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Supercontext: an autopsy of media

Latest episodes

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Jul 4, 2025 • 1h 49min

The Only Good Indians

This 2020 novel by Native American author Stephen Graham Jones mixes literary explorations of indigenous peoples' identity with slasher-film tropes, making it his first novel with mainstream success. Did Jones change something about his writing to get there, or did the literary world catch up to him? We discuss how history, symbols, and context fit into his project while asking, "Why did the literary establishment like this so much?" Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Only Good Indians Sources: https://blackfeetnation.com/ https://blog.nativehope.org/native-american-animals-the-elk-a-protector-and-relative https://academic.oup.com/isle/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/isle/isad056/7255951?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/stephen-graham-jones-the-only-good-indians-interview/ https://ew.com/books/2019/08/08/only-good-indians-preview/ https://www.npr.org/2020/07/29/896840079/in-his-new-book-stephen-graham-jones-explores-the-idea-of-good-indians https://www.npr.org/2020/07/16/891433693/grief-and-guilt-spawn-horrors-in-the-only-good-indians https://www.jstor.org/stable/541345 https://journals.kent.ac.uk/index.php/transmotion/article/view/266/900 https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-07-15/the-only-good-indians-by-stephen-graham-jones-review https://blog.nativehope.org/native-american-animals-the-elk-a-protector-and-relative https://filmobsessive.com/film/film-news/film-interviews/interview-stephen-graham-jones-a-discussion-on-lost-highway-and-mapping-the-interior/ ERIC GARY ANDERSON, et al. “Demon Theory for Beginners, or The Intertextual Badlands of Stephen Graham Jones.” Postindian Aesthetics, University of Arizona Press, 2022, pp. 165-, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2c3k193.24. Washuta, Elissa and Warburton, Theresa. Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers, Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2019. Schaak, Hogan D. "Bleeding All over the Shelves and Tracking It Out into the World: Theorizing Horror in the Indigenous North American Novels The Only Good Indians and Empire of Wild." Studies in the Fantastic, vol. 15, 2023, p. 94-126.
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Jun 6, 2025 • 1h 48min

Repeater

Dive into the world of Fugazi and their influential album 'Repeater,' which still resonates today. Explore the band's DIY ethos and the personal interpretations of their themes by listeners across generations. Discover the intricate dynamics of their onstage chemistry and the unique soundscapes crafted through collaboration. Reflect on the socio-political messages in tracks like 'Greed,' while discussing the evolution of the indie music scene and the shift to more creator-driven platforms. Experience the powerful legacy of authenticity and community that defines Fugazi's work.
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Jun 3, 2025 • 2min

And Now a Short Message

Christian and Charlie have a couple things to say.
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May 1, 2020 • 2h 15min

Supercontext

This podcast ran independently from 2016 to 2020. We reflect on our goals in creating it and how successful those were while trying to be transparent about the ins and outs of podcast production, marketing, and monetization.
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Apr 24, 2020 • 2h 23min

From Hell

This graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell came out between 1989 and 1998, 100 years after the Jack the Ripper murders it's based on. We look at the meticulous research they put into this to try to understand how this story manages to be about true crime while indulging in deep themes like English identity, psychogeography, and the nature of time. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: From Hell Additional Resources: A Look Back at ‘From Hell’ by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell Delivering the Twentieth Century, Part 1: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell Delivering the 20th Century, Part 2: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell The Great Alan Moore Reread: From Hell, Part 1 The Great Alan Moore Reread: From Hell, Part 2 Eddie Campbell explains why he's coloring From Hell for the first time Michael J. Prince (2017) The magic of patriarchal oppression in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 8:3, 252-263 Vollmar, R. (2017). Northampton Calling. World Literature Today, 91(1), 28–34. The House That Jack Built – An Interview with Alan Moore (2002) From Hell And Back: The Eddie Campbell Interview Superhuman Cognitions, Fourth Dimension and Speculative Comics Narrative: Panel Repetition in Watchmen and From Hell Postimperial Landscapes "Psychogeography" and Englishness in Alan Moore's Graphic Novel"From Hell: A Melodrama in Sixteen Parts" Author(s): Elizabeth Ho Source: Cultural Critique, No. 63 (Spring, 2006), pp. 99-121 Published by: University of Minnesota Press
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Apr 17, 2020 • 1h 40min

