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Feminist Frequency Radio is coming for your media. Each week, Kat Spada invites you to listen in on entertaining and stimulating conversations about films, games, and TV… from the latest blockbusters to classic hidden gems, and more. With special guests bringing their distinctly different feminist perspectives to the mix as they celebrate and critique it all—including media critics, entertainers, academics, and everyone in between—Feminist Frequency Radio is there to help you dig deeper into the things you love. Warning: Feminist Frequency Radio may significantly enhance your media experience.
Created by Anita Sarkeesian, Feminist Frequency ran as an organization from 2009–2023, providing video commentaries exploring gender representations, myths, and messages in popular culture media. Now, host Kat Spada continues Feminist Frequency Radio’s legacy as an independent podcast, with fun new conversations about entertainment that asks you to be critical of the media you love.
The podcast Feminist Frequency Radio is created by Kat Spada, Anita Sarkeesian. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
A.C. and Kat are back from their first semester at Shiz University for winter break, and we just had to talk about Jon M. Chu's blockbuster Broadway adaptation of Wicked: Part One. Starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the story before the story we all know from The Wizard of Oz, this is a tale that was originally published as a novel by Gregory Maguire in 1995. On its face it's a movie about accepting yourself when you don't fit in, but it's much more so about the way marginalized communities are threatened by authoritarian governments and the complicit neighbors who don't want to "rock the boat." We were impressed by its portrayal of class consciousness and the added nuance brought by casting a Black actress in the role of Elphaba. Finally, we hold a mini state of the union on Hollywood movie musicals.
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Kat's fighting a vicious cold, and only had enough raspy voice left to record a bonus mini episode with AC this week. We caught up on all of the random movies and TV Kat watched while traveling or coughing on the couch, from Hit Man and Trap to Love Again and Hot Frosty. AC shared what movies he rewatches annually on Thanksgiving, and yes—The Silence of the Lambs is first on his list. Plus, we talk about AC's new publication with Currant Jam: Gelée, a digital zine on pop culture from emerging journalists, writers, and tastemakers.
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Luke Perry biographer Margaret Wappler joined us for a conversation about her hybrid memoir profiling the '90s heartthrob, and the impact Perry had on viewers from 90210 to Riverdale. We dug into Fran Rubel Kuzui's 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starring Perry alongside Kristy Swanson and Donald Sutherland. We particularly loved the comedic swings of supporting cast members Paul Reubens and David Arquette. Overall, we think the movie's feminist message and uneven tone are almost anachronistic, but can't deny its lasting impact.
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Writer and musician Tara Giancaspro joins Kat and A.C. for a rootin' tootin' rip-roarin' review of Colin Higgins' 1982 movie musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. We get lost in the fun and charm of the music, dancing, and wigs! We delight in the beauty of Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds! And we get caught up in a discussion of whether a movie like this could be made today, with its light-hearted treatment of sex workers being unfairly persecuted. Plus, an unhinged installment of the "what's wrong with me" game returns, as we decide which famous men we'd let watch our drinks.
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Anita Sarkeesian returns to the podcast this week to discuss Coralie Fargeat's buzzy body horror film The Substance, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Anita gives the movie 5 out of 5 stars, but she, Kat, and A.C. all find something uniquely different to love about it. After an electrifying in-theater experience, we couldn't stop thinking about its storytelling on the panopticon of the patriarchal gaze. Not to mention its gonzo gross-out creature work!
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Film critic and podcast host Alonso Duralde previously joined us for a discussion about 1950s Hollywood, and it was such a treat to have him return to the show. He recently published the film history compendium Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film, so what better film for us to watch together than William Wyler's 1961 opus of lesbian shame, The Children's Hour, starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine.
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We were so excited to welcome author and journalist Emma Specter to the show, that we asked them if we could talk about their favorite movie. Join us as we traverse journalism onscreen in James L. Brooks' 1987 film Broadcast News, starring Holly Hunter, William Hurt, and Albert Brooks. We also ask Emma about the process of writing her reported memoir, More, Please, and what she might say about elements of the movie "as a private citizen," versus in her official capacity as culture writer for Vogue.
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Kat and A.C. are starving for a blockbuster to make them feel something, as if the movies are actually, finally back. So, they saw Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters, and unfortunately—they’re still hungry. Listen in as they hypothesize about what Glenn Powell’s character was doing in the years before the events of this film took place (while Anthony Ramos’ was “working for the military” and Daisy Edgar-Jones’ was Being A City Girl). Could the tornado wrangler have been doing crunches? Optimizing his SEO? We just want cinema to try something new, please!
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Kat and A.C. ~*witnessed*~ the fifth installment in George Miller’s apocalypse epic, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and… we found it completely unnecessary. We know that movies about women are not by default inherently feminist (Anita tweeted about this specifically related to Fury Road back in 2015), but it’s always a bummer when we’re more invested in the male characters in a movie centered around a female protagonist. Then, we played another round of our “What’s Wrong With You?” guessing game, this time with a Pride Month theme (of sorts).
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Who’s in the mood for a little June Gloom? We finally watched John Frankenheimer’s 1966 film Seconds, starring Rock Hudson, in a feature segment we’re calling “Retro Featurism.” Kat and A.C. wonder what its Frankenstein-esque plotline in which viewers could find gay or trans messaging, says about the current moment where stories like Poor Things and Severance (and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming The Bride) are resonating with audiences. Plus, the return of our celebrity guessing game “What’s Wrong With Me?”!!!
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Note: In this episode, Kat erroneously and incorrectly uses the term “plus sized” in description. Apologies for this misuse of the phrase!
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In this week’s episode, Kat holds court on the movie that seemed uniquely designed just for her (which she ultimately found fairly disappointing): The Fall Guy. Directed by longtime stunt performer David Leitch and starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, A.C. and Kat predominantly found the movie… “cute.” Which is fine! But Kat was really hoping for a lot more about the love of stunts, all things considered. Then, A.C. debuts a new, extremely unhinged game entitled “Nightmare Blunt Rotation,” and Kat has a lot to answer for.
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Join Kat and A.C. for a discussion of Monkey Man, the directorial debut of star Dev Patel. We talk about action movie tropes, what happens when actors get to make their first feature behind the camera, and the “internet boyfriend”-ification of British boys in the 2010s. Plus, the return of our ill-advised celebrity guessing game entitled, “What’s Wrong With Me?”
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Join Kat and A.C. for a discussion of one of their most hotly anticipated movies of 2024, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. The FFR hosts were mixed on their reactions, but both saw opportunities where it could have ascended to greater heights than it ultimately did—in particular with the underwritten female character in the middle of the film’s central love triangle. While we love the craft accomplishments of this movie, we can’t help but wonder what Paul Verhoeven might have done with this story.
Plus, we check in on this spring’s film festivals, from the recently debuted Los Angeles Festival of Movies presented by Mubi to the 77th annual festival in Cannes, which just kicked off.
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This week, we’re releasing the first bonus episode of the season on the main feed so that everyone can get a teaser of the new format of extra content typically reserved exclusively for our supporters on Patreon! In this bonus episode, we’re discussing Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way of Life starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke.
Discussed in this episode: Former FFR guest Inkoo Kang’s podcast “All About Almodóvar.”
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And we’re back! For the first episode of our first season as an independent podcast following the sunset of the Feminist Frequency nonprofit organization, we thought we’d discuss one of the most exciting new independent films we’ve seen: Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker. Join Feminist Frequency Radio co-hosts Kat Spada and A.C. Lamberty as they talk about the movie’s unconventional crowdsourced production, what it gets so right about cultural criticism through parody, and our favorite Batman gags and villains.
Plus, we debut a new celebrity guessing game we’re introducing this season, with the working title “What’s Wrong With Me?” And check out our podcast feed where, this week, we’re releasing our Patreon bonus episode to everyone so that you can all get a teaser of the new format of this season’s extra content typically reserved for our supporters on Patreon!
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FFR Season Preview: Anyone But You with new co-host A.C. Lamberty
Feminist Frequency Radio is coming back for its first new season as an independent podcast following the sunset of the FF organization after an incredible 15 years. Kat Spada is thrilled to be re-joined by new co-host A.C. Lamberty, who joined Kat last year for FFR's indulgent "Machos: Fully Loaded" limited series.
In this week's episode we're catching up on Feminist Frequency news, getting amped for the new season, and dissecting a movie we both enjoyed greatly and almost walked out of the theater several times: Will Gluck's 2023 rom-com Anyone But You starring Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney, a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
Next month we'll be back with standard FFR podcast episodes filled with feminist media criticism, and we're so excited to welcome special guests, dive into some book club selections for our Patreon subscribers, and so much more. Stay tuned!
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We’re wrapping up this season of FFR just as we started it, with Anita Sarkeesian returning for an episode where she and host Kat Spada talk about a classic movie they both love and could watch over and over. But while this season’s first episode featured Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing, this week we’re focusing on a more unconventional romantic leading man—but one that has nevertheless stood the test of time—Nicolas Cage opposite Cher in Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck.
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Feminist Frequency Radio presents another “Fortnightly FREQout” mini-episode. In this short-but-sweet installment, Kat is cutting right to the point: BEYONCÉ!
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Feminist Frequency Radio is celebrating the holidays with the creepy Christmas classic, 1984’s Gremlins. Joining Kat is this episode’s special guest: actor, comedian, and dancer Oscar Montoya.
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On this Fortnightly FREQout mini-episode, Kat is reflecting on what good can come from Thanksgiving with a documentary recommendation and support for United Farm Workers, as well as an overview of some media she saw over the holiday break, including Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins.
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Kat is joined by cartoon and comics-style illustrator Ethan Harper to discuss the new animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, based on both the original graphic novels written and drawn by O’Malley beginning in 2004 and the live-action film adaptation from 2010 directed by Edgar Wright. Spoilers ahead!
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It’s time for another Fortnightly FREQout, where Feminist Frequency Radio host Kat Spada brings you brief reviews and industry news from the past few weeks. Today, she’s talking about the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike (including a final day trip to the picket line), the closure of online feminist publication Jezebel, and some thoughts on the pilot episode of the new Showtime series The Curse.
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Kat’s “Machos: Fully Loaded” guest co-host, A. C. Lamberty, returns to Feminist Frequency Radio for a special interview with returning guest Karen Tongson to discuss her brand-new book normporn: queer viewers and the tv that soothes us.
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It’s Halloween, and we’re continuing our journey through scary movies about motherhood after spending last week with Rosemary's Baby. In this week's Fortnightly FREQout mini episode, Kat gets personal talking about grief, fear, and monsters in Jennifer Kent's 2014 film The Babadook. Content warning for listeners: this episode talks about death.
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It’s Spooky Season, and we’re gearing up with a look at the 1968 film, Rosemary’s Baby, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow. Writer and mental health counselor Pallavi Yetur returns as a special guest to discuss this controversial horror genre classic. Content warning for listeners: this movie deals with issues related to sexual violence and trauma related to pregnancy and childbirth; additionally, this conversation will not shy away from frank discussions regarding the sex crimes of the filmmaker.
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Long-time listeners of this podcast will know that 1987’s Dirty Dancing is Anita Sarkeesian’s favorite film, so for this season opening episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, she is, of course, joining host Kat Spada for a look at the Swayze-ist of Patrick Swayze films. But this conversation has a twist, as they’ll also be considering Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, the (ill-advised) 2004 sequel. Are we still having the time of our lives?
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It’s a new season of Feminist Frequency Radio with a whole new batch of Fortnightly FREQout mini-episodes. On the heels of an interesting summer for live music and concert films, Kat shares her thoughts about pop, nostalgia, and the sense of community that live music brings.
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This season on Feminist Frequency Radio closes out with another Fortnightly Freq-outs mini-episode. Today, we’ll finally get to DC’s latest superhero, Blue Beetle, but first, Kat Spada has some brief reviews and industry news…
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Actress, writer, and podcaster Janie Haddad Tompkins joins Kat Spada for a literary journey through their favorite memoirs ranging from coming-of-age and adventure to celebrity juiciness. Tune in for a Feminist Frequency Radio AMA with Kat on Sunday, October 1 at 10am PT in the Feminist Frequency Discord!
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- "Celebrity Book Club" podcast: https://www.chelsearosedevantez.com/celebrity-book-club
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- twitter.com/janiehaddad
- instagram.com/lebaneselooker
- Podcast: Stay F. Homekins – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stay-f-homekins-with-janie-haddad-tompkins-paul-f-tompkins/id1503706010
- Newsletter: Weekend Water – https://weekendwater.substack.com/
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- twitter.com/kat_ex_machina
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- Our Website: http://www.feministfrequency.com/
- Subscribe to FFR on Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/feminist-frequency-radio/id1307153574?mt=2
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/femfreq
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/femfreq
- twitch.tv/femfreq
A HurriQuake can't stop Kat Spada from bringing you brief reviews and industry news. On this Fortnightly Freq-out, she shares her thoughts on media and events viewed from the safety of her own storm-ready home, including Every Body, a documentary on intersex lives.
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Feminist Frequency alumnus Ebony Adams joins Kat Spada for a look at Triangle of Sadness director Ruben Östlund’s 2014 film, Force Majeure. The film is a darkly comic peek into a troubled marriage pushed to the edge on a ski trip after the threat of an approaching avalanche results in a moment of profound cowardice.
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Kat’s back with more brief reviews and industry news from the last two weeks in our ongoing “Fortnightly FREQout” series. Today she shares some thoughts on the latest installment to the MCU—Secret Invasion—as well as recent seasons of Hulu series The Bear and This Fool. She also gives her impression of the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise entry—TMNT: Mutant Mayhem.
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Following this week's announcement about the closure of Feminist Frequency, Executive Director Anita Sarkeesian and the Games and Online Harassment Hotline Director Jae Lin chat more about what this means for our work as the organization sunsets.
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Feminist Frequency Radio presents the second mini-episode in our Fortnightly FREQouts series. Kat’s back with more brief reviews and industry news from the last two weeks, along with her reactions to the opening weekend event of the summer: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
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The cultural phenomenon that is Sex and the City continues with the second season of And Just Like That… where 50-something, wealthy Manhattanites Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda return to navigate life, love, and loss, joined by new friends and lovers. Joining Kat to discuss the series is her good friend, licensed mental health counselor and screenwriter, Pallavi Yetur.
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Welcome to the first of a series of bonus mini-episodes we’re calling “Fortnightly FREQouts,” where our host Kat Spada walks us through what’s been thrilling, moving, upsetting, or infuriating her in recent weeks. Today’s Fortnightly FREQout features special guest A.C. Lamberty to discuss the new documentary on Max, Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed.
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Welcome to a new season of feminist media criticism goodness! Today Kat and Anita are discussing the 1989 action classic Road House, starring none other than our beloved Patrick Swayze. Listen in for a nostalgic stroll through the absolutely bonkers landscape of this corner of the Dirty Dancing/Point Break/Road House Swayze trifecta.
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This past season of Feminist Frequency Radio co-hosts Kat Spada and A.C. Lamberty investigated masculinity in movies and TV on our “Machos: Fully Loaded” series. On this final bonus wrap-up episode, Anita Sarkeesian returns to strap in, strap on, and weigh in on all our most-loved machos.
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Strap in, Strap on, and join us on the dance floor for one last episode of our “Machos: Fully Loaded” series. Today is all about the machos with the moves. From studio musicals of the 40s and 50s to our podcast’s patron saint, Patrick Swayze, we’re tripping the light fantastic with a look at dudes who dance!
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1:08:48 - Macho of the Week
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We’re diving into the Macho hierarchy with an episode of “Machos: Fully Loaded” that’s all about the Alphas. What is it that makes these machos reign supreme? Is it domination, power, or just living your life a quarter mile at a time? Listen to our discussion of some of the most over-the-top, high-octane machos out there.
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1:15:51 - Macho of the Week
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This Machos: Fully Loaded episode is all about MLM—Machos Loving Machos, as Kat and A.C. get into the world of gay cinema with a look at mainstream Hollywood releases, biopics, documentaries, New Queer cinema, and more.
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1:13:13 - Macho of the Week
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In this episode of our “Machos: Fully Loaded” series, Kat and A.C. are drawn in by these two-dimensional machos. From formative childhood favorites to more modern adult animation, we look at how cartoons present and play with masculinity in ways other mediums can’t.
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1:05:43 - Macho of the Week
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Calling all daddies, zaddies, and baddies! This week on our “Machos: Fully Loaded” series, we’re continuing our investigation of onscreen masculinity through a discussion of fatherhood in media, looking at portrayals of dads and father figures who've been central figures of movies and television.
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1:01:05 – Macho of the Week
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It’s time for Lady Machos! This week on our “Machos: Fully Loaded” series, we’re continuing our investigation of onscreen masculinity through a discussion of gender transgression and the women in media who have taken some of the most memorable and iconic macho action roles in history.
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1:02:49 - Macho of the Week
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On this episode of our “Machos: Fully Loaded” series, we’re talking about mental health, trauma, therapy, vengeance, and more, as we focus on onscreen representations of masculinity and emotional or mental health struggle.
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1:15:56 - Macho of the Week
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On this episode of our “Machos: Fully Loaded” series, Kat and A.C. are…not talking about machos? Instead, we’re going full sweetie mode to look at another side of masculine characters onscreen, the Soft Boys of cinema. From artists suffering for love to macho momma’s boys, join us as we try to pin down the anatomy of the archetype.
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1:13:46 - Macho of the Week
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This installment of “Machos: Fully Loaded” is for mature listeners only because we’re talking about exotic dancers, adult film stars, and machos who engage in sex work. From Magic Mike and Boogie Nights to more triple-X-rated arthouse picks, we’re tackling the onscreen intersections of masculinity and sexuality.
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1:08:54 - Macho of the Week
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It’s the first episode of this season of Feminist Frequency Radio, presenting “Machos: Fully Loaded!” This week we’re going back to high school, getting to know some of the moodiest machos of all: teen machos! From big men on campus to the bad boys underneath the bleachers, we’re taking a look at the archetypes and iconic portrayals of teen masculinity on screen.
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1:02:37 - Macho of the Week
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Feminist Frequency Radio’s Kat Spada and special guest A.C. Lamberty introduce you to a brand new season of the podcast with a different spin. For the next several episodes, we will be bringing you all of the feminist media criticism goodness you crave, but this time exploring the specifics of masculinity and machismo in a season we’re calling MACHOS: FULLY LOADED.
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Our “Eat the Rich” mini-series concludes with a high-concept final course and an exciting special guest. Soleil Ho—writer, podcaster, and San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic—joins our discussion of Mark Mylod’s 2022 comedy thriller The Menu, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, and Hong Chau.
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43:45 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Anita and Kat welcome special guest Devindra Hardawar for the next installment of our Eat the Rich mini-season. This week we’re discussing Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion. Guest and co-host opinions on the film run from 1-10, so listen in to see where you land on this lively episode of Feminist Frequency Radio!
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50:40 - What’s your Freq Out?
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The first course of this "Eat the Rich" mini-season is served! Kat and Anita are joined by professor, podcaster, and author Karen Tongson to sink our teeth into Ruben Östlund's Oscar-nominated 2022 saga Triangle of Sadness. Tune in to find out how we think the movie's satirical look at class dynamics may (or may not) have been successful.
Kat and Anita are offering up a three course meal of — Triangle of Sadness, Glass Onion, and The Menu — all films exploring wealth and privilege. Take a listen to this amuse bouche to get a taste of the upcoming Eat the Rich series on Feminist Frequency Radio.
We return to the MCU for the final episode in this mini-season of Feminist Frequency Radio. Author, activist, and beloved member of the Feminist Frequency Family, Ebony Adams returns to the podcast as special guest for our discussion of Wakanda Forever, the highly-anticipated yet complicated sequel to Ryan Coogler’s 2018 film Black Panther.
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39:37 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Believe it or not, neither of our cohosts had ever seen Twin Peaks, the cult classic created by Mark Frost and David Lynch that has legions of devoted fans even three decades after its debut in 1990. Joining the conversation is special guest, award-winning game developer, writer, and arts manager, Leena van Deventer.
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39:37 - What’s your Freq Out?
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We’re talking about Todd Field’s first film in 16 years: the Cate Blanchett showpiece Tár. A darling of the Venice Film Festival, and heavily buzzed about for awards consideration, Tár is a meandering two-hour and 38-minute journey through its titular character’s fall from grace. Joining our conversation is special guest, filmmaker, and entertainment professional, A.C. Lamberty, to help us unpack the film’s difficult subject matter and complex presentation.
CW: The film we’re discussing deals with subjects of suicide and abuse of power, so please listen with caution.
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38:24 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On this special episode, Kat Spada interviews cohost Anita Sarkeesian and Feminist Frequency Family Founder Carolyn Petit about their new Nebula original series, That Time When. Directed and presented by Anita and written by Carolyn, the show dives into some of the most divisive moments of modern history, when politics and pop culture collide. Listen in as they discuss the behind-the-scenes creative process, why this show is so different from the “Tropes” series, and why this show about the past matters now.
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50:52 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Welcome to the first episode of a mini-season of pop culture goodness! Today Anita, Kat, and returning special guest Annalee Newitz are talking about She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the most recent of the MCU’s forays into television series. Created by Jessica Gao and starring Tatiana Maslany, the show brings to the screen a character introduced to comics in 1980: lawyer Jennifer Walters. After an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner, she transforms, developing Hulk-like superpowers similar to his. Listen in as we discuss the critical, as well as the social, reception of the series, along with our own thoughts on what unique takes and perspectives She-Hulk adds to the bulk of film and television comic book adaptations.
CW: She-Hulk contains depictions of online harassment, violence, and sexual assault, so please listen to our conversation with caution.
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52:30 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On the season finale of Cyberpunk Summer, we’re hacking the planet with special guest, Emmy-winning writer and producer, Shadi Petosky, discussing Hackers, a 1995 crime thriller from director Iain Softley. A crew of high school hackers led by Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie find themselves involved in a corporate conspiracy in this movie that has become a cult classic in the nearly three decades since its release.
CW: This episode includes mention of suicide.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/GF3dd-Rp4_M
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40:41 - What’s your Freq Out?
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This week on our Cyberpunk Summer series, we’re joined by writer, journalist, and podcaster Emily St. James to discuss Strange Days, Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 action thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, and Juliette Lewis. Based on a story by Bigelow’s ex-husband James Cameron, Strange Days was influenced by several sensational early-’90s news stories, including the trial of Lorena Bobbitt and the 1992 L.A. riots. Set in a black market trading in virtual reality recordings of people’s past experiences and memories, Fiennes and Bassett play an ex-cop and a bodyguard who investigate a murder seen on one of these recordings.
CW: This episode includes discussions of fictionalized sexual assault.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/WiQMdT38OEI
Time Stamps:
46:05 - What’s your Freq Out?
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We are discussing Ghost in the Machine on this episode of Cyberpunk Summer, a 1993 horror sci-fi film from director Rachel Talalay (whose follow-up film was Tank Girl). Karen Allen plays the intended victim of a serial killer who, after his physical death, remains “alive” when his soul is transferred into a computer, where he can continue his killing spree using objects connected to the internet and electrical grid. Joining us for this episode is our special guest—comedian, podcaster, and acclaimed rapper—Open Mike Eagle.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/YJkfX9kX2ZM
Time Stamps:
47:12 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On this episode of Cyberpunk Summer, we’re welcoming special guest, writer, critic, and podcaster Inkoo Kang to talk about Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s 1982 film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Set in the dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, Harrison Ford plays a cop hunting down bio-engineered androids known as replicants, who have returned to Earth from the space colonies where they were sent to work as slave labor.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/OBZNlKhygx8
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46:19 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Okay, so maybe “Cyberpunk” is a stretch for this one. Still, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to discuss one of our special guest—writer, critic, podcaster, and media consultant—Fran Tirado’s childhood faves. This week, we are talking about the first movie in Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids franchise, which debuted in 2001. Alexa PeñaVega and Daryl Sabara star as the titular kids who have to spring into action when their ex-spy parents—played by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino—are captured by the sinister duo played by Alan Cumming and Tony Shalhoub. The supporting cast includes Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick, and Teri Hatcher, as well as the introduction of Danny Trejo’s iconic character “Machete.” Listen in as we revisit the iconic kids classic that offered early Latinx representation in a blockbuster film.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/EFUn1duBHds
Time Stamps:
46:11 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Special guest, professor, podcaster, and prolific author Karen Tongson joins Anita and Kat for episode five of our “Cyberpunk Summer” series, where we are discussing the 1990 sci-fi action film Total Recall, from director Paul Verhoeven. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1966 short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” the movie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a construction worker who receives implanted memories of his time working as a spy on Mars—or is he a Martian spy whose memories of life as a construction worker were implanted?
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/xM9RRHmwvEI
Time Stamps:
46:26 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On this episode of Cyberpunk Summer, we are discussing TRON, a 1982 adventure film directed by Steven Lisberger and starring Jeff Bridges as a software engineer-turned-arcade owner, who is corporeally transported into cyberspace by a power-hungry computer program. Anita and Kat are joined by acclaimed author, public speaker, and travel writer, Geraldine DeRuiter, to sift through the film’s convoluted plot, and perhaps more importantly, its legacy as one of the earliest movies to use computer-generated animation and groundbreaking technology.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/3VaUZ0luumI
Time Stamps:
49:23 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Welcome to Cyberpunk Summer, episode 3, where we are discussing the 1995 thriller The Net, directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Sandra Bullock as a systems analyst whose life is threatened by cyber terrorists in a film that drives home the mid-’90s fascination with how much of our lives were just beginning to be tied to the internet. Anita and Kat are joined by the perfect guest for this discussion: “There Are No Girls on the Internet” host, Bridget Todd.
CW: This episode includes brief mentions of suicide.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/zkMdP5NmBQY
Time Stamps:
47:11 - What’s your Freq Out?
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For episode 2 of Cyberpunk Summer, Anita and Kat are joined by by actor, producer, and writer Kristian Bruun to discuss eXistenZ. While you may think that sounds like an off-brand male enhancement supplement, it’s actually a sci-fi film from David Cronenberg. The filmmaker—known for his work defining the body horror genre, like The Fly and Dead Ringers—made waves at the Cannes Film Festival this year with his feature Crimes of the Future. Back in 1999, after interviewing Salman Rushdie for Shift magazine, Cronenberg reportedly came up with the idea of "a Fatwa against a virtual-reality game designer." In eXistenZ, Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as the designer of the titular game, leading a cast that includes Jude Law, Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston, and Willem Dafoe.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/FdEWrzNXixI
Time Stamps:
47:11 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Cyberpunk Summer is here, and we’re coming in hot with JOHNNY MNEMONIC, the 1995 film directed by Robert Longo and based on the 1981 short story by one of the authors credited with the invention of the cyberpunk genre: William Gibson. It boasts a preposterous cast, including Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-T, and Henry Rollins. The film, which was made at the time the internet was starting to enter everyday lives, includes a lot of the elements we’ve come to associate with cyberpunk fundamentally, but how does it feel to watch it in 2022 (one year after the events are the movie are set)? Join Anita, Kat, and our special guest—journalist and podcaster Ryan Broderick—as we try to make sense of it all.
Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at patreon.com/femfreq or on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/Hl2KzCYDOtA
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43:19 - What’s your Freq Out?
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In our Hollywood by the Decade series, we’ve been exploring film history by watching and discussing landmark films from the beginnings of cinema up through the 1980s with new expert guests for each decade. In this final episode, we’re joined by two special guests: prolific writer and film critic Walter Chaw, and long-lost co-host Dr. Ebony Adams. We dive into what was happening in the 1980s politically and cinematically, discussing Walter’s picks: 1988’s MIRACLE MILE directed by Steve De Jarnatt, and Kathryn Bigalow’s 1987 vampire western NEAR DARK.
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Carolyn Petit returns as special guest to lead our discussion of the 1970s on the penultimate episode of our “Hollywood by the Decade” series. She selected two acclaimed films to focus our discussion. From 1971, Alan Pakula’s KLUTE, in which Jane Fonda plays a sex worker who teams up with an investigator (played by Donald Sutherland), to search for a missing person who’d once been a client of hers. In Paul Mazursky’s 1978 film AN UNMARRIED WOMAN, Jill Clayburgh stars as an Upper West Sider who navigates dating, friendships, and parenting an independent teenage daughter in the aftermath of an unexpected divorce. Two disparate films about female characters directed by men, but connected by a very 1970s focus on character with glimpses into their inner thoughts and lives.
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The 60s in America are remembered as a time of cultural upheaval and revolution, but did Hollywood keep in step with contemporary conversations? Our expert and guide on this episode of Hollywood by the Decade is Dr. Philana Payton, a scholar-activist with research interests in Black film and television history and popular culture, as well as gender and queer studies, and who is currently a professor of film and media studies at the University of California, Irvine. She’s selected two films from the period to launch our discussion: PARIS BLUES (1961) and GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967).
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Halfway through our “Hollywood by the Decades” series, we time-travel to the 1950s with our special guest—writer, podcaster, and film review editor—Alonso Duralde. We’ll be framing our conversation around two 50s films recommended by Alonso: ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) and THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957).
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Anita and Kat are joined by literature and film studies Professor Julie Grossman—an oft-published scholar who’s penned numerous essays about the classic archetypes of women onscreen and behind the camera in vintage Hollywood. She’s taking us into the 1940s, and specifically the introduction of film noir and the femme fatale for our “Hollywood by the Decade” series. To set the scene for our conversation, we watched two films on Julie’s recommendation: from 1943, Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, and from 1948, Road House—directed by Jean Nogulesco and starring Ida Lupino before the advent of her directing career.
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The 1930s saw the introduction of sound in film, the implementation of the Hays code, and marks the beginning of the “Golden Age of Hollywood”. On this episode of our “Hollywood by the Decade” series, we’re guided by special guest Patricia White—Centennial Professor of Film and Media Studies and Coordinator of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Swarthmore College—through a discussion of the landscape of Hollywood in the 30s, including how the enforced morality of the Hays code influenced which stories were told and how, while perhaps counterintuitively creating opportunities for surprising subtext. Join us as we examine BLONDE VENUS (1932) starring Marlene Dietrich, and STELLA DALLAS (1937) starring Barbara Stanwyck.
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We’re kicking off our Hollywood by Decade series with the inception of filmmaking in the 1910s and 20s. Specifically, we’ll be looking at director Lois Weber’s film, Shoes. Released in 1916 at the height of Weber’s power and popularity as one of the top filmmakers of the time, the film tackles poverty, prostitution, and gender pay inequity. Ebony pops in, and she and Anita are joined by Dr. Shelley Stamp, writer and professor of film and digital media at UC Santa Cruz, and the person who quite literally wrote the book on Lois Weber. Listen in for a fascinating discussion of early filmmaking.
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For our 200th(!!) episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, Anita, Ebony, and Carolyn reunite to discuss the Coen brother’s infinitely quotable, The Big Lebowski. Since its 1998 release, the film has earned cult classic status, spawning festivals, conferences, and even a religion: Dudism. Does our original FFR trio abide? Listen in as we revisit The Dude on his hapless, meandering odyssey through LA to find out.
Time Stamps:
6:00 - Main discussion on The Big Lebowski
41:49 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On the heels of the recent release of director Robert Eggers’ Viking epic The Northman, Kat Spada and special guest Dr. Kishonna Gray—Associate Professor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies at the University of Kentucky—step back to 2015 to consider Egger’s first film, The Witch.
CW: This episode contains discussion of film portrayals of supernatural or historical violence against woman and children, including infanticide.
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1:00:10 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Anita and new cohost Kat Spada start off the season strong with an episode all about the allure of toxic masculinity onscreen. Special guest Dave Proctor returns to discuss why male characters embodying cisheteronormative values can be so obviously problematic, but often still manage to be attractive and compelling to us a viewers.
Time Stamps:
54:36 - What’s your Freq Out?
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We finish Women’s History Month and this season of FFR with Eliza Hittman’s critically-acclaimed, profoundly affecting 2020 film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Joining us for this emotionally intense discussion is returning special guest, writer and podcaster, Kat Spada.
CW: This episode includes discussion of suicide, abuse, sexual assault and other sensitive topics. If you need help please reach out to organization like RAINN.org or call the National Sexual Assault Hotline available 24 hours at 1-800-656-4673
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43:07 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Next in our series of works by women filmmakers is director Joanna Hogg’s loosely-autobiographical 2019 film, The Souvenir. Joining us to talk about the film is FemFreq Favorite and Managing Editor at Kotaku, Carolyn Petit! We’ve missed our former co-host and know you have, too; a good discussion is all but guaranteed when Caro’s in the house, and today is no exception as we tackle the film’s themes of addiction, power, art, self-discovery and more. And be sure to check out our bonus episode this week! Usually a Patrons-only privilege, this week’s Bonus is available wherever you get your podcasts or at Patreon.com/femfreq
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44:19 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Today on the Bonus, we welcome Patrons and non (future?) Patrons alike for a special public episode. Carolyn Petit is here to reunite our original FFR trio for a deep-dive discussion on the utility of rating systems and subjectivity vs. “objectivity” in criticism.
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Written by Diablo Cody, directed by Karyn Kusama, and starring Megan Fox, Jennifer’s Body is the next in our series featuring women filmmakers. The film struggled to find an audience in 2009, but has earned a reappraisal in recent years. It’s new to Anita and Ebony, but luckily we’re joined by writer, producer, podcast host, returning FFR guest, and notably, “America’s Foremost Scholar on Jennifer’s Body”, Jordan Crucchiola. Opinions are strong and varied so buckle in for a lively discussion. And if you’re a Patron (or want to become one) visit Patreon.com/femfreq for a Patron exclusive unedited video of our recording!
CW: We use offensive and derogatory language in this episode. It’s discussed within the context of films that have used these words, but we do not censor the language.
Time Stamps:
54:27 - What’s your Freq Out?
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We’re kicking off a month of episodes dedicated to the work of pioneering female directors, and to get us started, we’ll be talking about Jane Campion’s 1993 Oscar-winning film, The Piano. Writer, raconteur, podcast host, and our special guest, Kat Spada, joins our discussion as we grapple with an undeniable masterpiece of a film that is simultaneously racist and which presents a deeply troubling “love” story built upon coercion. Can we reconcile the more pernicious and problematic aspects of this film with its magnetic sensualism, compelling performances, and gorgeous filmmaking?
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54:41 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Remember when we promised to take the podcast in some new and interesting directions this year? Well, you’re in luck because today we’re talking: visual art, global feminisms, resistance, anti-capitalism, and more through a focus on graffiti, and to do so, we’ve got a pioneering and interdisciplinary scholar and activist in the field to join us. Dr. Jess Pabón is Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at SUNY New Paltz. Her teaching and research areas are vast and varied, and include Performance Studies & Theories; Black and Latina/o/x Performance and Visual Culture Studies (with a specialization in Hip-Hop Studies); Women of Color Feminisms; and LGBT & Queer Studies. Don’t miss this fascinating episode.
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48:18 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Talking all things Black and games this week, Dr. Kishonna Gray hosts a full-faceted conversation with Latoya Peterson and Shawn Alexander Allen.
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Treachery in Beatdown City
The Come Up Game
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This week, we’re diving into literature with Toni Morrison's incredible Song of Solomon. Joining Ebony is Dr. Tai Coleman and our very own Jae Lin.
CW: This episode includes discussion of incest, abuse, and sexual assault. If you or someone you know is suffering with these issues please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to get the support you need.
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Upcoming anthology - Sparked: George Floyd, Racism, and the Progressive Illusion, edited by Walter Jacobs
Forthcoming book this year - Traveling without Moving: Personal Essays on Motherhood, Love, Equity, and Teaching
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This week, we’re adding to our collection of conversations on iconic 90s Black cinema by delving into the aesthetics and atmosphere of Kasi Lemmons’ 1997 directorial debut, Eve’s Bayou. Joining us to discuss this gem of a film is Dr. Taiyon Coleman, who last joined our podcast for our I Am Not Your Negro episode.
CW: This episode includes discussion of incest, abuse, and sexual assault. If you or someone you know is suffering with these issues please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to get the support you need.
Time Stamps:
41:42 - What’s your Freq Out?
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FFR episode on I Am Not Your Negro - https://feministfrequency.com/ebony-dr-coleman-on-i-am-not-your-negro-james-baldwin-white-supremacy-police-violence-2/
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An episode for Tim Curry fans, and Tim Curry fans only! Today on the FFR podcast we are revisiting one Ebony’s childhood favorites, Ridley Scott’s 1985 glorious, florid, Baroque banquet of a film: Legend. Writer Charlie Jane Anders returns as special guest for this fantastical trip down memory lane. Does Legend hold up after all these years?
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43:43 - What’s your Freq Out?
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For over 20 years, both Anita and Ebony have successfully refused to watch James Cameron’s 1997 mega-blockbuster Titanic, but today they’ve finally relented in order to have a discussion with returning guest and Titanic super-fan Caitlin Durante. Can Caitlin’s sincere love of this disaster movie/period romance warm the waters of Anita and Ebony’s icy reception? Or are two decades worth of parody, memes, and replays of “My Heart Will Go On” too much to keep them from never letting go?
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In our final episode of 2021, we welcome a very special guest: Carolyn Petit herself! Along with Anita and Ebony, the original FFR trio are discussing Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta—the premiere of which faced protests by Catholics upset with the film’s depiction of illicit attraction between 17th century nuns. Does this ecstatically portrayed story of Sister Benedetta—a fervently devoted Renaissance nun consumed by the force of her transcendent visions—qualify as a Very Caro Movie? Listen in to our lively discussion to find out.
Make a Donation for our end of year campaign at Givebutter.com/femfreq2021
Time Stamps:
5:50 - Main discussion on Benedetta
42:35 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Along with their special guest—Caroline Heldman, chair of critical theory and social justice at Occidental College and the executive director at The Representation Project—Anita and Ebony are taking on the entirety of the Terminator franchise. From the 1984 original and “T2” a decade later, to the (perhaps less memorable) follow-ups from the two-thousands and beyond, the Terminator franchise catalyzed the careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Michael Biehn and launched a pop culture juggernaut that to date includes 6 films, novels, a tv show, video games, comics, and a web series. Just what is it about the characters and concerns of this dystopian nightmare that has proved so compelling for audiences over the last 40 years? And what could it look like in the future as stars age and technology catches up to the AI promise of Skynet?
Time Stamps:
7:40 - Main discussion on the Terminator franchise
58:36 - What’s your Freq Out?
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This episode of the podcast was originally meant to be a look at the Terminator franchise as a whole, but there’s only two things that can stop a podcast: (1) the fall of civilization at the hands of our robot overlords, or (2) laryngitis. We’ll let you guess which took down this week’s attempt.
Our Terminator meta-take will be out in a few weeks, but in the meanwhile we’re re-releasing our episode on 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate. Below you’ll find our original show notes for the episode which aired November 20, 2019. Enjoy!
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Terminator: Dark Fate is the 6th entry in the wibbly-wobbley timey-wimey cinematic universe originally brought to life by James Cameron in 1984. The franchise has taken a lot of detours over the past 35 years — some more successful than others — but the supporting infrastructure of the story has never really changed: sometime in “the future,” “the machines” turn on us and wage an all-out war that leaves billions dead and the planet a devastated wasteland. But there’s a brave human resistance lead by an incredibly inspirational white dude! So in a truly bonkers effort to eradicate those pesky humans once and for all, the machine intelligence — called Skynet — sends killer cyborgs into the past to kill that human leader before he can grow into his destiny. The resistance is like “chill, bro” and sends their OWN dude back in time to prevent Skynet from succeeding.
In this latest film, a lot of the accumulated mythos that was developed over the past 3 or 4 movies has been jettisoned entirely and we’ve gone back to the beginning, and all our old friends are along for the ride. But this time around, the protector sent back to save humanity is a woman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator has relaxed into a comfortable semi-retirement when he’s not running his drapery business. Oh, and Sarah Connor is back and she is still kicking ass!
But perhaps the most important thing about this film is that the hero that we’re invested in? The one that must be protected at all costs? It’s not a white woman who will birth the future leader of the human resistance. It’s not the white dude himself. It’s a young Mexican woman.
Time Stamps:
02:41 – Main Segment: Terminator: Dark Fate
40:30 – What’s Your FREQ Outs: Pain and Glory by Pedro Almodóvar, The Righteous Gemstones, Paris Games Week
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Today on a special episode of the podcast, Anita is joined by director and co-writer of the film Unpregnant—Rachel Lee Goldenberg—as well as Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show and founder and executive director of the non-profit Abortion Access Front. Together we’ll be discussing abortion and reproductive rights both as portrayed in media and in the US today.
Episode Photo Credit: aafront.org
Time Stamps:
47:48 - What’s your Freq Out?
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If you’re a regular listener, you may remember us expressing careful optimism at the news that Chloé Zhao was set to direct an entry to the MCU. Well, Eternals is finally here and you can consider our hopes dashed. Two special returning guests are joining Anita on this episode of the podcast: game designer, director, and musician, Teddy Dief; and CEO of Sweet Baby Inc, Kim Belair. Together Anita and our guest try to answer: In a film with no dearth of talent, how did Eternals go so wrong?
Time Stamps:
6:20 - Main discussion on Eternals
50:28 - What’s your Freq Out?
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After two separate polls, our Patrons have finally granted Ebony’s wish and selected The Manchurian Candidate (1962) for discussion. In Anita’s absence, Ebony is joined by not one, but two! very exciting special guests: Associate Professor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Kishonna Gray, as well as writer and bon vivant, Paul Spencer. Join us for a lively discourse on this classic political thriller.
Time Stamps:
6:45 - Main discussion on The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
44:26 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Denis Villeneuve’s take on Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic has finally hit theaters and HBO Max. Anita and Ebony are on hand with special guest—writer, producer, and Lynch-Dune-stan—Jordan Crucchiola to take it apart. There have been several film adaptations of Dune, and Villeneuve’s version has a lot going on that we are excited to discuss. Let’s get to it!
Time Stamps:
50:28 - What’s your Freq Out?
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The podcast returns for our Spooky Season finale with a viewing of the 1982 slasher classic Slumber Party Massacre featuring horror super-fan and friend of Feminist Frequency, returning special guest Jessica Zollman. Listen in to join us on this wild ride via the ultimate “thriller killer driller” iconic slasher movie.
Time Stamps:
8:37 - Main Discussion on Slumber Party Massacre
43:56 - What’s your Freq Out?
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This week the podcast is taking a step away from October’s spookier fare so that we can discuss the latest Bond movie, No Time To Die, with returning special guest, game designer, director, and musician, Teddy Dief. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and co-written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the 25th entry to the franchise is also the last that will star Daniel Craig as the titular, not-so-secret-identity, super spy. While it can be argued (and will be on this podcast) that Daniel Craig’s turn as Bond has been a divergence for the franchise from the start, No Time To Die promises to be something radically different from a film series built around male power fantasies. Is it? Listen in for our (somewhat differing) takes.
Time Stamps:
44:37 - What’s your Freq Out?
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We’re back from break, and just in time for spooky season! Joining Anita and Ebony is returning special guest—writer, mental health advocate, video game designer, and friend to Feminist Frequency—Dave Proctor, to take a look at Wes Craven’s somewhat bizarre entry to his horror empire, 1991’s The People Under the Stairs. This film was a divergence for the “Master of Horror” both in its tone and topic—a self-aware horror comedy dealing with disenfranchisement, white Christian moralism, and Reagan era social and economic politics in an utterly over-the-top way. Listen in to hear our take on the good, the bad, and where this movie fits into the horror genre as a whole.
Time Stamps:
11:15 - Main discussion on The People Under the Stairs
43:27 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Great Scott! We’re firing up our flux capacitors and heading back in time to talk about 1985’s Back to the Future. Recent listeners will remember our special guest from our last episode—game designer, director, musician, and friend of the podcast, Teddy Dief. Chosen by our Patrons from a group of time travel films, Back to the Future (produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Robert Zemeckis) is far more problematic than many of us remembered. Listen in to our discussion as we interrogate how a movie so culturally iconic and beloved presents so many issues. Or else, just tune in to hear Teddy give us some A+ Marty McFly impressions.
Time Stamps:
4:53 - Main discussion on Back to the Future
41:53 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Frequent listeners will know that Anita has been dying (not) to talk about The White Lotus from writer, actor and director Mike White. On this episode, she and Ebony are joined by video game designer, creative director and singer, Teddy Dief, the discuss the HBO series centered around wealthy white vacationers in Hawaii and the staff catering to their every whim.
Time Stamps:
7:55 - Main discussion on The White Lotus
40:32 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Anita and Ebony are joined by author, journalist and podcaster Annalee Newitz to talk about the highly anticipated second season (that almost didn’t happen) of Tuca & Bertie. Two years and a hundred episodes of this podcast ago, we talked about the first season of this show and have been pleased to see this season offers even more weird delights from its off kilter bird world, and continues to charm and move audiences with its bracing honesty, sincere compassion, and lots of boob jokes.
Time Stamps:
9:42 - Main discussion on Season Two of Tuca & Bertie
52:25 - What’s your Freq Out? * SCIENCE EDITION *
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Anita and Ebony are joined on this episode of FFR by special guest Charlie Jane Anders— writer, podcast host, event impresario and one of the founders of io9, a website devoted to science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related news. She’s the author of several books of speculative fiction and “inspirational weirdness,” including Victories Greater Than Death, The City in the Middle of the Night, and All the Birds in the Sky. She’s here today to hold our hands as we try to wrestle with creativity in times of crisis, the subject of her new book, Never Say You Can’t Survive: How to Get Through Hard Times By Making Up Stories.
Time Stamps:
4:56 - Main segment
51:39 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Anita and Ebony are joined this week by a special guest—Iranian-American comedian, writer, actor and co-host of the award-winning #GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast, Zahra Noorbaksh—to discuss the new comedy from writer/director Nida Manzoor, We Are Lady Parts. The wildly funny and fiercely feminist show centers on the brash, raucous, unapologetic members of all-female, all-Muslim punk band. Listen in to our conversation as sing the show’s praises and engage in a larger discussion around how stories about and by Muslims are told.
Time Stamps:
6:33 - Main discussion on We Are Lady Parts
43:00 - What’s your Freq Out?
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It’s Caro’s last episode as co-host of the Feminist Frequency Radio Podcast, but she’s lightening the weight on our hearts with her final delightful discussion pick: the irreverent 2013 gem We Are the Best! about a group of young teen girls forming a punk band in 1982 Sweden. Another perfectly “Caro Movie” that focuses on beautiful, character-driven storytelling, We Are the Best!captures those golden moments of adolescence when everything seems both possible and impossible at once. Friendships seem to burn brighter; parental attention starts to chafe; and identity is an ever-changing kaleidoscope. Listen in for our discussion as we say goodbye.
Time Stamps:
8:20 - Main discussion on We Are the Best!
41:53 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Ebony is back to hosting as she and Carolyn surrender to the contemplative pacing and character-driven appeal of “A Very Caro Movie”: Charles Burnett’s 1990 masterpiece, To Sleep With Anger. Recently added to the Criterion Collection, the film centers around a middle-class Black family in South Central LA, and the mysterious drifter—both charming and menacing—who upends their lives. Starring Danny Glover, Mary Alice and Vonetta McGee, To Sleep With Anger is just the kind of luminous and thoughtful storytelling to course-correct a podcast which may or may not have been talking about a few too many MCU titles of late. In addition to our main discussion, we’ll be making a Big Announcement regarding the future of the FFR podcast, as well as sharing some thoughts on the recent news surrounding Activision Blizzard.
Time Stamps:
1:40 - Activision Blizzard harassment
9:35 - Big changes for the FFR podcast
12:47 - Main discussion on To Sleep With Anger
40:38 - What’s your Freq Out?
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We’re returning to the MCU for a look at the cosmic, time-hopping multiverse of Loki. The series boasts a stellar cast, aesthetic, and a whole lot of storytelling in a six-episode package. Can the God of Mischief change his stripes, and do we even want him to? Listen in to our discussion of this stand-out series and witness as we slowly morph into a Marvel-centric podcast.
Time Stamps:
8:01 - Main discussion on Loki
40:38 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Today on the podcast we’re discussing the 24th (!!!!) entry to the MCU, Black Widow. The movie attempts to balance themes of chosen family, trauma and healing with its need to deliver lots of fight scenes and CGI spectacle. But does it succeed, and knowing Natasha’s ultimate ending, do we still care? Listen in to hear our conversation.
Time Stamps:
10:00 - Main discussion on Black Widow
45:13 - What’s your Freq Out?
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100% PURE ADRENALINE. We’re back and we’re finally tackling a topic we’ve been wanting to talk about for a long time: Point Break, which is having its 30th anniversary this year. It’s peak 90s action cinema and with it, director Kathryn Bigelow not only created a uniquely soulful entry into the action canon, but she may have defined many of the decade’s best cinematic sensibilities as well. Is it ironic or sincere? Is Keanu great or terrible in it? How does Lori Petty’s Tyler both fulfill and subvert the standard role of the superfluous love interest in a film that’s really all about its male characters? Is Carolyn left-reading too much or does Reeves’ Johnny Utah actually discover that the FBI is a soul-crushing machine of which he wants no part? We discuss all this and much more, so gather round the bonfire, catch some waves and join us as we talk about Point Break.
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On this episode of the Feminist Frequency Radio podcast, we’re watching RoboCop, one of the first American films by Paul Verhoeven, who would go on to direct Total Recall, Basic Instinct, and notably, Starship Troopers. After discovering Anita had never seen the 80s classic, Carolyn and Ebony are revisiting the film and bringing her along for the ride. What kind of movie is RoboCop? Mid-tier 80s action flick or brilliant work of Reagan-era satire? And how does it hold up both for Caro and Ebony who are coming back to it, as well as for a first time viewer in 2021 like Anita? Listen in to hear our discussion.
Time Stamps:
7:34 - Main discussion on RoboCop
44:50 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On this episode of FFR, Entertainment News returns with a crop of pop culture updates and events that are designed to make you bury your head in the nearest pillow and scream. From un-cancelable sexual offenders to the latest string of reboots, remakes, and retreads, we’re here to talk about the things that are keeping our group chats popping and our Twitter feeds unbearable.
Time Stamps:
2:27 - Talking about our recent live stream event
10:03 - Everything Old Is New Again:
29:33 - The World Is On Fire and We Can’t Talk About It
38:09 - You Can’t Cancel Me or Shut Me Up
47:58 - What’s your Freq Out?
** Note: There was an error in episode 165 (Carrie) where we played the wrong guest freq out. We apologize for the error and this week are playing both guest freq outs, in context, in this episode of the podcast:
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Today on the podcast we’re discussing the 1976 horror classic Carrie, directed by Brian de Palma and based on Stephen King’s first published novel. We asked our patrons to select from several films with Bad Mothers, and this is what they chose— a film with enduring cultural significance full of fascinating contradictions between de Palma’s characteristically problematic lens and other narrative aspects that seem to naturally invite a feminist reading. Listen in as we unpack the many layers of Carrie and how the film presents the feminine and femininity, including gender performance, internalized misogyny, and of course, motherhood.
*** Friendly reminder to mark your calendars for our birthday blow out! This Friday, May 21st starting at 1pm PT we've got 26 hours full of streamers and games all celebrating Feminist Frequency's 12th anniversary. Spread the word & follow us on http://twitch.tv/femfreq to get ready!
Time Stamps:
10:39 - Main discussion on Carrie
43:56 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On this topical episode of the podcast we’re tackling fame, celebrity culture, and fandom. While celebrity is nothing new, the modern landscape of social media creates both new avenues to fame, as well as new opportunities for fans to access their favorite stars and content creators. Today we’re talking: toxic celebrity, access and entitlement, and the false “democratization” of fame that offers a little bit of notoriety to anyone.
Time Stamps:
5:51 - Main discussion
43:56 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Arrogant tech bros cruelly disregarding privacy and the boundaries of decency in worship of their own genius (and as the world cheers on) has become a modern horror staple (e.g. the film Ex Machina or the series Devs), but today on the podcast we’re discussing the HBO series MADE FOR LOVE, where the tone for this premise takes a darkly comedic turn as we follow Hazel Green-Gogol (played by Cristin Milioti) and her bid for freedom from her controlling, narcissistic husband (played by Billy Magnussen) who has literally put a chip in her head without her consent. What did we think? Listen in to find out.
Time Stamps:
3:34 - Main discussion on Made for Love
44:01 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Following the success of WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is the MCU’s latest attempt to handle tough topics in a weekly action series, but does it manage to be more than propaganda? Listen in as Anita, Ebony, and Carolyn dive into a heated discussion of how a show framed as opening a new era for Captain America mostly reinforces the status quo.
Time Stamps:
6:11 - Main discussion on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
45:28 - What’s your Freq Out?
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When all your faves are problematic, it may be tempting, or even natural, to tease out progressive politics or disruptive readings within media which on the surface seems to support the status quo. Is that ultra-macho action movie really about found family? Is your favorite root-for-the-bad-guy drama actually a scathing indictment of violence and toxic masculinity? Well, maybe not, but the tendency to seek a progressive meaning in the media we love is called “left-reading,” and today on the podcast Carolyn, Ebony, and Anita are taking a look at the phenomena and discussing why it happens and what harm might be done by excusing popular media in this way.
