Today we start our new (official) series on Capitalism. I know you may be thinking, "But aren't these always about Capitalism?" This is true. But today is different because we're talking about feminism and Capitalism. See? It's two things this time.
Read MoreThere is absolutely no interesting way for me to explain to you the events of this film. In a nutshell, Versace sets the tone by including 10 solid minutes of opening credits laid over a static shot of a lake. Y’all, he even included opening credits for Key Grip. It was weird.
Read MoreWe’re taking a planned break! We both need a vacation from the sads for a while, so we’ll be on a hiatus for a month or two while we recharge. We’ll stay relatively active on social media (because we’re addicted to it), so you can still message/email/tweet us with whatever you’d like. We’ll also announce our new season a few weeks before we get started up again.
Read MoreA lot of conspiracy theories also have a fair amount of crossover with racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and other forms of bigotry, but relatively few feature a cult leader-like personality behind the half-truths and half-baked conclusions. Not like the most recent (and nearly all-encompassing) QAnon.
Read MoreLook. It was a rough week. We’re all sad. We needed some good news. We will be back to our regularly scheduled sad-fest in a couple weeks. But for now: Gong Noise Part 5. The Gong Legacy. (I’m running out of sequel jokes).
Read MoreThis week, “Naptime Nightmares” really lives up to its name. This movie was a nightmare. There are no redeeming qualities (except maybe Drew Monson, but he played a rapey creep so it’s still bad). Every single moment of this “movie” was agony, and we both actively wished for the sweet release of death for the entire duration.
Read MoreNow you have a generation of people that argued for years that offensive comedy (specifically comedy made at the expense of marginalized groups) is acceptable because it was funny. Many of them can argue that it isn’t a big deal because it isn’t. So when a YouTuber apologizes for something that their audience doesn’t think they need to apologize for, they can easily accept the apology.
Read MoreAs we finished up our Serial Killer series, we felt it was more imperative that we look at true crime through a different lens–that of the victims of the justice system. In True Crime, police officers are often seen as the heroes of the story (or at least the bumbling annoyances). Rarely do we focus on the truth of the matter, which is that the police as an institution is steeped in racism and the justice system is unfairly punitive, and therefore neither can bring fair justice to anyone.
Read MoreUltimately, this means I agree with the core message of this film. We both do. But the strangely archaic methods the documentary uses to convey that message almost entirely discredits it. I know amateur porn is exploitative - everyone does. But rather than villainizing porn as an entity and painting the situation as a simple, black-and-white matter of “well if women don’t want to be exploited then they shouldn’t do porn,” we could be having fruitful conversations about the systemic reasons why women are able to be exploited this way. It’s disappointing to see a film with such lofty ideals stoop so far into stereotypes and caricatures to manipulate its audience.
Read MoreI’d like to introduce to you a man who made a life out of the simple lie, and whose existence has haunted me since I learned who he was last year. His name is Jean-Claude Romand.
Read MoreThe last few weeks have highlighted the racial inequity and anti-blackness that has permeated our country for time immemorial. At this point, Olivia and I feel our time and platform are best spent uplifting black voices and sharing resources for combating internalized and systemic racism. This post will act as a repository for all the sources we mentioned in the podcast episode, complete with links.
Read MoreOur next episode will focus solely on resources for combating internalized and externalized racism, recommendations for black-run podcasts, literature, stores, and other media. [But]…we do in fact have a bad horror movie review. While it was initially intended to be a sort of comedic break from some of the horror of real life, it ended up also being a commentary on internalized, systemic racism. Hooray!
Read MorePlandemic is a 26-minute long documentary-type thing that went absolutely viral a few weeks ago for claiming that Anthony Fauci (director of the NIAIH and leader of the COVID-19 task force in the USA) and other top medical leaders in our country were systematically covering up viable treatments for COVID-19 to push vaccines and make millions…It is not only ripe with scientific inaccuracies and dangerous advice, it presents these under the guise of being “expert advice” and actively manipulates the viewer into feeling inferior if they question Mikovits’ claims.
Read MoreLeonarda is one of the most famous serial killers in Italy and is often referred to as The Soapmaker of Correggio. In less than a year, Cianciulli murdered three women and claimed to dissolve their bodies in caustic soda and used their remains to make crunchy tea cakes and soap.
Read MoreAhh, what can be said that hasn’t already been said about The Wicker Man? Almost nothing, according to my Letterboxd research - but we’re still going to try! On this our glorious bad-horror minisode day, we’re reviewing the absolute pile that is the 2006 adaptation of the folk horror classic.
Read MoreFor the sake of my poor fingers, I’m going to speed through the background a little but will link to resources for further reading if anyone is interested. Without further ado - let’s get started. Welcome to one of the worst things I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading about - the abuses and torture at Abu Ghraib prison.
Read MoreSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-COVID-19) is a new strain of a relatively new human coronavirus. It is a positive single-stranded RNA virus. If you remember our episode on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, influenza is also an RNA virus. However, influenza is a negative single-stranded RNA virus, which is crucial to distinguish because there is this running assumption that the current outbreak is "just the flu." They are very different.
Read MoreWe have an interview with our incredible guest host, Joseph Goode. We discuss his extensive experience with the social consequences of war and systemic trauma as an employee of the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative.
Read MoreYes, it’s true, I’m skimping out on my Heavy Hitter for this week because… well, because it’s been a long month and I’m tired and need to hear about good things happening in the world. Let us have this.
Read MoreWe’re doubling up on our bad-horror minisodes because, man, don’t we need a little levity in our lives? And we sure got what we bargained for. Truth or Dare (the 2017 Netflix version, not the 2018 Blumhouse version) is a giant bag of questionable decisions - and not just from the characters.
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