Supercontext: an autopsy of media

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

Based on a hard-boiled novel by Charles Willeford, this sweaty, sultry film has us questioning hedonism and the struggle between order and chaos. Between writer/director George Armitage, a very shirtless Alec Baldwin and killer performances by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Fred Ward... we've got plenty to talk about. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: Miami Blues (the film) Miami Blues (the book) Grosse Point Blank Spartan Cast A Deadly Spell Tremors The Killing Top of the Lake Additional Resources: Interview: George Armitage Pinkerton, N. (2015). PRINCE OF PULP. Sight & Sound, 25(7), 98. Fisher, M. J. (2000). The Unlikely Father of Miami Crime Fiction. Atlantic, 285(5), 117-121. Olson, Kirby. Comedy after Postmodernism: Rereading Comedy from Edward Lear to Charles Willeford . Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press, 2001 When Satire Fails Miami Blues The New Cult Canon: Miami Blues Pastel Noir: George Armitage's MIAMI BLUES Miami Blues The Overlooked Sunshine Noir 'Miami Blues' Finally Hits Blu-Ray

This comic book project stitches together the most important moments from decades (and thousands of pages) of X-Men comics. We talk to cartoonist Ed Piskor about his production process, the comics market and the relevance of the X-Men's themes in the present day. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: X-Men: Grand Design Hip Hop Family Tree Wizzywig Additional Resources: The X-Men's 40-year history has just been compressed into one easy-to-read story In X-Men: Grand Design, Ed Piskor tells the superheroes' whole story Ed Piskor breaks down X-Men history with style in this Grand Design exclusive X-Men: Grand Design Wants to Save Marvel's Mutants From Themselves Chris Claremont & Ed Piskor Reflect on the Grand Design of the X-Men Legacy Cartoonist Ed Piskor on 'Hip Hop Family Tree' and the Importance of Creative Freedom

This band has been creating experimental music for 35 years. So we look at the moment when they doubled down by teaming up with musicians from Big Business. We confront our own subjectivity about music and examine how to make a living from something creative like this long-running doom machine. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: (A) Senile Animal Day Late, Dollar Short This Machine Kills Artists The Deal What One Becomes Hew Time Additional Resources: Orinda's Noise Vomitorium The Melvins: A Senile Animal Melvins (A) Senile Animal Melvins Interviews and Studio (((O))) : INTERVIEW: JARED WARREN FROM BIG BUSINESS Coady Willis of Big Business Talks What He's Learned From the Melvins

David Simon and George Pelecanos' show makes us uncomfortable about sex work. But it's to better understand capitalism. We discuss their exploration of community, corruption and the production of both this show and the labor that inspired it. Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store: The Deuce, Season One Last Exit to Brooklyn Taxi Driver American Gigolo Light Sleeper The Night Porter Additional Resources: The Deuce and the Birth of Porn 'The Deuce' Recalls Sex and Sleaze in 1970s Times Square The Deuce isn't about sex. It's about capitalism. How 'The Deuce' Predicts Modern-Day New York The Deuce: Season One Ratings