposed to discuss at a dinner party: politics, as explored through the films' connections with Erin's current anime obsessions; and religion, specifically Rhonda's experiences watching The Matrix at her church youth group in 2004.
Read more about The Animatrix here, and about the 1980s anime that influenced The Matrix here. The Matrix Fandom Wiki has just tiny bit of content on the religious symbolism, but this BBC News article goes a lot more in-depth. Anyone want to read The Gospel Reloaded and report back?
As always, follow us on Instagram for sporadic memes and book recs.
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Our in-depth explorations of The Matrix begin with Ancient Greece, in particular with Plato and his Allegory of the Cave, and the Greco-Roman god of dreams, Morpheus.
We also spontaneously draw parallels between The Matrix and Shakespeare's Macbeth, dip just a little bit into political readings of the films, and as is our tendency, reference The Office far more than necessary.
Read a free copy of the Allegory of the Cave; check out Geraldo Nascimento's The Matrix Illuminated. Background on the Greek god Morpheus.
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We are taking the Red Pill and entering the Matrix... or wait... was it the other way around?
This week we give you a birds' eye view of the topics and themes we plan to explore this month as we dive into this iconoclastic science fiction film series. (Our friend Anna helped us write this description, and you might be able to hear her voice on part of the episode!)
We'll cover Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the Mythos of Morpheus, and the religious imagery and symbolism we see in the films, plus more!
Follow us on Instagram for occasional memes and book recs.
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We wrap up our Bridgerton series with a look at how the show has impacted pop culture, tourism, fashion, and social media! From the filming locations turning into tourist attractions, to #RegencyCore trending on TikTok, to Regency Romance-inspired dating shows like The Courtship, Bridgerton has inspired a cultural moment, and we are loving it!
This article highlights several of Bridgerton's filming locations, and this one details the rise in tourism due to the "Bridgerton Effect." This Vogue article breaks down the RegencyCore trend and fashion aesthetic, and this TODAY article tells you everything you need to know about the new dating reality series The Courtship.
Follow us on Instagram for more about the topics we discussed, and for occasional memes and book recommendations!
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This week we’re joined by Sanjana (@baskinsuns on TikTok) to discuss the Bridgerton books and TV series in the context of historical and Regency Romance!
We look at how the genre was influenced by the works of Jane Austen, and how the Bridgerton show explores the conventions of historical romance and issues like gender, race, and social class.
We also got Sanjana to take the “Which Bridgerton Are You?” quiz with us, and our results will surprise everyone. Or possibly no one.
Follow Sanjana on TikTok at @baskinsuns and subscribe to her newsletter here. Take the quiz to find out which Bridgerton you are.
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This week we are joined by longtime friend of the show Nicole to discuss her favorite moments on the Bridgerton show, insights into the books, and give her best Regency Romance recs!
We also dip into the real-life gossip and scandal of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, find out who may have been the historical inspiration for Lady Whistledown, and even work in references to the TV show Friends, the movie Moulin Rouge, and of course Pride and Prejudice.
What Bridgerton gets right about gossip in Regency London. Who was the "real" Lady Whisteldown? Scandal and the English opera.
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To kick off our Bridgerton series for the month of February, we dive into the Shondaland oeuvre, from her first big TV hit Grey’s Anatomy to now, and discuss the throughlines we see in all of her work.
We also talk about our favorite moments and characters from Bridgerton season 1, some thoughts on the Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn, and historical romance in general (which we will get into more thoroughly later this month), and pitch an entirely new podcast.
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We wrap up our discussion of The Devil Wears Prada this week with a deep dive into the real-life inspiration for Miranda Priestly, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, and her influence on the fashion industry. We also talk about the real villain of the story--or perhaps just another nuanced character?--Andy's boyfriend Nate.
We also decide to fan cast three new adaptations of the novel (only one of which is a musical), and of course reveal our results of the "which character are you?" quiz. You can take the quiz here.
Follow us on Instagram, where you'll find a full cast list for one of our hypothetical adaptations, but only if you want to, and join us next month as we discuss Bridgerton!
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This week we're looking at how The Devil Wears Prada fits within the context of fiction that takes place in New York City and the branding of NYC. We also look at the novel's place in the late 1990s/early 2000s literary phenomenon known as "Chick Lit."
Check out this Observer article about the "I heart New York" t-shirts and the branding of the city.
Read this Library Journal article on Chick Lit, and this Salon retrospective on the rise and fall of the genre.
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for sporadic, sometimes-funny posts!
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We finally decided to tackle this iconic sleepover staple from our teen years!
We kick off the series with an only slightly rambly overview of our initial experiences (with the novel and the film), some connections to other fashion-focused media (like Emily in Paris and The Bold Type), and our rapid-fire thoughts on The Devil Wears Prada's impact in the cultural zeitgeist.
Obviously, we also talk for far too long about the cold open on The Office where Michael thinks he's Miranda Priestly.
Check out Entertainment Weekly's article on the cast reunion over Zoom last summer.
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Happy New Year to all! We decided to kick off this year with a long, rambling discussion of our favorite TV, movies, and books of 2021.
Erin's List:
Arcane Kevin Can Eff Himself The Wheel of Time Abbot Elementary The Grand Crew The French Dispatch Breaking News in Yuba County Nine Perfect Strangers The Chair
Rhonda's List:
Station Eleven WandaVision For the Wolf The Green Knight The Love Hypothesis The Sex Lives of College Girls Only Murders in the Building Passing Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and Eternals
Join us next week to kick off our Devil Wears Prada series, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter to join our watch-along!
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In this our third and final episode on A Wrinkle in Time, we ask the question, Who is this for? Because many people apparently need a reminder!
We look at how children's literature can explore scary topics in a way that's approachable and healthy for kids, and we also talk about those negative reviews of the 2018 film that seemed to miss the point entirely.
We also, of course, share our results of the quiz to find out which A Wrinkle in Time characters we are...
Article on why children should read scary stories. New York Times review of the 2018 film. Brie Larson's speech at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards.
Take the quiz to find out which A Wrinkle in Time character you are.
We are on Twitter and Instagram, where we post book recommendations and memes, but never with consistency.
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This week we ask a very important question: what genre is A Wrinkle in Time? Science fiction, fantasy, or something else?
Erin lays out some evidence with an exploration of the different alien creatures we meet and planets we visit, and the concept of a tesseract as seen in real-life theoretical physics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then Rhonda dives into what exactly defines these genres anyway.
We also look at Wrinkle through the lens of the work of other speculative fiction authors Ursula K. Le Guin and N. K. Jemisin, and how the ideas of utopia, dystopia, autonomy, and privilege are explored in this work for children.
Our favorite scholarly source, the A Wrinkle in Time Fandom wiki. An exploration of the planets seen in the 2018 film adaptation. The Tesseract as used in Wrinkle.
What genre is A Wrinkle in Time? Let's discuss. Free PDF of "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin, and Google Books preview of "The Ones Who Stay and Fight" by N. K. Jemisin. Rhonda's essay on the two stories.