Time Stamps:
6:00 - Introduction to “Left-reading”
9:34 - The Equalizer and The Equalizer 2
17:13 - Breaking Bad
20:46 - Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings
27:00 - Optimistic left-reading, opportunities for reclamation, and personal interpretation vs real-world impact
36:24 - Cop-aganda
40:00 - Fury Road and Ripley
44:00 - John Wick and The Fast and the Furious movies
48:51 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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On this episode of the Feminist Frequency Podcast, Ebony is back in the saddle and leading the charge, hosting our discussion of the new Netflix film Concrete Cowboy, from first-time director Ricky Staub and starring Idris Elba, Lorraine Toussaint, and Stranger Things’ Caleb McLaughlin. While we can agree that Idris Elba and Method Man in cowboy hats is a good thing, our opinions diverge from there. Who’s take do you agree with? Listen in to find out.
Time Stamps:
15:11 - Main discussion on Concrete Cowboy
48:54 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Today on the podcast we’re returning from our break (and yet somehow still entering vacation mode) as Anita, Caro, and special guest Charlie Jane Anders take a look at Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s colorful comedy Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Is this movie a timely escape or a bit of a bad trip? Listen in to find out what we found so polarizing.
** This week’s Bonus segment (normally only available to our Patreon supporters) will be available to all! Make sure you listen in as we talk to special guest Charlie Jane Anders about her illustrious career, her writing process, and her brand new YA sci-fi book, Victories Greater Than Death!
Time Stamps:
9:38 - Main discussion on Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar
40:16 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Today’s very special episode of the Bonus is available to all! Listen in as we talk to Charlie Jane Anders about her illustrious career, her writing process, and her brand new YA sci-fi book, Victories Greater Than Death!
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Today on the podcast we’re joined by Special Guest Walter Chaw, film critic for Film Freak Central, to discuss writer/director Lee Isaac Chung’s semi-autobiographical film Minari, which despite being about an American family pursuing a version of the American Dream, controversially won Best Foreign Language Film at the 2021 Golden Globe Awards. Listen in as we discuss how this beautifully authentic film insightfully approaches a particular American experience through the story of the Yi family.
Time Stamps:
8:55 - Main discussion on Minari
45:27 - What’s your Freq Out?
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We asked our patrons to pick a time-loop film for us to discuss and they have spoken! FFR is headed back to 1999 to take a look at the propulsive German thriller, Run Lola Run. The film has endured for over 20 years as both an influential movie and cultural reference point, with its unrelenting visual and narrative pace. Join us as we revisit the story of fire-engine-red-headed Lola (played by Franka Potente) and her desperate run through Berlin to save her feckless boyfriend.
Time Stamps:
5:40 - Main discussion on Run Lola Run
40:06 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Our spotlight on Black cinema continues today on the podcast with our look at The 40 Year Old Version. Written, directed and produced by first-time director Radha Blank, this sharp comedy won the 2020 US Dramatic Competition Directing Prize at Sundance. Join us as we discuss this semi-autobiographical tale of a Black creative grappling with asserting an authentic voice in a marketplace governed by white gatekeepers demanding compromise.
Time Stamps:
5:52 - Main discussion on The 40 Year Old Version
38:39 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Continuing our month-long series of episodes focusing on work by Black creators, on today’s podcast we’re taking a look at Judas and the Black Messiah. Directed by Shaka King, the Sundance 2021 premiering film has earned both critical acclaim and scrutiny. Can a Hollywood movie adequately tell a story about political radicals? Does Judas and the Black Messiah do justice to Fred Hampton? Listen in to hear our thoughts.
Time Stamps:
6:43 - Main discussion on Judas and the Black Messiah
41:48 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Today on the podcast, we’re discussing Julie Dash’s lush and lyrical 1991 film Daughters of the Dust. Focusing on a multi-generational group of Gullah women on the eve of a life-altering move, this sweeping work was the first film directed by a Black woman to get a general theatrical release in the United States. 30 years later, the haunting and expressive film retains its striking impact.
Time Stamps:
3:49 - Main discussion on Daughters of the Dust
44:34 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Kicking off our month of episodes focusing on films by Black creators, today Anita is back with Ebony and Carolyn to discuss Dee Rees’ 2011 directorial debut, Pariah. The film was a low-budget independent release which announced Rees as a formidable talent six years before Mudbound would earn her an Academy Award nomination in 2017. Join us as we discuss this achingly authentic look at the life of a queer Black teenager in Brooklyn, struggling to discover and assert her truth, even as her parents make it painfully clear they will not accept that their daughter is gay.
Time Stamps:
5:39 - Main discussion on Pariah
45:06 - What’s your Freq Out?
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CW: discussion of sexual assault and violence
While Anita remains in parts unknown, Ebony and host Carolyn are joined by special guest Kat Spada to discuss Emerald Fennell’s revenge thriller, Promising Young Woman, a film both darkly comedic and astutely descriptive of rape culture. Join us as we discuss what make Cassandra Thomas’ quest to punish the “Nice Guys” so provocative.
Time Stamps:
5:18 - Main discussion on Promising Young Woman
44:56 - What’s your Freq Out?
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On this week’s podcast, we’re taking a look at Christopher Nolan’s aggressively high-concept film, Tenet, the disorienting twists, turns, and logic loops of which demand a lot of its audience. Is it worth the effort it takes to truly engage with the film? Listen in as Caro and Ebony discuss.
Time Stamps:
6:52 - Main discussion on Tenet
50:05 - What’s your Freq Out?
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CW: for discussions of suicide
Today on the podcast, Ebony is taking a turn hosting, leading a discussion with Caro and Anita on the new Hulu series This Way Up. This Irish series about a woman on the edge has drawn early comparisons to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Flea Bag, but it offers it’s own unique perspective on a life in crisis. Join us as we take a look at what this show gets right and wrong about living in your head while living in community.
Time Stamps:
8:05 - Main discussion on This Way Up
42:41 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Welcome to the first Feminist Frequency Radio podcast of 2021 where Anita, Ebony and Carolyn are lassoing the truth out of the confounding mess of a movie that is Wonder Woman 1984. We thought if nothing else we could coast through the two-and-a-half-hour run time on 80s nostalgia and Pedro Pascal’s charm, but there’s a lot more wrong with this movie than the aesthetics.
Time Stamps:
8:12 - Main discussion on Wonder Woman 1984
49:52 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Today on the podcast Anita and Carolyn are hitting the road (figuratively, if not literally) to discuss NOMADLAND, the critically acclaimed film written, directed, AND edited by next year’s Eternals director Chloe Zhao. The film is gorgeous, as through main character Fern (played by Frances McDormand) it paints a picture of nomadic survival in the real life culture of American workers without roots, following sporadic work opportunities with no safety net beyond what fellow travelers can offer. Listen in as we discuss all the ways this film succeeds at telling a thoughtful, complex story about poverty, the failings of American Capitalism, and the intricacies and complexities of human relationships and grief.
Make a Donation to our end of year campaign at http://www.feministfrequeny.com/donate
Time Stamps:
5:30 - Main discussion on Nomadland
41:22 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Anita and Ebony are joined by special and surprise guest Dave Proctor to discuss Happiest Season, Hulu’s new queer Christmas romcom from actor/writer/director Clea DuVall. Starring Kristen Stewart, Aubrey Plaza, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Dan Levy, Alison Brie, and Mary Holland (who also co-wrote), the film pulls out all the Christmas Movie tropes we’re used to seeing on Hallmark, but does the classic holiday treatment work here? Hint: we can’t decide if it works better as a romcom or a horror movie, so….
Make a Donation for #GivingTuesday at http://www.feministfrequeny.com/donate
Time Stamps:
4:36 - Main discussion on Happiest Season
37:00 - What’s your Freq Out?
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For this week’s podcast we checked out the 14th Annual LA Skins Fest, a festival of Native American films which was held virtually this year. The festival was a great opportunity to explore films by and about indigenous people whose stories too rarely get told in mainstream media. On this episode we’ll be discussing several works which stood out to us, from documentaries, to dramas about contemporary family life, films that employed elements of sci-fi and horror to explore generational trauma, and much more.
CW: discussion of suicide as part of a film plot in our segment on Intrepidus, beginning at 42:45
Time Stamps:
3:28 - Main discussion on LA Skins Fest
10:07 - Tostu (Redbird)
19:36 - Blackfeet Boxing
28:55 - Walking Together
36:52 - The Fall
42:45 - Intrepidus
52:12 - What’s your Freq Out?
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Welcome to the third installment of Feminist Frequency’s entertainment news round up; a semi-regular series where we share our thoughts on all the media and pop culture news that crawled from the depths of 2020 to illuminate our screens (and mostly dampen our spirits). In this episode we’re: (still) looking forward to the release of Cyberpunk 2077; being disappointed by prominent voices who should really know better; and being as jazzed about a certain rock star in a couture gown as we are unsurprised by the people who have a problem with it.
Time Stamps:
6:33 - David Fincher: “cancel culture” miniseries - https://news.avclub.com/david-fincher-wants-to-do-a-miniseries-on-sigh-cancel-1845675917
14:15 - Cyberpunk 2077 delay - (Jim Sterling Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKtrrlD8aTc
24:10 - Ubisoft Montreal swatting - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-police-ubisoft-1.5801236
29:08 - Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie thinks JKR’s anti-trans essay was “perfectly reasonable” - https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/11/15/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-jk-rowling-transgender-essay-reasonable-twitter-backlash/
37:22 - Harry Styles on the cover of Vogue; Candace Owens and other conservatives’ backlash
46:47 - What’s your Freq Out?
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In Alice Winocour’s new film Proxima, astronaut Sarah (played by Eva Green) faces challenges her male colleagues do not while making preparations to depart for a year aboard the ISS. As Sarah tries to balance the personal and professional, her daughter Stella goes on an emotional journey of her own, struggling with the consequences of her mother’s work. Join us as we discuss how the film presents the familiar misogynistic complications presented by “the work/life balance” in the Earth-side life of an extraordinary human headed for the stars.
Time Stamps:
8:19 - Main Discussion on Proxima
43:31 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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On the cusp of the 2020 US presidential election, we’re taking a look at a film set in 1820s Oregon Territory, telling the story of two men trying to make their way in the harsh frontier of the burgeoning American West. Join us on this week’s podcast, as we sink our critical teeth into this sweet cake of a “Caro film”: Director Kelly Reichardt’s 2019 film First Cow, exploring friendship, masculinity and the consequences of capitalism in a deliberately paced story filled with bright spots of light, sweetness, and memory.
Time Stamps:
13:17 - Main Discussion on First Cow
45:37 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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Today’s episode of the podcast finishes up our spooky season series on occult-themed nostalgia watches with 1987’s The Witches of Eastwick, starring Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Cher, adapted from the John Updike novel. Join us as we try to figure out how we feel about this movie including big 80s perms (great), Cher (even better), and Jack Nicholson’s diabolic sex appeal (not good). Made at the height of Reagan’s America, does the film have something insightful to say about gender inquality, or like the devilish Daryl, is it in the end all about reinforcing the Patriarchal status quo?
Time Stamps:
8:18 - Main Discussion on The Witches of Eastwick
42:52 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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Welcome to the second episode in our spooky season series, revisiting classic, cult or nostalgic witch and vampire movies as chosen by our patrons. Today we’re traveling back to 1998, when Wesley Snipes starred as the titular vampire hunter, Blade. 9 years after Tim Burton’s Batman, and 20 years before the MCU’s Black Panther, Blade was the first Marvel Superhero theatrical release, the grandfather of every Marvel Superhero movie to follow. Join us as we dive into a grimdark version of LA, populated by blood and power thirsty vampires that can only be stopped by a stoic vampire/human hybrid seeking revenge.
Time Stamps:
5:52 - Main Discussion on Blade
46:10 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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In celebration of the spooky season, we’re looking at media depictions of witches and vampires, starting with Hocus Pocus. Starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker, this 1993 Disney classic sparks a feeling of campy nostalgia for many, but how did it hold up for us and what does an almost 30 year old children’s Halloween movie have to say to a modern audience?
Time Stamps:
6:38 - Main Discussion on Hocus Pocus
41:20 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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The Netflix film Enola Holmes introduces us to the much younger (and perhaps more brilliant) sister of the infamous Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. The film is based on a series of YA detective novels by author Nancy Springer, and our heroine (played in the film by Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown) is a quick-thinking and fearless young woman who frustrates and amazes everyone around her in equal measure. We discuss who we think the intended audience is, and whether the film succeeds in delivering a feminist-minded moral to a younger audience. We also discuss casting choices for Mycroft and Sherlock, held up against Arthur Conan Doyle’s source material, and offer up some opinions on other recent adaptations.
Time Stamps:
3:37 - Main Discussion on Enola Holmes
42:04 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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This week, by popular demand, we're talking about The Matrix, a film once co-opted by the online right that has in recent years seen a kind of reclamation as an explicitly queer, trans text. Carolyn kicks things off by telling us about a 20th anniversary screening of the landmark film that she attended last year which illuminated some aspects of the film that contribute to its reading as a queer work. From there, we talk about the film's systemic perspective, and reveal who among us would take the blue pill. We talk about the challenge of doing the actual work of resisting the cisnormative heteronormative white supremacist patriarchy, and express frustration with some of the film's more conventional aspects, including the role Trinity is wedged into. Carolyn does her best Agent Smith impression, Ebony raises an important point about what it means if humanity only accepts the simulation if it replicates certain forms of oppression, and we talk about finding joy in the struggle.
PLEASE NOTE that this is our final episode before a brief hiatus. We shall return on October 7th to kick off a new season!
We begin this week’s episode by acknowledging the passing of Chadwick Boseman, talking a bit about his impact, his legacy, and the grief so many of us have felt in response to the loss.
Our main topic this week is the incendiary series I May Destroy You, written by and starring the staggeringly talented Michaela Cole. Our conversation covers the revelatory way in which the show frankly and honestly confronts so many forms of rape and sexual assault, and a larger culture that normalizes and perpetuates them. We also discuss the remarkable complexity of the show’s central characters, as they often make choices that we as viewers may strenuously object to, but never in a way that reduces them to villains or makes them seem worthy of being written off as people.
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On this week’s FFR we discuss the first two episodes of HBO's Lovecraft Country, a show that blends horror elements into a tale about racism in 1950s America, but first we talk about how the horrors of anti-Black racism remain so inescapable in America today, where police have once again exacted brutal violence on a Black man. Our discussion of the show touches on the ways in which it draws from pulp fiction and acknowledges the complexity of our relationship to tales that we love even if they don’t love us back, its subversion of classic Americana and fascinating use of audio, and the experience of watching this show right now, while living in a world in which some of us are exhausted from the experience of constantly being dehumanized and endangered.
This week, we explore the seamy underbelly of 1932 Los Angeles with HBO’s exciting revisionist take on the character of Perry Mason. In HBO’s series, crucial supporting characters have been reimagined--Della Street is now a queer woman, Paul Drake is a Black man--in ways that inform the series’ systemic perspective and help it avoid some of the ideological pitfalls that much hard-boiled crime fiction of the past falls into. As a result, this is a Perry Mason that grapples both with our actual history and with the narrow lens of the classic CBS series, and in so doing, demonstrates how TV and film can use familiar formats and genres without just telling the same old stories.
This week, we dive back into all the wild ups and downs of entertainment news to bring you our reactions to some of the biggest and most politically resonant stories of recent weeks! We discuss Disney’s decision to release Mulan on Disney+ for beaucoup bucks and the larger matter of what it means that some films are going to VOD while others are holding out for theatrical release. We talk about the white fragility of reactions to a recent Six Chix comic, Trump’s Tiktok crackdown, and the encouraging news that Nia DaCosta will be helming the Captain Marvel sequel. Also, how some celebs are closing ranks around Ellen as allegations about the toxic culture of her daytime talk show gain attention, and Bon Appetit’s brazen exploitation of people of color.
Time Stamps:
This week, we revisit the classic 1980 comedy about sexism in the workplace, 9 to 5. We discuss all the ways in which the film still rings true, the insight with which it depicts women trying to navigate multiple manipulative sexist behaviors of men in positions of power, and how it doesn't lay the blame at the feet of one bad boss but acknowledges that these are systemic issues that necessitate structural change. We also talk about what it's like to watch this film some 40 years after its release, when we seem to have made little progress with addressing these kinds of abuses and power imbalances. At the same time, the film now captures a bygone era of American employment before the days of the gig economy, when it was easier to find jobs that were just jobs and not things we brought home or that absorbed our entire identity. Also, we talk about the one scene that made Ronald Reagan mad.
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This week we're off to Palm Springs via the new time-loop rom-com on Hulu starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milotti. We discuss how Palm Springs tweaks the familiar structure of films like Groundhog Day in some significant ways to serve up something fresh, while also acknowledging that it can't entirely avoid some of the troubling matters of consent that often seem to come with the time-loop territory. We also talk about how the film explores questions of what it means to live ethically when every day is the same as the previous ten thousand days, and the surprising sweetness of its love story.
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After a brief detour into recent events in Portland, we get into Netflix's hugely successful new action flick, The Old Guard, featuring Charlize Theron as the de facto leader of a group of immortal mercenaries as they welcome a new member and face a new adversary. Our conversation touches on the strength of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s direction, as well as the makeup of the crew, with its international membership that includes two gay men whose fierce devotion to each other melted even Anita's heart. We discuss how the identities of the main characters feel central to their stories and their experiences. Additionally, concerns are raised about the “strong female character” trope, we talk about the loneliness that comes with immortality, and mention some of the fun questions that the premise of a movie like this raises.
Cartoon voices have been recast, episodes of 30 Rock have been pulled, and Gone with the Wind has been recontextualized. In this week’s episode of FFR, we discuss the many ways that Hollywood has scrambled in recent weeks to respond to the current conversation about racial justice, and whether any of the actions being taken are actually meaningful, or are just meant to convey the appearance of meaningful action. We ask how, moving forward, we can disrupt white supremacy’s hold on the media we create, and what do we do with the sometimes-oppressive media of the past as we seek to build a better future.
In this week’s episode, Anita and Carolyn embark on a grim and arduous journey through the discourse over The Last of Us Part II. We share our personal reactions to the game’s cast of characters, talk about its view of humanity and its use of violence, discuss the game’s narrative structure and themes, and ultimately answer the question of whether or not we found the grueling quest it takes us on to be worthwhile. Join us!
Ebony hosts this episode of Feminist Frequency Radio to discuss the James Baldwin documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, with very special guest, the prolific and award-winning writer, scholar and activist, Dr. Taiyon J. Coleman. Together, they examine the 2016 film, directed by Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, and the legacy of Baldwin’s work against the backdrop of ongoing global protests of police violence against black people and the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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This week’s podcast was recorded on May 31, 2020. We won’t be discussing a new piece of media; we’re discussing a nation at war. Over the past week, we have watched as righteous protests rise in the wake of the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd—and the deaths of many other black people including Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade. In response, the white supremacist American state apparatus has activated violently. Today, we want to share with you some of what we’ve seen, resources that might help you take action, and ways to make sense of some of the conflicting narratives we’re being fed.
#blacklivesmatter RESOURCE LIST: PETITIONS, DONATE, CALL AND EMAIL TO DEMAND JUSTICE AND SHARE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-0KC83vYfVQ-2freQveH43PWxuab2uWDEGolzrNoIks/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR0zIYlxvOAQh6LDych9e3LCZ8nf2I43gPzEnfWCeYMAe1zB00tTv0PEHZs
ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT (but please do your own research):
LINKS FOR READINGS AND REFERENCE:
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES (COMPILED BY Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein)
Articles to read:
• “America's Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer
Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
• Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring
a New Generation of Activists
• ”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose
Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
• The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times
Magazine
• “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May
28, 2019)
• Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups
developed by Craig Elliott PhD
• ”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by
Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
• “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X.
Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
Videos to watch:
• Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives:
Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers
(50:48)
• "How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen
Compassion" | Peggy McIntosh at
TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)
Podcasts to subscribe to:
• 1619 (New York Times)
• About Race
• Code Switch (NPR)
• Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
• Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on
Civil & Human Rights)
• Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
• The Combahee River Collective Statement
Books to read:
• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her
Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
• Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
• How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for
the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women
of Color by Cherríe Moraga
• When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of
Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira
Katznelson
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk
About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
Films and TV series to watch:
• 13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
• American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
• Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
• Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
• Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
• Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
• I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to
rent or on Kanopy
• If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
• Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent
• King In The Wilderness — HBO
• See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
• Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
• The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution —
Available to rent
• The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with
Cinemax
• When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
Organizations to follow on social media:
• Antiracism Center
• Audre Lorde Project
• Black Women's Blueprint
• Color Of Change
• Colorlines
• The Conscious Kid
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Families Belong Together
• The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights:
• MPowerChange
• Muslim Girl
• NAACP
• National Domestic Workers Alliance
• RAICES
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
• SisterSong
• United We Dream
More anti-racism resources to check out:
• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
• Anti-Racism Project
• Jenna Arnold's resources (books and people to follow)
• Rachel Ricketts' anti-racism resources
• Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About
Race and Racism
• Showing Up For Racial Justice's educational toolkits
• “Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police
brutality from 100 Year Hoodie
• Zinn Education Project's teaching materials
Photo credit:
Alex Wong | Getty Images
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Anita, Ebony and Carolyn are back with another Entertainment News roundup. What’s up for discussion today? The Snyder Cut of Justice League is coming (yikes)! E3 is cancelled, but do we even need it anymore? And Joe Biden is taking the black vote for granted. Commiserate with us as we wade through the mostly bad (and somewhat absurd) of recent news, with at least one bit of good news for fans of a particular cancelled Netflix favorite.
CW: discussion of suicide during segment on Hana Kimura’s recent death. Time stamp located below.
Time Stamps:
5:51 - The Snyder Cut of Justice League is coming - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/justice-league-snyder-cut-plans-revealed-it-will-be-an-new-thing-1295102
17:28 - The deathbed confession of Norma Corvey aka Jane Roe of Roe v Wade - https://www.vox.com/2020/5/22/21267493/aka-jane-roe-norma-mccorvey-deathbed-confession
22:35 - Joe Biden interview on The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne tha God - https://youtu.be/KOIFs_SryHI
33:36 - Hana Kimura has died at 22; online harassment was likely a factor - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hana-kimura-dead-pro-wrestler-terrace-house-contestant-dies-at-22-1295776
39:24 - Digital Games Events to replace E3 - Summer Game Fest: https://www.summergamefest.com/ - Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/gamefestival - Gamescom: https://www.gamescom.global/home/
white feminism and COVID-19 - https://twitter.com/aliciasanchez/status/1262211508433543168?s=19 in regards to this article: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/coronavirus-lockdown-breaking-madrid-miami-entitled-americans-a9517476.html
54:15 - Lana Del Rey’s Instagram post - https://www.instagram.com/p/CAcQPuBJdir/
57:51 - Tuca and Bertie picked up by Adult Swim
58:56 - Article by Sara Luterman on Star Trek and disability -www.startrek.com/news/star-trek-picards-xbs-explore-the-realities-of-disability
Additional Links Mentioned:
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**Mark your calendar for Feminist Frequency’s 11th birthday party! This Thursday, May 21st from 5:00 - midnight Pacific time join at Twitch.tv/femfreq for guests, games, and giveaways.
This week on the podcast we are delighted to think critically about the Apple TV+ series Little America. The anthology, from makers of The Big Sick and Master of None, puts the immigrant experience at the center of its plot. Currently available to view without a subscription and already renewed for a second season, this series presents stand-alone episodes observing the story and life of an individual immigrant living in the United States. Join us as we take a look at several episodes, from the tale of a young boy left to run the family motel when his parents are deported, or a Nigerian college student in Oklahoma who loves American cowboy culture, to a Syrian refugee seeking asylum in the US so that he can live openly as a gay man, and explore how successfully Little America presents their stories.
Time Stamps:
6:36 - Main Discussion on Little America
42:56 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
** Support the Stay in the Game Relief Fund - https://givebutter.com/stayinthegame
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On this episode of Feminist Frequency Radio we take a look at The Half of It, the second film from Saving Face director Alice Wu. Available for streaming on Netflix, the film is a take on the classic-literature-as-teen-movie genre, reimagining Cyrano de Bergerac as wry, bookish teenager Ellie Chu, who reluctantly agrees to help charming but dim-witted Paul woo the girl that Ellie herself has a crush on. Join us as we examine how this film subverts expectations of the genre, telling a surprisingly multi-faceted story of teen angst.
Time Stamps:
4:47 - Main Discussion on The Half of It
41:52 - What’s Your Freq Out?
** Support the Stay in the Game Relief Fund - https://givebutter.com/stayinthegame
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Caitlin Durante—writer, comedian, co-host of The Bechdel Cast, Josie and the Pussycats enthusiast, and very special guest of Feminist Frequency Radio—returns to discuss the 2001 cult classic film with Anita and Carolyn. Can she convince us of its “borderline flawless” status, or, upon closer inspection, does this movie only manage to reinforce the out-of-control corporate commercialism it aims to critique?
Time Stamps:
2:52 - Main Discussion on Josie and the Pussycats
40:03 - What’s Your Freq Out?
** Support the Stay in the Game Relief Fund - https://givebutter.com/stayinthegame
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Because you asked (and because we need to focus on something other than coronavirus updates) Entertainment News is back! In this episode Carolyn and Anita are joined by returning special guest Laura Hudson, to discuss some of the most interesting recent entertainment news stories and media happenings. From video game and television series announcements we're nervous about, to contemplating the cost of digital turnips in Animal Crossing, we’ve got the news you need.
Time Stamps & Links Mentioned:
2:36 - Star Wars Series in the Works at Disney+ from Russian Doll Co-creator - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-series-works-at-disney-russian-doll-creator-1291400?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
12:20 - Cyberpunk 2077's faction The Mox protects sex workers from violence - https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/04/08/cyberpunk-2077s-faction-the-mox-protect-sex-workers-from-violence/
18:15 - Rate My Skype Room - https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/04/rate-my-skype-room-twitter - https://twitter.com/ratemyskyperoom
24:05 - Tom Hanks’ Blood Is Being Used to Develop Coronavirus Vaccine - https://variety.com/2020/film/news/tom-hanks-coronavirus-blood-research-vaccine-1234589978/
30:23 - Beastie Boys Story documentary by Spike Jonze - https://g.co/kgs/eq16ef - https://twitter.com/AlanWCerny/status/1254492398039773184?s=20
42:58 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons - https://g.co/kgs/zd6hu6
52:01 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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This week on the Feminist Frequency Radio podcast we grapple with Hulu’s limited series Mrs. America, focusing on the battle for and against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. Join as we struggle with the powerful questions and feelings the series raises as this telling of feminism’s past illuminates the many issues the movement continues to face today.
Time Stamps:
1:39 - Week #2645 of the Quarantine Report
4:43 - Main Discussion on Mrs. America
51:01 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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Originally slotted to debut at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, but currently made available on Netflix, the documentary L. A. Originals chronicles the partnership between director Estevan Oriol and master graffiti artist and high profile tattooist, Mark Machado, aka Mister Cartoon. Join us as we share some of our thoughts and reactions regarding storytelling, cultural appropriation vs appreciation, and the intersection of cultural identity and feminism, as we explore this intriguing, if somewhat rambling, story about the rise of two prominent Chicano artists over the shifting landscape of 25+ years.
