Supercontext: an autopsy of media

This 2017 film, written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, is trying to be a respectful crime drama set on a Native American reservation. We discuss Sheridan's mission and choices, as well as the criticism and praise it received for its depiction. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Wind River Skinwalkers Stephen Graham Jones Longmire Additional Resources: Wind River Is an Overwritten Mystery-Thriller With a Crazily Powerful Ending The Moody, Mixed Messages of Wind River The Truth Behind This Year's Most Shocking Film, Wind River 'Wind River': Taylor Sheridan on Why He Needed to Make This Modern Western Taylor Sheridan: 'The big joke on reservations is the white guy that shows up and says: "My grandma is Cherokee"' What’s So Hard About Casting Indian Actors in Indian Roles? Movie Review: Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Wind River’ is Gripping, Realistic and Beautifully-Crafted Three Billboards, Wind River and Hollywood's Representation Problem Why do white writers keep making films about Indian Country? Sundance: Weinstein Company to No Longer Distribute Jeremy Renner's 'Wind River' Weinstein Name Stripped From ‘Wind River’; Tunica-Biloxi Tribe Financiers To Pay For Oscar Campaign Taylor Sheridan Got the Weinstein Company Scrubbed From Wind River With an Ultimatum Brutal Crimes Grip an Indian Reservation

Jen Kirkman is a prolific comedian, known for her acerbic, dry wit. We look at her 2015 Netflix special and wonder what it says about mainstream lifestyles and life after forty. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine) The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion Nikki Glaser Morgan Murphy April Richardson Michelle Wolff Additional Resources: Jen Kirkman responds to Louis C.K. allegations: He's 'no longer' a friend Jen Kirkman sets the record straight on Louis CK and those sexual misconduct rumors Jen Kirkman on Election-Night Anxiety, Touring as a Woman, and Dealing With Rumors Jen Kirkman: ‘Joan Rivers was my comedy mother’ Jen Kirkman Talks Trump, Mental Health, and Overthinking Comedy Jen Kirkman on feminism, Hallmark Christmas movies and — yes — Louis C.K. In her first Netflix special, Jen Kirkman airs her grievances on a world gone dumb Jen Kirkman Finds Material in the Single Life in ‘I’m Gonna Die Alone’ I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine): An Interview with Jen Kirkman How Morrissey’s Moping and the Bee Gees’ Style Inspired Jen Kirkman’s Standup Special

This graphic novel, by one of the elder statesmen of comics, pushed the medium into new formats, genres and methods of distribution. We discuss how Eisner used a very personal tragedy to create it, as well as its unique representation of Jewish American identity. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: A Contract With God The Spirit Comics and Sequential Art Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative Hubert Selby, Jr.  Additional Resources: Eisner's A Contract with God Is the First Graphic Novel. By: Plummer, Marguerite R., Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2013 The 'God' father THE ANATOMY OF EXPRESSION: WILL EISNER AND ‘A CONTRACT WITH GOD’ Scott McCloud’s Introduction to Will Eisner’s A Contract With God — the Centennial Edition Royal, D. P. (2011). Sequential Sketches of Ethnic Identity: Will Eisner's "A Contract with God" as Graphic Cycle. College Literature, 38(3), 150-167.

This animated adult comedy from Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon is on a mission to violate boundaries, while indulging in themes of nihilism and toxicity. We discuss how it's written and animated, along with its representation of women and its non-unionized production team.  Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Rick and Morty Community Ren and Stimpy The Auteur Stella Children’s Hospital T. C. Boyle Stories Additional Resources: Social Commentary in “Rick and Morty” Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland talk bringing absurd to 'Rick and Morty' Talking to Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland About Their New Adult Swim Show, ‘Rick and Morty’ ‘Rick And Morty’ Is Better When It Embraces Its Strong Women ‘Rick and Morty’ Creators: How Hiring Female Writers Made Season 3 the Best Yet Rick and Morty co-creator addresses toxicity among fanbase Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland on Rick and Morty, How Community Is Like Star Trek, and Puberty

The first book in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy focuses on humanity's weird relationship with nature and how we react to the unknown. We look at how VanderMeer wrote the book, the unique publishing strategy behind it and his choice to strip the characters of their identities, while still representing an all female cast. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Annihilation Area X (the collected Southern Reach Trilogy) Injection Prince of Darkness The Peripheral The Other Side of the Mountain Tainaron: Mail from Another City Pattiann Rogers works Additional Resources: Annihilation: “Weird” Nature Jeff VanderMeer: 'Power of Nature' Inspired New Sci-Fi Novel 'Annihilation' Finally, a novel about weird science that's genuinely weird The boundary-pushing fiction of Sean McDonald and his new FSG imprint, MCD From Annihilation to Acceptance: A Writer’s Surreal Journey An Interview With Jeff VanderMeer: "Full Disclosure, I'm Really A Komodo Dragon" I’m Jeff VanderMeer, the author of the Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance). AMA!

