Material Girls

Latest Episodes:

Introducing Making Worlds with Hannah McGregor Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

We're so excited to announce that our new show, Making Worlds, begins January 25th!

This video podcast, hosted by Hannah McGregor (maybe you know them?!?), will be released monthly via our Patreon. In each 30ish-minute episode, a guest will bring Hannah a text that has helped them imagine the liberatory possibilities of another world. We’re talking sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction! Hot!!!! Our first episode? Why it simply had to be about Our Flag Means Death! What says liberatory possibility more than gay pirates!? And, we're really lucky to have writer Hope Rehak as our first guest. That name sound familiar? Well that's probably because she's kind of beloved on the internet for, among other things, her OFMD content! She's also Coach's sister. :)

The episodes we’ve recorded so far have been full of passion, enthusiasm, and genuine joy and we can’t wait for you to see them. Audio-only versions will be available on Patreon as well, but you should tune into the video versions if you’re able. Hannah’s makeup is worth it.

Want to see our logo? Subscribe to our Substack or our Youtube channel. Want to get access to the show? Become a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/ohwitchplease for just $54 USD/year. Have questions about what's going on with our other to-be-launched show Gender Playground? Answers are in the Substack!

Special thanks to Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle who wrote our theme song!

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Wonka x Antisemitism and Censorship with Leena Norms Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

In this week's episode, we're joined by the incredible Leena Norms (she/her) to talk about Timothée Chalamet's latest venture: Wonka.

This holiday blockbuster from director Paul King (Paddington, Paddington 2) made many people on the internet cringe even before it's release in mid December. It was notably in the *discourse* through memes and tweets that suggested Kylie Jenner perhaps got 'the ick' from Timmy's performance. The good news is that Marcelle, Hannah and Leena went to go see the movie opening weekend, so you don't have to! Unless, like Marcelle, you want to see it TWICE.

In this conversation, Marcelle, Hannah and Leena discuss Netflix's collaboration with the Roald Dahl Story Company (and Taika Waititi's connection!), Dahl's legacy in Britain's cultural imagination, and the lengths studios go to keep his work relevant to new audiences despite the rampant fat phobia and antisemitism within his texts. They talk Noodle, the notable absence of chocolate from the film's marketing, the Jewish writers behind the script, and, of course, Hugh Grant the Oompa Loompa.

To learn more about the research that went into today's episode, be sure to follow Witch, Please Productions on Substack at https://ohwitchplease.substack.com! And if you like our show, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.*

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Material Girls is a show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

We'll be back in two weeks for another episode, but until then, be sure to check out all the bonus content we have on our Patreon at Patreon.com/ohwitchplease. You can learn more about the show at ohwitchplease.ca and on our instagram at instagram.com/ohwitchplease! Want more from us? Check out our website ohwitchplease.ca.

*Materialist Critique is, at its simplest possible level, a form of cultural critique – that is, scholarly engagement with a cultural text of some kind – that is interested in modes of production, moments of reception, and the historical and ideological contexts for both. Materialist critique is really interested in the question of why a particular cultural work or practice emerged at a particular moment.

Music Credits:

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Merry-terial Girls: An Incomprehensible Holiday Bonus Dec 26, 2023

Show notes

Witch, Please Productions is on break for the holidays!

Of course we still wanted to put some fun content out while we’re away from our computers, so we recorded a holiday bonus that features Gaby, Zoe, Hannah, Marcelle and Coach mostly speaking over one another while they attempt to play Material Pursuit — a game of trivia that Marcelle created by pulling on content from Material Girls and our previous show, Witch, Please.

If you want to listen to the whole thing, you can! For free! Just head to patreon.com/ohwitchplease and you’ll see the UNLOCKED post. It’s titled: Merry-terial Girls: An Incomprehensible Holiday Bonus!

Thank you so much for your support as we transitioned to our new show this year. We’re so excited for more Material Girls in 2024 — and a couple of fun surprises we have up our sleeves, too!

Happy holidays!

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Material Girls is a new show that aims to make sense of the zeitgeist through materialist critique* and critical theory! Each episode looks at a unique object of study (something popular now or from back in the day) and over the course of three distinct segments, Hannah and Marcelle apply their academic expertise to the topic at hand.

Music Credits:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Night Circus x Reading Ecosystems Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

One of Marcelle's favorite books is The Night Circus, so she decided to be brave and do an entire episode about the best-selling fantasy novel by Erin Morgenstern. Why brave? Well because sometimes it's hard to think critically about something you love! We all know that. ;) This episode, Marcelle leads us through a quick chat about how the book was set up for success in 2011, followed by some theory about reading ecosystems from Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times by Andrew Piper. And then, of course, she applies her brilliant mind to a brilliant thesis!

If you like our show, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.*

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Music Credits:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Episode: Sitcom and Reframing Israel-Palestine Beyond Security Discourse Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

We hit our fundraising goal for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund in October and this is the bonus episode we promised as a thank you for your support. As of today, you, our listening community, have raised $8900 — and our goal was $5000! That’s incredible and we’re so grateful for your resource sharing and messages of solidarity.

