Feminist Frequency Radio

Latest Episodes:

FFR 121: Mrs. America Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

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?

Carolyn on Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and others undermining the severity of COVID-19
Ebony on Year of the Rabbit, IFC series - https://www.ifc.com/shows/year-of-the-rabbit
Anita on the finale of Devs on Hulu, and the new album Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

Links Mentioned:

Combahee River Collective - https://combaheerivercollective.weebly.com
Anita on Mrs. America and the current state of feminism - https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian/status/1250985102450065408?s=20

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FFR 120: L. A. Originals Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

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?

Ebony on McMillions documentary series on HBO
Carolyn on Colombo episode, “Try and Catch Me” - https://youtu.be/iRgqqywphzw
Anita on In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado
Guest Freq Out from Chris on Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) game by Popcannibal

Links Mentioned:

Graffiti Grrlz: Performing Feminism in the Hip Hoop Diaspora by Jessica Nydia Pabón-Colón - https://nyupress.org/9781479895939/
“Carmen Maria Machado Takes Us ‘In The Dream House’” - episode of NPR Code Switch - https://www.npr.org/2020/01/03/793291687/carmen-maria-machado-takes-us-in-the-dream-house
Twitter thread with Natasha Lyonne, Mark Ruffalo, and Michael Sheen talking about playing Columbo - https://twitter.com/nlyonne/status/1245820361691656199?s=20

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FFR 119: Coping in Isolation Apr 08, 2020

Show notes

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:

Films by Kelly Reichardt - First Cow, Wendy and Lucy, and Certain Women - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0716980/

Ebony:

The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho - https://zencho.org/the-terracotta-bride-out-now/
“Penhallow Among Passing Things” by Iona Datt Sharma - https://www.generalist.org.uk/iona/fiction/penhallow-amid-passing-things/
Foyle’s War - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foyle%27s_War

Anita:

Hart of Dixie - https://g.co/kgs/3ZyAaV
Nashville - https://g.co/kgs/ZFjAsd
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist - https://g.co/kgs/vKtkgH
Devs - https://g.co/kgs/DsGQxh
“Wavelength” board game - https://www.wavelength.zone
Marco Polo app - https://www.marcopolo.me
The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley - https://www.kameronhurley.com/writing/light-brigade/

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FFR 118: Devs Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

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?

Ebony on Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin
Carolyn on Reply All Podcast episode, “The Case of the Missing Hit” - https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2h8bx
Anita on Women’s Weekend Film Challenge - https://www.womensweekendfilmchallenge.com/
Guest Freq Out from Ariana on The Raven Cycle novel series by Maggie Stiefvater

Links Mentioned:

Shell International Women’s Day cringe - https://twitter.com/lightmyacid/status/1236465779027165185?s=20
Police Service of Northern Ireland awards men on International Women’s Day - https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/psni-criticised-for-award-recognising-men-before-international-womens-day-986582.html
“Devs review - Alex Garland’s elegant but flawed big tech thriller” by Benjamin Lee, The Guardian, March 5, 2020 - https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/mar/05/devs-tv-review-alex-garland

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FFR 117: High Fidelity with Special Guest Nicole He Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

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?

Carolyn on Tevin Thompson’s Fortnite essay
Nicole on women weightlifting
Anita on The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray

Links Mentioned:

enhance.computer
Billy Eilish Gets Interviewed by a Robot - https://youtu.be/K0c94ghBS4A
http://tevisthompson.com/its-not-coming-back/

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FFR 116: Atlantics Feb 26, 2020

Show notes

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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FFR 115: Birds of Prey Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

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?

Carolyn on The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
Ebony on the Pan African Film and Arts Festival (paff.org)
Anita on The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky, both from the Lady Astronaut series of novels by Mary Robinette Kowal

Links Mentioned:

https://twitter.com/abujimin/status/1227314799303970819?s=21

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FFR 114: The Good Place - The Final Season Feb 12, 2020

Show notes

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?

Carolyn on Until the End of the World on Criterion Channel
Ebony on Cinematography and DPs
Anita on Sayaka Murata's “Convenience Store Woman” (2016 in japan) / english translation in 2018

Links Mentioned:

Our previous episode on The Good Place - https://youtu.be/qq4x0CmDCYI
“The Good Place Doesn’t Need a Love Story” by Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, January 23, 2020 - https://www.vulture.com/2020/01/the-good-place-eleanor-chidi-love-story.html
Women vs. History: The Defiant Lives That They Don’t Want You to Know by Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams - https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250146739/

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FFR 113: The Oscars Feb 05, 2020

Show notes

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?

Carolyn on Kentucky Route Zero
Ebony on Dracula (Netflix, 2020) and Bad Boys for Life
Anita on Wired to Wear exhibit at The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago

Links Mentioned:

Anita’s appearance @ The Washington Post (livestream begins 5pm ET on 2/6) - https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live-the-power-of-play-video-games-and-esports/
“Greta Gerwig on the Lives of Little Women And Why ‘Male Violence’ Isn’t All That Matters” by Greta Gerwig, Vanity Fair, January 11, 2020 - https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/01/greta-gerwig-little-women-script
Oscar eligibility rules: https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-announces-rules-92nd-oscars
“Hard Times: Revisiting Acts I-IV of Kentucky Route Zero While Desperately Looking for Work” by Carolyn Petit, Medium, January 25, 2020 - https://t.co/xe8onvJu1Z?amp=1

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FFR 112: Little Women with special guest Laura Hudson Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

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?