Time Stamps:
1:34 - Isolation updates: movement and fashion
3:57 - Main Discussion on L. A. Originals
40:13 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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Like so much of life right now, the format for this episode of Feminist Frequency Radio will be a bit different. Check in with us while we shelter-in-place, and Anita, Carolyn and Ebony share the films, shows, books, games and new hobbies that are seeing us through self isolation.
Time Stamps:
1:34 - Vibe check
15:40 - Media for Quarantimes:
Carolyn:
Ebony:
Anita:
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Mysterious and ominous, Devs, Hulu’s new limited series from Alex Garland, seems right in line with the filmmakers other contributions to the sci-fi genre, Ex Machina and Annihilation. After two episodes, Anita, Carolyn and Ebony agree that the series is “interesting” but their definition of what makes is so may differ depending on which one you ask. Tune in to hear our thoughts on class, race, critical reception of the series, and that giant statue.
Time Stamps:
1:22 - International Women’s Day fails
4:42 - Main Discussion on Devs
42:34 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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Carolyn and Anita are joined on the podcast by special guest Nicole He, game developer and creative technologist, to take a look at Hulu’s High Fidelity, originally a novel by Nick Hornby, but probably known by most from the 2000 film starring John Cusack as Rob Gordon, a record store owner and obsessive music fan who takes us through his all-time top-five most painful breakups while trying to reunite with his most recent girlfriend. Hulu’s series swaps out this white dude version of Rob for a queer, woman of color played by Zoe Kravitz. Does the new representation in High Fidelity matter? And what happens to the narrative when this swap is applied to a character who epitomized a new kind of toxic masculinity at the start of the 21st century?
Time Stamps:
1:45 - a little bit about Nicole and how she makes some of the coolest sh*t Anita’s ever seen
7:02 - Main Discussion on High Fidelity
41:20 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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This week, FFR takes a journey into the genre-defying cinematic poesy of Mati Diop’s Atlantics. The highly acclaimed, supernaturally-tinged drama, screened in competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival -- and surprisingly/horrifyingly, it was the first film directed by a Black woman to do so. Join us for a discussion of Diop’s remarkable film, and the necessity and joy of exploring art from a non-white, non-Western perspective.
Time Stamps:
1:29 - Gum talk
5:55 - Vintage radiator talk
6:38 - Atlantics
37:01 - What’s Your Freq Out?
41:53: Listener FREQ OUT!!! David Nylander on The Dragon Prince
Carolyn - Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Ebony - Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster
Anita - Dollface
Items Mentioned:
Trump prefers Gone With the Wind to Parasite
African futurism: https://twitter.com/NiNanjira/status/1060839021750951936
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Well, hi there, puddin’! Grab a breakfast sandwich and your Fun Guns, because in this week’s podcast Feminist Frequency Radio is taking on Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). We’ve been anticipating this movie for quite some time, at best with ambivalence and at worst with skepticism. Media headlines and frothing fanboys have blasted the film, but could it actually be… a pretty fun movie?
Time Stamps:
1:44 - Anita and Ebony’s Hot Hair Tips, and Caro hangs in there
3:10 - Main Discussion on the Birds of Prey
31:45 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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As The Good Place finishes its 4th and final season, we reflect on the cultural impact of a refreshingly sincere and optimistic show which came at a particularly dark time. Join us as we revisit some of our favorite moments, and ask what The Good Place taught us about how to be a good person in a morally complex world.
Time Stamps:
0:40 - Anita and Ebony flesh out their Star Trek, space-vape fanfic
2:25 - Main Discussion on the final season of The Good Place
39:08 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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The 92nd Academy Awards will air this Sunday, which means we at FFR must once again extract what meaning we can from an awards show which consistently seems to celebrate the same stories from the same people. Why are the Oscars still such a big deal, and why do we still need to talk about them? We take a look at what the nominations say about the kind of narratives which are held up as the best, including our thoughts on performances, and the stories we loved over the last year that were overlooked.
Time Stamps:
0:59 - “Homemaking with Anita Sarkeesian”
5:22 - Main Discussion on the nomination choices for the 92nd Academy Awards
40:21 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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Laura Hudson, writer and friend of the podcast, joins Anita and Carolyn this week for our discussion of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, the latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel. The film has earned several Oscar nominations, but conspicuously missing is a Best Director nomination for Gerwig herself. Join us as we discuss how this retelling of March sisters’ story brings up questions of class, race, and what a 151-year old novel has to tell us about the issues and obstacles still faced by women today.
Time Stamps:
1:52 - Getting to know special guest Laura Hudson
6:42 - Main Discussion on Little Women
39:04 - What’s Your Freq Out?
Links Mentioned:
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This week we journey through the brutal landscape of The Witcher. Probably best known through CD Projekt Red’s video game series, the Netflix adaptation has met with mixed reviews. Join us as we take a look at ways in which fantasy and Patriarchal tropes are presented, reinforced, acknowledged and questioned in a self-aware story that may not be sure on which side it lands. Should you toss a coin to your witcher?
Time Stamps:
1:40 - Exploring whether or not Anita can BECOME a podcast
3:50 - Main Discussion on The Witcher
41:20 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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We’re back in the Star Wars Universe! In episode 105 of FFR, we wondered after three episodes where all the women were in The Mandalorian. Now that season one is finished, we’re revisiting the spaghetti space western with special guest Jonathan Mann, to jam out to his viral song “Baby Yoda Baby Baby Yoda,” talk about Star Wars deep-lore and our own fan theories for next season, and to weigh in on the representations of women The Mandalorian ultimately offered.
Time Stamps:
1:34 - Capitalism and the dark side of Baby Yoda (Baby Baby Yoda)
12:45 - Main Discussion on The Mandalorian - Season One
41:05 - What’s Your Freq Out?
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Happy New Year and welcome back to FFR! We’re kicking off the decade with a deep look at Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. A cultural phenomenon spanning 40 years, here’s our look at what the final chapter of this space opera delivered, where it delighted, where it disappointed, and who it didn’t represent.
Time Stamps:
4:23 - Main Discussion on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
39:12 - What’s Your Freq Out
Links Mentioned:
“Are We Really Going to Pretend That Gay Kiss in The Rise of Skywalker Matters?” by K. Austin Collins - https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/are-we-really-going-to-pretend-the-gay-kiss-in-the-rise-of-skywalker-matters
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It’s the end of the decade! And though it was a tough task, we’ve narrowed down all the media from the last 10 years to our fave five in literature, film, music, television and gaming. Stroll with us down memory lane as we revisit the titles that made us reflect, made us feel, and maybe even moved the needle on what media has to say about the world around us.
Time Stamps:
1:07 - Ebony’s Fave Five
11:27 - Caro’s Fave Five
18:59 - Anita’s Fave Five
PS: This week we are announcing a new initiative to help men go from bystanders (and sometimes enablers) of abuse into allies in the fight for gender justice. If we reach our $25,000 fundraising goal by Dec. 31 we can launch our Male Ally Resources and Education initiative and the Games and Online Harassment Hotline in early 2020, and we’re halfway there. We're fighting for a safer, more equitable gaming culture for everyone. Donate today and with your help we will make it a reality. https://feministfrequency.com/donate/
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Ho Ho Ho, and Happy Holidays! This week we present the Feminist Frequency x Bechdel Cast Christmas Crossover episode. Jamie Loftus and Caitlin Durante join Anita to discuss the Disney+ movie Noelle, starring Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader. Is this film an empowering #girlboss take on the holiday film genre? Well, maybe from the perspective of a “woke dad”. Listen in to hear our real thoughts on rule by divine monarchy, holiday puns, and at least 3 things this movie gets right.
Time Stamps:
Defining and reminiscing on the DCOM Genre - 1:52
Main Discussion on Noelle - 4:40
What’s Your Freq Out - 46:46
PS: Today we're proud to announce one of our upcoming initiatives to help challenge the culture of abuse, harassment and sexism in the games industry: The Games and Online Harassment Hotline, a 24/7 service available to anyone who needs it. Help us launch this much-needed resource: https://feministfrequency.com/donate/
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! So join us as we take a stroll down amnesia lane with the 1996 Christmas-set action flick The Long Kiss Goodnight starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is experiencing something of a critical renaissance of late. Find out what we think of it as we discuss how Samantha Caine fits into the pantheon of female action heroes, the movie’s overall stance on gender politics, and the better movie Ebony sees under the surface of the one we got.
Time Stamps:
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It’s official: Baby Yoda is our cuteness overlord. This week, Star Wars fan and friend of the podcast Jessica Zollman joins us again as we talk about The Mandalorian. We discuss the show’s wildly skewed gender representation, the fun we had on Twitter for bringing up the show’s wildly skewed gender representation, the power of Baby Yoda, and what we’re liking and not liking about the show after three episodes.
Time Stamps:
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FemFreq Radio is bringing you a live one this week! That's right, podcast fans: this week's episode was recorded live at our home away from home in Seattle at Geek Girl Con! After some of our standard "we've forgotten how to podcast" intro fumbling, things get interesting when Anita, Carolyn, and Ebony offer their choices for standout media properties from the past decade. Anita has some choice words to say about a fish; Carolyn refuses to be pigeonholed into CMBYN fandom; and Ebony laments what could have been in a historic small town in NY.
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Terminator: Dark Fate is the 6th entry in the wibbly-wobbley timey-wimey cinematic universe originally brought to life by James Cameron in 1984. The franchise has taken a lot of detours over the past 35 years — some more successful than others — but the supporting infrastructure of the story has never really changed: sometime in “the future,” “the machines” turn on us and wage an all-out war that leaves billions dead and the planet a devastated wasteland. But there’s a brave human resistance lead by an incredibly inspirational white dude! So in a truly bonkers effort to eradicate those pesky humans once and for all, the machine intelligence — called Skynet — sends killer cyborgs into the past to kill that human leader before he can grow into his destiny. The resistance is like “chill, bro” and sends their OWN dude back in time to prevent Skynet from succeeding.
In this latest film, a lot of the accumulated mythos that was developed over the past 3 or 4 movies has been jettisoned entirely and we’ve gone back to the beginning, and all our old friends are along for the ride. But this time around, the protector sent back to save humanity is a woman, and Arnold Schwarenegger’s Terminator has relaxed into a comfortable semi-retirement when he’s not running his drapery business. Oh, and Sarah Connor is back and she is still kicking ass!
But perhaps the most important thing about this film is that the hero that we’re invested in? The one that must be protected at all costs? It’s not a white woman who will birth the future leader of the human resistance. It’s not the white dude himself. It’s a young Mexican woman.
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With another Hallowe’en behind us we wanted to dive into horror movies. It seems movie-goers have very strong options about horror — love or hate. Horror can also be a contentious genre when viewed through a feminist lens so we decided to bring on our good friend and amazing photographer Jessica Zollman to chat with us about the topic. Jessica is a huge horror fan and spends every october watching one horror movie a day.
Check out Jessica Zollman’s photography! http://www.jayzombie.com/
LINKS
Black Girl’s Guide to Horror: https://blackgirlsguidetohorror.com/
Tananarive Due: https://www.tananarivedue.com/
Horror Noire: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9567548/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
Bryan Thao Worra - fantasy horror, Laotian-American: http://thaoworra.blogspot.com/
Fated Mates podcast: https://fatedmates.net/
Carol Clover
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This week, Anita, Caro, and Ebony don some cool DIY vigilante masks and go dispense some of that sweet feminist street justice. We run these mean media streets! Episode 101 of FFR is all about HBO's new series, Watchmen. Tune in to hear us discuss the intricate world-building; the incomparable Regina King; the seductive allure of vigilantism; and the racial mapping of this alternate universe.
Timestamps:
0:00 - 3:34: Jibber-jabber and jaw-jackery
3:35: HBO's Watchmen (we're only talking about the pilot in this ep, folks)
39:10: What's Your FREQ Out?
Links:
Learn about the Tulsa Race Massacre: https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/tulsa-race-massacre
Bass Reeves was a real dude: https://aaregistry.org/story/bass-reeves-a19th-century-u-s-marshall/
Peteypedia: https://www.hbo.com/peteypedia
Regina King Finally Gets Her Theme Music: https://www.vulture.com/2019/09/regina-king-watchmen.html
Learning history from Drunk History: Stetson Kennedy infilitrates the KKK: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/xd3k6s/drunk-history-stetson-kennedy-infiltrates-the-kkk---uncensored
Early black filmmaking pioneer, Oscar Micheaux: https://www.naacp.org/naacp-history-oscar-micheaux/
On this week’s episode, Ebony and Carolyn revisit the sci-fi horror classic Alien, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Our conversation attempts to examine some of the film’s many layers—its focus on working-class characters and their concerns, the ways in which H.R. Giger’s design for the alien taps into some of our most primal fears—while also acknowledging the filmmaking elements that help to make it such an enduring landmark of sci-fi cinema.
Time Stamps:
2:00 Alien
43:35 What’s Your FREQ-Out? (Carolyn on Joseph Arthur’s new album Come Back World, Ebony on the documentary Memory: The Origins of Alien)
Relevant Links:
Ebony on Vasquez from Aliens: https://feministfrequency.com/2017/03/28/absolutely-badasses-looking-back-on-vasquez-30-years-later/
This week on FFR, we’re joined by science YouTuber Trace Dominguez to talk about the new sci-fi film Ad Astra! Our conversation covers whether or not the movie is any good (and whether or not Brad Pitt is any good in it), what it's really all about, frustration with the fact that the stand-in for humanity in stories striving to be about universal experiences is so often a white man, the film’s depiction of the moon as a place where capitalism runs rampant, and the accuracy (or lack thereof) in some of the film’s scientific ideas and terminology.
Time Stamps:
3:55 - Ad Astra
37:00 - What’s Your FREQ-Out:
Carolyn on End of the Century
Trace on getting things right in his videos
Anita on The Great British Bake-Off
Links:
Follow Trace on Twitter at @tracedominguez
Watch Trace’s YouTube videos at youtube.com/tracedominguez
The trailer for End of the Century: https://youtu.be/tAlBU6IzDHM
We live in an era of oppression, in which powerful tyrants are silencing the voices and crushing the careers of brave men who dare to engage in true creative freedom.
Or maybe, people long accustomed to operating with impunity are now sometimes finding that there are consequences for their actions, and they don’t like it.
This week, we're talking about the much-decried "cancel culture" we're apparently living in right now. Our conversation covers how this term distorts the actual power dynamics at play, how social media has changed the impact of our larger conversations about art and media, the conflation of criticism with censorship, and why, if cancel culture is supposedly such a threat, it doesn't really seem like anyone has been and stayed cancelled.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:00 Cancel Culture
28:20 What's Your FREQ-Out?
Ebony on Kristen Arnett's Twitter, Carolyn on The Overstory, Anita on The Fast & The Furious: A Musical Parody
Follow Us:
Based on true events, the new Netflix series Unbelievable begins with a teenager named Marie Adler in Washington state reporting a rape to the police. The police launch their investigation, but soon, because of Marie’s erratic behavior and an almost complete absence of forensic evidence, they begin to suspect that she made up the attack in a desperate bid for attention. They pressure her to retract her story, and to “confess” that she made the whole thing up. A few years later, detectives in Colorado launch an investigation into a serial rapist whose crimes bear a remarkable similarity to Marie’s rape. Unbelievable looks closely at major structural and systemic flaws in law enforcement that stack the cards against women who experience sexual assault and that often make dealing with police an experience that compounds the trauma they’ve already suffered.
Time Stamps:
03:05 - Entertainment News: Joker
05:58 - Main Segment: Unbelievable
39:41 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: Neo Cab, Apple Arcade, five hundred thousand different podcasts
Links Mentioned:
Ebony podcast list:
Fated Mates
Inner Hoe Uprising
Why are People Into That
Keep It
The Secret Lives of Black Women
Dead Ass
The Adam Buxton Podcast
Follow Us:
Join our Patreon Community https://www.patreon.com/femfreq
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In December of 2015, an article was published in New York Magazine that told an amazing story. In the wake of the 2008 Wall Street collapse, a group of women who worked at the New York strip club Scores saw the men and the money stop coming in, so they devised a risky, unconventional, and illegal way to make the money come in. Now the true story of these women and their criminal endeavor is the subject of the new film Hustlers. Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, the film stars Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu and charts the spectacular rise and fall of a criminal enterprise that tells us a great deal about wealth and power in the early 21st century.
Time Stamps:
* 03:50 - Entertainment News: Shane Gillis dismissed from SNL for racism, Sam Smith uses they/them pronouns
* 10:09 - Main Segment: Hustlers
* 39:30 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: Fun City Podcast, Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski, Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
Links Mentioned:
* NY Times Review of Hustlers: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/movies/hustlers-review.html
* The Real Story Behind Hustlers: https://www.vulture.com/2019/09/hustlers-the-real-story-behind-the-movie.html
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Join our Patreon Community https://www.patreon.com/femfreq
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This week, we shift away from our usual format for a special bonus episode. Join Anita and Carolyn for a conversation about recent events in the gaming industry that have lead to what many are calling gaming’s #MeToo moment. Our conversation explores the social systems and biases that allow men to routinely commit acts of abuse and then protect them from the repercussions, the far-reaching pain and trauma caused by these acts and the accompanying abuses of power, and what change and justice might look like.
PLEASE NOTE: This episode comes with a trigger warning for discussions of abuse and suicide.
Read Nathalie Lawhead’s blog post at http://www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/calling-out
Sign up for our newsletter at feministfrequency.com
On this week’s FFR, Ebony and Carolyn continue our conversation about Life Is Strange 2 by diving into the recently released fourth episode, Faith. We talk about a particularly challenging scene in which Sean encounters a pair of racists, the different ways in which we approach the game as players, and the way the game continues to give its characters a surprising level of emotional complexity, and to view them through a compassionate lens.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:50 A note from Carolyn about recent events
4:30 Entertainment News: Walter Mosley leaves Star Trek: Discovery Writers Room, Crazy Rick Asians sequel screenwriter pay disparity, the latest on Roc Nation’s partnership with the NFL
17:10 Life Is Strange 2, Episode 4
44:05 What's Your FREQ-Out: Ebony on Dexter’s fascinating badness, Carolyn on Paterson
RELEVANT LINKS:
Walter Mosley leaves Star Trek: Discovery: https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/walter-mosley-exits-star-trek-discovery-writers-room-after-n-word-complaint-1203326990/
Adele Lim leaves Crazy Rich Asians sequels: https://variety.com/2019/film/news/crazy-rich-asians-co-writer-exit-pay-disparity-1203323236/
FFR 83: Life Is Strange 2: Episode 3 - Wastelands with Tevis Thompson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVluczkc-Vg
FFR 63: Life Is Strange 2, Episode 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-SO-J-r0UY
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Anita decided to forego our usual intro banter this week, so we just jumped right into this week's topic: the social impact of our cultural obsession with depictions of policing. From Dragnet to Brooklyn 99, what lies behind our abiding interest in the people and institutions tasked with maintaining “law and order”?
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
1:34 - Anita and Ebony talk about the danger of being the sardonic friend
3:56 - Copaganda
39:51 - What's Your Freq Out?
LINKS
Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins: https://www.mollyivinsfilm.com/
A Short Hike : http://ashorthike.com/
The Raven Tower: https://www.annleckie.com/novel/the-raven-tower/
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On this week’s episode, we talk about the beautiful new film The Last Black Man in San Francisco, a deeply personal movie about identity, gentrification, and institutional power. Ebony Adams calls it “simultaneously tactile and dreamlike!” Also, the ramifications of Jay-Z’s new deal with the NFL, and Marvel’s disappointing refusal to publish an anthology introduction that has some (appropriately) harsh words for Donald Trump.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:45 Entertainment News
14:00 The Last Black Man in San Francisco
40:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out? (Carolyn on Eliza, Ebony on One Child Nation, Anita on the power and value of stories)
RELEVANT LINKS:
"Jay-Z Helped the NFL Banish Colin Kaepernick" by Jemele Hill in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/jay-z-helps-nfl-banish-colin-kaepernick/596146/
"Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus, calls out Marvel Comics for its 'apolitical' politics" by Aja Romano for Vox: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/20/20812333/art-spiegelman-marvel-comics-backlash-essay-trump
Follow Us:
Join our Patreon Community https://www.patreon.com/femfreq
Our Website https://feministfrequency.com/
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This week, we're going toe-to-toe with writer-director Riley Stearns' new dark comedy The Art of Self Defense, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Alessandro Nivola. We talk about how the film brings a critical lens to the socially constructed "rules" of manhood, and to the ways in which men are pressured to perform masculinity among other men in the establishment of a kind of hierarchy. We also discuss how the film works as a kind of response to Fight Club.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS
2:10 The Art of Self Defense
33:45 What's Your FREQ-Out?
Ebony on holding it together in these trying times, Carolyn on spending time in the sun, Anita on The Boys
RELEVANT LINKS
Questions to ask yourself when you're outraged about injustice (via @prisonculture): https://twitter.com/prisonculture/status/1000413472356696065?s=19
Masculinities by R.W. Connell: https://www.amazon.com/Masculinities-R-W-Connell/dp/0520246985
Follow Us:
Join our Patreon Community https://www.patreon.com/femfreq
Our Website https://feministfrequency.com/
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SPOILERS ABOUND FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE -- BE WARNED
Blend yourself a frozen marg and buckle up for this week's episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, in which your Southern California stalwarts cruise up the 101 for a journey into Hollywood Past. This week, we discuss Quentin Tarantino's 9th feature film, an epic* ode to manly men and one uncomplicated babywoman. Two of your hosts left the theater feeling personally attacked by the film's masturbatory fantasia; one host had thoughtful and ruminative insights about the film's seductive evocation of time and place. You'll be completely "surprised" by who thought what!
For all the FFR accountants out there, please note that Carolyn cashed in her topic voucher for this film. She will not be able to select another topic until the next feminist fiscal quarter.
*this movie is so long
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS
00:38 Pop Culture News (Ooblets on the Epic store makes a certain segment of Toon Town go absolutely apeshit; the next season of American Crime Story)
12:12 Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
50:09 What's Your FreqOut
Links:
Ooblets - Regarding What's Been Happening: https://medium.com/@perplamps/regarding-whats-been-happening-3af0f27d863c
Flip Flop Solitaire: http://www.flipflopsolitaire.com/
Trump posing with an infant survivor of the mass shooting in El Paso: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/opinion/sunday/trump-picture-baby-el-paso.html
Endeavour, season 6: https://www.patreon.com/posts/29142943/edit
Follow Us:
Join our Patreon Community https://www.patreon.com/femfreq
Our Website https://feministfrequency.com/
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Time travel is such a powerful fictional device. It allows creators to shine a light on the cultural struggles and social ills of the present by making powerful connections with the past, and by offering wonderful or horrifying visions of the future. Of course, it can also just be a whole lot of fun! But time travel is uniquely powerful as a tool for feminist writers; after all, feminism has always fought to prevent women’s contributions from being written out of history. Time travel allows for stories in which women struggle not just to gain power but to regain their place in time itself.
With special guest author and journalist Annalee Newitz!
Time Stamps:
03:55 - Main Segment
47:09 - What’s Your FREQ Outs
Links Mentioned:
Our opinions are correct https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com and https://www.patreon.com/ouropinionsarecorrect
Why are you laughing at Bruce Lee? by Walter Chaw https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/on-bruce-lees-character-in-once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood.html
Annalee’s webowebs: www.annaleenewitz.com / @annaleen on twitter
Future of Another Timeline, by Annalee Newitz: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765392121
Grape Ape music video based on Future of Another Timeline: https://youtu.be/5Avc8qqRVc0
Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson (https://publishing.tor.com/godsmonstersandtheluckypeach-kellyrobson/9781250163844/)
This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/This-Is-How-You-Lose-the-Time-War/Amal-El-Mohtar/9781534431003)
Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen (https://www.mikechenbooks.com/book/here-and-now-and-then/)
“All You Zombies” by Robert Heinlein (https://gist.github.com/defunkt/759182/ad44c6135d168ae54503a281bb7e1a24c6c2ea0c)
You Look Like a Thing and I love you by Janelle Shane (https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/janelle-shane/you-look-like-a-thing-and-i-love-you/9781549171529/), also her blog AIWeirdness.com
Follow Us:
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There’s a lot to celebrate about our increasingly diverse mainstream media landscape. Modern audiences can immerse themselves in so many different kinds of compelling stories-- stories from which POC, the disabled, queer people -- (basically anyone who wasn’t middle class, straight, and white) had traditionally been excluded. It’s a victory of a sort, but it only goes so far. We still have so far to go in terms of representation in our media, but more than that, can we ever really look to corporate media to independently advance the culture in a progressive, meaningful, and sustainable way? How do we ensure mindful engagement with media and demand accountability from the billion dollar behemoths behind our favorite media properties?
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
04:15 Discussion of Fandom & Capitalism
38:19 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
RELEVANT LINKS:
Bowsette: memes and fandom culture under late capitalism - https://medium.com/@SimonXIX/bowsette-anti-capitalist-icon-1c988a5c51ed
See the image of Anita as Death for halloween over on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/posts/28787040
FOLLOW US:
Join our Patreon - http://www.patreon.com/femfreq
Our Website - http://www.feministfrequency.com/
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/feminist-frequency-radio/id1307153574?mt=2
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This week, we go on a swingin’ European adventure with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Anita’s friend Sara Fritzon joins us to serve as the token European for our conversation about Peter Parker’s latest escapades. Anita gushes over Tom Holland as Peter, Carolyn rants about the film’s politics, and longtime Spider-Fan Sara explains why she loves the MCU Spider-Man films, despite feeling that they don’t go far enough in exploring and humanizing their villains.
In entertainment news, we talk about Lashana Lynch taking over the 007 designation from Daniel Craig in the next Bond film, and share our reactions to the trailer for CATS.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
4:20 Entertainment News
14:00 Spider-Man: Far From Home
41:00 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
RELEVANT LINKS:
Carolyn’s Spider-Man tweet: https://twitter.com/carolynmichelle/status/1151628567198887936?s=20
Listen to Ingrid Michaelson’s album Stranger Songs: https://orcd.co/stranger_songs
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
Your battle-hardened hosts gather in the Thunderdome to discuss Strong Female Characters in our media. What kinds of aesthetic and narrative features tend to mark someone as a “strong female character”? Which genres seem most invested in the presentation of a specific kind of sexualized female badass? How do we celebrate the presence of authentic strong female characters while keeping our critical goggles attuned to their more problematic incarnations?