Heat

This 1995 film by Michael Mann is considered a quintessential cops-and-robbers epic. We look at Mann's attention to detail and his attempt at authenticity in light of the movie's influence on audiences, filmmakers, and real-life criminals. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Heat Additional Resources: Interview w/ Eliot Goldenthanl Michael Mann Launches Book Imprint; ‘Heat’ Prequel Novel A Priority Life imitates art in Colombia robbery The long warm-up to Heat Heat Crime in the emptiness of Los Angeles Why Is Heat So Great? Let’s Ask Michael Mann. What Michael Mann Changed, and What He Didn’t, for the Anniversary Edition of Heat Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’: A Complex, Stylistically Supreme Candidate for One of the Most Impressive Films of the Nineties The Loneliness Of Los Angeles In Michael Mann's 'Heat' 10 Intense Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Heat Michael Mann eyes 'Heat 2' film as book nears completion Decades Later, Viewers Still Feel The 'Heat' For Michael Mann's 1995 LA Crime Saga REVISITING THE L.A. OF ‘HEAT’ 24 YEARS LATER WITH THE ICONIC CRIME DRAMA’S LOCATION MANAGER La Story: The Making of Michael Mann’s “Heat” – by Tom Ambrose [Empire] Michael Mann on ‘Heat,’ 22 Years Later: What We’ve Learned from His Recent Interviews
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Apr 10, 2020 • 1h 31min

Hounds of Love

This 1985 concept album by Kate Bush is split into pop songs and a suite of music about someone drowning. We look at Bush's career arc leading up to this record and how the support she received from those around her allowed to experiment and create this wholly unique music. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Hounds of Love Additional Resources: Kate Bush Kate Bush rules, OK? Hounds of Love Landmark Productions: Kate Bush – Hounds of Love Classic Album: Hounds Of Love – Kate Bush Cowley, J. (2005). The Wow factor. New Statesman, 134(4726), 38–39. Sinclair, D. (1994). Dear diary: The secret world of Kate Bush. Rolling Stone, 676, 13. Moy, R. (2007). Kate Bush and Hounds of Love. Ashgate.
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Apr 3, 2020 • 1h 44min

Hyperion

Dan Simmon's 1989 science-fiction novel is acclaimed for its unique structure, references, and style. We take a closer look at how it interrogates our expectations of genre to explore a complex host of themes. Thank you to Chris Marlton for coproducing this episode. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Hyperion Additional Resources: Throwback Thursday: The Mind-Altering Scope of Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos Better to travel hopefully: Dan Simmons’s Hyperion Dan Simmons World-class maker of worlds Dan Simmons. By: Shindler, Dorman T., Writer (Kalmbach Publishing Co.), 00439517, Feb2001, Vol. 114, Issue 2 THRALL, J. H. (2014). Authoring the Sacred: Humanism and Invented Scripture in Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut and Dan Simmons. Implicit Religion, 17(4), 509. Shea, B. (2015). Evolution and Neuroethics in the Hyperion Cantos. Journal of Cognition & Neuroethics, 3(3), 139. The one huge problem with Dan Simmons’ sci-fi mystery Hyperion Eschatology and Pain in Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Senior, W. (2012). Dan Simmons's Hyperion Cantos: The Fantasy Within. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), 18(1/2), 213-226.
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Mar 27, 2020 • 1h 46min

Withnail & I

This 1987 film is celebrated as a cult classic for its depiction of self-destructive young Englishmen at the end of the 1960s. We discuss how creator Bruce Robinson got it made, and whether it congratulates its characters for their alcoholism or criticizes their generation and the end of that era of British culture. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Withnail & I Additional Resources: How "Withnail & I" Became a Cult Withnail and I BRUCE ROBINSON Interviewed by Peter Murphy The World According To Grant 13 Loaded Facts About Withnail and I Withnail & I Comes Of Age This Year - If Only The Fans Would Too Withnail and I Facts and Trivia The Cult of Richard E. Grant’s Withnail and I Is Finally Having Its Moment We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful: “Withnail & I” Withnail and Brexit: Why the cult classic is the perfect movie for our troubled times https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2020/03/09/withnail-and-i-fans-prepare-for-lakeland-alfresco-screening-of-cult-film
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Mar 20, 2020 • 1h 49min

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

This 1962 novel is being reappraised by critics and fans as a creeping meditation on 1950s housewives, agoraphobia, and good old-fashioned New England persecution. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: We Have Always Lived in the Castle Additional Resources: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – a house of ordinary horror The Witchcraft of Shirley Jackson Flavorwire Author Club: Shirley Jackson’s Haunting Final Novel, ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ SILVER, M. (2013). Is It Real? On Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Southern Review, 49(4), 665–667. Savoy, E. (2017). Between as if and is : On Shirley Jackson. Women’s Studies, 46(8), 827. BOYD TONKIN. (2015, July 29). Her dark materials: how Shirley Jackson became the ‘sorceress at the sink.’ Independent (UK). Shirley Jackson. (2020). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle: A Prelude to a Myth How 'We Have Always Lived In The Castle' By Shirley Jackson Novel Made Me Love Horror — Even Though I Hate Being Scared The Haunted Mind of Shirley Jackson

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