This week Don speaks with author and fellow bookseller Amanda McCrina, hot off the release of her latest historical fiction novel Beyond Seven Forests. Amanda discusses her experiences writing in an often stigmatized genre, her literary interests and influences, and prejudices experienced as a woman writing about history. Also featuring Mo the cat!
After paying tribute to the late, great Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and enduring our first Annual Amazon Shaming, Donovan and Harrison begin the long journey of recounting the story of their years as told in the movies, TV shows, and comics they enjoyed (and hated). The discussion of those revelatory works of media is interspersed with highlights and lowlights from 2025, including Superman, Sinners, 28 Years Later, Weapons, One Battle After Another, as well as small-screen terrors like Squid Game, The Last of Us, The Chair Company and more! Secrets are revealed, and the guys find themselves at loggerheads over the most unexpected film of the year… … More Year End Review 2025
In our third episode looking at fascism in media, we hone in the 1997 military/sci-fi flick Starship Troopers. Everyone fights, no one quits! Your cohosts Ace Harrison and Donovan Rico take apart the film as a work of propaganda and ask whether or not it’s entirely successful. … More What Did Starship Troopers Teach Us About Fascism?
If there’s a silver lining to the Trump administration, it’s how galvanizing it can be for the opposition. Not everyone cares about everything, but pretty much everyone hates that guy and his weird friends. Now is the time for all of us across the left side of the political spectrum to come together — but that’s no easy task. This week, the guys discuss the rifts within the Democratic Party, and how they’ve navigated the ideological breaks with their own respective communities. … More How Do We Stop the Infighting?
Felon and sexual predator Donald Trump is president once again in these dangerous, unpredictable times. To begin our run of episodes in 2025, we check in with the latest developments and the acidic atmosphere of an increasingly unstable world. … More Navigating 2025
Part one of… one?! It’s that time of year again, and Donovan and Harrison are back to recount their media highlights of 2024. … More Year End Review 2024
This week, Donovan and Harrison take the temperature of the nation and– ooh! Fire indeed hot! For the first time, we’re actually delighted to be on this roller coaster, but please, let this be the final drop. Picking up where we left off — at a particular low point — we recap the surprising upswing on the Democratic side. … More What is Happening?
Stop in at your local bookstore and look around — and shield your eyes! How do we explain the explosion of books we might describe as “dark” and “spicy”? Donovan talks to his fellow bookseller Danielle to delve into the history of the phenomenon, starting with Amazon and indie publishing houses, and then their deep implications. And how can Disney be so litigious if they didn’t even originate most of their characters? Dicks. … More What Does Modern Romance Fiction Say of Us? (DANIELLE Edition)
In the wake of a massive, very real controversy about a non-binary character in X-Men, the Q-Force recruits special guest Peter to help us move beyond the basic level into 102 territory. Deep lore. How do the Sentinels relate to recent Oscar nominee The Zone of Interest? Listen in and find out… … More …But Are the X-Men ACTUALLY Political?
Questions: We Don't Have Answers 