Feminist Frequency Radio

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51: Maniac (Please Don’t Do Anything Horrible, Jonah) Nov 07, 2018

Show notes

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

50: Gender Swapping in Media, Live at GeekGirlCon '18! Oct 31, 2018

Show notes

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

49: Private Life with Anna Sale Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

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

48: Special Guest Daniel Ortberg Oct 17, 2018

Show notes

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

47: Top Gun Oct 10, 2018

Show notes

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/

XOXO Bonus Interview #3: Jenn Sandercock Oct 09, 2018

Show notes

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.

XOXO Bonus Interview #2: Lucy Bellwood Oct 05, 2018

Show notes

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.

46: Monsters and Men Oct 03, 2018

Show notes

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

45: Searching Sep 26, 2018

Show notes

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/

XOXO Bonus Interview #1: Natalie Wynn (ContraPoints) Sep 25, 2018

Show notes

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.

Watch Natalie's video on Incels

Read Katherine Cross' profile of Natalie for The Verge

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