This Marvel Comics storyline began in 2016 as a synergistic publishing scheme that led to the wildly successful Black Panther film. Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and artist Brian Stelfreeze tell a tale about monarchy, nationalism, revolution, diversity and the universal trope of power. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Between the World and Me Additional Resources: TA-NEHISI COATES FIGHTS THE POWER—LITERALLY—WITH BLACK PANTHER Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze is brilliant, political, and human The Return of the Black Panther Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther is a human drama about power Ta-Nehisi Coates Hopes 'Black Panther' Will Be Some Kid's 'Spider-Man' The Words that Build Wakanda: Following Ta-Nehisi Coates’ BLACK PANTHER The Confused Politics Behind Marvel's Black Panther: A Brief History WAKANDA REBORN

This is Guided By Voices' 100th record (by some fuzzy math). We discuss how they create songs and what each band member contributes. We also debate the quantity over quality ethos of this prolific band... and wonder if for some listeners it's more like a religion. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: August By Cake Guided By Voices  Ty Segall Fuzz Cap'n Jazz and the Kinsellas Owls Joan of Arc Additional Resources: Pitchfork review Popmatters review Flood Magazine review GUIDED BY A LOT OF VOICES: GBV MEMBERS WEIGH IN ON ‘AUGUST BY CAKE’ Band Q&A: Guided By Voices Life Lessons from Robert Pollard GUIDED BY VOICES: ROBERT POLLARD, WHO ARE YOU? Robert Pollard What Makes These Guided By Voices Superfans Still Love Robert Pollard After 100 Albums?  

Together with guest Van Jensen, we dissect the original James Bond source material. We look at Ian Fleming's life and possible wish fulfillment, as well as how he wrote and published this post-World War II spy story. And of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't also discuss Bond's misogyny and nationalistic fantasizing.   Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Casino Royale (the book) Casino Royale (the film that is nuts) Casino Royale (the film that is great) Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer Cryptocracy The Leg Spook Country The Spy Who Came In From The Cold The Honourable Schoolboy The Bond Dossier The Magic Christian Additional Resources: Listen Notes Kerr, P., & Saunders, F. S. (2002). Licensed to print money. New Statesman, 131(4576), 38. Moran, C. (2013). Ian Fleming and the Public Profile of the CIA. Journal Of Cold War Studies, 15(1), 119. Bond, J. (2008). Nobody Does It Better. (cover story). In Britain, 76(2), 22. Grose, T. K. (2008). The Man With the Golden Typewriter. U.S. News & World Report, 144(13), 28. Casino Royale: 60 years old 'The name's Secretan… James Secretan': Early draft of Casino Royale reveals what Ian Fleming wanted to call his super spy Bottoms Up Bond’s Women: Feminist Heroes or Mere Accessories? 5 Things I Learned About Women From The James Bond Books

Was this 1990s serial killer television drama about the end of the world? Or was it about having empathy for our fellow humans? Chris Carter (X-Files) created it after watching Se7en, but over the course of its three seasons Millennium shifted and changed, until unfortunately it was cancelled. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Millennium, The Complete Series Back To Frank Black: A Return to Chris Carter’s Millennium Additional Resources: MILLENNIUM'S NIELSEN RATINGS - STATISTICAL CHARTS AND ANALYSIS TV'S BEST KEPT SECRET IMPROVES IN ITS SOPHOMORE SEASON Staring Into the Heart of Darkness CHRIS CARTER INTRODUCES US TO MILLENNIUM Back To Frank Black: A Return to Chris Carter’s Millennium. Edited by Adam Chamberlain & Brian A. Dixon. Published by Fourth Horseman Press, 2013.

Michael Shea was a genre writer who combined fantasy, science fiction and horror into a unique blend of wonder and imagination. Together with our guest Robert Lamb (Stuff To Blow Your Mind), we discuss Shea's writing style and legacy. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Demiurge: The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales of Michael Shea Michael Shea listing on Amazon The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Eight Black Offerings The Grave Stompers: Six Tales From the Southern Earth Karl Edward Wagner listing on Amazon Swords and Deviltry (The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) (Vol 1) The End of the Story: The Collected Fantasies, Vol. 1 (The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith) Additional Resources: www.michaelsheaauthor.com The Extra. (2009). Publishers Weekly, 256(49), 35. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee5ckbUQ4jI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_FSICmPrDU