We are on Twitterand Instagram, where we post memes, book recommendations, and nonsense with little to no consistency.
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In part 1 of our Wrinkle series, we lay a foundation for discussing this classic work and its 2018 film adaptation. Turns out the book had a HUGE impact on both of us in our childhoods!
We also look a bit into the culture and society of the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Madeleine L'Engle's unconventional Christian faith, both of which informed her writing in A Wrinkle in Time.
The mid-20th century was an interesting time. Washington Post article on the faith of Madeleine L'Engle. Every Mrs. Who quotation from the 2018 film adaptation.
We are on Twitter and Instagram, where we post supplementary content, memes, and book recommendations, with little to no consistency
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We're wrapping up our Knives Out series with some of our favorite rich and/or dysfunctional families in fiction that could give the Thrombeys a run for their (significant amount of) money, from the Bluths to the Roys to the Tenenbaums.
The mysterious Thrombey house that's described as "living in a CLUE board" also leads us to explore some of our real favorite creepy old homes, like the Winchester Mystery House.
Of course, we wrap things up by discussing our results of the "Which Character Are You?" quiz.
In case you want to take the quiz yourself. Comparing the Thrombey and Roy families. Mysterious houses.
We are on Twitter and Instagram, where we often post supplementary content, like book recommendations, memes, and dad jokes!
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It's Part 3 so that means this one's a little heavy! We talk about the psychology of lying as relates to Marta's inability to fib without dropping the cookies, and the lie the Thrombeys are all living in, aka the American Dream.
Article on the science of lying, and Fast Company article about all the class commentary movies from 2019.
We are on Twitter and Instagram, where we often post supplementary content, fun facts, memes, and book recommendations!
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Part 2 of our Knives Out discussion dives into the legacy of detective fiction and detective fact!
We look at the literary genre of the Whodunnit, as pioneered by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, and how this tradition inspired Rian Johnson when writing Knives Out. We also look at a few real-life detectives from the 19th and early 20th centuries whose footprints can be seen in our favorite fictional sleuths, from Sherlock Holmes to Nancy Drew to Benoit Blanc.
A great, succinct history of the whodunnit can be found here. Rian Johnson's interview with The Atlantic, and his op-ed in the LA Times. Mystery movies that inspired Knives Out.
Everything we know about Dr. Joseph Bell, the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, a Washington Post article on Kate Warne, and a round-up of fascinating real-life detectives.
We are on Instagram and Twitter!
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New month means new series! For all of November we're breaking down the Pop DNA of Knives Out.
This week we propose several possible titles for the sequel (that's hopefully coming next year!), plus talk about our hopes and predictions for said sequel, our favorite characters and performances in the first film, and how this movie played with the tropes and expectations of the mystery genre while giving us some great storytelling and social commentary.
This is our first official video episode, and it's available on our YouTube channel! Note: we are still learning the ropes with video. We'll keep improving, but let us know what you think or what you'd like to see!
Everything we know about the Knives Out sequel is from this article. And this article gives some great background on the making of Knives Out.
We are on Twitter (though we don't post much there, tbh) and on Instagram, where we post supplementary content and recommend books every Saturday!
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Happy Spooky Season, friends! This special Halloween bonus episode is all about fairies, scaries, and the frightening mythical figures found in folklore all over the world--from Baba Yaga, to the Luz Mala of Argentina, to the Turkish vampires known as the Mhachkay.
We also pretend to be Aaron Mehnke for a bit, dig into the dark history of the lore surrounding fairies, and explore the common themes in many of these stories that often center on women’s power and agency as something to be feared.
Follow us on social media and have a Happy Halloween!
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To wrap up our discussion we brought in the YA experts, Amanda and Claire of Fictional Hangover Podcast, to talk all about the Shadow and Bone book series!
We cover the good, the bad, and the ugly, and come to a consensus that Alina definitely should have just joined the Darkling in book one.
We also, as is our tradition, discuss our results of the “Which Character Are You?” quiz, and we roped our guests into taking it, too!
Find Fictional Hangover anywhere you get your podcasts (like, wherever you’re reading this right now!), on social media, and on their website.
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This week we look at the Ravkan religion, or Worship of the Saints, in Shadow and Bone, and how this belief system and Leigh Bardugo’s own Jewish background inform the world of the Grishaverse.
We also draw comparisons from Alina’s relationships with both Mal and the Darkling to similar character pairings in other media works--and Rhonda finally states once and for all where she stands on Reylo.
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What do you call a fantasy country that is inspired by 19th century Russia, but is NOT 19th century Russia?
In part 2 of our Shadow and Bone discussion we look at how Leigh Bardugo drew from Russian culture and history to create the world of Ravka, the folklore and fairytales we see woven throughout the Grishaverse, and how these influences helped shape the TV series.
We also explore Alina and Mal’s experiences as children of war through parallels with works with similar character archetypes and themes, such as Attack on Titan, The Hunger Games, and the novel She Who Became the Sun.
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Join us as we enter the Shadow Fold and dive into the Netflix series, and book series it’s based on, Shadow and Bone!
Part one of our discussion looks at the world Leigh Bardugo has created with the Grishaverse, from her approach to world building (and how it compares to other fantasy authors’ approaches), to her inspirations, to the fascinating magic system of The Small Science.
Rhonda misquotes Arthur C. Clarke and Erin admirably restrains herself from getting nerdy about the Grishaverse monsters known as the Volcra, so we’re very on-brand here.
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We’re wrapping up our Downton Abbey series with a look at how the show has influenced and interacted with other popular media and pop culture!
Our discussion meanders around Downton’s contribution to the surge in popularity of historical drama TV shows, to its place in the lexicon of class commentary media such as films like Parasite and Us, to the many references, spoofs, and comedy sketches the show has inspired. Listen closely and you might hear a familiar voice in one of those sketches…
We also, as is our tradition, took a “Which Character Are You?” quiz to put a cap on this series, and you’ll never guess who we got!
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This week in our Downton Abbey series we are getting on our gender and class soap boxes, so buckle up!
We see Mary, Anna, Sybil, Daisy, and the other women of Downton navigating the changing roles of women in English society, but what would these roles have looked like for real women of the time?
We also look at one the largest media influences on Downton Abbey--the 1970s ITV series Upstairs, Downstairs--and how these two shows’ handling of social class reflects the respective times in which they were made.
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Downton Abbey takes place in the 1910s and 1920s, a time of great societal and cultural changes that had been in the making for decades.
This week we are having some real fun and talking about the decline of the British Empire! From the Industrial Revolution, to changes in class structure, to political upheaval such as the Irish Independence movement, and eventually the loss of colonial power during and as a direct effect of the First World War, these were some super cool times for everyone!
We look at how the Irish Rebellion directly impacts the story and characters on Downton Abbey, and how the show has a tendency to gloss over economic and class issues that would have had a direct impact on the Crawleys and their servants. It is possibly the most historical we’ve ever gotten on the podcast.
