This week Don has a hankering for a spankering, returning to the topic of when liberal media gets it wrong…or do they? What follows are old anxieties, discoveries of a new kind of storytelling genre and working to go with the flow.
This has been a long time coming. Almost thirteen years! Blue Bloods is a CBS juggernaut that’s developed a reputation for being your grandfather’s favorite show. It’s also perfectly symbolic of everything that’s wrong with the broader police procedural genre — when it’s lucid enough to even be coherent. It may not have the on-screen violence of its neighbors, but the racism and sexism and cultural relativism is so pernicious, quietly inflecting every moment of every last godforsaken episode. … More Why is ‘Blue Bloods’ Still on TV?
With the threat of war from Russia making its comeback and media such as 24 in our past, where does the reality of espionage place classic pulp franchises like James Bond? The guys intermittently ask that question while watching 1995’s Goldeneye starring Pierce Brosnan and the X-Men!
This week the guys return to the topic of Zack Snyder, with their focus on his pre-DC action movies: 300 and Sucker Punch. What are the signs found in these that trace all the way towards the DCEU, and is our modern pop culture better or worse off?
Marvel. Predator. Comedies. Action Movies. Sometimes played straight, sometimes played sly, these are examples of media with dual purposes. The guys go over Donovan’s fanboy whining over Thor Love and Thunder, Harry’s ponderous musings over the original Predator film, and discuss the successes and failures of modern animation, action films, and various other “subversive” media.
Reacting to a variety of recent events in the year, from Tucker Carlson’s mind-defying docuseries to the Uvalde School Mass Shooting, Don and Harry return to the subjects of the male ego, psychology, “Wypipo vs Black People” and their twisted sexualities in the search for the answer to how masculinity becomes toxic.
Stella introduces the guys to Ari Aster’s sophomore horror follow-up to the popular Hereditary: Midsommar starring Florence Pugh. Along the viewing journey, several disturbing scenes are flanked by questions of faith and community. How are we trained to interpret different cultures and customs?
On Monday, May 2nd Politico leaked a draft from the Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in which the Court aims to overturn Roe v. Wade, reversing abortion rights in America. Kelly returns to the show to discuss the history of the courts and abortion, and the three list instances in various media of how the … More Has Pop Culture Shaped America’s Views on Abortion? (Guest Starring Kelly!)
Continuing into Part II (The Dark Middle Chapter) of QNA’s exploratory mission into America’s most embarrassing recesses, we have on returning favorite Peter “Comic Books” Peter, and spend a not-inordinate amount of time on everyone’s favorite British children’s author. … More “Don’t Say Gay” Bill and the history of Anti-LGBT propaganda in America – Part Two (Guest starring Peter!)
Questions: We Don't Have Answers 