Time Stamps:
1:39 - Your favorite pop culture dissidents engage in a little thoughtcrime and talk about Independence Day demonstrations of American military might (we recorded this episode on July 4th)
6:10 - Strong Female Characters
38:15 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: Super Mario Maker 2; Courtney Milan's entire oeuvre; Gato Roboto
Links Mentioned:
https://supermariomaker.nintendo.com/
http://www.courtneymilan.com/
https://gatoroboto.com/
What to the Slave is the 4th of July: https://www.thenation.com/article/what-slave-fourth-july-frederick-douglass/
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
Everyone is talking about HBO’s Chernobyl. They say it’s good but it’s not enjoyable. We decide to find out for ourselves. Entertainment this news includes: Megan Rapinoe, Colin Kaepernick, Nike and re-boycotting Nike for life, Disney’s live action Little Mermaid.
Time Stamps:
Links Mentioned:
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
Who You Callin' Mary Sue? On this week’s episode, we tackle the topic of the Mary Sue! It’s a term that some have used as a cudgel in recent years with which to attack prominent female characters that they dislike for one reason or another, but what does the term really mean? Where did it come from? And does it still have any value in our modern-day conversations about female characters?
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
3:45 The Mary Sue
35:10 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
RELEVANT LINKS:
“Too Good To Be True”: 150 Years Of Mary Sue by Pat Pflieger: https://www.merrycoz.org/papers/MARYSUE.xhtml
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
On this week’s episode, Carolyn and Ebony continue their conversation about Life Is Strange 2, a conversation that started back in episode 63. Today, we’re talking about Episode 3: Wastelands, and we’re joined for our conversation by the writer and critic Tevis Thompson. Our discussion explores the ever-increasing political relevance of the series, the game’s noteworthy sincerity, the unconventional way in which it casts you as the character without the gimmicky powers, the specific impact of Cassidy and other characters, and much more. Also, Carolyn and Tevis talk about their admiration of Fortnite, and Ebony and Carolyn talk about the particular challenges of the past few weeks.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
Tevis intro/Fortnite chat: 1:15
Life Is Strange 2, Chapter 3: 9:55
What’s Your FREQ-Out? 45:35
Tevis: Lyrica, a rhythm game available on Nintendo Switch
Ebony: The horror and anxiety of this moment
Carolyn: The Polygon profile, repercussions in social media, and the widespread denial of white supremacist patriarchy
RELEVANT LINKS:
Tevis Thompson’s website: http://tevisthompson.com/
Tevis’ current essay, It’s Not Coming Back: http://tevisthompson.com/its-not-coming-back/
More information about Lyrica: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/lyrica-switch/
Polygon’s new profile of Anita: https://www.polygon.com/features/2019/6/19/18679678/
FFR Episode 63 on Life Is Strange 2, episode 2: https://feministfrequency.com/video/ffr-63-life-is-strange-2-episode-2/
This week, Anita plays hooky so Carolyn and Ebony are responsible for keeping the student body on track. Classic nerds! Our topic this week is Booksmart, Olivia Wilde's feature debut about two young overachieving women on the cusp of graduation. Tune in for a discussion of the way the film empathizes and delights with its multiplicity of characters, centers the teen girl experience, and is delightfully, unapologetically queer. Plus, we ask the question: how do we talk about films about teens versus films for teens?
Time Stamps:
00:27 - Entertainment News: Gender breakdown in games at E3 2019; CD Projekt Red and transphobic game imagery; Find Me audiobook
14:22 - Booksmart
50:37 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda; Donny Hathaway
Links Mentioned:
Gender Breakdown of Games Featured of E3 2019:https://feministfrequency.com/2019/06/14/gender-breakdown-of-games-featured-at-e3-2019/
CD Projekt Red explains controversial Cyberpunk in-game ad featuring trans model: https://www.polygon.com/e3/2019/6/12/18662443/cyberpunk-2077-trans-advertisement-cd-projekt-red-e3-2019?utm_campaign=polygon&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Find Me audiobook narrated by Michael Stulbarg: https://www.amazon.com/Find-Me-Novel-Andr%C3%A9-Aciman/dp/1250263409/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?encoding=UTF8&qid=&ref=tmm_abk_title_0&sr=
Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/cadence-of-hyrule-crypt-of-the-necrodancer-featuring-the-legend-of-zelda-switch/
FemFreq Donny Hathaway Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/ebonyaster/playlist/2mojOzU5jSNLVl8a45xHCJ?si=tpIh6eIYQwafdgxZKGtV1A
People often use the term “guilty pleasures” to talk about media they enjoy even though they feel it has little redeeming value. But what does it mean to be a feminist media critic who sometimes finds herself enjoying media that she believes is outright harmful? On this week’s FFR, we have a frank conversation about what guilty pleasures mean to us, and our own relationship to media that we may appreciate or admire on some level, even while believing that it perpetuates harmful myths or values.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
1:25 Guilty Pleasures
35:50 What’s Your Deal?
Relevant Links:
Follow Mariame Kaba on Twitter at https://twitter.com/prisonculture
Learn more about Rosemary Kirstein’s Steerswoman novels: https://www.tor.com/2008/10/30/not-only-science-fiction-but-more-science-fictional-than-anything-else-rosemary-kirsteins-steerswoman-books/
Tune in, subscribe, rate, and review!
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
This week we dive into Always Be My Maybe, Netflix’s latest romcom staring Ali Wong, Randall Park (and of course) Keanu Reeves. Because we are rapidly turning into a Keanu Reeves podcast. Ebony and Anita had very different opinions on this movie. Anita tried to opt-out of this episode because she feels bad about her opinions. Carolyn still refuses to bring us any positive entertainment news but does talk about some news in games.
Time Stamps:
Buy a t-shirt! dftba.com/femfreq
Links Mentioned:
Follow Us:
It's finally here! We made it! We have arrived at our John Wick 3 episode. Carolyn and Ebony can finally calm the hell down (not bloody likely). Tune in for a discussion of the assassin economy, visual style vs narrative coherence, fairytale logic, and really digging movies that also maybekindasorta feed our most problematic desires.
Time Stamps:
01:24 - Entertainment News: Moby; Leonardo DiCaprio only dates women 25 and under; #KeanuReevesWatch2019
12:15 - John Wick 3 (aka The GOAT)
42:25 - What’s Your FREQ Out: Stories Untold, The Unkindness of Ghosts, EEEEEatsCon LA
Links Mentioned:
Leonardo DiCaprio's Dating Chart: https://wokesloth.com/leonardo-dicaprio-wont-date-over-25/edward/
Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures: https://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2012/10/indiana-jones-the-complete-adventures.html
Stories Untold: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/stories-untold/home
An Unkindness of Ghosts: https://www.riverssolomon.com/unkindness
EeeeeatsconLA: https://www.theinfatuation.com/EEEEEATSCON
Follow Us:
Join our Patreon
Our Website
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
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On this FFR, we’re talkin’ ‘bout the wonderful new animated series Tuca and Bertie! Created by Bojack Horseman producer and production designer Lisa Hanawalt, Tuca and Bertie stars Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong as best friends whose friendship must evolve when Bertie moves in with her boyfriend Speckle. Oh, and also they’re all birds. Our conversation covers the way in which the show explores numerous experiences and issues with honesty, compassion, and humor, as well as its avoidance of certain harmful stereotypes, and the (sadly) rare and refreshing way in which it treats female sexuality.
Also, our reactions to fan reactions to the end of Game of Thrones, and the latest from KeanuWatch 2019.
Segment Timestamps:
3:15 Entertainment News (GoT finale, Kea-news)
15:00 Tuca and Bertie
43:50 What's Your FREQ-Out? (Fleabag, Chelsea Manning, Dead Like Me)
Tune in, subscribe, rate, and review!
Relevant Links:
Trailer for Always Be My Maybe: https://youtu.be/iHBcWHY9lN4
Keanu answers questions while playing with puppies: https://youtu.be/rOqUiXhECos
The impressive cast of Tuca and Bertie: https://www.indiewire.com/2019/05/tuca-and-bertie-voice-cast-netflix-season-1-1202131008/
How to make crunts and other Tuca and Bertie pastries: https://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-tuca-bertie-netflix-crunts-chouquettis-pastries-20190507-story.html
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
This week we go into the perilous unknown with the 2019 reboot of The Twilight Zone airing on CBS All Access. We dive into episodes like Not All Men, Wunderkind, The Traveler, and others to see which each of us liked best… and we certainly don’t all agree.
2:32 - Entertainment News
14:49 - Main Segment: Twilight Zone
46:48 - What’s Your FREQ Out
Relevant Links
Dandelion Immersive art project https://www.archivesandrecords.info/
How Golf Explains Trump by Sean Illing: https://www.vox.com/2019/5/10/18524172/donald-trump-commander-in-cheat-rick-reilly
Tune in, subscribe, rate, and review!
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
Hey, Feminist Frequency Listeners! We had a fantastic discussion about the new Netflix documentary Knock Down the House, which documents the thrilling challenges posed to the political establishment by the record numbers of women and people of color looking to unseat long-time incumbents in 2018. In addition to Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the film introduces viewers to candidates navigating the murky political waters of West Virginia, St. Louis, MO, and Las Vegas, NV.
0:00 Welcome to the incredibly high-energy goodness of episode #76
3:21 Pop Culture News/ Corporate News (Sonic the Hedgehog, Caster Semenya, "acceptable" trash talk, Ebony's reaction/non-reaction to the new royal baby, Find Me release date revealed)
16:39 Knock Down the House
46:02 What's Your Freq Out [Deal]?
On the Channel: The Criterion Collection
r/hobbydrama: the clam chowder fracas!
Little Simz, Lemonade, Street Food
Listener Freq Out from Mandy: Does the Dog Die
Relevant links: https://www.criterion.com/current/category/19-on-the-channel
https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/8zrrqo/clamchowdering_an_update_to_the_drama_that_is_a/
http://stillnessinwonderland.com/
https://www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/songs/
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/27/18144738/street-food-netflix-streaming-competitive
https://www.doesthedogdie.com/
Tune in, subscribe, rate, and review!
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
In this week’s FFR, our 75th episode, it’s a spoilerific conversation about the latest MCU crossover epic, Avengers: Endgame. First we talk about whether or not the film worked for us purely on the level of being an enjoyable superhero film that offers a satisfying conclusion to the cliffhanger of Infinity War, before delving into deeper discussions of fat-shaming, queer representation, and the film’s one ostensibly “feminist” moment.
We also cover the tragic death of director John Singleton, an infuriating draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers, and more.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:45 Entertainment News (John Singleton, Nick Bosa, Notch)
11:30 Avengers: Endgame
41:45 What’s Your FREQ-Out? (Veep, Steven Yeun and John Cho on The Twilight Zone, looking past the surface of Las Vegas, The Reluctant Royals novels by Alyssa Cole)
RELEVANT LINKS: More on Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals books: https://alyssacole.com/
Anita has returned! But Ebony is gone. To make up for it we’ve brought back very a special guest, everyone’s favorite Iranian-American Muslim Comedian, Zahra Noorbakhsh. This week we dive into Hulu’s newest sitcom Ramy. Created by comedian Ramy Youssef we follow the story of a 20-something Egyptian-American Muslim living in New Jersey, and trying to sort out who he really is and what he really wants in a world that sends him confusing and often-contradictory messages about what it means to be a young Muslim in America today.
Go check out Zahra’s work:
https://twitter.com/zahracomedy
https://www.instagram.com/zahracomedy/
http://www.zahranoorbakhsh.com/
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
4:11 - Entertainment News
12:03 - Ramy
50:57 - What’s Your FREQ Out
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
Anita’s off on another one of her globehopping adventures, so Ebony and Carolyn hold it down this week with a look at the latest DC Comics flick, Shazam! There’s a refreshing sense of lighthearted fun to this film, especially in contrast to the grimdark Batman and stuffy Superman of DC’s recent movie output, and a welcome dose of heartwarming sentiment as well. We talk about the way the film contrasts a tough-guy, go-it-alone form of masculinity with asking for help and relying on each other, what it has to say about found families, and the problems with its depictions of “ideal” bodies.
Also, initial reactions to the title for Star Wars Episode IX, a few personal recommendations for great new movies, and more.
Segment Timestamps:
4:30 Entertainment News (Star Wars title reveal, Trump's terrible propaganda movie, Bret Easton Ellis Q&A, more)
17:05 Shazam!
44:35 What's Your Deal? (Carolyn on Columbus, Ebony on Unicorn Store, listener Jonathan on a great production of Richard II in London)
Relevant Links:
Isaac Chotiner's Q&A in The New Yorker with Bret Easton Ellis: https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/bret-easton-ellis-thinks-youre-overreacting-to-donald-trump
f you want keep the good times going, stay tuned for the FREQ'in After Party -- which you can have access to by becoming a backer at www.patreon.com/femfreq.
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
And watch our brand new miniseries, Queer Tropes in Video Games! All three episodes are available right now at youtube.com/feministfrequency!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
In this week's episode, Anita and Ebony are joined by comedian, correspondent, and host of The Bitchuation Room Podcast, Francesca Fiorentini. The topic under discussion in this episode is the 2-part HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, about the decades-long child sexual abuse alleged against Michael Jackson by two survivors, Wade Robson and James Safechuck. We talk about living through a moment of increased cultural reckoning with horrific crimes like these, as well as the responsibility to honor the courage of people who come forward to tell their stories.
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE,online.rainn.org y rainn.org/es) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country.
Timestamps
2:53: Pop Culture News (gamers being awful, Cowboy BeBop casting)
10:34 Leaving Neverland (CW: abuse and sexual assault)
41:25: What's Your FREQ Out? (Ramona Quimby, "culture smashed" yoga, Anita talks class dynamics in media)
Relevant Links:
@franifio
https://www.francescafiorentini.com/bitchuation
Our Patreon backers get exclusive access to special bonus episodes every single week in the form of our FREQin’ AfterParty. This week, we continued our discussion of Jordan Peele’s Us because we couldn’t quite contain all of our thoughts in the main episode. As we talked more about some of the film’s complex layers, its deeper meanings, and what aspects of it we found to be successful and not so successful, we also found ourselves discussing some of the complications that come with being feminist media critics who are deeply concerned with what films have to say about race, gender, class and other forces that shape our experiences in the world every day. How much responsibility does a film or other work have to clearly present its message? What’s the audience’s responsibility? Where does ambiguity in art fit into all this? These questions don’t have easy answers, but nonetheless they’re things we have to consider and grapple with all the time. We thought this was a particularly revealing and valuable conversation, so we’re opening this episode to the public! Please consider joining our podcast community at patreon.com/femfreq to get access to special perks like these bonus episodes every week.
Everyone is talking about Us. And for good reason. This week we dive into the hotly anticipated new horror movie from the mind of Jordan Peele.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
1:27 - Intro baner
1:44 - Entertainment News: Zach Snyder said some dumb things, Jussie Smollett and the Chicago PD, Alanis Morissette critique
14:10 - Main Topic: Us
45:02 - What’s Your FREQ Outs
50:28 - Guest FREQ out from Katie
RELEVANT LINKS:
Manohla Dargis on Us - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/movies/us-movie-review.html?referrer=google_kp
New York Post story on Lupita Nyong’o’s voice in Us: https://nypost.com/2019/03/25/why-lupita-nyongos-creepy-us-voice-is-inciting-online-outrage/
Carolyn’s new video on Diablo: https://youtu.be/GaIHWN0LEIU
If you want keep the good times going, stay tuned for the FREQ'in After Party -- which you can have access to by becoming a backer at www.patreon.com/femfreq.
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
And watch our brand new miniseries, Queer Tropes in Video Games! All three episodes are available right now at youtube.com/feministfrequency! Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://bit.ly/2bDhQUX
This week on FFR, we’re talking about the new film from Neil Jordan, director of The Crying Game, Interview With a Vampire and others: Greta. Greta is a psychologically terrifying tale of an innocent young woman named Frances (Chloe Grace Moretz) who befriends a lonely, older French woman named Greta (Isabelle Huppert), only to discover that she’s gotten much more than she’s bargained for as Greta’s obsession with her begins intruding on every aspect of her life. Our conversation explores the film’s place in Ebony’s beloved psychobiddy genre, its concerns with loneliness and isolation, and its focus on women. Also, Google Stadia, game preservation efforts and more in our entertainment news and FREQ-outs!
We want to hear from you too! Tell us what you’re freqin’ out about at feministfrequency.com/freqout.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:20 Entertainment News
13:50 Greta
42:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
RELEVANT LINKS:
Matthew Yeager’s thread about Stadia: https://twitter.com/AmazingThew/status/1108425334498705410
Carolyn’s thread about Frank Cifaldi’s talk: https://twitter.com/carolynmichelle/status/1109190165992357888
The Writing Excuses podcast https://writingexcuses.com/
A Gamasutra story on Patrick LeMieux’s Octopad: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/337322/AltCtrlGDC_Showcase_Octopad.php
More information on Naila and the Uprising: https://www.justvision.org/nailaandtheuprising
This week, the crew hosts writer, designer, and founder of Sweet Baby Inc, Kim Belair for a hilarious discussion of the 1992 cinematic classic Batman Returns! Before that, though, Caro serves up a heapin' helpin' of cringeworthy Pop Culture News (this week's topics included info about James Gunn's rehiring for Guardians of the Galaxy 3; Operation Varsity Blues; and Dean Cain confirming why he was the worst Superman). The show wraps with some freq'in out about Spelunky 2, anxiety management, and Nils Frahm.
If you want keep the good times going, stay tuned for the FREQ'in After Party -- which you can have access to by becoming a backer at www.patreon.com/femfreq.
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!And watch our brand new miniseries, Queer Tropes in Video Games!
All three episodes are available right now at youtube.com/feministfrequency!
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS
:0:00 The fun begins
1:53 Anita pulls back the curtain on edibles
5:07 Pop Culture News15:35 Batman Returns
48:03 What's Your FREQ Out
RELEVANT LINKS
The experience o seeing Nils Frahm: https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/1106811053344591872
56:12 Listener FREQ Out from Amanda!
FFR Ep 68 - Captain Marvel
The crew is back together as we dive into all that is Captain Marvel, the newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic universe. Entertainment news this week includes Steam’s disappointingly sad statements about their policies, The Division 2 and the Captain Marvel “boycott”. We’re FREQing out about The Nod, “Take me to Merch”, Tim Apple, American Heiress: The The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty by Jeffrey Toobin
Join us in the bonus episode for even more (and I would say even better conversations about Captain Marvel) by becoming a backer at www.patreon.com/femfreq
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
And watch our brand new miniseries, Queer Tropes in Video Games! All three episodes are available right now at youtube.com/feministfrequency!
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
3:08: Entertainment News: Steam, The Division 2, Captain Marvel Boycott (lol)
15:33: Captain Marvel
43:42: FREQ OUTS + Listener FREQ Out from Ana!
RELEVANT LINKS:
In this episode of FFR, Anita’s off giving talks in different cities so the podcast falls to Ebony and Carolyn this week, who do their best to fill the big Anita-shaped hole in all our hearts. The focus of this episode is Lorena, the new four-part documentary series on Amazon Prime which takes a fresh look at a case that set the tabloid world on fire in 1993: the case of Lorena Bobbitt. The new doc offers a deep, thoughtful examination of all the elements at work in the trial and the public’s perception of it: the nation’s failures to treat domestic abuse as a serious issue, media standards (or the lack thereof), cultural attitudes about men and women, and so much more.
Also, a few words about Terry Crews, Steven Spielberg, and as always, our personal shoutouts in What’s Your Deal?
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
Become a backer of this podcast by joining our brand new community on Patreon! Find us at patreon.com/femfreq
And watch our brand new miniseries, Queer Tropes in Video Games! All three episodes are available right now at youtube.com/feministfrequency!
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
1:30 A FEW BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS
5:15 Entertainment News: Terry Crews, Steven Spielberg, more
17:00 A Special Message from Anita
17:25 Lorena
45:05 What’s Your Deal?
RELEVANT LINKS:
Code Switch Podcast: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch
ZigZag podcast: https://zigzagpod.com/tag/episodes/
This week we forgo our traditional entertainment news so Anita can talk far too long about this year’s Oscars while Ebony laughs just at her. Then we begrudgingly dive into Alita: Battle Angel the new Robert Rodriguez live action film based on the 1990’s manga series and hooboy do we have a lot to say.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
1:02 - intro banter - Anita tries to solicit sponsorship from the makers of Throat Coat
3:20 - Entertainment News - Oscars edition
20:11 - Alita: Battle Angel
44:20 - What’s Your FREQ Out? (New Super Mario Bros U, Flavorful Origins, The LAnd Magazine and local journalism)
LINKS:
This week on FFR, we gear up for this weekend’s Oscars with a focus on the Academy Awards: why they matter, how they’ve worked to promote a notion of cinematic excellence that centers and glorifies whiteness, and how they’ve historically tended to celebrate films about people of color only when those films send comforting messages about race and racism. Also, the latest terrible thing Bill Maher has said, and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Anita’s Slack habits.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:45 Entertainment News (Bill Maher says something awful, Activision Blizzard layoffs, Don Cheadle’s t-shirt)
14:10 The Academy Awards
43:50 What’s Your FREQ-Out? Trump and body-shaming humor, Burning and Steven Yeun, James Blake’s new album, and Tom Gun LIVE in Los Angeles
52:20 wrap-up
RELEVANT LINKS:
Marlow Stern for The Daily Beast on Bill Maher's comments on Peter Farrelly
Patrick Klepek for Waypoint on the Activision Blizzard layoffs
Video: Kim Basinger calls out the Academy for not nominating Do the Right Thing at the 1990 Oscars
Angelica Bastien on Jared Leto and our masculine notions of what constitutes great method acting
The Trailer for Burning starring Steven Yeun
The triple[doll] threat is back in the Keanu Reeves Memorial Studio & Herbarium this week for a dive into the mindbending world of Netflix's new series, Russian Doll. The comedy-drama, created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland, is hilarious, moving, surreal, brash, and unapologetic in its tough love for Natasha Lyonne's game developer main character, who is forced to relive her 36th birthday over and [painfully] over. Basically, we deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for Podcasting for this episode.
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
Subscribe to Feminist Frequency Radio now to get a new episode every Wednesday on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Spotify or iHeartRadio! And become an FFR backer on Drip to join the community and get access to weekly bonus segments and other rewards!
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro banter (Ebony is not happy with how Black History Month is going)
3:26 Entertainment News (Liam Neeson straight up walked around hoping to commit a racist murder; but Michelle Rodriguez thinks his kisses on screen prove he can't be racist; VA's state pastime might just be donning blackface; Apex Legends has one gay male and one non-binary player character -- straight white male gamer dudes predictably lose their shit)
15:06 Russian Doll
41:25 What's Your FreqOut Deal? (Horror Noire, Resident Evil 2, Beautiful Boy, The Wife)
51:30 Listener FREQOut! Thanks, Rob!
Links:
Horror Noire: https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/horror-noire-review.html
#63: Life Is Strange 2, Episode 2
This week, Ebony takes the host’s chair as she and Carolyn share their thoughts on the first few episodes of Life Is Strange 2. LIS2 follows the Diaz brothers, high schooler Sean and his younger brother Daniel, as they flee from their Seattle home after their father is murdered by a police officer. We talk about how the brothers’ race affects their experiences, the way the game allows its characters to be multidimensional, and its refreshing belief in good people trying to help each other in this often cruel and unpredictable world.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
3:20 Week-Old Entertainment News! (Bryan Singer, Oscar nominations, She-Ra renewed)
14:05 Life Is Strange 2
42:50 What’s Your Deal? (Killing Eve, Get Me Roger Stone)
RELEVANT LINKS:
The Atlantic's story on the allegations against Bryan Singer: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/bryan-singers-accusers-speak-out/580462/
FFR #61: The Favourite
This week, we’re traveling back to the court of Queen Anne for all the stately and scandalous manipulations of The Favourite, the Oscar-nominated film starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. Throughout the movie, courtiers Sarah (Weisz) and Abigail (Stone) scheme and compete against each other politically and sexually to be the favorite of the queen (Colman). Our conversation covers the film’s power dynamics and cold political ploys, its depiction of female sexuality, the excellent performances, and the appeal of a film in which women who wield some degree of influence are the primary focus.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
3:10 Entertainment News (More Ghostbusters, Chris Pratt, Erykah Badu)
12:50 The Favourite
44:50 What's Your FREQ-Out? Carolyn on Cold War, Ebony on three great pieces about Martin Luther King, Jr., Anita on Pitch Perfect and evolving media standards
RELEVANT LINKS:
Jay Smooth's video on ten other things MLK said: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIFTNmOOLmk
The Whitewashing of King's Assassination by Vann Newkirk: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/how-to-kill-a-revolution/552518
I Don't Know What Dr. King Would Have Thought About Abortion and Neither Do You by Imani Gandy: https://rewire.news/ablc/2016/01/22/dont-know-mlk-thought-abortion-neither/
FFR #60: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
This week on FFR, we take on a Hollywood classic in the 1962 psychological thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, a film whose title character was, at the time, one of the most shocking women ever seen onscreen. Played by cinematic legend Bette Davis, Baby Jane is an aging former child star who mentally and physically abuses her sister Blanche, played by another giant of 30s and 40s cinema, Joan Crawford. It’s a complex and extremely effective film, and we discuss about how it spawned the psychobiddy genre centered on the unsettling spectre of the mad older woman, the power of Davis’ performance, the effectiveness of the tension and discomfort the film generates, and how there was a very public rivalry between the two leads during and following the making of the movie.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
3:05 Entertainment News: celebs apologizing for having worked with R. Kelly, Green Book co-writer’s racist tweet, Megan Kelly parts ways with NBC
13:30 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
46:30 WYFO: Carolyn’s concerns about Oscar nominations, Ebony on scholar Dan-el Padilla Peralta's response to the racism with the Society for Classical Studies, Anita on My Brilliant Friend
RELEVANT LINKS:
Angelica Bastien's story on Vulture on the feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/joan-crawford-and-bette-daviss-feud-explained.html
Inside Higher Ed's report on the racism encountered by scholar Dan-el Padilla Peralta at a Society for Classical Studies conference: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/07/racist-comments-directed-classics-scholar-disciplinary-meeting-floor-classicists
Padilla Peralta's post on Medium: https://medium.com/@danelpadillaperalta/some-thoughts-on-aia-scs-2019-d6a480a1812a
FFR #59: If Beale Street Could Talk
This week on FFR, we’re discussing Moonlight director Barry Jenkins’ wonderful new film, If Beale Street Could Talk. We get into the striking beauty of the film’s visual composition, the way it creates a feeling of community and solidarity that stretches beyond just what we see on the screen, and how it somehow manages to overflow with warmth and love, even as it gazes unflinchingly at the cruelties of systemic injustice.