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We’re kicking off Season 4 with a dissection of everyone’s mom’s favorite TV show, and Donna Meagle’s favorite book, Downton Abbey.
The series gave us fictionalized accounts of two vastly influential cultural phenomena: the “Bright Young Things” of the 1920s, as embodied by Rose; and the late-19th century “Buccaneers” of the titular Edith Wharton novel, exemplified in Cora.
Our exploration of these two groups meanders into discussions of how Rory Gilmore would have felt right at home at the parties and dances of the 1920s social elite, to how the lagging profitability of English agriculture led directly to the birth of Winston Churchill.
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for more and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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It’s our Summer Theatre Grand Finale, AND the last episode of Season 3! What better way to end it than with the summer theatre favorite, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
From sources for the play, to its film adaptations and broader influence in media and literature (yes, including Twilight), Midsummer has had a big impact on pop culture. We also discuss our dream cast for a (hypothetical) new film adaptation (visit our Instagram for the full cast list), and, as is our tradition, reveal our results of the “which character are you” quiz!
(The first part of this episode is a discussion looking back on our summer episodes and season 3; if you’d like to get right into Midsummer, skip ahead about 12 minutes!)
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we talk about!
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We just got back from Ren Faire and we're ready to talk about our favorite musical based on Arthurian legends! (Well, tied for favorite with Spamalot...)
We're talking about Camelot, the Lerner and Loewe 1960 musical, its 1967 film adaptation, and the novel it was adapted from, T. H. White's The Once and Future King.
How did the culture and politics of the 1960s interact with this musical?
How did earlier versions of the stories of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table influence the show, apart from White's novel?
And did Walt Disney really invent prequels?
This was also a great opportunity to talk about how much we loved The Green Knight, and other adaptations, retellings, and echoes of Arthurian legends in current pop culture.
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
camelot #kingarthur #theonceandfutureking #thegreenknight #cursednetflix
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Toss a looney to your comedian! It's time for a deep dive into obscure Canadian comedy!
It's Erin’s birthday, and we thought what better way to celebrate than a Birthday Bonus Episode about obscure Canadian comedy! From Canadian sketch comedy, to the films of Christopher Guest, to the great Canadian TV comedies Slings & Arrows and Schitt's Creek, plus our favorite actors and comedians who hail from the North, we've got a lot to talk about, eh.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and find links to everything we discuss at ThePopDNA.blog!
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Why do Hollywood movies love giving female characters makeovers as a substitute for character development? Well, it may just have something to do with Pygmalion...
This week for Summer Theatre Program we discuss the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion and its musical adaptation, Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady, as well as the Greek myth that inspired both. From the story’s deeply misogynistic roots, we wonder, is there a possibility for a positive, transformative retelling?
We also look at some of our favorite pieces of media that were strongly influenced or inspired by the play, like She’s All That, Love Don’t Cost A Thing, the musical Dogfight, and the tragically short-lived sitcom Selfie. (Don’t @ us, the title is terrible, but the show was so good!)
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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We made a deal with a devil this week to talk about Christopher Marlowe's 1592 play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. The core premise of this play is so pervasive in current media and storytelling that there's even a name for it: a "Faustian Bargain."
Our discussion touches on the life of Marlowe himself and early theater productions of the play, its source material in Goethe and others' Faust tales, as well as the echoes and references to this monomythic story throughout literature and media. These echoes range from Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray, to DC and Marvel comics, to children's media like Disney's The Little Mermaid and the Animaniacs, to current popular fiction like V. E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, to, of course, Star Wars.
Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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Next up for Summer Theatre Program is Oscar Wilde's comedy of manners The Importance of Being Earnest!
We discuss the few productions of the play we've seen, and also why we think there aren't very many adaptations and retellings of this particular play, despite its relative popularity.
Recent years have seen new interpretations of the play through the lenses of race, sexuality, and class, and we touch on the queer coding in the title and throughout the text, as well as how setting the story in different eras changes its meanings.
We also look at the gems Wilde gave to the world through this work, like the dad joke the entire play is built around, and the best friend to all who wish to avoid social engagements: Bunbury.
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Good Morrow and welcome to the Summer Theatre Program! We’re coming in hot with a discussion of the world’s favorite romantic tragedy, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
We break down some popular adaptations and retellings of the play, from the modern take with Leo and Claire Danes, to West Side Story, to Gnomeo and Juliet, to the YA fantasy novel These Violent Delights.
Then we look at some of our favorite references to R&J in pop culture, like the episode of Gilmore Girls where Rory played Juliet, and the greatest song ever written, Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.”
We also muse about which social media apps a modern Romeo and Juliet would use (Juliet = Tumblr; Romeo = Reddit).
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and visit ThePopDNA.blog for reading lists and links to things we discuss!
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Once again we are sad to say goodbye to a discussion topic, and this time it feels especially poignant.
This week we look at how The Good Place explores our final state of existence in the context of religious, especially Catholic and Protestant Christian, ideas of the After Life. We also talk about one of our favorite books, A Wrinkle in Time, and the parallels we see between the book and the fantastical journey taken by the characters on The Good Place.
Join us next week for the premiere of The Summer Theatre Program! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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Why are AI assistants like Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and Janet ("Not a girl, not a robot") from The Good Place, almost always coded as female? And what affect does this have on real gender biases?
How does The Good Place further explore and comment on the toxic aspects of American society and culture?
We attempt to answer these questions and more in part 3 of our discussion of The Good Place.
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The Good Place was incredibly deft at taking complex ethical and philosophical questions and making them accessible for a general audience, and it often did this through evoking that tried-and-true TV metaphor for when the characters are learning a life lesson: the college campus.
This week we look at several other TV shows that used the college 101 course trope to explore deeper questions, like Community, Greek, and Boy Meets World. We also dig in to that mainstay of ethics discussions in pop culture: The Trolley Problem!
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We love Schur shows here at Pop DNA, and The Good Place is possibly the Schur-iest of all.
For part 1 of this discussion, we look at how The Good Place fits in with Michael Schur's other work, namely The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn 99, focusing on how these shows explore the elements of found family, learning to care (or caring too much), and unique character dynamics.
We attempt to match Parks and Rec characters with their The Good Place counterparts (Tahani is someone from Eagleton, obviously), speculate whether Ron Swanson is in The Good Place, and explore the idea of Leslie Knope and Eleanor Shellstrop as narrative foils (even though they're not in the same narrative).
Find us on social media and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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It's Rhonda's Birthday Bonus so we're talking about one of her favorite media franchises, the BMCU! In the British Monarchy Cinematic Universe Tony Blair looks exactly like Michael Sheen.
We're geeking out over movies and TV shows about British royals, from The Favourite, to The Crown, to the Lifetime original Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance. We also discuss the current state of the British Monarchy from our expert opinions (Oprah should be the Queen), and the various lights in which the BMCU has portrayed generations of the royal family. And because BuzzFeed has a quiz for everything, we also reveal which British monarchs we are.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and check out ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we talk about!
