May 21 2025
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Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 140. Pump It Up: The Substance (2024) Live from Salem Horror Fest

Join Andrea and Alex live from Salem Horror Fest for feats of strength (!) and a discussion of the horrors of beauty standards, the weight of celebrity culture, and the algorithms that are out to get us. 

 

REQUIRED READING

The Substance. Dir. Coralie Fargeat, 2024. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Sarah Wynn-Williams account of her time at Facebook. 
 
On Women. Susan Sontag’s essays on women and their physical relationships to the world.
 
Fran Lebowitz on Race and Racism. From the 1997 edition of Vanity Fair where Lebowitz discusses nepo babies.
 
 

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Apr 30 2025
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Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 139. Labour Pains: The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

Spring has sprung so it’s time to get into the greenhouse! In this episode, Alex and Andrea investigate the differences between mother and caretaker, the privilege of home upkeep, and why yuppies love windchimes. 

 

REQUIRED READING

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. Dir. Curtis Hanson, 1992. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

The Unnatural History of the Nanny. The NYT’s 1973 exploration of the importance of the role in modern culture. 
 
The Lifesaving, Horrifying History of Wet Nurses. A look at another key and intimate household role. 
 
Querying ‘Karen’: The rise of the angry white woman. Before she was a haircut meme, she was a person.
 
Review: Third Wave Feminisms. Is “capitalist feminism” a thing?
 
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers. Jude Doyle’s non-fiction treatise that examines the othering of female power. 
 

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Mar 26 2025
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Episode 138. School of Thought: Detention (2019)

Log on to this episode where we go deep with the film adaptation of the cult video game Detention. From totalitarianism in Taiwan and beyond, the ghosts of our past often have dire warnings about our present and future that we should heed. 

 
 

REQUIRED READING

Detention. Dir. John Hsu, 2019. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

Does Historical Accuracy in Games Really Matter? The pros and cons of infusing entertainment with fact. 
 
Piecing together the past: The Notion of Recovery in Fiction and Film from Taiwan by Steven L. Riep. Observations on recovery narratives and how the white terror has been commemorated but remains poorly understood.
 

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Feb 25 2025
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Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 137. One of Us: Freaks (1932)

Join us as we delve into the lineage and legacy of Tod Browning’s pre-code horror classic. From the morality police to representation of disability to community building through murder, we discuss why Freaks remains a unique and unrepeatable entry in the horror canon.

 

REQUIRED READING

Freaks. Dir. Tod Browning, 1932. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

Spurs. Tod Robbins short story on which Freaks is based. 
 
What’s so Scary about Disability? Laura Elliott’s piece on the legacy of fearing some bodies. 
 
Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space. Amanda Leduc’s exploration of how society has stigmatized disabilities for centuries. 
 
Code of the Freaks. A 2020 documentary covering portrayals of disability in film.
 
A Brief Timeline of the History of Disabilities: The Shameful Treatment of People with Disabilities. An overview covering how perceptions of disabilities have shifted over human history. 
 

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