We also dish about the highs and lows of the Golden Globes, Carolyn offers up a new video game recommendation, Ebony asks where the white women are in the conversation about R. Kelly, and Anita says the cheesiest thing she’s ever said in her life.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
0:50 The Golden Globes (Sandra Oh hosts, Green Book wins (boo!), Olivia Colman wins (yay!)
10:15 A special message from Anita
10:35 If Beale Street Could Talk
45:50 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Carolyn on Return of the Obra Dinn, Ebony on the voices missing from the conversation about R. Kelly, Anita on Aquaman
RELEVANT LINKS:
Hannah Giorgis talks to Beale Street composer Nicholas Britell about the process of creating the film's wonderful score: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/12/if-beale-street-could-talk-nicholas-britell-composer-music-score/577879/
FFR #58: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
We’re kicking off 2019 with an FFR lovefest thanks to the exuberant and incredible Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse! Join us as we celebrate one of the best films of last year, with appreciation for its depiction of a diverse and lively Brooklyn, its wonderful hero, its touching Stan Lee cameo, and the way it fully embraces the medium of animation to do things that a live-action film probably couldn’t get away with.
Also, Carolyn brings us the latest outrageous entertainment news about awful men doing awful things, and Ebony considers a career as a spy.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
0:58 A special New Year message from Anita
2:25 Anita and Ebony discuss Anita’s approach to roast chicken
3:12 Entertainment News (Unfortunately we’re still talking about Kevin Spacey and Louis CK)
13:15 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
42:45 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Ebony on rewatching MI-5
Carolyn on Leave No Trace
Anita on the free giveaway at the Laker game she went to
FFR #57: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
This week, we journey to the world of Etheria for showrunner Noelle Stevenson’s bold reimagining of She-Ra, and we very much like what we see! From the surprisingly complex explorations of friendship dynamics (for what’s ostensibly a children’s cartoon) to the terrific assortment of body types to the wonderful way that some characters don’t conform to standard gender expectations and much more, this show has so much to offer young viewers (in addition to just being an entertaining show, of course). Plus, can we just talk about how great Catra looks in that tux?!
Also, we discuss what CBS’ settlement with Eliza Dushku over sexual harassment on the set of Bull reveals about the culture within the network, and the horrible tactics Offset is using in his quest to get Cardi B back.
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
5:20 Entertainment News
14:00 She-Ra
44:15 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
RELEVANT LINKS:
The New York Times report on CBS settling with Eliza Dushku: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/business/media/cbs-bull-weatherly-dushku-sexual-harassment.html
The Hollywood Reporter on Megan Fox’s worries that she wouldn’t be a “sympathetic victim” in the #MeToo movement: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/megan-fox-talks-metoo-movement-new-york-times-interview-1167994
Prince Adam from He-Man singing "What's Going On": https://youtu.be/32FB-gYr49Y
FFR #56: Doctor Who
At long last, Anita and Ebony finally get around to talking about Doctor Who on the podcast! First, they both share their different relationships with the history of the show, and what they’re bringing with them to the new season, which stars Jodie Whittaker as the show’s first female Doctor. (Please note that this episode was recorded in early November, and only includes discussions of the season’s first five episodes.) We get into the overall political values of the new season under new showrunner Chris Chibnall, and give special attention to the episode “Rosa Parks.”
Carolyn drops by FROM THE FUTURE to share the latest in entertainment news, and as always, Ebony and Anita each share a little something in What’s Your FREQ-Out?
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:55 Entertainment News: Call Me by Your Name author announces sequel novel in the works; the dangerous transphobia of Danish film Girl; Hannah Gadsby’s speech at THR’s Women in Hollywood Gala; SonicFox wins Best Esports Player at The Game Awards
8:25 Doctor Who
42:50 What’s Your FREQ-Out? (Ebony on the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik, Anita on something else)
RELEVANT LINKS:
Check out our producer Phil Surkis’ podcast Spice Cabinet, briefly referenced on this episode: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/spice-cabinet/id1307048969?mt=2
Read critic Oliver Whitney’s piece on the transphobic dangers of Girl: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/belgiums-oscar-submission-girl-is-a-danger-transgender-community-1166505
Watch Hannah Gadsby’s speech at last week’s Women in Hollywood event: https://jezebel.com/hannah-gadsby-on-the-convenient-and-incredibly-irritati-1830906188
Learn more about Naomi Novik's Temeraire series: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/TEM/temeraire
This week on FFR, Ebony and Carolyn take a road trip with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book. The film initially had a good deal of Oscar buzz, and in fact it was just chosen as the best film of 2018 by the National Board of Review. However, not everyone thinks the praise is deserved. In our conversation, we examine the film's reliance on stereotypes about what defines "real" blackness and the way it centers a white character in what should be a black man's story, while also praising the exceptional performance by Mahershala Ali, a performance that deserved a better film.
Also, we discuss the media's handling of George H. W. Bush's passing, and Carolyn issues an apology for certain statements made during last week's discussion of Sabrina.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
2:25 Carolyn's apology
6:30 Pop culture news (Daredevil is cancelled, responses to the death of George H.W. Bush, the issue of "blackfishing" on Instagram)
19:10 Green Book
44:55 What's Your FREQ-Out? (Ebony on rewatching The West Wing, Carolyn on Red Dead Redemption 2)
RELEVANT LINKS:
‘Green Book’ Somehow Manages to Make a Uniquely Black Story All About the White Guy And the Results Are Ridiculous -- Candice Frederick for Slashfilm: https://www.slashfilm.com/green-book-whitewashing/
The Women “Blackfishing” on Instagram Aren’t Exactly Trying to Be Black -- Lauren Michele Jackson for Slate: https://slate.com/culture/2018/11/blackfishing-instagram-models-emma-hallberg-appropriation.html
This week, we’re off to Greendale to spend some time with the new Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina! The latest incarnation of the teenage witch who originated in comics in the early 1960s and who famously had her own TV show in the 1990s, The Chilling Adventures takes a creepier approach, with plenty of references to Satan and all manner of genuinely scary and sinister happenings plaguing the mere mortal townsfolk of Greendale. Our conversation touches on the show’s attempts to establish its feminist bonafides, its handling of characters of color and a character who is gender-nonconforming, the ways in which it tries to be simultaneously scary and silly, and more.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
01:40 Entertainment News: Women kiss at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; transphobic responses to Dwight Howard allegations
09:20 The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
39:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
RELEVANT LINKS:
In Defense of Prudence Night on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Angelica Bastien: https://www.vulture.com/2018/11/chilling-adventures-of-sabrina-prudence-black-witches.html
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann: https://www.amazon.com/1491-Second-Revelations-Americas-Columbus-ebook/dp/B000JMKVE4
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn: https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-ebook/dp/B015XEWZHI
On this week's Feminist Frequency Radio, we follow Viola Davis wherever she wants to lead us in director Steve McQueen's new film, Widows. On the surface, Widows looks like a heist flick, though notably one with women comprising the crew at its center. But while Widows certainly has many elements of a heist film, it's not exactly a traditional, straightforward example of the genre. It's a film deeply concerned with racism, political corruption, financial desperation, the narrow roles women are often expected to fill, and the systems that perpetually maintain power for some while denying it to others. Our conversation covers the unexpected ways that Widows breaks from the genre mold, our differing opinions on how successfully (or unsuccessfully) it handles all its plot threads and political concerns, and some of the remarkable newcomers in the cast. And don't worry, our conversation is spoiler-free!
Segment Timestamps:
1:45 Entertainment News (No Sony presence at E3 2019, Bill Maher's blog post on the passing of Stan Lee)
11:10 Widows (no spoilers)
43:30 What's Your FREQ-Out?
NOTE: During the discussion of Widows, Ebony refers to “Albert Fox” and the “Angola 9,” but this was the result of speaking faster than her brain was working. She was obviously talking about Albert Woodfox and the Angola 3.
This week’s episode is (maybe) our one year anniversary and Ebony eats cake in celebration. This week’s discussion surrounds the most recent remake of A Star is Born directed and starring Bradley Cooper with Lady Gaga. As usual we are a group divided on these tortured love stories but it might not be what you expect. Ebony loved the music, Carolyn loved the romance and Anita couldn’t get over Bradley Cooper’s voice. Ebony tries to convince us of a new segment idea “Runtime Rundown”. The Anita robot breaks.
Segment Timestamps:
2:23 - Pop Culture News (RIP Stan Lee, Serena Williams and GQ’s cover debacle)
5:03 - Main Topic: A Star is Born
39:08 - What’s Your FREQ Out
Links:
Serena Williams GQ's Woman of the Year: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/serena-williams-gq-woman-of-the-year_us_5beaaa0fe4b0caeec2bd8656
A Star is Born, How the Media Would Have Covered: http://www.vulture.com/2018/10/a-star-is-born-how-the-media-would-have-covered.html
This week's episode comes to you from two new satellite studios in the Keanu Reeves Memorial Complex! Anita has moved to L.A. and reports in from Johnny Utah HQ; Caro has started phoning in from the Johnny Mnemonic Wing; and Ebony continues to keep it buck at the Johnny Wick Workshop.
Our discussion this week centered on the Netflix series, Maniac, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Justin Theroux, Sonoya Mizuno, and Sally Field. We share our reactions to this very weird, very stylistic, very empathetic show and its depictions of trauma, mental illness, and difficult relationships. Ebony and Anita discover that they quite like Jonah Hill's dramatic work; Caro talks about the effect of machine algorithms on media creation; and we end the show with a listener freq out for a book that sounds absolutely amazing!
Segment Timestamps
0:00 Here We Go
3:04 Pop Culture News (Diablo mobile game announcement provokes some super dramatic [over]reactions; Rebel Wilson calls herself the first plus-size heroine in mainstream rom-com, then refuses to be corrected)
15:32 Ebony Steps On Anita's Segue into Netflix's Maniac But Anita Rolls With It Like a Professional
44:41 What's Your Freq Out
52:21 Listener Freq Out from Jamie Moffatt!
Links
"Blizzard faces huge backlash for Diablo mobile game, fans call it a 'slap in the face'" :https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-faces-huge-backlash-for-diablo-mobile-game-fans-call-it-a-slap-in-the-face/
"Cary Fukunaga, ‘Maniac,’ and How Netflix’s Algorithm Is Becoming Entertainment’s Skynet" ;http://collider.com/cary-fukunaga-maniac-netflix-algorithm/
"Rebel Wilson’s Erasure of Queen Latifah, an Icon Hiding in Plain Sight" :https://www.thedailybeast.com/rebel-wilsons-erasure-of-queen-latifah-an-icon-hiding-in-plain-sight
Boys Will Be Boys: Power, Patriarchy, and the Toxic Bond of Mateship
On this week's brand new FFR, we're live at GeekGirlCon '18 to talk about the ongoing trend of gender swaps in movies and television, whether it be specific characters who are reimagined as women (a la Starbuck in the Battlestar Galactica reboot) or a franchise that has historically centered men now centering female characters (as we see in Ocean's 8 or the 2016 Ghostbusters). Why is this sometimes widely celebrated by fandoms while at other times generating tremendous rage? When are these gender swaps progressive, and when do they just serve to cover up attempts at perpetuating the same old crummy patriarchal ideals? Does anyone really want a female-focused remake of What Women Want?
Also, a few thoughts on Red Dead Redemption 2, the end of Megyn Kelly's morning show, and more!
Segment Timestamps:
00:00 A Special Intro from Phil
01:30 Greetings from GeekGirlCon!
04:30 Entertainment News (Megyn Kelly, Apu on The Simpsons, The money being made by Red Dead Redemption 2)
16:30 Main Topic (Gender swapping in media)
41:30 What's Your FREQ-Out? Carolyn on RDR2, Ebony on JK Rowling's work as Robert Galbraith, Anita on Artemis by Andy Weir
53:50 Wrap-up
Relevant Links:
"The Trouble with Hollywood's Gender-Flips" by Amanda Hess: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/movies/oceans-8-gender-swap.html
On this week's very special episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, Anita and Carolyn chat with the Anna Sale of WNYC's Death, Sex, and Money podcast about unethical labor practices in the video game industry, hot dads, and what makes a movie "a very Caro film."
Segment timestamps:
0:00 Introductions
1:55 Pop Culture News: Daniel Craig toting his baby around causes Piers Morgan to combust; crunch time at Rockstar Games; false Facebook video analytics cause a sea change in online media consumption -- and not for the better
14:13 Private Life
36:14 Private Life movie spoiler!
43:31 What's Your Freq Out?
Links:
The BBC on Piers Morgan's tweet mocking Daniel Craig: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45873664
Kotaku's Jason Schreier on Rockstar Games' Culture of Crunch: https://kotaku.com/inside-rockstar-games-culture-of-crunch-1829936466
‘Private Life’ Director Tamara Jenkins Always Looks on the Bright Side: https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/director-tamara-jenkins-private-life-movie-netflix-732636/
Review: ‘Private Life,’ a Piquant Look at a Couple’s Campaign to Conceive: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/movies/private-life-review-kathryn-hahn-paul-giamatti.html
On this week’s FFR, Ebony and Carolyn chat with writer, bon vivant, and Shatner Chatner-purveyor, Daniel Ortberg. But before that conversation kicked off, Carolyn dumped a giant bucket of disappointing entertainment news in the studio, from the Johnny Depp's continued appearance as Grindelwald in the third Fantastic Beasts film; the "un-uglifying" of Hester in the upcoming Mortal Engines movie, and author Chuck Wendig being let go from Marvel.
But then the mood rapidly lightened as we dove into our discussion of Daniel Ortberg's formative years in the suburban Midwest; the appeal of certainty and vocation in The Hunt for Red October; and whether Paris Hilton is a closet ham radio fanatic.
**Fun fact: during the entire period that Ebony and Daniel were discussing 17th century Christian allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, Ebony actually thought they were talking about the 14th century Christian allegory, Piers Plowman. As far as she is aware, there is no Marvel comic book of Piers Plowman extant.
Segment Timestamps:
0:00 Anita calls in to the Dear Prudence hotline
1:36 Ebony gracefully accepts the mantle of token cis person of the week
3:14 Pop Culture News
15:18 Daniel Ortberg interview
43:17 What's Your Freq Out?
Relevant Links:
Personal Shopper, a film by Olivier Assayas
Hilda, new Netflix children's series
The Haunting of Hill House, the new Netflix adaptation
A Dark Song, a 2016 independent Irish horror film
FFR #47: Top Gun
On this week’s FFR, we fly into the danger zone with Maverick, Iceman, Goose and the rest of the best of the best with the cultural juggernaut that is Top Gun. Is it a film carefully calculated to represent masculinity in such a way as to maximize navy recruitment efforts? Is it a film dripping with queer subtext? Can it be both? Join us for a conversation about the acting, the imagery, and questions about what really constitutes the film’s central love story.
Also, Anita announces that she’s had a lifetime’s fill of a certain pop star and never needs to hear another one of their songs again, much to Carolyn’s dismay. And Carolyn time-warps into the episode to bring you pop culture news from the future!
Segment Timestamps:
:00 Intro
3:10 Entertainment News: The link between Kavanaugh and Gamergate. Bette Midler makes a bad tweet. Lady Gaga on sexual assault and trauma on Colbert.
11:35 Top Gun
44:05 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Ebony on Veep, Carolyn on Life Is Strange 2, Anita on the books of Porochista Khakpour
53:50 Wrap-up
Relevant Links:
We Hunted the Mammoth story on Mark Judge and Gamergate: http://www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/2018/10/03/mark-judge-gamergater-kavanaugh-pals-creepy-2015-attacks-on-anita-sarkeesian-look-even-creepier-in-retrospect/
Lady Gaga discussing Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford on Colbert: https://youtu.be/f2ldzqrvEk4
Sick by Porochista Khakpour: https://porochistakhakpour.com/books/sick/
The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour: https://porochistakhakpour.com/books/the-last-illusion/
In this, the third and last of our special conversations recorded at XOXO in Portland, Anita talks to Jenn Sandercock, a games industry veteran who is also a pioneer in the field of edible games! Here, she and Anita talk about some of the delicious games Jenn has created, her background in artificial intelligence, and the particular issues around age that are prevalent in tech and gaming fields.
Learn more about Jenn's games at ediblegames.com and follow her on Twitter at @JennSandercock.
In this, the second of three special conversations recorded at XOXO 2018 in Portland, Anita talks to adventure cartoonist Lucy Bellwood about her wonderful recent project 100 Demon Dialogues, perceptions of success vs. the reality of it, the unique challenges of having a job that requires you to be on social media, dealing with impostor syndrome, being vulnerable in your work, and more.
Follow Lucy on Twitter at @lubellwoo. Visit her website at lucybellwood.com and check out her Patreon at patreon.com/lucybellwood.
FFR #46: Monsters and Men
On this week’s episode of FFR, we discuss the new film Monsters and Men, a drama loosely inspired by the 2014 murder of Eric Garner by officers of the NYPD. The film follows three men of color, one of them a cop himself, whose lives are impacted in different ways when police murder an unarmed black resident of Brooklyn. Our conversation touches on the ways women are often marginalized in these stories (see also Blindspotting and Sorry to Bother You), the difficulty and importance of sometimes having deeply uncomfortable conversations, and how displays of character can sometimes be seen as a liability, particularly for black athletes.
Also: Bill Cosby’s conviction, the latest Harry Potter controversy, and more.
Segment Timestamps:
00:00 A Quick Message from Anita
00:20 Intro
2:20 Entertainment News: Bill Cosby convicted; The Harry Potter character Nagini who we thought was a snake is actually an Asian woman!
13:50 A Quick Message from Carolyn
14:30 The new film Monsters and Men
46:25 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Carolyn on Spider-Man’s story and characters, Ebony on beloved movies that actually hate us, Anita on the TV series Humans
57:15 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Kayleigh Donaldson for Pajiba on JK Rowling and Nagini: http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/jk-rowling-is-in-danger-of-becoming-the-next-george-lucas.php
On this week's episode of FFR, the gang discusses Searching, a new thriller starring John Cho which takes place entirely on computer screens. As David Kim, a father searching for his missing daughter, John Cho navigates Facebook, Tumblr, creates spreadsheets, makes phone calls using FaceTime, and otherwise employs technology in the ways that many of us do every day as just an ordinary part of our lives. Our conversation touches on the effectiveness of Searching as a thriller, the aspects of it that are traditional and those that are more experimental, how it depicts the way we sometimes seek connection online while avoiding it in the physical world, and the different things we allow and expect from fathers as opposed to mothers in movies.
We also talk about the collapse of Telltale games and the larger issue of labor in the games industry, the recent hubbub over Bert and Ernie, and lots more.
(Note that there have been new developments in the Telltale situation since the recording of this conversation on Monday morning, including the filing of a class action lawsuit against the company.)
Segment Timestamps
:00 A Quick Message from Anita and Ebony
:30 Intro, Weekend Confessions
2:10 Entertainment News: Telltale Games shuts down and labor practices in the industry; Why the conversation about Bert and Ernie matters
16:00 A quick message from Carolyn
16:15 Main Topic: Searching (no spoilers)
31:25 More Searching (spoiler warning issued)
47:20 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Carolyn on Maya Rudolph in Forever
Ebony on Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the criminalization of DV survivors
Anita on the Elementary season finale (no spoilers)
58:55 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Matt Zoller Seitz on Searching: https://www.rogerebert.com/mzs/30-minutes-on-searching
Elizabeth Simins on Bert and Ernie: https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/19/17879916/bert-ernie-gay-sesame-street-mark-saltzman-controversy
The Survived and Punished curriculum for Domestic Violence Awareness Month on the criminalization of survivors of domestic violence: https://survivedandpunished.org/2018/09/23/2018curriculum/
In this, the first of three special conversations recorded at the XOXO festival in Portland, Oregon, Anita talks to Natalie Wynn, who, with her channel ContraPoints, has become one of the most celebrated progressive voices on YouTube, thanks to the wonderful videos that result from the combination of Wynn's rigorous intellect, her biting humor, and her sense of theatrical style. In this conversation, Anita talks to Wynn about how her YouTube presence originated and has evolved, the toll of wading through toxic online sludge, and creating space online for people to evolve and make mistakes, among other things.
On this week’s FFR, we talk about the new Amazon Prime series Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski as Tom Clancy’s most famous hero, who finds himself on the trail of--surprise!--a Muslim terrorist! What makes Jack Ryan interesting to discuss is the ways in which the creators of the show have clearly made a conscious effort to address potential criticism of the series as being Islamophobic or otherwise problematic. Did they succeed? Find out what we think!
Also in this episode, we issue an important correction about a statement made in a previous episode, and Ebony gets emotional talking about Doctor Who.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 A short message from Anita
:15 Intro
1:35 We issue an important correction
3:40 Carolyn's plight (and a solution)
4:15 Pop culture news: Olivia Munn, Les Moonves
12:25 Main segment: Jack Ryan
44:25 What's Your FREQ-Out? Carolyn on Spider-Man, Ebony on Doctor Who, Anita on the feeling of having written a book
56:55 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason on Les Moonves
Learn more about (and pre-order!) Anita and Ebony's book History Vs. Women at historyvswomen.com
This week, we bring you a very special show recorded live at the XOXO festival in Portland! We decided to liven things up by playing a special game in which each of us presents one piece of media we loved when we were younger to the crowd, and asking them to vote: Can we still love this thing, or do we have to dump it? A cult classic NES game, a mostly forgotten 80s TV series, and a much-maligned episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are all on the chopping block. How will the crowd decide?
But that’s not all! We also talk about how Burt Reynolds was the first male centerfold in Cosmo Magazine (and whether or not this was a win for feminism), the “copaganda” of Insomniac’s new Spider-Man game for PS4, what sets Anita and Ebony’s upcoming book History Vs. Women apart, and much more.
Segment Timestamps
:00 A Special Intro from Anita
1:10 We’re Live at #XOXO!
4:50 Entertainment News: Burt Reynolds as Cosmo’s First Male Centerfold, “Copaganda” in Insomniac’s New Spider-Man Game
15:30 Intro to “Defend the Dumbest Thing You Love”
16:35 Carolyn Presents: Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode
24:35 The Crowd Votes!
25:05 Ebony Presents: The Insiders
31:20 The Crowd Votes!
32:05 Anita Presents: "Beer Bad"
40:10 The Crowd Votes!
41:50 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Carolyn on Into the Breach, newly released on Switch!
Ebony on Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution by Eric Foner
50:10 What Sets Our Upcoming YA History Book History Vs. Women Apart!
53:00 Anita on John Scalzi’s The Collapsing Empire and media that frankly depicts period pain
57:15 Wrap-up
Relevant Links
Learn more about and pre-order History Vs. Women!
Lynn Peril for Bust on Burt Reynolds as Cosmo's first centerfold
Naomi Clark's Twitter thread on Spider-Man and the police
This week, Anita’s away so Ebony and Carolyn get weird with a look back at David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, a dreamlike odyssey about female fantasy, the commoditization of women in Hollywood, and—well, what IS Mulholland Drive about, really? We go on a winding journey in search of answers.
We also discuss Louis CK and the enduring lack of real consequences for so many male abusers, the cultural rehabilitation of George W. Bush, and we take a moment to wish a very happy birthday to one of our favorite actors.
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
Segment Timestamps:
:00 intro
1:15 opening chit-chat
2:55 pop culture news:
Louis CK and the MeToo movement
Marco Rubio reacts to Neil Armstrong biopic First Man
Happy Birthday Keanu!
14:50 Mulholland Dr.
45:40 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Carolyn on the cultural rehabilitation of George W. Bush, Ebony on the TNT series Claws, and a listener FREQ-Out on the film I Am Not an Easy Man, currently streaming on Netflix
56:40 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Roxane Gay for the New York Times on Louis CK and what justice for men like him should look like
Aparna Nancherla for the New York Times on Louis CK and who gets second chances
Trailer for I Am Not an Easy Man
Each week, we record a bonus segment exclusively for our Drip backers. This week, we decided to make our bonus available to everyone. Here, a chat about the extremely enjoyable new game Guacamelee 2 evolves into a larger discussion about engaging with problematic work, where we draw the line, and navigating the complexities that often arise when striving to be critical of the media we love.
To access all of our weekly bonus segments along with other rewards, join our podcast community at d.rip/femfreq.
In this week's episode, your favorite radical hacker collective get into the nitty gritty of 90's tech paranoia via the 1995 films Hackers and Strange Days. Caro can't help but admire SD's attempt to create compelling fable for its time; while Ebony and Anita discuss the gendered violence the film doesn't allow us to look away from. Hackers turned out to be a bit harder to reckon with -- not least because Caro couldn't get past the image of a skateboarding Fisher Stevens; Ebony was tormented by Lorraine Bracco's befuddled shrieking; and Anita found the film's technobabble to be long on "cool," but short on substance.
We want to hear from you, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
Subscribe to Feminist Frequency Radio now to get a new episode every Wednesday on iTunes, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Spotify or iHeartRadio! And if you're not already a backer here on Drip, become one for nifty rewards like our weekly bonus segments, access to our friendly and stimulating Discord, and more!
Segment Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:00 Pop Culture News (including extra bonus convo about Anita’s “hard sf” D&D campaign, a Farscape shout-out, and Caro maybe getting sucked into D&D via dice) Serena Williams and the French Open; the shooting tragedy in Jacksonsville at a Madden esports tournament; and Cyberpunk 2077 and the politics of cyberpunk
15:25 Strange Days and Hackers
16:01 Anita mispronounces “Ralph Fiennes”
47:03 What’s Your Freq Out
The Witcher Developer CD Projekt Red Apologizes for Transphobic Joke
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Shadowrun Dragonfall
"Why It's Difficult for Your Library to Lend Ebooks"
This week on Feminist Frequency Radio, we’re talking about the hit new rom-com that’s also a watershed moment in cinematic representation, Crazy Rich Asians! We discuss the beauty of Singapore, so rarely seen onscreen in America, the complex issues of class and wealth that the film both does and does not engage with, Awkwafina’s “blaccent,” the way gender roles are tied up in notions of tradition, and much more. Also, Anita tells us why she loves Elementary, and Carolyn shouts out some obscure little computer game.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 intros, weekend adventures
3:20 entertainment news (Trump on Apocalypse Now, Rebecca Sugar on Steven Universe, Megan Farokhmanesh on Fortnite streamer Ninja)
10:15 Crazy Rich Asians
42:30 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
53:10 Wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Follow our Twitch channel so you too can watch Carolyn stream until 6AM: twitch.tv/femfreq
Read about Trump’s bizarre meeting with Vietnam veterans: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-and-omarosa-had-a-fcking-weird-fight-with-vietnam-vets
EW’s interview with Rebecca Sugar about LGBTQIA visibility: https://ew.com/tv/2018/08/13/steven-universe-rebecca-sugar-lgbtq-cartoons/
Profile of Chinese-American actor James Hong: “I Never Thought it Would Take This Long” https://deadline.com/2018/08/james-hong-89-year-old-chinese-american-actor-interview-crazy-rich-asians-1202437858
This week, Anita, Ebony and Carolyn are going deep undercover with Spike Lee’s latest film, BlacKkKlansman, based on the true story of Ron Stallworth, a black Colorado Springs police officer who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, in a manner of speaking. We talk about how the film engages directly with cinematic history, from white supremacist films like Birth of a Nation to blaxploitation classics like Shaft, the frustrating ways in which it positions the police force as an institution as heroic, and the roles women play among both the black political activists and the white supremacists the film focuses on.