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We're wrapping up this topic and a little sad about it! This week we take a look at three different lenses through which we can view the story, characters, and messages in WandaVision: the unreliable narrator; the psychology of grief; and the Male vs. Female Gazes
Join us next week for Rhonda's Birthday Bonus! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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Check out this trailer to hear what we're all about!
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We wanted to really dive in to two of our favorite characters in WandaVision, Monica and Agatha, so here is our down-the-rabbit-hole discussion!
From Monica's origins as a bearer of the Captain Marvel moniker, to Agatha's history with the Salem Witch Trials, we looked into how these two characters' comics stories tie in to their arcs in the WandaVIsion series.
We also discussed how we still see traces of the ancient Western storytelling archetype of the witch in many powerful female characters in our favorite modern media, even when their powers don't come from witchcraft.
Follow us on social media and check out ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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This week we're taking a deep dive into WandaVision's relationship with television of the past and present.
From references to classic sitcoms of the '50s and '60s, to newer favorites like Malcolm in the Middle and Modern Family, to the DNA it shares with The Twilight Zone, WandaVision is the very model of a TV fan's TV show.
We also look at how the homages, references, and tropes used go beyond surface level or Easter eggs; they are actually integral to the storytelling.
Find us on Instagram and Twitter, and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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Here is the recording of our March 20 livestream chat with our friends Emrys and Luthien of Girls With Sabers!
We took a deep dive into the Heroine's Journey as we see it expressed in WandaVision, as well as how mythos and psychology intertwine throughout Wanda's story.
We also looked at connections to other heroines in literature, myth, and pop culture, and discussed what might be in store for Wanda, Monica, Vision, and our other favorite characters in the future.
Find Girls With Sabers on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram!
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This week we are discussing one of Rhonda's favorite things to talk about: corsets!
Why is Hollywood so obsessed with the idea of corsets as symbols of patriarchal oppression?
Why does Keira Knightley wear so many corsets in her movies?
Is Elizabeth Swann a feminist icon?
Also, remember like two months ago when people on TikTok were really into sea chanties?
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We are dedicating the month of March to the most successful theme-park-ride-turned-movie ever, Pirates of the Caribbean.
EPISODE NOTES: This week we are looking at some of the real-life pirates who may have inspired characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, from badass women pirates like Anne Bonny and Mary Read, to the possible basis for Captain Jack Sparrow, the pirate John/Jack "Sparrow" Ward.
We also take a look at some real pirate codes-they're really more like guidelines than actual rules-and find them surprisingly democratic?
Join us LIVE on YouTube March 20 as we talk WandaVistion with our friends Girls With Sabers! Connect with us on social media and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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We are dedicating the month of March to the most successful theme-park-ride-turned-movie ever, Pirates of the Caribbean.
EPISODE NOTES: This week are walking the plank and diving in to the lore and mythology of the sea that Pirates of the Caribbean draws upon, from Davy Jones, to the Kraken, to ghost sailors and pirate codes. We also look at the novel responsible for most of our pop culture pirate "canon," and that indirectly inspired the Pirates film series in more ways than one: Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
Connect with us on social media, and find links to everything we discuss at ThePopDNA.blog!
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We are dedicating the month of March to the most successful theme-park-ride-turned-movie ever, Pirates of the Caribbean.
EPISODE NOTES: Kicking off this discussion, we talked about our first experiences with both the ride and the film series, embarrassing middle school sleepover stories and all (or maybe I edited those out...). We also discussed the cultural tendency to gloss over the real history of piracy and normalize the horrors of colonialism, and how this is especially done in stories for children, but, you know, in a fun way!
Connect with us on social media, and find links to everything we discuss at ThePopDNA.blog!
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We are celebrating Black History Month in the U.S. with a four-part discussion of Black Panther!
EPISODE NOTES: To wrap up this series, we are looking to the future! We look into how Black Panther has interacted with education and been incorporated into the classroom at every level, influencing future generations. We also look at the Afrofuturism movement in art and literature, how its tenets are expressed in the Black Panther film, and how this movement's ideas can and do interact with the future of equity and justice in our society.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss, and tune in next month for Pirates of the Caribbean!
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We are celebrating Black History Month in the U.S. with a four-part discussion of Black Panther!
EPISODE NOTES: This week we sat down with Derrick and Perry of the Superhero Cinephiles podcast to get their expert opinions on Black Panther! We discussed the many approaches to storytelling in the comics, and how those approaches were combined in the film, plus thoughts on how the superhero genre is evolving and what these heroes mean to us, and to new audiences.
Listen to Superhero Cinephiles wherever you get your podcasts! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and visit ThePopDNA.blog for links to everything we discuss!
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We are celebrating Black History Month in the U.S. with a four-part discussion of Black Panther!
This week we got the chance to talk with author, speaker, and educator Tayo Rockson about his perspective on the Black Panther comics and film as a Nigerian American who grew up all over the world. We discuss favorite characters, thoughts on Black Panther 2, and the incredible power of seeing ourselves represented as heroes.
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We are celebrating Black History Month in the U.S. with a four-part discussion of Black Panther!
To kick off our Black Panther series, we look at the source comics for the MCU film, discussing Ta-Nehisi Coates' writing of the series, and how several characters changed from the comics to the movie. We also look at how Black Panther fits—and doesn't—into both the Hero's and Heroine's Journey cycles.
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The results are in and it's finally time for the Pop DNA Film Awards!
2020 was an unprecedented year in movies, so what better time to premiere our very own film awards show! Listen to the end for bloopers from the past year's episodes!
Special thanks to all our award presenters: Lydia Sigwarth, Lizy Simonen, Claire and Amanda of Fictional Hangover, Ayana of The Vintage Guidebook, Luthien of Girls With Sabers, Kyna of Historical AF, Kristen of MTMEIK and Elvis Lives, Gerard of That Random Podcast, and most of all, thank YOU listeners and voters for making this bonus episode possible! We love you all!
Connect with us on Twitter and Instagram and get ready for Black Panther in February!
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New year, new series! We are talking about the smash-hit Broadway musical and film Hamilton all January.
To wrap up this series, we're zooming out to take a look at Hamilton in its historical context, from how it portrays the history of early America, to how that history interacts with our present moment. We also talk about some of our favorite Hamilton references in pop culture, and of course reveal our results of the "Which Character Are You?" quiz.
Connect with us on social media, and listen next week for the Pop DNA Film Awards!
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New year, new series! We are talking about the smash-hit Broadway musical and film Hamilton all January.
I think we can all agree that Lin-Manuel Miranda is a great writer. This week we are looking at how his lyric writing has developed over the years, and at a certain TV show that was hugely influential on his writing in Hamilton and other works. Did you guess the TV show? Listen now to find out!
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New year, new series! We are talking about the smash hit Broadway musical and film Hamilton all January long!
