Feminist Frequency Radio

Latest Episodes:

FFR 91: The Art of Self Defense Aug 21, 2019

Show notes

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

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FFR 90: Once Upon A Time in Hollywood Aug 14, 2019

Show notes

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

89: Time Travel and Feminism with Annalee Newitz Aug 07, 2019

Show notes

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

88: Fandom & Capitalism Jul 31, 2019

Show notes

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
Twitter - https://twitter.com/femfreq
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/femfreq

87: Spider-Man: Far From Home Jul 24, 2019

Show notes

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

86: Strong Female Character Jul 17, 2019

Show notes

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

85 - Chernobyl Jul 10, 2019

Show notes

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:

03:14 - Entertainment News: Topic, Topic, Topic
13:50 - Main Segment: Chernobyl
41:31 - What’s Your FREQ Outs: 198X, Doctor Who podcasts, 84K by Claire North

Links Mentioned:

Sue Bird - article the president hates my girlfriend: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/sue-bird-megan-rapinoe-uswnt
Artist making black mermaids: https://www.vashtiharrison.com/vashti-harrison-illustration
https://twitter.com/SlavaMalamud/status/1132029943297265664?s=19
HBO Chernobyl podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chernobyl-podcast/id1459712981
Carolyn’s article about 198X: https://carolynpetit.tumblr.com/post/186007644410/198x-and-being-players-in-a-dangerous-time
Doctor who podcast: http://whos-he-podcast.co.uk/doctor-who-whos-he-podcast-322-companion-special-martha-jones

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

84: The Mary Sue Trope Jul 03, 2019

Show notes

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

83: Life Is Strange 2: Episode 3 - Wastelands with Tevis Thompson Jun 26, 2019

Show notes

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/

82: Booksmart Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

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

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