We also cover some of the latest pop culture news from the world of video games, discuss our complicated feelings on the idea of Idris Elba (yay!) as James Bond (boo!), and share some stuff worth celebrating in What’s Your Freq-Out!
Segment Timestamps:
:00 Intros and greetings
1:25 Anita’s back from Vegas and Indianapolis
3:40 pop culture news: Fortnite streamer Ninja won’t stream with women, the sexist culture at Riot Games, Idris Elba may be the next Bond
17:20 BlacKkKlansman
46:00 What’s Your Freq-Out?
57:45 Submit YOUR Freq-Out! / Wrap-up
59:25 A special message from Ebony
Relevant Links:
Ninja explains his choice not to stream with female gamers by Allegra Frank
Inside the Culture of Sexism at Riot Games by Cecilia D’Anastasio
Trailer, If Beale Street Could Talk
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s Canadian Screen Awards acceptance speech for Kim’s Convenience
#38: Mission: Impossible - Fallout
On this week’s episode, Anita’s off on a top-secret assignment, no doubt saving the world from the evil forces of anti-feminism, so Carolyn and Ebony hold down the fort at FemFreq HQ by diving into the international intrigue of Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Join us as we discuss hero Ethan Hunt’s moral convictions, the not-so-magical way in which the film makes millions of brown people disappear, how the IMF is both the cause of and solution to the world’s problems, what makes M:I a cinematically interesting franchise as a whole, and lots more!
In addition, we explore our feelings about the news of Jean-Luc Picard’s impending return, and Carolyn shares some YouTube videos that have been whisking her away to a cozy and relaxing fantasy world. We also present a FREQ-Out from one of our listeners! Remember, we want to hear from you, too, so head on over to feministfrequency.com/freqout and send us your FREQ-Out today!
Segment Timestamps:
:00 Intro
1:40 friendly banter
4:10 pop culture news: the return of Picard
10:40 Mission: Impossible - Fallout
44:45 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
53:50 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Ebony and Carolyn's movie podcast, Cinemaball: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cinemaball/id1372297272?mt=2
Anita and Ebony's Star Trek: Discovery podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/star-trek-discovery-recap-freqcast/id1300396011?mt=2
Pero Like on Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/perolike
Goodnight Moon’s video, Dragon Egg Shopping at Maybell's Menagerie: https://youtu.be/kocWXDJCNLo
This week on FFR, we’re discussing the potent and perceptive cocktail of comedy and drama that is Blindspotting. An insightful, powerful and deeply funny new film about Oakland, Blindspotting explores the impact of police violence, gentrification, and racism through the lens of a lifelong friendship between Collin, who is black, and Miles, who is white. Our conversation covers the film’s concerns with race and privilege, what it means to be an authentic Oaklander, the roles women occupy in Blindspotting, and more.
In addition, we cover the racist response to black actor Anna Diop’s casting as Starfire in Titans, the Fox-Disney deal’s implications for the MCU, and some of our favorite recent reads and listens! Also, we feature our first ever listener-submitted FREQ-Out, and Anita tries to pronounce the title for the upcoming Spike Lee film BlacKkKlansman. Submit your own FREQ-Out by visiting feministfrequency.com/freqout/!
Segment Timestamps:
:00 introductions and banter
4:05 pop culture news: racist responses to Anna Diop as Starfire in Titans, the Fox/Disney merger and the MCU
12:45 Blindspotting
41:35 What’s Your FREQ-Out?!
49:40 Conclusion and what’s coming up in the weeks ahead!
Relevant Links:
Alex Abad-Santos for Vox on Starfire and Anna Diop
My Solo Exchange Diary by Kabi Nagata
The anthology Game Devs & Others: Tales from the Margins, edited by Tanya De Pass
The website of romance writer Rebekah Weatherspoon
Lucy Bellwood’s collection of comics about impostor syndrome, 100 Demon Dialogues
Follow comedian Marcella Arguello on Twitter
Check out Marlowe’s new self-titled album
In this week’s episode, we explore FX’s excellent, multifaceted new drama Pose, which focuses on the lives of trans women and queer people in the ballroom scene of late-80s NYC. Pose confronts the devastation of the AIDS crisis while still showing people with HIV living meaningful lives filled with joy, love, and struggle, and it positions living with honesty and integrity in a hostile world as the heroic act that it is. Also, it actually casts trans actors in trans roles. AMAZING!
We also discuss the firing of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, the rumored reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, looking back at Avatar: The Last Airbender some ten years after its debut, and more.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 Introductions
3:10 entertainment news (James Gunn fired, Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot)
16:30 Pose
43:55 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
53:20 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Writer Suzanne Brockmann’s powerful speech challenging the resistance to gay representation in romance novels while accepting her lifetime achievement award from the Romance Writers of America. https://tinyletter.com/SuzanneBrockmann/letters/that-rwa-lta-speech-news-from-suz
Critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s review of Pose’s first season
The cast and producers of Pose discussing the show
Trailer for City of Gold, the documentary about Pulitzer-Prize-winning L.A. Times food critic Jonathan Gold, who passed away last week
This week on Feminist Frequency Radio, we discuss Boots Riley’s wild, unforgettable comedy of race, class, labor and capitalism, Sorry to Bother You! It’s a gem of distinctly Oakland storytelling that’s very relevant for the moment in history at which we find ourselves, and we explore the ways in which it sharply blends comedy and critique to create a uniquely piercing work of cultural commentary that’s also tremendously entertaining. We also take a moment to talk about how, for all its wonderful aspects, Sorry to Bother You doesn’t do right by its female characters.
We also talk about the not-so-super comments on flirting and dating from Henry Cavill, the harmful laziness of Trump/Putin gay “jokes,” and other assorted pop culture happenings. Anita shares some fascinating animal facts and has an epiphany about what paraphrasing means. Our producer Phil knows everybody in Oakland.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 intro
1:40 Homophobic Trump/Putin “jokes”
3:15 Entertainment news: ScarJo backs out of trans man biopic, POSE is renewed, and Henry Cavill says some things
16:30 Sorry to Bother You (general, no spoilers)
30:00 STBY spoiler territory
44:45 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
53:45 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Eve Ewing’s Twitter thread on "what about black-on-black crime?"
The magical beard-growing Henry Cavill GIF
Tweet by @BeeBabs about Henry Cavill and rape culture
#34: Ant-Man and The Wasp with Special Guest Jamie Loftus
This week on FFR, special guest Jamie Loftus joins us to discuss the pop culture news of the week and the latest cinematic appetizer from Marvel, Ant-Man and The Wasp. Jamie is a hilarious comic, Zamboni-lover, and co-host of The Bechdel Cast. Topics under the feminist microscope this week include the ever-eroding distinction between public and private as demonstrated by the recent #planebae love-fest across social media; Scarlett Johansson staying on (problematic) brand; and the thrilling refusal of Serena Williams to ever diminish herself in the face of white male critique. Once the Ant-Man discussion gets going, your hosts tackle the film's frustrating villains, the absurd logic of the quantum realm, and just how much Paul Rudd anyone really needs.
FFR #33: W. Kamau Bell's New Comedy Special and the Very Real Dangers of Online Harassment
This week on FFR, the dynamic trio discusses the new Netflix comedy special by self-proclaimed “heterosexual cisgender dad man” W. Kamau Bell, Private School Negro, which gets into matters of white supremacy and whether or not Trump is a racist. (“Yes, he is a racist.”) Then, following two tragic instances of deadly violence last week that were directly linked to online harassment, we talk about the ways in which the danger and trauma of online harassment is so often dismissed, and why it’s so important to take seriously.
Meanwhile, Anita can’t stop humblebragging, someone else has rudely already checked out the DVD Ebony wants from the library, and Carolyn and Ebony’s migraines just might be the result of a government conspiracy.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 a brief message from Ebony
:40 intros, government-induced migraines
3:30 pop culture news (reactions to Pixar’s Bao, Janelle and Tessa)
10:20 W. Kamau Bell’s new special, Private School Negro
25:35 online harassment
42:00 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Carolyn on Do the Right Thing, Ebony on Fringe, Anita tries to squeeze in multiple FREQ-Outs (the Women Crush Wednesday stand-up comedy showcase and the wonderfully visible queerness of Janelle Monae’s live show)
52:55 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Petrana Radulovic on the polarized reactions to Pixar’s Bao: https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/26/17505726/pixar-bao-dumpling-short-reactions
Women Crush Wednesday comedy in L.A.: http://www.westsidecomedy.com/events/event/women-crush-wednesday/
#32: It’s Tearjerker Time!
Who needs a good cry? Well, we’ve got you covered this week as we discuss two works bristling with poignant and powerful emotion. First up is the new documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? about the life and work of Fred Rogers, who brought a philosophy of radical kindness and love to the often crass and materialistic world of children’s television. Then, we react to Hannah Gadsby’s new Netflix special Nanette, which challenges the established conventions of the comedy special as Gadsby draws on her life experiences as a woman who doesn’t conform to rigid social expectations around gender to explain why she needs to quit comedy.
We also touch on the campaign to remake The Last Jedi (lol), which show is better, Sherlock or Elementary, and lots more.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 — Introductions
1:40 — Anita’s spelling quirks
2:50 pop culture news: The Last Jedi remake, Melania’s jacket
11:50 Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
29:10 Nanette
43:45 What’s Your Deal/FREQ-Out?
55:30 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Fred Rogers’ testimony to congress: https://youtu.be/J9uIJ-o2yqQ
Watch Games Done Quick: gamesdonequick.com
Cameron Esposito’s comedy special, Rape Jokes: https://www.cameronesposito.com/
#31 Catching Pancakes With Special Guest Open Mike Eagle
On this week’s episode, Anita and Ebony chop it up with hip hop artist Open Mike Eagle, who you may remember from one of Anita’s JoCo Cruise interviews. Topics include Mike’s E3 experience, sexism in games and in sports journalism, how professional wrestling has changed, the uncomfortable horror of TV’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and more!
Segment Timestamps:
00: Greetings and Introductions
3:20 pop culture news: “Everything Is Love,” can you pirate something that’s streaming?
8:30 Anita’s cab ride and Kanye’s latest
12:15 Chris Hardwick
14:00 E3, Mike’s first year attending, The New Day
18:30 Our Annual E3 Gender Breakdown
27:00 the evolution of sexism in gaming
29:00 parallels in sports journalism
31:45 gender and wrestling!
34:50 Mike’s wrestling fandom
42:00 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Ebony on Vida, Mike on Waypoint Radio, Anita on The Handmaid’s Tale
55:10 wrap-up!
Relevant Links:
Listen to Anita’s earlier interview with Mike: https://feministfrequency.com/video/joco-bonus-interview-6-open-mike-eagle-on-hip-hop-politics-and-snorkeling/
View our E3 2018 gender breakdown: https://feministfrequency.com/2018/06/14/gender-breakdown-of-games-featured-at-e3-2018/
Why Professional Wrestling Is Fascinating by Super Eyepatch Wolf: https://youtu.be/BQCPj-bGYro
Mike’s wrestling podcast, Tights and Fights: http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/tights-and-fights
In this week's episode, we welcome Anita back to the bridge and set sail on the USS Radical Empathy for a heist adventure for the ages! We dig into the effervescent appeal of Ocean's 8, while sparing a wink for that queer subtext we love. Anita has questions about why Rihanna's character doesn't vape in this year our Lord 2018, but before she gets any resolution on the issue we moved on to the feature-length series finale of the cult favorite, Sens8. We get into the show's celebration of alternative relationship structures, shared love and connection, and those patented Wachowski action scenes. All this and more in this week's episode: check it out!
Subscribe to Feminist Frequency Radio now to get a new episode every Wednesday on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Spotify or iHeartRadio! And become an FFR backer on Drip to join the community and get access to rewards like early access and weekly bonus segments.
Segment Timestamps
0:00 Here we go again
1:49 Anita and her travel stories
4:36 Pop Culture News: Kelly Marie Tran & E3
8:04 Tropes Plug! Watch our video on the topic of sinister seductresses here: https://feministfrequency.com/video/sinister-seductress/
8:22 Ocean's 8
9:44 Tropes Plug! Watch our video on the "Smurfette Principle" here: https://feministfrequency.com/video/tropes-vs-women-3-the-smurfette-principle/
23:52 Sens8
40:32 What's Your FREQ Out: Tig Notaro's latest comedy special; Serving the People: Making Asian America in the Long Sixties; and Anita's immersive dinner event in Copenhagen
In this week’s episode, it’s a sci-fi spectacular as Ebony and Caro navigate the asteroid field of a movie that is Solo. We talk everything from Ron Howard’s directing to the squandering of Thandie Newton to the Star Wars series’ gradual shift into a much less interesting approach to storytelling. We reserve particular ire, however, for the film’s treatment of its feisty, politically revolutionary droid L3-37.
From there, we travel back in time to 1984 to revisit the James Cameron classic, The Terminator! In later episodes, we’ll look at other franchise properties, but we wanted to go back to where it all began. Our discussion touches on the great supporting performances of Lance Henriksen and Paul Winfield as a couple of cynical but decent cops, how Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor is presented as a “virtuous” mother figure, what makes the special effects so great, and especially Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance as a literal killing machine and how he came to embody an ideal of manhood in the 1980s.
Other topics include the cancellation of Roseanne, the brilliance of The Americans’ final season, and how so often even the warmest and most inviting children’s literature tells children of color that they are not welcome to fully enter the worlds those books create.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 THANK YOU!
1:00 Greetings and introductions
3:00 Yay, Carolyn is back!
6:02 Pop culture news: Roseanne’s cancellation and Samantha Bee
14:25 Solo
32:50 The Terminator
52:50 What’s Your Deal?
Carolyn on The Americans,
1:02:05 wrap-up
relevant links:
Cinemaball Episode 5: L.A. Confidential https://feministfrequency.com/video/cinemaball-05-l-a-confidential-1997/
In this week’s off-the-rails episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, Ebony finally slides into the captain’s chair and brings on board a temporary first officer for an away mission that might not make it into syndication. Comedian, writer, and amateur chicken wrangler, Julie deGroot joins Ebony for an entertaining ramble through issues as diverse as finding your purpose later in life and finding salvation on the dance floor. Ebony tries to pressure Julie into discussing topics that never actually get explored (Minnesota politics, cooking hams, Julie’s weird celebrity crushes, the Pope), but we instead we wind up talking a bit about Kanye West tomfoolery, and growing up as a queer kid in the midwest. Stay tuned for Julie’s protest music playlist!
Check it out!
Subscribe to Feminist Frequency Radio now to get a new episode every Wednesday on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Spotify or iHeartRadio! And become an FFR backer on Drip to join the community and get access to rewards like early access and weekly bonus segments.
Links to check out:
“Feeling the Spirit in the Dark: Expanding the Notions of the Sacred in the African American Gay Community,” E. Patrick Johnson
Segment Timestamps
0:00 Can you help us ring that bell and reach our May fundraising goal? We’re only $5K away!
:54 An explanation for why this week’s special guest sounds like she’s speaking into a tin can
1:46 And away we go! Introducing this week’s special guest
10:54 Pop Culture News
19:26 Ebony’s Inevitable Crime Drama Mention
24:52 The Roundtable: doing creative work at your own pace; looking back at 1968 through the lens of our parents’ experience; and what counts as protest music
In this week’s episode, Ebony realizes 40 minutes in that Producer Phil needs to slap a “saucy language warning” on all of her segments because she has no home training. Anita shares some interesting news about ice cream mafia wars in small town Sweden; and Carolyn’s guiding hand is woefully missed during a disjointed, rambling, ramshackle edition of Pop Culture News.
Thankfully, things are a bit more coherent during The Dynamic Duo’s discussion of the Netflix series, Dear White People, as Anita talks about feeling emotional during the second season’s story arc about harassment and alt-right trolls. After that, it’s a look at Ali Wong’s latest stand-up special, Hard Knock Wife. Things rapidly veer off the rails again once Anita takes issue with the return of “What’s Your Deal?!” and Ebony takes the opportunity to issue a mea culpa.
Check it out!
Subscribe to Feminist Frequency Radio now to get a new episode every Wednesday on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, Spotify or iHeartRadio! And become an FFR backer on Drip to join the community and get access to rewards like early access and weekly bonus segments.
Segment Timestamps
0:00 A special message from Ebony
3:35 Anita talks Sweden weirdness
5:00 Pop Culture News: playing Whack-A-Mole with incels; the royal wedding and why don’t Ebony and Anita get invited to events where fancy hats are required
10:08 Dear White People [Ed. note: Ebony does not actually believe that someone can “achieve” blackness through knowledge of potato salad]
30:59 Hard Knock Wife
41:30 A FREQ-Outy-Ish Deal
We’re currently in the midst of our spring fundraising campaign. This year, we’ve set a goal of $35,000 so that we can continue doing our vital work: producing video series like The FREQ Show, our podcasts, written pieces, workshops, and more in our ongoing mission to cultivate a more equitable media landscape and a more just online world. Please consider making a donation today and helping us reach our goal. Thank you so much!
In this week’s FFR, Anita’s off on another one of her damn fool adventures so it’s up to Ebony and Carolyn to captain our flagship podcast! In a nod to Carolyn’s love of classic cinema, we discuss the classic 1940 “comedy of remarriage,” His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Despite being nearly 80 years old, the film has more interesting gender politics than many contemporary movies, with its portrayal of an ace reporter who is at least the intellectual equal of her ex-husband and who is encouraged to continue being an ace reporter rather than settling into the traditional role of wife and mother that was the cultural standard at the time.
Then, in recognition of Ebony’s love of crime fiction, we check out the new British series Prime Suspect: Tennison, also known as Prime Suspect 1973. The series serves as a prequel to the outstanding series Prime Suspect which starred Helen Mirren. Here, we meet Jane Tennison as a fresh young officer working her first murder case. The original Prime Suspect was noteworthy for many reasons, among them the way that it used the crimes Tennison investigated not just as mysteries, but also as ways of exploring complex social issues including sexism in the workplace, racism dividing communities, and the marginalization of queer people. Does this new show live up to that legacy? Listen to our conversation to find out!
Segment Timestamps:
:00 a special message from Carolyn
1:05 podcast intro
2:55 How are you feeling, Ebony?
3:45 Pop culture news: Roman Polanski on MeToo, Brooklyn Nine-Nine gets picked up by NBC
9:57 His Girl Friday (1940) and the comedy of remarriage genre
25:55 Tennison/Prime Suspect 1973
44:02 What’s Your Deal? Ebony on The Bridge, Caro on Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
50:20 wrap-up
On this week’s FFR, it’s a queer media extravaganza as we talk Netflix’s reboot of Queer Eye and the Wachowskis’ seminal 90s lesbian crime film Bound. Queer Eye can certainly be heartwarming and endearing, but we also discuss how it obscures systemic issues and misrepresents potential solutions to matters of oppression and violence against marginalized people. Also, Anita calls out one of their design decisions as absolutely unacceptable. Moving on to Bound, we celebrate the film’s visual style and the ways in which it reaffirms queer female sexuality, which was so significant when it was released in 1996. Ebony brings the magic despite being under the weather, and Anita reveals a celebrity people used to tell her she looks like.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 A special message from Ebony
2:20 Ebony’s epic quest to sneeze
3:30 Pop culture news: Donald Glover’s big weekend
7:30 A prelude to this week’s queer bonanza
12:00 Queer Eye
33:00 A quick message from Ebony and Carolyn
34:30 Bound
48:20 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
59:10 Wrap-up
Relevant Links:
John Paul Brammer on the Met Gala and the homophobia of the Catholic church: https://www.them.us/story/catholic-church-homophobic-met-gala
Subscribe to Cinemaball: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cinemaball/id1372297272?mt=2
On this week’s FFR, Anita has left Ebony and Carolyn to fend for themselves! In our desperate attempt to put together a coherent podcast in Anita’s absence, we go deep on Avengers: Mandatory Moviegoing Experience (or Infinity War as it’s more commonly known), discussing the film’s various representations of masculinity, the roles women play in its narrative, and its surprising ending. (Take heed: our conversation has more Infinity War spoilers than there are grooves in Thanos’ chin.) From there, we dive into recent events that have brought “incel” ideology into the media spotlight. Don’t know what “incel” means? Well, enjoy your final moments of ignorance before we explain what it is and tear it to shreds! We also touch on Netizens, a powerful documentary on online harassment which features Anita and recently had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 A Special Message from Carolyn
1:19 Greetings!
3:22 Ebony on Netizens, a new documentary featuring Anita
7:45 Pop culture news items: Bill Cosby convicted, Joy Reid’s homophobic blog posts
13:10 Avengers: Infinity War
34:15 “incels” and victim blaming in the news
47:00 What’s Your Deal?
53:40 Wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Netizens
Cinemaball Episode 1
The Ugly Truth of Being a Black Professor in America by George Yancy
In this week’s episode, Anita and Ebony are at Kickstarter HQ in Brooklyn recording the podcast in front of a live studio audience! Best of all, they’re joined by special guest, cultural commentator and hip hop DJ Jay Smooth. Ebony leads the trio through a wide-ranging assortment of questions that find them discussing Breaking Bad, Bradley Cooper, pro wrestling, the music of Rush, and the end of the world, among other things. So settle in for this lively, stimulating discussion and learn which condiment brings about the apocalypse!
Be sure to check out Crash Course’s current series on media literacy, hosted by Jay Smooth: https://youtu.be/AD7N-1Mj-DU
Segment Timestamps
Caro’s Intro :00
2:00 Hello!
3:15 Ebony’s Tribeca Story
6:20 Ebony Has a Bunch of Questions
7:05 What’s another career you would love to have?
12:05 What brings about the apocalypse?
16:10 Kanye and the Dilbert guy
18:40 What is a work/creator that’s way overrated?
20:10 Anita’s late night bar/party question
22:10 Breaking Bad, Sherlock, and Awful Protagonists
27:55 Bradley Cooper’s Watch Commercial
31:30 What is something people don’t know about you but they should?
40:55 What celebrity do you think would be charmed by you if you met?
45:50 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Ebony on NYC
Jay on Squibbons’ Twitch stream
Anita on Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”
52:40 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Matt Miller on “Nothing Compares 2 U”: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a19863265/prince-nothing-compares-2-u-original-listen/
The Twitch channel of speedrunner Squibbons: twitch.tv/squibbons
The music of Margo Price: http://margoprice.net/
On this week’s show, we discuss the use of sound in John Krasinski’s new horror thriller A Quiet Place, whether Ebony would survive in this particular brand of apocalypse, the agony of living in a world without crunchy food, and whether seeing it in a theater is the best decision or the worst decision. We also talk about the sensitive way in which the film handles its deaf character, Regan, who is played by deaf actor Millicent Simmonds, and Ebony drops some knowledge about horror films as a genre. Then we discuss the new espionage series Killing Eve starring Sandra Oh. Is it a completely absurd spy show or is it a show that’s consciously playing with spy tropes? (Why not both?) We highlight the smart little details that humanize its characters, and how wonderful it is to see Sandra Oh cast as the lead in a major series. Also, Anita and Ebony discuss the lack of croissant-sharing in their relationship, and Anita goes on an eye-opening educational journey as she learns both that John Krasinski is the dude from The Office and that aromanticism is a word that actually means something.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 Brought to you by…
:27 Caro is excited about something!
1:10 Intro and greetings
2:40 Pop culture news: Beyonce at Coachella
6:00 A Quiet Place
25:50 Killing Eve
41:00 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
-Ebony on Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
-Carolyn on My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata
-Anita on the music of Moses Sumney
51:40 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Jon Caramanica’s review of Beyonce’s Coachella performance for the New York Times: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/arts/music/beyonce-coachella-review.html
Dread Nation by Justine Ireland: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071RQX7W9/
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071ZR7CZZ/
The music of Moses Sumner: https://www.mosessumney.com/
In this candid conversation, the last of our special JoCo Cruise interviews, Anita talks to hip hop artist Open Mike Eagle about both his evolution as a rapper and the evolution of hip hop as a whole. The two also discuss how our current political reality seeps into the fabric of everyday life, accepting that as an artist, you might start off creating some pretty bad art, and the horrors of bad snorkeling experiences.
Check out Mike’s work at mikeeagle.net
In this week’s episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, Anita and the gang discuss Netflix’s tantalizing new food documentary series Ugly Delicious, which explores the collisions of food, culture, and history. When does culinary tribute cross over into culinary appropriation? How do we handle beloved foods that have become saddled with deeply racist associations? Whose cuisine is considered valuable and whose is considered disposable? Then we talk about Bury Me, My Love, a mobile game that puts you in the role of a husband whose wife is a Syrian refugee attempting a dangerous journey to Europe. The game’s subject matter is weighty, but Ebony still finds a way to bring up the original theatrical release of the movie Clue. Finally, we each share something we’ve been digging lately in What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Timestamps:
:00 Brought to you by…
:27 Intro and greetings
3:22 pop culture checkin: The Simpsons responds to criticisms of Apu
7:55 Ugly Delicious
30:24 Bury Me, My Love
44:10 What’s Your FREQ-Out?
(Ebony on Requiem, Carolyn on Toto’s song Africa remixed to sound like it’s playing in an empty mall, Anita on Bishop Nehru’s album Elevators Act I & II)
55:08 wrap-up
Relevant links:
The Problem with Apu: https://www.amazon.com/Problem-Apu-Season-1/dp/B077GB9J33
Bury Me, My Love trailer: https://youtu.be/8zWnWqUsods
Toto, “Africa” (playing in an empty shopping centre) https://youtu.be/D__6hwqjZAs
The Overwhelming Emotion of Hearing Toto’s “Africa” Remixed to Sound like It’s Playing in an Empty Mall (Jia Tolentino in the New Yorker): https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-overwhelming-emotion-of-hearing-totos-africa-remixed-to-sound-like-its-playing-in-an-empty-mall
“A Whole New World” with realistic audio: https://youtu.be/-yLsF8VMPKE
In our latest JoCo Cruise interview, Anita talks to writer and showrunner Amy Berg, who has worked on shows such as Leverage, Eureka, Person of Interest, and Starz’ current hit sci-fi series Counterpart. Here, Berg recounts the bold way she once got Joss Whedon’s attention, the unproduced Lost script that helped her make a name for herself, and all the things that go into being showrunner on a major TV series. Anita also talks to Berg about consciously doing the work to create a more inclusive television landscape, and what impact our current political landscape is likely to have on the visions of the future that television will give us in the years ahead.