EPISODE NOTES: This week we are looking at how Hamilton handles two vital elements of musical theater: costume design and choreography. We discuss how both of these elements draw inspiration from the historical source material, but also incorporate contemporary influences that highlight the show's modern relevancy.
Connect with us on social media for details on how to support the Costume Industry Coalition, and tell us your guess answer to our trivia question!
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New year, new series! We are talking about the smash hit Broadway musical and film Hamilton all January long!
EPISODE NOTES: We are kicking off 2021 and our Hamilton series with a look at the show's relationship with the theater, from its unique journey to Broadway and our TV screens, to its ties to theatrical tradition dating back to the days of Shakespeare! (You didn't really think we WOULDN'T talk about Shakespeare, did you?)
Connect with us on social media and listen to our Film Awards Bonus Episode January 30th!
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Toss a coin to your podcast hosts because we're talking about The Witcher this month!
To conclude the series, we're zooming out for a look at the world Sapkowski created around his original short story. We explore several of the most interesting elements of the world of The Witcher, including all the different types of monsters, the music and lore of the bards, and how The Law of Surprise would actually hold up in court.
We conclude the series, as usual, with our results of the "which character are you?" quiz, and we are not at all surprised by them.
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Toss a coin to your podcast hosts because we're talking about The Witcher this month!
Part 3 is all about the fascinating characters of The Witcher and their relationships with one another. We also explore several concepts in the context of this fantasy world that have huge impacts on the characters, like friendship, humor, and the ever-present struggle against the patriarchy.
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Toss a coin to your podcast hosts because we're talking about The Witcher this month!
EPISODE NOTES: Why is the timeline of The Witcher TV series so confusing? We attempt to answer that in part 2, linking back to our discussion of the source material in part 1. We also look at Geralt's origins as a Witcher and how those origins are explored in the video games and the series.
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Toss a coin to your podcast hosts because we're talking about The Witcher this month!
EPISODE NOTES: In part 1, we explore the books, short stories, and video games that inspired the Netflix series, plus talk about our initial thoughts on the show and our hopes for its second season.
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All November long, we're talking about our favorite sitcom about local government, Parks and Rec!
EPISODE NOTES: We are wrapping up our Parks and Rec discussion with a look at Pawnee's local history and how the show has made its way into our cultural lexicon, from Galentine's Day to Treat Yo'self and everything in between! (We recorded this before the US Presidential Election so some of our expressed anxieties are outdated.)
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All November long, we're talking about our favorite sitcom about local government, Parks and Rec!
EPISODE NOTES: We are so excited to welcome professor, writer, and member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, Darren Lone Fight as our guest for part 3. Darren stopped by to discuss Ken Hotate, the Wamapoke tribe, and Native representation on Parks and Rec, plus give his perspective on this comfort show that predicted the future.
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All November long, we're talking about our favorite sitcom about local government, Parks and Rec!
EPISODE NOTES: We discuss all things Pawnee, Indiana and its citizens in part 2 of the series. From the eccentricities of small town life, to the foibles and successes of local government, we look at how the people of Pawnee are the heart and soul of the town—especially one particular person named Leslie Knope.
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All November long, we're talking about our favorite sitcom about local government, Parks and Rec!
EPISODE NOTES: In part 1, we talk about how Parks and Rec was foundational to our friendship, trace the origins of many cast members to the improv group The Upright Citizens; Brigade, and take a moment to honor one of the writers of the series, the late Harris Whittels. Li'l Sebastian would approve.
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Is the title of this episode too long? Probably. But we're celebrating two years of Pop DNA with our favorite and most seasonally appropriate fiction genre!
This super-sized bonus episode contains haunted houses, spooky paintings, secret passages, possibly villainous love interests, and a whole lot of tangents that are only marginally related to the topic of discussion. We look at the history of Gothic fiction, from classics like The Mysteries of Udolpho and Jane Eyre, to current favorite movies, comics, and even video games that use Gothic conventions in fun ways. Happy Halloween!
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It's Frickin' Bats! This month we're discussing the iconic Batman films, the Dark Knight Trilogy.
The fourth and final part of our Dark Knight discussion, unlike the Dark Knight movies, is much more on the lighter side. We talk about how Batman Begins was a turning point for Batman onscreen, and for superhero stories and film in general.
We also geek out over references to Batman in our favorite pop culture works, and discuss our results from the "Which Batman Character Are You?" quiz.
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It's Frickin' Bats! This month we're discussing the iconic Batman films, the Dark Knight Trilogy.
In Part 3 we get very philosophical about the nature of heroes and villains. We explore how in the Dark Knight universe, a hero and a villain are two sides of the same coin, and both are larger-than-life personas taken on by flawed, ordinary people.
We also look at Batman and Bruce Wayne's deep connections to the classic Byronic Hero and characters in the same tradition, like Heathcliff, James Bond, and, yes, Edward Cullen, because as we know Rhonda is contractually obligated to reference Twilight once every 30 minutes.
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It's Frickin' Bats! This month we're discussing the iconic Batman films, the Dark Knight Trilogy.
This week we are digging in to how the trilogy treats its female characters (spoiler: not great), which leads us to an exploration of the classic film noir character trope, the femme fatale. We also look at the films' and comics' use of violence, and the symbiotic relationship between Batman and the Joker. And Erin finally gets to talk about The Lego Batman Movie.
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It's Frickin' Bats! This month we're discussing the iconic Batman films, the Dark Knight Trilogy.
EPISODE NOTES: Part one is all about origin stories: Batman's, the Joker's, the films' themselves, and our own beginnings as Batman fans. We also wonder how many more times we'll have to see Bruce Wayne's parents murdered, and how many more actors will win Oscars for portraying the Joker. Bets are on! Or should we say BATS are on...
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We're kicking off Season 3 and our new episode format with a 4-part series on everyone's second favorite comic book-based teen drama, Riverdale!
In the fourth and final part of our Riverdale series, we look at how the show portrays--or doesn't--marginalized characters, including characters of color and characters who experience mental illness. These are some heavier topics, so Content Warning for discussions of mental illness and racially coded violence. We close out the series on a lighter note by taking the "Which Riverdale Character Are You?" quiz. Spoiler: one of us is Betty and the other is Veronica. Can you guess which is which?
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We're kicking off Season 3 and our new episode format with a 4-part series on everyone's second favorite comic book-based teen drama, Riverdale!
EPISODE NOTES: In Part 3 of our Riverdale series, we dive into the show's characters and their many facets. We dig a little deeper into the literary discussion we started in part 2 by looking at the themes and devices used to distinguish and develop Riverdale's teens. We also explore the psychological implications of perfection as experienced by several of the female characters.
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We're kicking off Season 3 and our new episode format with a 4-part series on everyone's second favorite comic book-based teen drama, Riverdale!
EPISODE NOTES: Part 2 is all about what Pop DNA does best: connections with literature and media! We look at the many film and TV references made on Riverdale and the media it's drawn inspiration from, like campy teen horror movies such as Friday the 13th, and stylized noir TV series like Twin Peaks. We also discuss the literary references made on the show, from Truman Capote to Jane Eyre.