This bonus episode is a conversation between Marcelle and Hannah about a paper Marcelle published in 2015 called Comic relief: the ethical intervention of 'Avodah 'Aravit (Arab Labor) in political discourses of Israel–Palestine. The text of the article available for you on our episode page at ohwitchplease.ca. You can read it by heading to our site, or just listen to Marcelle read the abstract in the opening part of the episode. Here is the direct link: https://www.ohwitchplease.ca/all-episodes/materialgirls-sitcomandreframingisraelpalestine

As a heads up, this paper was written in 2014 in response to anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism in North America. That racism wasn’t new in 2014, and it remains powerful and widespread today, amplified by the mainstream media’s dehumanizing portrayals of Palestinians in its coverage of the so-called “Israel-Hamas war.” Marcelle's conversation with Hannah is very much about that racism and that dehumanization; about the discourses that perpetuate dehumanizing stereotypes about Palestinians and Arabs. You may not have the spoons for this conversation right now, and that’s ok! It’ll be here for you when you’re ready, and you’re always welcome to pass the episode along to someone who’s looking for more information about the crisis.

Thanks again for supporting Witch, Please Productions and our collective contribution to the urgently needed financial aid for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The link to contribute is here: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/ohwitchplease.

We'll be back next week with an episode about pop culture.

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Blackout Tuesday x Platformization Nov 28, 2023

Show notes

At Material Girls, we’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of using social media for social change and what those calls imply about the role of social media in our collective imaginations. And so, in the spirit of always historicizing, we recorded this episode to look back on the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and, specifically, to an online event known as Blackout Tuesday.

If you were one of the people who posted a black square on your Instagram account — or someone who thought about it but didn't — this episode is for you! Hannah offers some really helpful insight pulling on Jia Tolentino's essay, "The I in Internet," the work of sociologist Irving Goffman, Montreal-based scholar Kelsey Blair and Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein. Together, Hannah and Marcelle dig into what it means that our social media tools, regardless of how they are used, are corporately-owned.

To learn more about Hannah's research for this episode and to read Witch, Please Productions' statement on Israel and Palestine, head to https://ohwitchplease.substack.com/.

And, if you like our show, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.*

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Music Credits:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patreon Preview: Taylor Swift Pt. I Nov 21, 2023

Show notes

We had to talk about Taylor Swift more — especially as so many of you had great comments, feedback and specific inquiries! We structured this bonus like our usual Patreon-only Q&A episodes, except this time we only answered questions you submitted about Ms. Taylor Allison Swift. We talk Gay-lore, billionaires, private jets, the Jets and holding many feelings at once.

Part II of this bonus will be available on Patreon this week to all of our tiers! Join today for just $5 USD/month to get the rest of the conversation in your feed and for all the bonus perks we've already released! Head to Patreon.com/ohwitchplease!

And, if you liked this episode, please share it with family and friends! Word-of-mouth is the primary way we reach new listeners who are interested in feminist materialist critique, pop culture and laughing at and from within *the discourse.* Share the show today!

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We'll be back in one week for a regular episode!

Music Credits:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Les Misérables x Encoding/Decoding with Erin Keif Nov 14, 2023

Show notes

We're so lucky to be joined this episode by Erin Keif (she/her) of the beloved Headgum podcasts Hey Riddle Riddle and Sitcom DnD. If you're a fan of Les Mis, or any musical, you'll appreciate this really special episode that covers Stuart Hall's theory of encoding/decoding, while also getting into the lyrics and musicality of the megamusical: Les Misérables.

Hannah guides Marcelle and Erin through a history lesson that covers Thatcherite England and defunding of the arts in the 70s and 80s, while bringing her own relationship to Claude-Michel Schönberg's music and Alain Boublil's lyrics into the conversation. Erin, a musical enthusiast (among other things), brings some much-needed levity (as well as a catchphrase) to a discussion that touches on some more difficult themes including: death, parental loss, and violence against the oppressed.

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Music Credits:

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Taylor Swift x Intimate Publics with Margaret H. Willison Oct 31, 2023

Show notes

Given last week's release of 1989 (Taylor's Version), we just had to have Swiftie and Tay-lore expert Margaret H. Willison (she/her) on the show to talk about one of the (if not THE) most influential pop stars of the last decade. We start with a conversation about Taylor as an artist and Margaret provides context to help us understand how and why Taylor's Eras Tour and the 10 studio albums that led to it have created such a buzz. Then Marcelle leads Hannah and Margaret through Lauren Berlant's theory of intimate publics with an eye towards the Swiftie fandom and Taylor's fluid feminist politic. We finish the episode with Marcelle's incredible thesis and a discussion about capitalism, what makes an icon and what might be next for Swift.

Margaret H. Willison is a frequent guest on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, a freelance writer and cultural critic, and one of three women behind the beloved Substack Two Bossy Dames. She is a friend of the show and if you want to know more about her, you can find her @MrsFridayNext on Instagram!

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Star Wars x Mass Culture Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

Why is Star Wars so popular? What were the material conditions that set the first film, A New Hope, up for success in 1977? What can a Marxist critique help us understand about the film?

In this episode, Marcelle leads Hannah through a conversation about one of her favorite franchises by first taking a close look at George Lucas's politics and the state of Hollywood in the 1970s. Marcelle and Hannah then think through the movie's seemingly progressive narrative — and the way it's been co-opted by people of all political views. Pulling on the work of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Marcelle offers a Marxist reading of the film's lasting legacy and asks: what is conservative about the film? How does the film work to undermine and/or reinforce the ideology of repressive state apparatuses?

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