In this week’s episode, Carolyn has visited the OASIS of Ready Player One and lives to tell Anita and Ebony the tale, demonstrating her own knowledge of obscure pop culture trivia and criticizing RPO for its use of the woman-as-trophy trope familiar to so many of the properties that inspired it. The gang then moves on to ABC’s Roseanne revival, which pulled in huge numbers of viewers. Is it an important portrayal of white working-class experience, or a harmful sanitization of the damage done by Trump voters? Finally, in What’s Your FREQ-Out, Carolyn recommends an excellent TV show, Ebony recommends a terrible movie, and Anita gushes over a great documentary series that explores intersections of food, culture, politics and tradition.
Segment Timestamps:
:00 Brought to you by…
:25 Intro/Greetings
2:25 Entertainment news: John K.
5:40 Ready Player One
27:10 Roseanne
48:05 What’s Your FREQ-Out? (Carolyn on The Americans, Ebony on Prom Night, Anita on Ugly Delicious)
58:10 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Constance Grady on Ready Player One and GamerGate for Vox: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/26/17148350/ready-player-one-book-backlash-controversy-gamergate-explained
VR Chat and the scourge of the Ugandan Knuckles meme: Julia Alexander for Polygon https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/8/16863932/ugandan-knuckles-meme-vrchat
Ready Player One is an Accidental Horror Movie About Fandom: Alison Willmore for Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonwillmore/ready-player-one-steven-spielberg-fandom?utm_term=.ayvByWo7d#.qsY260R17
Why the New Roseanne Reboot Just Plain Sucks: Rob Sheffield for Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/rob-sheffield-why-the-roseanne-reboot-sucks-w518543
The Roseanne Reboot Is Funny. I’m Not Going to Keep Watching: Roxane Gay for The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/opinion/roseanne-reboot-trump.html
“I can’t talk about airline food anymore!” In this conversation recorded aboard the JoCo Cruise, Anita talks to comedian Jackie Kashian about how the realm of stand-up comedy has changed in the 30 years or so that she’s been in the business. The material has evolved, sure, but the gender dynamics are shifting too, and that’s a good thing in what has historically been a very male-dominated industry. The two also discuss Star Trek Discovery, the pronunciations of their Armenian last names, and their conflicting feelings about Agents of SHIELD.
This week, Anita and Caro talk all about their experiences at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference, touching on the shifting politics of the industry, the important voices that go unheard, and, of course, their favorite games of the show. Learn how Carolyn totally saved Anita’s life during the event, and hear Caro gush over the Outerlands documentary series, which she considers a must-watch for anyone interested in game history.
Time stamps:
Ebony’s intro 00:01
Anita’s welcome 01:05
GDC exhaustion 02:10
Absent voices and old ideas 4:45
Let’s talk about games! 17:10
ALT-CTRL-GDC 31:30
Homo Machina, inspired by the art of Fritz Kahn 38:55
GDC film festival: Outerlands episodes 41:00
Game Workers Unite 45:28
What’s Your FREQ-Out? 47:25
Wrap-up 54:55
Relevant Links:
Knights and Bikes announcement trailer: https://youtu.be/UqR0hgcLSDo
Untitled Goose Game pre-alpha gameplay: https://youtu.be/wQknBJo4aBQ
Gamasutra article about Kids by Playables: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/315114/Road_to_the_IGF_Playables_Kids.php
Dreams trailer: https://youtu.be/odfYSiTpXpo
Gamasutra interview about Grave Call: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/314385/AltCtrlGDC_Showcase_Grave_Call.php
Gamasutra interview about Hi-5 Heroes: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/313854/AltCtrlGDC_Showcase_Hi5_Heroes.php
Play with Botnik yourself: http://botnik.org/
gamesindustry.biz story on the #1ReasonToBe panel: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-03-26-1reasontobe-listen-to-the-people-you-do-not-hear-because-they-are-not-allowed-to-speak
Outerlands documentary series: http://www.area5.tv/outerlands/
Game Workers Unite Twitter account: https://twitter.com/GameWorkers
In the third of our JoCo Cruise interviews, Anita talks to the very funny writer/performer/actor John Hodgman about his unusual career, from his stint as an “expert” on anything and everything on The Daily Show to the unlikely way in which he landed the gig of a lifetime, playing the PC in the tremendously successful PC vs. Apple ad campaign. From there, the two embark on a thoughtful conversation about wealth, privilege, class, and income inequality.
In this week's episode, the Feminist Frequency Killjoys (call us, Marvel) unleash a torrent of opinions about Netflix's Jessica Jones; from its complicated wrestling with trauma to the ways in which people of color are often used as narrative tools in the service of white women's healing. Then we gush over the mobile game, Florence, which Caro called "both a beautiful game and also a game about beauty—the beauty of creation, color, and connection."
Finally, we each share something we’ve been thinking about in What’s Your FREQ Out?! Caro is reading N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season; while Ebony is unashamed to admit that Holby City continues to have her shook. Anita wraps up the section by abusing the FREQ Out system and tries to slip in TWO freq outs: she loved the Black Panther soundtrack and tries to speak on West Coast hip hop and then also wanted to chat about A Case of Distrust.
Segment Timestamps:
:16 - Intros
1:42 - VoP (Voice of Phil)
1:50 - Anita and Ebony wrote a book! Also, we fail to talk about the new Marvel Infinity War trailer
5:53 - Jessica Jones
27:06 - Florence
39:15 - What's Your FREQ Out Deal?
Relevant links:
Caro's glowing review of Florence: https://feministfrequency.com/2018/02/22/a-splash-of-color-the-quietly-feminist-love-story-of-florence/
The Fifth Season: http://nkjemisin.com/books/the-fifth-season/
Anita's JoCo cruise interview with N.K. Jemisin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoXBJQTeXqA
The place Ebony goes for Holby City recaps: https://pauseliveaction.wordpress.com/
A Case of Distrust: http://www.acaseofdistrust.com/
Help make the media more feminist: http://www.feministfrequency.com/donate
NEW WEBSITE: http://feministfrequency.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/femfreq
Twitter: http://twitter.com/femfreq
Instagram: http://instagram.com/femfreq
Tumblr: http://femfreq.tumblr.com
In the second of our JoCo Cruise interviews, Anita talks with fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss about the power of stories, from the ones we create around the table with friends when playing D&D to the ones projected on the big screen, and why professional storytellers have a responsibility to use their power for good. The conversation touches on their shared love for Moana and delves into the limitations of “strong female characters” and the pressure to simplify stories when adapting for film, and what can get lost in the process.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @PatrickRothfuss and learn more about his charity at worldbuilders.org
In this week’s podcast, Anita opens the door on some of the strange imagery from her dreams. Then, we work through our feelings about Ava DuVernay’s film adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s children’s classic, A Wrinkle in Time and discover that maybe how you feel about this movie depends on how in touch you are with your inner child. Also, because so many people seem to wrongly think that we “agree” with the ways in which the current administration is scapegoating video games, we dive into the White House’s tactics and what our critiques of games and media in general are actually saying. Finally, we wrap things up with some cheers and recommendations in What’s Your FREQ-Out?!
Segment Timestamps:
Start: Ebony and Phil announce the winners of our book giveaway
1:00 introductions
2:45 Anita’s weird dreams
4:08 pop culture news (box office milestones and Ready Player One’s premiere)
8:10 A Wrinkle in Time
27:10 The Trump administration’s scapegoating of video games
44:10 What’s Your FREQ-Out?!
Ebony on Bodyminds Reimagined by Sami Schalk and on Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga
47:15 Carolyn on Radiant Historia
49:30 Anita on Anxy Magazine
52:15 wrap-up
Relevant Links:
Anxy Magazine: https://anxymag.com/
Lois McMaster Bujold and the Vorkosigan saga http://www.dendarii.com/
Bodyminds Reimagined by Sami Schalk https://www.dukeupress.edu/bodyminds-reimagined
Brie Code’s Tru Luv Media (tend-and-befriend games): http://www.truluvmedia.com/
Tom VanDerWerff’s piece on A Wrinkle in Time: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/3/12/17098464/a-wrinkle-in-time-ava-duvernay-review-storm-reid-christianity
Cited pieces on video game violence:
By Simon Parkin: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/donald-trump-takes-on-the-nonexistent-link-between-violent-video-games-and-mass-shootings
By Tom Bissell: http://grantland.com/features/line-explores-reasons-why-play-shooter-games/
While Anita was aboard the 2018 JoCo Cruise, she took the opportunity to talk to some of the amazing creators who were trapped at sea with her! In this first JoCo interview, she speaks with the amazing sci-fi writer N.K. Jemisin, creator of the acclaimed Broken Earth series. The conversation covers how Jemisin became a professional writer, the exciting new era of fantasy writers who are pushing past the "Tolkien-clone" mold, and Jemisin’s own process for worldbuilding and character creation. Anita and N.K. also talk about Jemisin’s love of video games, our cultural notions of what gamers look like vs. what gamers actually look like, and her admiration for NieR: Automata, Shadow of the Colossus, and Mafia 3.
In this episode, Anita and Carolyn are joined by special guest, comedian Irene Tu! We all endured the epic Oscars ceremony last weekend to discuss our favorite moments, our reactions to the winners, and whether or not things in Hollywood are actually getting better. Then, in keeping with the cinematic theme, we recount our disorienting experiences in the shimmer after seeing Annihilation. What does it all mean? Was it any good? What’s with making the main character a white woman? Finally, we each share something we’ve been thinking about in What’s Your FREQ-Out, which gives Irene a chance to talk about just why people have been showing her so many drugs lately.
Segment Times:
0-1:10 Ebony’s special intro
1:11-2:28 welcomes and introductions
2:29-5:10 Anita’s Trust No Man banner and Irene’s Man-Haters Comedy show
5:15-27:10 The Oscars
27:15-47:17 Annihilation
What’s Your FREQ-Out?—
47:30 Carolyn on the Her Head in Films podcast
49:40 Irene on people showing her various drugs
53:38 Anita on Godless
58:27 wrap-up
Relevant links:
How Mad Should I Be About the Whitewashing in Annihilation? by E. Alex Jung: http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/whitewashing-in-annihilation-starring-natalie-portman.html
How Annihilation Nails the Complex Reality of Depression by Angelica Jade Bastién: www.vulture.com/2018/03/annihilation-movie-depression.html
Her Head in Films podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/her-head-in-film/id1355929182
Man Haters Comedy, co-hosted by Irene Tu: http://www.manhaters.org/
Welcome to our very first live episode of Feminist Frequency Radio! Recorded at sea aboard the JoCo Cruise, this episode finds Anita and Femfreq friend and board member Felix Kramer in conversation with actor and writer Wil Wheaton! The conversation reaches far and wide, with talk of Wolfenstein II, our shifting relationship to sci-fi in our increasingly dystopian present, confronting your privilege and being an effective ally, exploring ancient Egypt with the help of Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Discovery Tour mode, and much more. So take your Dramamine and hop aboard, we’ve got so much fun stuff to talk about!
Segment timestamps:
00:01: Ebony welcomes you aboard
01:21 Greetings and introductions with Anita, Felix, and Wil
2:57 How the JoCo Cruise is going and what the JoCo Cruise is
8:28 Recent stuff we loved: Felix on Black Panther
9:34 Wil on Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
14:26 Science fiction in the era of Trump
18:52 Has #MeToo changed how you engage with media?/Calling out abusers
28:55 Acknowledging your privilege and having hard conversations
33:33 Media that’s inspiring you right now, Wil on Journey (the game)
37:13 Felix’s history with video games
40:29 Wil on acting and writing
43:25 Intro to What’s Your FREQ-Out?
43:43 Felix on Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Discovery Tour mode
47:56 Wil on hating Cuphead and loving Red Dead Redemption
51:41 Anita on Creed and Tessa Thompson as Bianca
55:07 What Wil is up to and where you can find his work
57:22 Where you can find Felix online
58:08 Where you can find Anita / Bye!
Relevant links:
Learn more about the JoCo Cruise: https://jococruise.com/
Wil Wheaton's book Dead Trees Give No Shelter: http://wilwheatonbooks.com/
Audio version of Wil's book: wilwheaton.bandcamp.com
In this impromptu supplement to this week's main episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, Ebony takes a few minutes to share some thoughts on how Black Panther skillfully navigates themes of culture, history, and the difference between appreciation and appropriation, with one scene in particular serving as a pointed commentary on who gets to own the past.
This week, on a very special episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, we go all in on Black Panther! From the wonders of Wakandan technology to all the fantastic female characters, from the breathtaking costumes to the surprisingly persuasive politics of the film’s soulful villain, we spend almost the entire show discussing the newest (and brightest) star in the Marvel cinematic universe.
Segment timestamps:
Entertainment News (Cobra Kai and Overwatch League): 2:10-4:50
Black Panther: 4:50-48:18
What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Carolyn on new iOS game Florence: 49:00-50:18
Ebony on The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander: 50:18-52:48
Anita on The Expanse: 52:48-58:10
Referenced on this episode:
The New Jim Crow: http://newjimcrow.com/
Anita’s quote tweet of Eve Ewing’s tweet - https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/964433278827511809
Anita’s Twitter thread about The Expanse Season 2 - https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/962793735682646017
Cobra Kai trailer: https://youtu.be/xLtYmhj-0Kg
On this week’s FFR, we suit up to join the crew of the ill-fated (and surprisingly hungry) international space station featured in The Cloverfield Paradox! Ebony gives us her best Irish accent and Carolyn questions the difference between good-bad movies and bad-bad movies while we navigate the rubble of the film’s plot and praise the performance of Gugu Mbatha-Raw. We also discuss the recent decision by Formula One to end the long-standing tradition of grid girls, and we tackle the larger debate about “choice feminism” with which arguments about grid girls are inextricably linked. Finally, we FREQ out about Mindhunter, classic Hollywood romcoms, and Grace and Frankie, and Anita argues that it’s better for a series to leave people wanting more than for it to start giving people less.
Segment Time Stamps:
Entertainment News- 2:35-5:45
Cloverfield Paradox- 5:45-27:40
Grid Girls and Choice Feminism: 27:48-43:45
What’s Your FREQ-Out?
Ebony on Mindhunter: 43:50-49:40
Caro on Classic Cary Grant Comedies of Remarriage: 49:40-53:45
Anita on Grace and Frankie, and When a Series Should End: 53:48
Referenced on this Episode:
The original, official Formula One post on the end of grid girls: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2018/1/formula-1-to-stop-using-grid-girls-.html
AJ Plus video about exhibitors hiring models at a UK gambling convention:
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/961798070328426496
Anita’s Twitter thread about The Expanse
https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/962774990264266757
On this week’s Feminist Frequency Radio, Carolyn makes her triumphant return to the podcast and celebrates by making Anita and Ebony go see Call Me by Your Name, leading Ebony to recount the seemingly eternal experience of watching the film and forcing Anita to face questions about whether she’s ever been in love. We also talk about the fantastic new platformer Celeste which brilliantly meshes its mountain-climbing mechanics with an effective storyline about struggling with mental illness and spend a little time getting increasingly excited for Black Panther’s impending release. Finally, Anita asks listeners to chime in on whether or not she should continue enduring the expansive boredom of The Expanse!
Referenced in this episode:
Photos from the “purple carpet” premiere of Black Panther: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/red-carpet-dresses/g15920220/black-panther-premiere-red-carpet/
This week, Anita and Ebony are joined by the wonderful feminist Muslim Iranian-American comedian Zahra Noorbakhsh, who brings a bevy of insights to the table: How does the CW superhero show Black Lightning pay homage to the 60s sitcom Bewitched? How is the “manventure” movie Jaws actually about intersectional feminism? Zahra reveals all this and more, as the gang also talks about Saturday Night Live’s clumsy attempts to use comedy to address the #MeToo moment, the troubling kind of “strong female character” depicted in Atomic Blonde, and how you can take a class on Get Out, racism and black horror from the comfort of your home!
Find out more about our special guest:
https://twitter.com/zahracomedy
http://www.zahracomedy.com/
Pop Culture Collaborative Senior Fellow:
http://popcollab.org/about-us/zahra-noorbakhsh/
#GoodMuslimBadMuslim podcast: http://www.goodmuslimbadmuslim.com/
...and become a backer on Drip to get access to this week's bonus segment, a conversation with Zahra about her long road toward finding a place for her voice and her work within the often alienating, white-male-dominated world of comedy and much more.
Referenced on this episode:
SNL skits:
Next for Men: https://youtu.be/9weqnWBaehg
Dinner Discussion: https://youtu.be/evWiz6WRbCA
Chucky Lee Byrd: https://youtu.be/T9awpv5BnSc
The Sunken Place: Online Workshop on Get Out, Racism, and Black Horror: https://hipshot9.clickfunnels.com/sales-page17636596
This week’s Very Special Episode is AAA-rated! Anita takes a trip to Chicago and ropes in Feminist Frequency superstar Ashley Fellows and Vulture writer Angelica Bastien to discuss camp, perspective, and the cycle of abuse in I, Tonya. Anita segues seamlessly into a critique of how the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement are being mischaracterized to paint grey areas in issues of consent where grey areas don’t actually exist, and then everyone takes a shot at “What’s Your FREQ Out Deal” with a shout out to Heathers, a weary side-eye at a recent Wonder Woman title, and unbridled enthusiasm from Anita for some board games she’s been loving. Tune in and subscribe today so you don’t miss a single episode!
"How the #MeToo Movement Could Kill Some Sexy Hollywood Movies"
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-metoo-movement-could-kill-some-sexy-hollywood-movies-1073212
Wonder Woman
http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2018/01/15/first-look-batmans-rooftop-rendezvous
WereWords: https://opinionatedgamers.com/2017/05/01/werewords-game-review-by-chris-wray/
Captain Sonar:
https://www.asmodee.us/en/games/captain-sonar/
@angelicabastien
@fellowsash
@anitasarkeesian
This week on Feminist Frequency Radio, Guillermo del Toro’s latest film The Shape of Water divides the crew! Find out which of us were seduced by the film’s tender love story and which of us have no souls as we contemplate just what it means to fall in love with a fish man. (This discussion may involve Ebony busting out one of her patented Hater Rants.) We also talk about prominent women criticizing the #MeToo movement and examine what last week’s Aziz Ansari story says about our cultural expectations around romantic and sexual encounters. We round things out with a look at the trans-centric web series Her Story and a round of What’s Your Deal? Also, the podcast faces its most vital question yet: Should What’s Your Deal change its name to What’s Your FREQout? Help us decide!
Segments:
Entertainment News: 5:07-15:35
The Shape of Water: 15:37-32:47
Her Story (web series): 32:51-45:53
What’s Your Deal?/Wrap-Up: 45:53-57:54
Referenced in this episode:
Margaret Atwood op-ed: Am I a bad feminist? https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/am-i-a-bad-feminist/article37591823/
News story about French letter denouncing #MeToo: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/10/europe/catherine-deneuve-france-letter-metoo-intl/index.html
Babe story about Aziz Ansari: https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355
Her Story web series: herstoryshow.com
Saladin Ahmed’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/saladinahmed
Comics: Lizz Winstead and Laurie Kilmartin
With rainfall lending a lovely natural ambiance to the conversation, we discuss the power of representation in Black Panther and the formation of the Time's Up initiative to combat cultures of sexual harassment in every industry. This brings us to the highlights and disappointments of the politically charged 75th Annual Golden Globes. After discussing everything from Oprah's powerful speech to the failure of any of the night's male winners to directly address the recent reckoning in Hollywood in any meaningful way, our intrepid crew ventures into "USS Callister," a thought-provoking Star-Trek-influenced existential nightmare that serves as Black Mirror's fourth season premiere. Finally, on What's Your Deal, we each share something we've been thinking about lately, and Anita takes the opportunity to honor the late Allan G. Johnson, whose work on patriarchy, privilege and social systems was hugely influential in the formation of Feminist Frequency.
Referenced in this episode:
@eveewing's tweet about Black Panther and representation: https://twitter.com/eveewing/status/948650509216382977
@imransiddiquee's tweets about mens' silence at the Golden Globes: https://twitter.com/imransiddiquee/status/950155706065354753
https://twitter.com/imransiddiquee/status/950176959363014659
@conniewang's tweet about Harvey Weinstein and the Golden Globes: https://twitter.com/conniewang/status/950164008891502592
Anita's remembrance of Allan G. Johnson:
https://feministfrequency.com/2018/01/03/in-remembrance-of-allan-g-johnson-1946-2017/
Happy New Year, everyone! We get 2018 off to a perfectly smooth start as Anita leaps us forward in time by launching us right into a conversation about the Doctor Who Christmas Special, which marked both the end of Peter Capaldi's tenure as the Doctor and the introduction of Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to ever fill the Doctor's shoes. We also talk about Carolyn's favorite game of last year, the heartwarming and hilarious Butterfly Soup, look at some of the latest entertainment news, and conclude with the customary round of "What's Your Deal?" So make some hot cocoa, toss a few more coals on the fire, and get cozy with us for the first Feminist Frequency Radio of the year!
You can find Butterfly Soup at https://brianna-lei.itch.io/butterfly-soup
On this, our sixth episode of FFR, we go all in on Star Wars: The Last Jedi! (Yes, we dig into the nitty-gritty and there are spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, you may want to return to the main segment of this episode later.) Why are some people so upset about this film? How do Anita, Ebony and Carolyn feel about Rian Johnson's unconventional entry in the Star Wars saga? Which of this movie's many new CGI creatures is the coolest? What's the deal with those fish nuns on Luke's planet? What, exactly, is Mon Mothma? We dive in to these important issues and much more.
But it's not all space wizards and laser swords! We also discuss some of the latest words to come out of Matt Damon's mouth, and we each share a little something special in this week's "What's Your Deal?" So gather the porgs, feel the Force flow through you and listen to the latest FFR now!
Links to some cool stuff we talk about:
Botnik's Harry Potter chapter, written with the help of a predictive text algorithm: botnik.org/content/harry-potter.html
Clarkisha Kent's writing on Valkyrie, gender coding, racism and queerphobia: https://twitter.com/IWriteAllDay_/status/942114974029230080
Stitch's piece, "Valkyrie Isn’t ‘Male-Coded’ And You’re Kinda Racist": https://stitchmediamix.com/2017/11/15/valkyrie-isnt-male-coded-and-youre-kinda-racist/
On this week’s episode of Feminist Frequency Radio, the gang rejoices as Anita returns from Europe and records her first FFR stateside! We wonder what kind of magic spell Johnny Depp cast to make some people feel like his presence in The Crimes of Grindelwald is A-OK, and we ponder the profound depths of meaning revealed in the new trailer for Death Stranding. Ebony offers one of her patented Hypocritical Hot Takes (TM) on The Disaster Artist, and we try to work through our blood-spattered feelings about the critically acclaimed shooter Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. All this and much more here on Feminist Frequency Radio!
In episode four of FFR, just like Riker holding down the bridge for Picard, Carolyn takes over hosting duties while Anita flies back from Europe! (Don't worry, Anita shall return next week!) We finally meet Ashley, the mysterious fourth member of the Feminist Frequency team, who sheds some light on her role in the organization. We rave about the joyous and touching new Pixar film Coco, which centers Mexican characters and Mexican culture, and in the wake of the Infinity War trailer, we return to one of our favorite topics: superheroes, cultural notions of masculinity, and dudes punching each other in the face. Ashley reveals her feelings about both dogs and peanut butter--AND ONE OF THOSE STATEMENTS MAY SHOCK YOU! All this and much more here on Feminist Frequency Radio!
A huge thank-you to Alex at Cards Against Humanity for helping Ashley participate from the Windy City.
Things referenced in this episode:
Sady Doyle for ELLE: With a Groundbreaking Diagnosis, 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Insists that Even "Psycho" Women Deserve to Be Heard http://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a13938654/crazy-ex-girlfriend-borderline-personality-disorder-diagnosis/
Brown Girls Web Series: http://www.browngirlswebseries.com/
We're back with Episode Three of Feminist Frequency Radio! This week, we dive into the latest entertainment news and share our excitement for Ava DuVernay’s upcoming film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. We then discuss comedian Hari Kondabolu’s thought-provoking new documentary The Problem With Apu, which looks at the harm done by Apu of The Simpsons, perhaps the single most enduring racial stereotype of a character in American pop culture history.
We also return to Hawkins, Indiana circa 1984 to share our reactions to the second season of Stranger Things and Anita explains that, like Eleven, she too used to get nosebleeds a lot (but unfortunately she doesn’t divulge the nature of her telekinetic powers). Finally, Carolyn admits that International Men’s Day put her in a reflective mood and made her reconsider some things she said on last week’s show.
Things referenced in this episode:
The Gender Knot by Allan G. Johnson: https://www.amazon.com/Gender-Knot-Unraveling-Patriarchal-Legacy/dp/1439911843/
The You Must Remember This podcast's series of episodes on Charles Manson and Hollywood: http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/youmustrememberthispodcastblog/2015/5/26/charles-mansons-hollywood-part-1-what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-the-manson-murders
Doha's tweet with images from The Last of Us, Logan, and Stranger Things 2: https://twitter.com/sokareemie/status/932026625134272512
Episode two of Feminist Frequency Radio is here! Buckle up as Anita tries to explain what prompted her to sit through a recent Twilight marathon; Caro eyes Amazon's new Middle-earth tourism initiative with suspicion; and the team explores their mutual love of The Good Place. Anita learns that even Jason Momoa isn't enough to make sitting through the Justice League worthwhile, and Caro has to explain to Ebony that Henry Cavill is not a hologram but just had his moustache digitally removed.
Join the Feminist Frequency Radio community at d.rip/femfreq!
Welcome to Feminist Frequency Radio, the weekly podcast that pulls no punches on the media! In our first full-length episode, things go immediately off the rails when Anita expresses an unpopular opinion about Thor Ragnarok and Ebony reels in disbelief. Carolyn sails us into smoother waters with a conversation about Super Mario Odyssey and Peach finally getting to do something for herself; and Ebony attempts to string together a coherent rationale for her unsettling obsession with violent crime dramas. Subscribe today and follow us on social media. Let us know what you think of the show and shoot us your suggestions for future segments! Back us on Drip for access to hilarious and weird bonus content, and to become a part of the conversation!
Feminist Frequency Radio is coming for your media. Each week, Anita Sarkeesian, Carolyn Petit, and Ebony Aster bring you dispatches from the pop culture wars and invite you to listen in on their entertaining, stimulating, take-no-prisoners conversations about the latest films, games, and tv. They’ll be bringing their distinctly different feminist perspectives to the mix as they celebrate and critique it all. With special guests from all over the feminist media sphere, an assortment of great bonus segments, and your questions keeping them on their toes, Feminist Frequency Radio is there to help you dig deeper into the things you love. Warning: Feminist Frequency Radio may significantly enhance your media experience.
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.