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We're kicking off Season 3 and our new episode format with a 4-part series on everyone's second favorite comic book-based teen drama, Riverdale!
EPISODE NOTES: In Part 1, we give some background on the show, then talk about our first experiences and some initial thoughts, and then delve into the Archie Comics that the series is based on. We also look at how the show's comic book source material has influenced its writing and design.
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In our final LIT Summer episode of 2020, and our Season 2 finale, we look at the classic folktale "Cinderella" in its many iterations: from the earliest versions of the story from Ancient Greece and China, to the 1950 Disney animated film, to the many modern interpretations.
We also discuss the universal themes of the story, like perseverance, hope, and justice, and the tale's significance in discourse on feminism and race. It's a bibbidy-bobbidy-boo of a time!
Look for news about Season 3 on our social media!
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One of our favorite Shakespearean comedies, Much Ado About Nothing has made a huge impact on literature and pop culture!
EPISODE NOTES: Much Ado's beloved bickering couple, Beatrice and Benedick, have inspired dozens of other hate-to-love romances in fiction, from Pride & Prejudice, to Star Wars, to some of the biggest sitcoms and romantic comedies.
Our discussion also meanders around our favorite film and stage productions of the play, our thoughts on the play's themes of gender roles and mistaken identities, and that one Shakespeare conspiracy theory that won't seem to go away. It's a fun time.
Don't forget, our Cinderella Livestream is August 8th on our YouTube channel! Check our socials for deets.
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It's Christmas in July again, and we're celebrating with a commentary track for this modern Christmas classic! We're talking over the 2018 Netflix original film The Princess Switch, starring Vanessa Hudgens. It wouldn't be Erin and Rhonda Talk Over Movies without some tangents, musings, and ideas for other completely unrelated projects. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas in July!
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LIT(erature) Summer is back! This time we're starting out with a 2-oarter on the Charlotte Bronte classic Jane Eyre.
The second half of our Jane Eyre discussion gets into the novel's gothic elements as seen through the lenses of feminism and race. We also go back to our ongoing conversation about the Heroine's Journey, looking at pop culture heroines, like Rey, Moana, Lorelai Gilmore, and Dorothy, that have followed in Jane Eyre's footsteps.
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In part 1 we get into the story recap and Bronte's background and influences. We also discuss some notable adaptations, including the Jane Eyre stage musical (who knew that existed???) and several popular novels that put a new spin on the story.
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We're wrapping up our regular season with the very on-brand-for-us Crazy Ex-Girlfriend!
EPISODE NOTES: The brilliant TV series draws influence from Musical Theater and Romantic Comedies, as well as honestly and respectfully tackling some important mental health issues, all of which we explore. CW: Discussion of mental illness. Find links to everything we discuss at ThePopDNA.blog and stay tuned for our Special Edition (Northern Hemisphere) Summer Series, coming soon!
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It's Rhonda's birthday so it's time for a Bonus Episode celebrating all our favorite things about SNL!
EPISODE NOTES: Live from our houses, it's Pop DNA! We decided to talk about all our favorite Saturday Night Live sketches, cast members, and hosts, past and present. We also dig a little into the history of the show and why we think it's lasted so long, plus a special guest stops by!
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Here's the recording of our Thor episode livestream!
Our discussion of everyone's favorite God of Thunder dives into the history of the Marvel comics, the Norse myths that the stories and films are inspired by, and in our tradition of fact-checking fantasy worlds, even explores the science of Mjolnir and the Bifrost. Find info about our Virtual Film Fest on our social media, find links to everything we discussed at ThePopDNA.wordpress.com and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel!
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We're joined by filmmaker and storyteller Emily Roth to discuss everyone's favorite dinosaur/cloning movie!
There's a lot of DNA in Jurassic Park, and not just from dinosaurs! The novel and film's "DNA" can be traced to real-life STEM breakthroughs and practices of the entertainment and tourism industries, and classic science fiction literature, starting with the mother of the genre, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Plus Emily gives us a filmmaker's perspective on the whole franchise!
Find links to everything we discuss at ThePopDNA.blog, find our commentary for I, Frankenstein, plus other bonus content, at Patreon.com/popdna and follow Emily on all social media!
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Does it ever feel like you're reliving the same day over and over? You're not alone! In this episode we look into the history of time loop stories (including Groundhog Day), as well as the psychology of memory and deja vu, the mental health issues explored in the series, and Russian Doll's many connections to L. M. Montgomery's novel Emily of New Moon. (Content Warning for discussion of mental illness.) Find links to everything we discuss at ThePopDNA.blog and bonus content at Patreon.com/popdna.
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Live from NerdFaireCon 2020, we looked at the cultural and literary context of some of our favorite Disney Princesses!
EPISODE NOTES: If we're live from a Con we have to cosplay, that's the rule! So, dressed as Megara (Erin) and Merida (Rhonda), we looked at the origins of our chosen princesses, plus the roots of Disney Princess films in general, from American musical theater, to world folklore, to how the cultural discourse around women's lives and agency has evolved since the early days of Disney.
Special thanks to audience members Ellie and Josie for contributing to our discussion! Find our commentary for Enchanted at Patreon.com/popdna.
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We got the chance to chat with Emrys and Luthien of Girls With Sabers! They dive into their insights into the psychology and personalities of Star Wars characters and thoughts on the Heroine’s Journey, plus we all finally air all of our The Rise of Skywalker grievances. It’s a great time!
Find Girls With Sabers on:
YouTube
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We missed a lot the first time around! Plus, the ending of the saga means this is the perfect time to revisit our discussion of the galaxy far, far away. We answer a few questions we had last time and look at new questions, such as:
Does Rey complete her Hero's Journey?
How did the Millennium Falcon maneuver through that asteroid field?
And just how does the Galactic Senate even work?
Find bonus content (including some for free!) at Patreon.com/popdna. May the Force be with you!
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Honestly, this episode was a long time coming. A Christmas Prince is rich in cultural influences, from the lives and loves of historical real-life royals, to classic fairy tales, to... investigative journalism, I guess?
We also discuss other vitally important topics, like the dystopian alternate universe in which the movies take place and the cultural relevance of Volvos. (Volvo is not a sponsor of Pop DNA.)
Our commentary for Netflix's The Knight Before Christmas is free on our Patreon page! Patreon.com/popdna Happy Holidays!
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We're back from Geek Girl Con and ready to talk about our adventures and the pop DNA of Captain Marvel! We even talked to Carol Danvers herself (well, some Captain Marvel cosplayers) to find out her thoughts. (There was a little cussing that we left in, to honor Carol.)
We dive into the comics, looking at that whole DC/Marvel rivalry and how that plays into the history of the character. We also explore the psychology of Carol Danvers, plus the pop culture of the 1990s, classic science fiction novels, and the real-life US Air Force, all of which influenced the 2019 film. Finally, we look forward to the future of female superheroes and superhero movies. Higher, further, faster, baby!
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We've enlisted the help of fellow That's Not Canon podcasters Jane and Kristen for our discussion of everyone's favorite teenage witch. We dive into portrayals of witches on page and screen, witches and witchcraft throughout history, including the infamous Salem Witch Trials, and figure out which Sabrina character we each identify with.
Further Reading:
From Baba Yaga to Hermione Granger: why we’re spellbound by ‘witcherature’
Weird Sisters and Wild Women
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson
More information about Alewives
Caliban and the Witch, Silvia Federici (PDF available here)
The Devil in Massachusetts, Marion Starkey
Unobscured podcast
Cultural depictions of the Salem Witch Trials
Sabrina and real witches
Paganism in Sabrina
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It's been one whole year of Pop DNA! We're celebrating with this very special Bonus Episode, looking back on our journey so far and reflecting on the real reason we're here: Mindy Kaling.
We discuss all our thoughts and feelings on the Kaling oeuvre, from her early theater days, to her landmark work on The Office and The Mindy Project, to her recent writing and producing credits and upcoming projects, to the role we would have written for her on Game of Thrones. Plus we eat donuts.
Join the discussion at ThePopDNA.blog, on Twitter @PopDNAPodcast, and on Facebook and Instagram. Support the show on Patreon and get even more bonus content for as little $1 a month.
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Welcome to Season Two! We are starting the season off with a bang and talking about everyone’s favorite professor, Indiana Jones, joined by Rhonda’s brother and longtime Indy fan Keith!
We look into the film franchise’s roots in adventure serials from the 1930s, dabble in the history of archaeology, and discuss what the Nazis were really doing all that time, plus try our best to answer the burning question: is Kingdom of the Crystal Skull good?
Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Secret of the Incas
“Premakes:” if Indiana Jones was made in the 1950s
Indy’s influences on TheRaider.net
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
A brief history of Archaeology
Why Hitler stole art
Story of the Monuments Men
The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel
Is Indiana Jones Science Fiction or Fantasy?
The Story Conference Transcript with Lucas, Spielberg, and Kasdan
Indiana Jones, problematic fave
Just For Fun
Which character are you? Quiz (Erin and Rhonda = Indy; Keith = Sallah)
Indiana Jones Diet Coke ad from 1989
The Raiders of the Lost Ark remake
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It’s our last LIT(erature) Summer episode and the end of Season One! We’re looking at the original 18th Century French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast and trying (unsuccessfully) to not reference Disney. We delve into other Beast and Beauty tales and the lasting impact of the story on literature, film, and culture.
Support the show on Patreon for as little as $1 a month.
Further Reading
Prominent Adaptations
1987 TV series
1991 Disney animated film
1997 The Beautician and the Beast
2011 Beastly
2012 TV series
2014 French film
2017 Disney live-action remake
Novel Retellings
Beauty and Rose Daughter, Robin McKinley
Beastly, Alex Flinn
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas
Hunted, Megan Spooner
Cruel Beauty, Rosamund Hodge
The Beast’s Heart, Leife Shallcross
Uprooted, Naomi Novik
Rhonda’s blog post on Disney Princesses as Jane Austen heroines
Dark origins of Beauty and the Beast (this article credits de Beaumont, unfortunately, but it gives a great background on the sources for the tale)
An illustrated edition of the original novella
Andrew Lang’s Blue Fairy Book
Psychology of Beauty and the Beast
A look at the psychology in the Disney musical
Deconstructing the myth of women loving men into better people
Get Help
I feel it would be irresponsible not to include some resources here.
If you or someone you know is involved in an abusive relationship and want help, visit Futures Without Violence.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
For help and information anytime, contact:
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
TTY 1-800-787-3224
**National Sexual Assaul...
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For our very first live show and second installment of LIT(erature) Summer, we explore the lasting cultural influence of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, from The Lion King, to Star Wars, to Jordan Peele’s Us, and more! We also delve a little into Shakespeare’s life, Hamlet’s major themes, and how much Erin loves the play and Rhonda hates it.
Thanks to King’s Books for hosting us!
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We are going full-on Hallmark Channel in this Christmas movie Geek Out episode! We look into what makes a movie a Christmas movie, what we consider the “classics,” and which ones you should never watch, plus we write our own movie to pitch to Hallmark. God Bless us Everyone!
(Don’t forget about our live show! Go to our Facebook page for details!)
Links
Origins of Christmas in July
Hallmark’s Christmas in July programming schedule
Christmas movie tropes on TVTropes
Fandomentals blog
Lindy West’s hilarious recap of Love Actually
Recommendations
Classics
It’s A Wonderful Life
White Christmas
Miracle on 34th Street
A Christmas Story
Claymation/animated specials:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Jack Frost
The Year Without a Santa Claus
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Modern Classics
Elf
The Santa Clause
The Christmas Chronicles
The Preacher’s Wife
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Home Alone
Should Be Classics
The Holiday
One Magic Christmas
Die Hard
Prancer
The Family Stone
Shouldn’t Be Classics
Love, Actually
Non-Christmas but “Christmassy” Classics
Little Women
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lord of the Rings
Toy Story
Mary Poppins
Star Wars
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Welcome to LIT(erature) Summer! This is the first installment of our three-episode summer series looking at the lasting cultural impact of classic literature works.
Jane Austen’s most famous novel has influenced modern pop culture in a myriad of ways, from its many popular film, TV, and other media adaptations, to current popular fiction, to basically being responsible for the romantic comedy film genre.
Links
Our commentary for the 2005 film
A better story recap than ours
Jane Austen and the Marriage Plot
Why do we still love Jane Austen?
Huffington Post’s rankings of Austen modernizations
Jane Austen and the RomCom
Why does Hallmark ruin everything?
Ben Wyatt is Mr. Darcy
Recommendations
Retellings and Modernizations
Literature
Pride, Ibi Zoboi
Bridget Jones’ Diary, Helen Fielding
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Graeme-Smith
Eligible, Curtis Sittenfeld
Heartstone, Elle Katharine White
Ayesha At Last, Uzma Jalaluddin
Film/TV
Lost in Austen
Austenland
The Lizzy Bennet Diaries
Bride and Prejudice
Pride & Prejudice: Atlanta
Rhonda’s favorite Georgette Heyer novels:
The Grand Sophy
Bath Tangle
Arabella
Erin’s favorite Sarah Dessen novels:
Once and For All
St. Anything
Along for the Ride
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Totally spontaneous commentary track in anticipation of our first LIT(erature) Summer episode, Pride & Prejudice. We know you want to hear all our P&P thoughts, from the gorgeous score, to all the men’s sideburns, to the strangely high number of hams, to Keira Knightley’s perfect fringe.
Stream the movie here or buy the DVD here.
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Hope you’ve had your elevenses because we are travelling through Middle Earth this month, with our friend Rebecca and the Fellowship of the Ring! …and The Two Towers, and The Return of the King… We look at how Tolkien was influenced by his experience in WWI, his Catholic Faith, and mythology, as well as the psychology of the characters and the series’ lasting influence, from the hippies of the 1960s and 1970s to the popular fantasy fiction of today.
Buy the books
Links
Tolkien movie review
The Battle of the Somme
The Inklings
The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter
Catholic and Christian themes in The Lord of the Rings
Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories”
How mythology influenced Tolkien
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
Smeagol’s psychology
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Tolkien and Hippie Culture
Newsweek story on Tolkien’s influence on fantasy
Rolling Stone interview with George R. R. Martin
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BONUS EPISODE! We decided to talk about horror movies, in this our first official Geek Out episode! We discuss some of our favorite horror flicks, from the good to the so-bad-they’re-good to the ones with zombies. Listen at your own risk!
A couple corrections:
I mistakenly said in the episode that the novel The Woman in Black was written by Shirley Jackson; it was actually written by Susan Hill. Sorry, Susan.
Also, in A Quiet Place you do get several very good looks at the monsters, but I apparently blocked that from my memory.
Links:
Why Do We Crave Scary Movies?
Horror Movie Tropes
Classic Literature Connections in Us
2019 Horror:
Us
Greta
Happy Death Day 2 U
Pet Sematary
Ma
Recommendations:
Good
Alien
Sunshine
Get Out
Annihilation
A Quiet Place
Cabin in the Woods
Hannibal series
The Birds
The Shining
Snowpiercer
So Bad They’re Good
The Woman in Black
Prom Night
Breaking In
Death Note
Drag Me To Hell
The Grudge
Final Destination saga
The Poltergeist
The Haunting
Sleepaway Camp
Mixed Feelings
Bird Box
Halloween
The Others
Jennifer’s Body
Life After Beth
The Ring
Zombies
28 Days Later
The Girl With All the Gifts
Shaun of the Dead
Zombieland
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” Video
Train to Busan
Night of the Living Dead
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High School is Hell. Our discussion of Buffy’s Pop DNA explores the roots of vampire legends and literature, the show’s psychology and social commentary, and connections to our literary BFF, William Shakespeare. I officially have no more words. I slay all day.
The Rise of Buffy Studies
Buffy’s page on TV Tropes
The A. V. Club’s look at the 1992 film
The legend of the (possibly) first vampire
Vampires, Burial, and Death by Paul Barber
The Evolution of Vampires in Literature
“The Vampyre” by John Polidori
Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Boxer Rebellion
A timeline of historical events shown on Buffy
Psychology of Buffy
Yay Willow!
Willow and Tara
Buffy Speak — Buffy‘s unique dialog style explained
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Apocalypse Now
Slayer by Kiersten W...
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On Wednesdays we wear pink! This month we break down Mean Girls’ Pop DNA, from the literary tradition of social satire in the work of Swift and Thackeray, to the roles of women in comedy and STEM fields, to the film’s place as a link in a long chain of teen comedies. So fetch!
Fictional Hangover Podcast
Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman
Psychology of Mean Girls in adulthood
Chicago Reader Mean Girls review
Jezebel article on Heathers vs. Mean Girls
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein
Internalized Gender Roles affect STEM Performance from the Daily Texan
The Media and Women in STEM on the Radical Idea Blog
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
Social satire in Vanity Fair (requires a free account to read)
Social commentary in Mean Girls
Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian...
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This one had to be a two-parter. We just had SOOOO many feelings to discuss!
Links:
Buy the books (We receive a small portion of the proceeds from sales through this link)
The Hunger Games‘ 10th anniversary New York Times article
Team Peeta or Team Gale?
Why Katniss is a Feminist Icon
Full text of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Paste Magazine’s list of the 30 Best Dystopian Books of All Time
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubinstein
The Classical Roots of The Hunger Games by Barry Strauss
Another article about connections to Ancient Rome
The Anatomy of Revolution by Crane Brinton
The Politics of The Hunger Games
Which Hunger Games character are you? Buzzfeed quiz and PopSugar quiz
(FYI: Amber = Buzzfeed: Peeta, PopSugar: Katniss; Erin = Buzzfeed: Peeta, PopSugar: Gale; Rhonda = Buzzfeed: Effie, PopSugar: Johanna)
A site where you can examine whether or not your favorite movies pass The Bechdel Test
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This month Erin and Rhonda take on one of the biggest pop culture phenomena of our time: Star Wars. We discuss the saga’s connections to both the past and the future, through its ties to folklore and mythology, its profound influence on effects and technology in filmmaking, and the Shakespearean threads woven throughout the series, as well as our undying love for Han Solo and Poe Dameron. Listen now, and may the Force be with you.
Note: In the episode, I say that I believe that Star Wars Legends is a series of comic books that takes place thousands of years prior to the cinematic timeline, but this is not completely correct. Star Wars Legends, according to Wookiepedia, the Star Wars wiki, “encompasses every one of the officially licensed, fictional background stories of the Star Wars universe, outside of the original six Star Wars films produced by George Lucas and certain other material such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, created before April 25, 2014,” in other words, every Expanded Universe story that Disney declared non-canonical when it bought Star Wars. However, Legends material does include stories that take place “anywhere from over 36,000 years before The Phantom Menace to 136 years after Return of the Jedi,”* so that must be where I got the idea of what I thought Legends was. Anyway, enjoy the episode!
Links:
The Cinema Behind Star Wars: The Hidden Fortress
This Nerdist article about Star Wars and The Hidden Fortress
Videos with side-by-side comparisons
How the Samurai inspired the Jedi
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
How to Be a Heroine
Linguistics of Yoda
Why does Yoda speak the way he does?
Making Monsters
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars
Star Wars Reading Challenge
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We’re heading to Stars Hollow, Connecticut for episode 2 of Pop DNA. Erin and Rhonda talk about everyone’s favorite mother-daughter duo, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, discussing Gilmore Girls’ ties to Tolstoy, Austen, and the history of the American Revolution, and also how we’re both unapologetically Team Jess. “Where you lead… I will follow…”
Links:
The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
Book references in A Year in the Life
Anna Karenina
Blog post on one reader’s experience with Anna Karenina through the Rory Gilmore Challenge
Pride and Prejudice Gilmore Girls Style
Dangerous History Podcast episode on Ivy League Secret Societies
Daughters of the American Revolution official website
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Our brand new podcast, Pop DNA, explores the literary and historical roots of your favorite movies and TV shows. In our first episode, your hosts Erin and Rhonda discuss how The Little Mermaid, Aristotle, and the early 20th Century women’s suffrage movement are all related to the 2017 film Wonder Woman, and also how we might both be in love with Gal Gadot.
Links
More about the Amazons
Philosophy articles on Good and Evil
Entertainment Weekly article about The Little Mermaid‘s influence on Wonder Woman‘s story
Forbes article on the history of Wonder Woman
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore
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